3In the thirtieth year after the destruction of the city, I was in Babylon—I, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra. I was troubled as I lay on my bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart, 2because I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those who lived in Babylon. 3My spirit was greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious words to the Most High, and said, 4‘O sovereign Lord, did you not speak at the beginning when you planted* the earth—and that without help—and commanded the dust* 5and it gave you Adam, a lifeless body? Yet he was the creation of your hands, and you breathed into him the breath of life, and he was made alive in your presence. 6And you led him into the garden that your right hand had planted before the earth appeared. 7And you laid upon him one commandment of yours; but he transgressed it, and immediately you appointed death for him and for his descendants. From him there sprang nations and tribes, peoples and clans without number. 8And every nation walked after its own will; they did ungodly things in your sight and rejected your commands, and you did not hinder them. 9But again, in its time you brought the flood upon the inhabitants of the world and destroyed them. 10And the same fate befell all of them: just as death came upon Adam, so the flood upon them. 11But you left one of them, Noah with his household, and all the righteous who have descended from him.
12 ‘When those who lived on earth began to multiply, they produced children and peoples and many nations, and again they began to be more ungodly than were their ancestors. 13And when they were committing iniquity in your sight, you chose for yourself one of them, whose name was Abraham; 14you loved him, and to him alone you revealed the end of the times, secretly by night. 15You made an everlasting covenant with him, and promised him that you would never forsake his descendants; and you gave him Isaac, and to Isaac you gave Jacob and Esau. 16You set apart Jacob for yourself, but Esau you rejected; and Jacob became a great multitude. 17And when you led his descendants out of Egypt, you brought them to Mount Sinai. 18You bent down the heavens and shook* the earth, and moved the world, and caused the depths to tremble, and troubled the times. 19Your glory passed through the four gates of fire and earthquake and wind and ice, to give the law to the descendants of Jacob, and your commandment to the posterity of Israel.
20 ‘Yet you did not take away their evil heart from them, so that your law might produce fruit in them. 21For the first Adam, burdened with an evil heart, transgressed and was overcome, as were also all who were descended from him. 22Thus the disease became permanent; the law was in the hearts of the people along with the evil root; but what was good departed, and the evil remained. 23So the times passed and the years were completed, and you raised up for yourself a servant, named David. 24You commanded him to build a city for your name, and there to offer you oblations from what is yours. 25This was done for many years; but the inhabitants of the city transgressed, 26in everything doing just as Adam and all his descendants had done, for they also had the evil heart. 27So you handed over your city to your enemies.
28 ‘Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better? Is that why it has gained dominion over Zion? 29For when I came here I saw ungodly deeds without number, and my soul has seen many sinners during these thirty years.* And my heart failed me, 30because I have seen how you endure those who sin, and have spared those who act wickedly, and have destroyed your people, and protected your enemies, 31and have not shown to anyone how your way may be comprehended.* Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion? 32Or has another nation known you besides Israel? Or what tribes have so believed the covenants as these tribes of Jacob? 33Yet their reward has not appeared and their labour has borne no fruit. For I have travelled widely among the nations and have seen that they abound in wealth, though they are unmindful of your commandments. 34Now therefore, weigh in a balance our iniquities and those of the inhabitants of the world; and it will be found which way the turn of the scale will incline. 35When have the inhabitants of the earth not sinned in your sight? Or what nation has kept your commandments so well? 36You may indeed find individuals who have kept your commandments, but nations you will not find.’
4Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered 2and said to me, ‘Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?’ 3Then I said, ‘Yes, my lord.’ And he replied to me, ‘I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. 4If you can solve one of them for me, then I will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil.’
5 I said, ‘Speak, my lord.’
And he said to me, ‘Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a blast* of wind, or call back for me the day that is past.’
