In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon, 4 Baruch (also known as the Paralipomena of Jeremiah or the Rest of the Words of Baruch) is considered a canonical book within the broader 'Jeremiah Cycle.' Unlike 1 Baruch, which is deuterocanonical in Western traditions, 4 Baruch is unique to the Ethiopian tradition. This text narrates the events following the fall of Jerusalem, including the miraculous preservation of the Temple vessels, Abimelech's 66-year sleep with fresh figs, a talking eagle as a messenger to Jeremiah in Babylon, and Jeremiah's eventual martyrdom by stoning. The text contains explicit Christological prophecies, indicating a Christian composition likely dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD. The source text provided is based on English translations of the Ge'ez manuscript tradition.
4 Baruch
Chapter 2
And Jeremiah ran and told these things to Baruch; and as they went into the temple of God, Jeremiah tore his garments and put dust on his head and entered the holy place of God.
And when Baruch saw him with dust sprinkled on his head and his garments torn, he cried out in a loud voice, saying: Father Jeremiah, what are you doing? What sin has the people committed?
(For whenever the people sinned, Jeremiah would sprinkle dust on his head and would pray for the people until their sin was forgiven.)
So Baruch asked him, saying: Father, what is this?
And Jeremiah said to him: Refrain from rending your garments — rather, let us rend our hearts! And let us not draw water for the trough, but let us weep and fill them with tears! For the Lord will not have mercy on this people.
And Baruch said: Father Jeremiah, what has happened?
And Jeremiah said: God is delivering the city into the hands of the king of the Chaldeans, to take the people captive into Babylon.
And when Baruch heard these things, he also tore his garments and said: Father Jeremiah, who has made this known to you?
And Jeremiah said to him: Stay with me awhile, until the sixth hour of the night, so that you may know that this word is true.
Therefore they both remained in the altararea weeping, and their garments were torn.