5:17 Knowest thou not that Israel is committed unto thee in the land of their captivity? 5:18 Up then, and eat bread, and forsake us not, as the shepherd that leaveth his flock in the hands of cruel wolves. 5:19 Then said I unto him, Go thy ways from me, and come not nigh me. And he heard what I said, and went from me. 5:20 And so I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, like as Uriel the angel commanded me. 5:21 And after seven days so it was, that the thoughts of my heart were very grievous unto me again, 5:22 And my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began to talk with the most High again, 5:23 And said, O Lord that bearest rule, of every wood of the earth, and of all the trees thereof, thou hast chosen thee one only vine: 5:24 And of all lands of the whole world thou hast chosen thee one pit: and of all the flowers thereof one lily: 5:25 And of all the depths of the sea thou hast filled thee one river: and of all builded cities thou hast hallowed Sion unto thyself: 5:26 And of all the fowls that are created thou hast named thee one dove: and of all the cattle that are made thou hast provided thee one sheep: 5:27 And among all the multitudes of people thou hast gotten thee one people: and unto this people, whom thou lovedst, thou gavest a law that is approved of all. 5:28 And now, O Lord, why hast thou given this one people over unto many? and upon the one root hast thou prepared others, and why hast thou scattered thy only one people among many? 5:29 And they which did gainsay thy promises, and believed not thy covenants, have trodden them down. 5:30 If thou didst so much hate thy people, yet shouldest thou punish them with thine own hands. 5:31 Now when I had spoken these words, the angel that came to me the night afore was sent unto me, 5:32 And said unto me, Hear me, and I will instruct thee; hearken to the thing that I say, and I shall tell thee more. 5:33 And I said, Speak on, my Lord. Then said he unto me, Thou art sore troubled in mind for Israel’s sake: lovest thou that people better than he that made them? 5:34 And I said, No, Lord: but of very grief have I spoken: for my reins pain me every hour, while I labour to comprehend the way of the most High, and to seek out part of his judgment. 5:35 And he said unto me, Thou canst not. And I said, Wherefore, Lord? whereunto was I born then? or why was not my mother’s womb then my grave, that I might not have seen the travail of Jacob, and the wearisome toil of the stock of Israel? 5:36 And he said unto me, Number me the things that are not yet come, gather me together the dross that are scattered abroad, make me the flowers green again that are withered, 5:37 Open me the places that are closed, and bring me forth the winds that in them are shut up, shew me the image of a voice: and then I will declare to thee the thing that thou labourest to know.