6 I answered and said, ‘Who of those that have been born can do that, that you should ask me about such things?’
7 And he said to me, ‘If I had asked you, “How many dwellings are in the heart of the sea, or how many streams are at the source of the deep, or how many streams are above the firmament, or which are the exits of Hades, or which are the entrances* of paradise?” 8perhaps you would have said to me, “I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into Hades, neither did I ever ascend into heaven.” 9But now I have asked you only about fire and wind and the day—things that you have experienced and from which you cannot be separated, and you have given me no answer about them.’ 10He said to me, ‘You cannot understand the things with which you have grown up; 11how then can your mind comprehend the way of the Most High? And how can one who is already worn out* by the corrupt world understand incorruption?’* When I heard this, I fell on my face* 12and said to him, ‘It would have been better for us not to be here than to come here and live in ungodliness, and to suffer and not understand why.’
13 He answered me and said, ‘I went into a forest of trees of the plain, and they made a plan 14and said, “Come, let us go and make war against the sea, so that it may recede before us and so that we may make for ourselves more forests.” 15In like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, “Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.” 16But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it; 17likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea was in vain,* for the sand stood firm and blocked it. 18If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?’
19 I answered and said, ‘Each made a foolish plan, for the land has been assigned to the forest, and the locale of the sea a place to carry its waves.’
20 He answered me and said, ‘You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case? 21For as the land has been assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who inhabit the earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is* above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens.’
22 Then I answered and said, ‘I implore you, my lord, why* have I been endowed with the power of understanding? 23For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but about those things that we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles in disgrace; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our ancestors has been brought to destruction and the written covenants no longer exist. 24We pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist,* and we are not worthy to obtain mercy. 25But what will he do for his* name that is invoked over us? It is about these things that I have asked.’
26 He answered me and said, ‘If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long,* you will often marvel, because the age is hurrying swiftly to its end. 27It will not be able to bring the things that have been promised to the righteous in their appointed times, because this age is full of sadness and infirmities. 28For the evil about which* you ask me has been sown, but the harvest of it has not yet come. 29If therefore that which has been sown is not reaped, and if the place where the evil has been sown does not pass away, the field where the good has been sown will not come. 30For a grain of evil seed was sown in Adam’s heart from the beginning, and how much ungodliness it has produced until now—and will produce until the time of threshing comes! 31Consider now for yourself how much fruit of ungodliness a grain of evil seed has produced. 32When heads of grain without number are sown, how great a threshing-floor they will fill!’
33 Then I answered and said, ‘How long?* When will these things be? Why are our years few and evil?’ 34He answered me and said, ‘Do not be in a greater hurry than the Most High. You, indeed, are in a hurry for yourself,* but the Highest is in a hurry on behalf of many. 35Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask about these matters, saying, “How long are we to remain here?* And when will the harvest of our reward come?” 36And the archangel Jeremiel answered and said, “When the number of those like yourselves is completed;* for he has weighed the age in the balance, 37and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.” ’
38 Then I answered and said, ‘But, O sovereign Lord, all of us also are full of ungodliness. 39It is perhaps on account of us that the time of threshing is delayed for the righteous—on account of the sins of those who inhabit the earth.’
40 He answered me and said, ‘Go and ask a pregnant woman whether, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the foetus within her any longer.’
41 And I said, ‘No, lord, it cannot.’
He said to me, ‘In Hades the chambers of the souls are like the womb. 42For just as a woman who is in labour makes haste to escape the pangs of birth, so also do these places hasten to give back those things that were committed to them from the beginning. 43Then the things that you desire to see will be disclosed to you.’
44 I answered and said, ‘If I have found favour in your sight, and if it is possible, and if I am worthy, 45show me this also: whether more time is to come than has passed, or whether for us the greater part has gone by. 46For I know what has gone by, but I do not know what is to come.’
47 And he said to me, ‘Stand at my right side, and I will show you the interpretation of a parable.’
48 So I stood and looked, and lo, a flaming furnace passed by before me, and when the flame had gone by I looked, and lo, the smoke remained. 49And after this a cloud full of water passed before me and poured down a heavy and violent rain, and when the violent rainstorm had passed, drops still remained in the cloud.*
50 He said to me, ‘Consider it for yourself; for just as the rain is more than the drops, and the fire is greater than the smoke, so the quantity that passed was far greater; but drops and smoke remained.’
51 Then I prayed and said, ‘Do you think that I shall live until those days? Or who will be alive in those days?’
52 He answered me and said, ‘Concerning the signs about which you ask me, I can tell you in part; but I was not sent to tell you concerning your life, for I do not know.
5‘Now concerning the signs: lo, the days are coming when those who inhabit the earth shall be seized with great terror,* and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith.
2Unrighteousness shall be increased beyond what you yourself see, and beyond what you heard of formerly.
3And the land that you now see ruling shall be a trackless waste, and people shall see it desolate.
4But if the Most High grants that you live, you shall see it thrown into confusion after the third period;*
and the sun shall suddenly begin to shine at night,
and the moon during the day.
5 Blood shall drip from wood,
and the stone shall utter its voice;
the peoples shall be troubled,
and the stars shall fall.*
6And one shall reign whom those who inhabit the earth do not expect, and the birds shall fly away together;
7and the Dead Sea* shall cast up fish; and one whom the many do not know shall make his voice heard by night, and all shall hear his voice.*
8There shall be chaos also in many places, fire shall often break out, the wild animals shall roam beyond their haunts, and menstruous women shall bring forth monsters.
9Salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber,
10and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found, and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth.
11One country shall ask its neighbour, “Has righteousness, or anyone who does right, passed through you?” And it will answer, “No.”
12At that time people shall hope but not obtain; they shall labour, but their ways shall not prosper.
13These are the signs that I am permitted to tell you, and if you pray again, and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you shall hear yet greater things than these.’
14 Then I woke up, and my body shuddered violently, and my soul was so troubled that it fainted. 15But the angel who had come and talked with me held me and strengthened me and set me on my feet.
16 Now on the second night Phaltiel, a chief of the people, came to me and said, ‘Where have you been? And why is your face sad? 17Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you in the land of their exile? 18Rise therefore and eat some bread, and do not forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves the flock in the power of savage wolves.’
19 Then I said to him, ‘Go away from me and do not come near me for seven days; then you may come to me.’
He heard what I said and left me. 20So I fasted for seven days, mourning and weeping, as the angel Uriel had commanded me.
21 After seven days the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me again. 22Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High. 23I said, ‘O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees you have chosen one vine, 24and from all the lands of the world you have chosen for yourself one region,* and from all the flowers of the world you have chosen for yourself one lily, 25and from all the depths of the sea you have filled for yourself one river, and from all the cities that have been built you have consecrated Zion for yourself, 26and from all the birds that have been created you have named for yourself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made you have provided for yourself one sheep, 27and from all the multitude of peoples you have taken for yourself one people; and to this people, whom you have loved, you have given the law that is approved by all. 28And now, O Lord, why have you handed the one over to the many, and dishonoured* the one root beyond the others, and scattered your only one among the many? 29And those who opposed your promises have trampled on those who believed your covenants. 30If you really hate your people, they should be punished at your own hands.’
31 When I had spoken these words, the angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me. 32He said to me, ‘Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more.’
33 Then I said, ‘Speak, my lord.’ And he said to me, ‘Are you greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his Maker does?’
34 I said, ‘No, my lord, but because of my grief I have spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand the way of the Most High and to search out some part of his judgement.’
35 He said to me, ‘You cannot.’ And I said, ‘Why not, my lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother’s womb become my grave, so that I would not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel?’
36 He said to me, ‘Count up for me those who have not yet come, and gather for me the scattered raindrops, and make the withered flowers bloom again for me; 37open for me the closed chambers, and bring out for me the winds shut up in them, or show me the picture of a voice; and then I will explain to you the travail that you ask to understand.’*
38 I said, ‘O sovereign Lord, who is able to know these things except him whose dwelling is not with mortals? 39As for me, I am without wisdom, and how can I speak concerning the things that you have asked me?’
40 He said to me, ‘Just as you cannot do one of the things that were mentioned, so you cannot discover my judgement, or the goal of the love that I have promised to my people.’
41 I said, ‘Yet, O Lord, you have charge of those who are alive at the end, but what will those do who lived before me, or we, ourselves, or those who come after us?’
42 He said to me, ‘I shall liken my judgement to a circle;* just as for those who are last there is no slowness, so for those who are first there is no haste.’
43 Then I answered and said, ‘Could you not have created at one time those who have been and those who are and those who will be, so that you might show your judgement the sooner?’
44 He replied to me and said, ‘The creation cannot move faster than the Creator, nor can the world hold at one time those who have been created in it.’
45 I said, ‘How have you said to your servant that you* will certainly give life at one time to your creation? If therefore all creatures will live at one time* and the creation will sustain them, it might even now be able to support all of them present at one time.’
46 He said to me, ‘Ask a woman’s womb, and say to it, “If you bear ten* children, why one after another?” Request it therefore to produce ten at one time.’
47 I said, ‘Of course it cannot, but only each in its own time.’
48 He said to me, ‘Even so I have given the womb of the earth to those who from time to time are sown in it. 49For as an infant does not bring forth, and a woman who has become old does not bring forth any longer, so I have made the same rule for the world that I created.’
50 Then I inquired and said, ‘Since you have now given me the opportunity, let me speak before you. Is our mother, of whom you have told me, still young? Or is she now approaching old age?’
51 He replied to me, ‘Ask a woman who bears children, and she will tell you. 52Say to her, “Why are those whom you have borne recently not like those whom you bore before, but smaller in stature?” 53And she herself will answer you, “Those born in the strength of youth are different from those born during the time of old age, when the womb is failing.” 54Therefore you also should consider that you and your contemporaries are smaller in stature than those who were before you, 55and those who come after you will be smaller than you, as born of a creation that already is ageing and passing the strength of youth.’
56 I said, ‘I implore you, O Lord, if I have found favour in your sight, show your servant through whom you will visit your creation.’
6He said to me, ‘At the beginning of the circle of the earth, before* the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled winds blew, 2and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were laid, 3and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the powers of movements* were established, and before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered together, 4and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of Zion was established, 5and before the present years were reckoned and before the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who stored up treasures of faith were sealed— 6then I planned these things, and they were made through me alone and not through another; just as the end shall come through me alone and not through another.’
7 I answered and said, ‘What will be the dividing of the times? Or when will be the end of the first age and the beginning of the age that follows?’
8 He said to me, ‘From Abraham to Isaac,* because from him were born Jacob and Esau, for Jacob’s hand held Esau’s heel from the beginning. 9Now Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning of the age that follows. 10The beginning of a person is the hand, and the end of a person is the heel;* seek for nothing else, Ezra, between the heel and the hand, Ezra!’
11 I answered and said, ‘O sovereign Lord, if I have found favour in your sight, 12show your servant the last of your signs of which you showed me a part on a previous night.’
13 He answered and said to me, ‘Rise to your feet and you will hear a full, resounding voice. 14And if the place where you are standing is greatly shaken 15while the voice is speaking, do not be terrified; because the word concerns the end, and the foundations of the earth will understand 16that the speech concerns them. They will tremble and be shaken, for they know that their end must be changed.’
17 When I heard this, I got to my feet and listened; a voice was speaking, and its sound was like the sound of mighty* waters. 18It said, ‘The days are coming when I draw near to visit the inhabitants of the earth, 19and when I require from the doers of iniquity the penalty of their iniquity, and when the humiliation of Zion is complete. 20When the seal is placed upon the age that is about to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before the face of the firmament, and all shall see my judgement* together. 21Children a year old shall speak with their voices, and pregnant women shall give birth to premature children at three and four months, and these shall live and leap about. 22Sown places shall suddenly appear unsown, and full storehouses shall suddenly be found to be empty; 23the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified. 24At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies, the earth and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall not flow.
25 ‘It shall be that whoever remains after all that I have foretold to you shall be saved and shall see my salvation and the end of my world. 26And they shall see those who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the earth’s* inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different spirit. 27For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched; 28faithfulness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed.’
29 While he spoke to me, little by little the place where I was standing began to rock to and fro.* 30And he said to me, ‘I have come to show you these things this night.* 31If therefore you will pray again and fast again for seven days, I will again declare to you greater things than these,* 32because your voice has surely been heard by the Most High; for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness and has also observed the purity that you have maintained from your youth. 33Therefore he sent me to show you all these things, and to say to you: “Believe and do not be afraid! 34Do not be quick to think vain thoughts concerning the former times; then you will not act hastily in the last times.” ’
35 Now after this I wept again and fasted for seven days in the same way as before, in order to complete the three weeks that had been prescribed for me. 36Then on the eighth night my heart was troubled within me again, and I began to speak in the presence of the Most High. 37My spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress.
38 I said, ‘O Lord, you spoke at the beginning of creation, and said on the first day, “Let heaven and earth be made”, and your word accomplished the work. 39Then the spirit was blowing, and darkness and silence embraced everything; the sound of human voices was not yet there.* 40Then you commanded a ray of light to be brought out from your store-chambers, so that your works could be seen.
41 ‘Again, on the second day, you created the spirit of the firmament, and commanded it to divide and separate the waters, so that one part might move upwards and the other part remain beneath.
42 ‘On the third day you commanded the waters to be gathered together in a seventh part of the earth; six parts you dried up and kept so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of service before you. 43For your word went forth, and at once the work was done. 44Immediately fruit came forth in endless abundance and of varied appeal to the taste, and flowers of inimitable colour, and odours of inexpressible fragrance. These were made on the third day.
45 ‘On the fourth day you commanded the brightness of the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come into being; 46and you commanded them to serve humankind, about to be formed.
47 ‘On the fifth day you commanded the seventh part, where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures, birds, and fishes; and so it was done. 48The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as it was commanded, so that therefore the nations might declare your wondrous works.
49 ‘Then you kept in existence two living creatures;* one you called Behemoth* and the name of the other was Leviathan. 50And you separated one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both. 51And you gave Behemoth* one of the parts that had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains; 52but to Leviathan you gave the seventh part, the watery part; and you have kept them to be eaten by whom you wish, and when you wish.
53 ‘On the sixth day you commanded the earth to bring forth before you cattle, wild animals, and creeping things; 54and over these you placed Adam, as ruler over all the works that you had made; and from him we have all come, the people whom you have chosen.
55 ‘All this I have spoken before you, O Lord, because you have said that it was for us that you created this world.* 56As for the other nations that have descended from Adam, you have said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and you have compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket. 57And now, O Lord, these nations, which are reputed to be as nothing, domineer over us and devour us. 58But we your people, whom you have called your firstborn, only-begotten, zealous for you,* and most dear, have been given into their hands. 59If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so?’
7When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again. 2He said to me, ‘Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that I have come to speak to you.’
3 I said, ‘Speak, my lord.’ And he said to me, ‘There is a sea set in a wide expanse so that it is deep and vast, 4but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so that it is like a river. 5If there are those who wish to reach the sea, to look at it or to navigate it, how can they come to the broad part unless they pass through the narrow part? 6Another example: There is a city built and set on a plain, and it is full of all good things; 7but the entrance to it is narrow and set in a precipitous place, so that there is fire on the right hand and deep water on the left. 8There is only one path lying between them, that is, between the fire and the water, so that only one person can walk on the path. 9If now the city is given to someone as an inheritance, how will the heir receive the inheritance unless by passing through the appointed danger?’
10 I said, ‘That is right, lord.’ He said to me, ‘So also is Israel’s portion. 11For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. 12And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. 13But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and yield the fruit of immortality. 14Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult and futile experiences, they can never receive those things that have been reserved for them. 15Now therefore, why are you disturbed, seeing that you are to perish? Why are you moved, seeing that you are mortal? 16Why have you not considered in your mind what is to come, rather than what is now present?’
17 Then I answered and said, ‘O sovereign Lord, you have ordained in your law that the righteous shall inherit these things, but that the ungodly shall perish. 18The righteous, therefore, can endure difficult circumstances while hoping for easier ones; but those who have done wickedly have suffered the difficult circumstances and will never see the easier ones.’
19 He said to me, ‘You are not a better judge than the Lord,* or wiser than the Most High!
20Let many perish who are now living, rather than that the law of God that is set before them be disregarded!
21For the Lord* strictly commanded those who came into the world, when they came, what they should do to live, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.
22Nevertheless, they were not obedient, and spoke against him;
they devised for themselves vain thoughts,
23 and proposed to themselves wicked frauds;
they even declared that the Most High does not exist,
and they ignored his ways.
24 They scorned his law,
and denied his covenants;
they have been unfaithful to his statutes,
and have not performed his works.
25That is the reason, Ezra, that empty things are for the empty, and full things are for the full.
26 ‘For indeed the time will come, when the signs that I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city that now is not seen shall appear,* and the land that now is hidden shall be disclosed. 27Everyone who has been delivered from the evils that I have foretold shall see my wonders. 28For my son the Messiah* shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice for four hundred years. 29After those years my son the Messiah shall die, and all who draw human breath.* 30Then the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings, so that no one shall be left. 31After seven days the world that is not yet awake shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish. 32The earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the dust those who rest there in silence; and the chambers shall give up the souls that have been committed to them. 33The Most High shall be revealed on the seat of judgement, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn.* 34Only judgement shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. 35Recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep.* 36 The pit* of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell* shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. 37 Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, “Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised. 38 Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments.” Thus he will* speak to them on the day of judgement— 39 a day that has no sun or moon or stars, 40 or cloud or thunder or lightning, or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning, 41 or summer or spring or heat or winter* or frost or cold, or hail or rain or dew, 42 or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendour of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been destined. 43 It will last as though for a week of years. 44 This is my judgement and its prescribed order; and to you alone I have shown these things.’
49 He answered me and said, ‘Listen to me, Ezra,* and I will instruct you, and will admonish you once more. 50 For this reason the Most High has made not one world but two. 51 Inasmuch as you have said that the righteous are not many but few, while the ungodly abound, hear the explanation for this.
8He answered me and said, ‘The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few. 2But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you ask the earth, it will tell you that it provides a large amount of clay from which earthenware is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes, so is the course of the present world. 3Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.’
4 I answered and said, ‘Then drink your fill of understanding,* O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart. 5For not of your own will did you come into the world,* and against your will you depart, for you have been given only a short time to live. 6O Lord above us, grant to your servant that we may pray before you, and give us a seed for our heart and cultivation of our understanding so that fruit may be produced, by which every mortal who bears the likeness* of a human being may be able to live. 7For you alone exist, and we are a work of your hands, as you have declared. 8And because you give life to the body that is now fashioned in the womb, and furnish it with members, what you have created is preserved amid fire and water, and for nine months the womb* endures your creature that has been created in it. 9But that which keeps and that which is kept shall both be kept by your keeping.* And when the womb gives up again what has been created in it, 10you have commanded that from the members themselves (that is, from the breasts) milk, the fruit of the breasts, should be supplied, 11so that what has been fashioned may be nourished for a time; and afterwards you will still guide it in your mercy. 12You have nurtured it in your righteousness, and instructed it in your law, and reproved it in your wisdom. 13You put it to death as your creation, and make it live as your work. 14If then you will suddenly and quickly* destroy what with so great labour was fashioned by your command, to what purpose was it made? 15And now I will speak out: About all humankind you know best; but I will speak about your people, for whom I am grieved, 16and about your inheritance, for whom I lament, and about Israel, for whom I am sad, and about the seed of Jacob, for whom I am troubled. 17Therefore I will pray before you for myself and for them, for I see the failings of us who inhabit the earth; 18and now also* I have heard of the swiftness of the judgement that is to come. 19Therefore hear my voice and understand my words, and I will speak before you.’
The beginning of the words of Ezra’s prayer,* before he was taken up. He said: 20‘O Lord, you who inhabit eternity,* whose eyes are exalted* and whose upper chambers are in the air, 21whose throne is beyond measure and whose glory is beyond comprehension, before whom the hosts of angels stand trembling 22and at whose command they are changed to wind and fire,* whose word is sure and whose utterances are certain, whose command is strong and whose ordinance is terrible, 23whose look dries up the depths and whose indignation makes the mountains melt away, and whose truth is established* for ever— 24hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servant, and give ear to the petition of your creature; attend to my words. 25For as long as I live I will speak, and as long as I have understanding I will answer. 26O do not look on the sins of your people, but on those who serve you in truth. 27Do not take note of the endeavours of those who act wickedly, but of the endeavours of those who have kept your covenants amid afflictions. 28Do not think of those who have lived wickedly in your sight, but remember those who have willingly acknowledged that you are to be feared. 29Do not will the destruction of those who have the ways of cattle, but regard those who have gloriously taught your law.* 30Do not be angry with those who are deemed worse than wild animals, but love those who have always put their trust in your glory. 31For we and our ancestors have passed our lives in ways that bring death;* but it is because of us sinners that you are called merciful. 32For if you have desired to have pity on us, who have no works of righteousness, then you will be called merciful. 33For the righteous, who have many works laid up with you, shall receive their reward in consequence of their own deeds. 34But what are mortals, that you are angry with them; or what is a corruptible race, that you are so bitter against it? 35For in truth there is no one among those who have been born who has not acted wickedly; among those who have existed* there is no one who has not done wrong. 36For in this, O Lord, your righteousness and goodness will be declared, when you are merciful to those who have no store of good works.’
37 He answered me and said, ‘Some things you have spoken rightly, and it will turn out according to your words. 38For indeed I will not concern myself about the fashioning of those who have sinned, or about their death, their judgement, or their destruction; 39but I will rejoice over the creation of the righteous, over their pilgrimage also, and their salvation, and their receiving their reward. 40As I have spoken, therefore, so it shall be.
41 ‘For just as the farmer sows many seeds in the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown will come up* in due season, and not all that were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved.’
42 I answered and said, ‘If I have found favour in your sight, let me speak. 43If the farmer’s seed does not come up, because it has not received your rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.* 44But people, who have been formed by your hands and are called your own image because they are made like you, and for whose sake you have formed all things—have you also made them like the farmer’s seed? 45Surely not, O Lord* above! But spare your people and have mercy on your inheritance, for you have mercy on your own creation.’
46 He answered me and said, ‘Things that are present are for those who live now, and things that are future are for those who will live hereafter. 47For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it. But you have often compared yourself* to the unrighteous. Never do so! 48But even in this respect you will be praiseworthy before the Most High, 49because you have humbled yourself, as is becoming for you, and have not considered yourself to be among the righteous. You will receive the greatest glory, 50for many miseries will affect those who inhabit the world in the last times, because they have walked in great pride. 51But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself, 52because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed,* goodness is established, and wisdom perfected beforehand. 53The root of evil* is sealed up from you, illness is banished from you, and death* is hidden; Hades has fled and corruption has been forgotten;* 54sorrows have passed away, and in the end the treasure of immortality is made manifest. 55Therefore do not ask any more questions about the great number of those who perish. 56For when they had opportunity to choose, they despised the Most High, and were contemptuous of his law, and abandoned his ways. 57Moreover, they have even trampled on his righteous ones, 58and said in their hearts that there is no God—though they knew well that they must die. 59For just as the things that I have predicted await* you, so the thirst and torment that are prepared await them. For the Most High did not intend that anyone should be destroyed; 60but those who were created have themselves defiled the name of him who made them, and have been ungrateful to him who prepared life for them now. 61Therefore my judgement is now drawing near; 62I have not shown this to all people, but only to you and a few like you.’
Then I answered and said, 63‘O Lord, you have already shown me a great number of the signs that you will do in the last times, but you have not shown me when you will do them.’
9He answered me and said, ‘Measure carefully in your mind, and when you see that some of the predicted signs have occurred, 2then you will know that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world that he has made. 3So when there shall appear in the world earthquakes, tumult of peoples, intrigues of nations, wavering of leaders, confusion of princes, 4then you will know that it was of these that the Most High spoke from the days that were of old, from the beginning. 5For just as with everything that has occurred in the world, the beginning is evident,* and the end manifest; 6so also are the times of the Most High: the beginnings are manifest in wonders and mighty works, and the end in penalties* and in signs.
7 ‘It shall be that all who will be saved and will be able to escape on account of their works, or on account of the faith by which they have believed, 8will survive the dangers that have been predicted, and will see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have sanctified for myself from the beginning. 9Then those who have now abused my ways shall be amazed, and those who have rejected them with contempt shall live in torments. 10For as many as did not acknowledge me in their lifetime, though they received my benefits, 11and as many as scorned my law while they still had freedom, and did not understand but despised it* while an opportunity of repentance was still open to them, 12these must in torment acknowledge it* after death. 13Therefore, do not continue to be curious about how the ungodly will be punished; but inquire how the righteous will be saved, those to whom the age belongs and for whose sake the age was made.’*
14 I answered and said, 15‘I said before, and I say now, and will say it again: there are more who perish than those who will be saved, 16as a wave is greater than a drop of water.’
17 He answered me and said, ‘As is the field, so is the seed; and as are the flowers, so are the colours; and as is the work, so is the product; and as is the farmer, so is the threshing-floor. 18For there was a time in this age when I was preparing for those who now exist, before the world was made for them to live in, and no one opposed me then, for no one existed; 19but now those who have been created in this world, which is supplied both with an unfailing table and an inexhaustible pasture,* have become corrupt in their ways. 20So I considered my world, and saw that it was lost. I saw that my earth was in peril because of the devices of those who* had come into it. 21And I saw and spared some* with great difficulty, and saved for myself one grape out of a cluster, and one plant out of a great forest.* 22So let the multitude perish that has been born in vain, but let my grape and my plant be saved, because with much labour I have perfected them.
23 ‘Now, if you will let seven days more pass—do not, however, fast during them, 24but go into a field of flowers where no house has been built, and eat only of the flowers of the field, and taste no meat and drink no wine, but eat only flowers— 25and pray to the Most High continually, then I will come and talk with you.’
26 So I went, as he directed me, into the field that is called Ardat;* there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field, and the nourishment they afforded satisfied me. 27After seven days, while I lay on the grass, my heart was troubled again as it was before. 28Then my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and said, 29‘O Lord, you showed yourself among us, to our ancestors in the wilderness when they came out from Egypt and when they came into the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness; 30and you said, “Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to my words, O descendants of Jacob. 31For I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you, and you shall be glorified through it for ever.” 32But though our ancestors received the law, they did not keep it and did not observe the* statutes; yet the fruit of the law did not perish—for it could not, because it was yours. 33Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep what had been sown in them. 34Now this is the general rule that, when the ground has received seed, or the sea a ship, or any dish food or drink, and when it comes about that what was sown or what was launched or what was put in is destroyed, 35they are destroyed, but the things that held them remain; yet with us it has not been so. 36For we who have received the law and sinned will perish, as well as our hearts that received it; 37the law, however, does not perish but survives in its glory.’
38 When I said these things in my heart, I looked around,* and on my right I saw a woman; she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart; her clothes were torn, and there were ashes on her head. 39Then I dismissed the thoughts with which I had been engaged, and turned to her 40and said to her, ‘Why are you weeping, and why are you grieved at heart?’
41 She said to me, ‘Let me alone, my lord, so that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply distressed.’
42 I said to her, ‘What has happened to you? Tell me.’
43 And she said to me, ‘Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband for thirty years. 44Every hour and every day during those thirty years I prayed to the Most High, night and day. 45And after thirty years God heard your servant, and looked upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbours;* and we gave great glory to the Mighty One. 46And I brought him up with much care. 47So when he grew up and I came to take a wife for him, I set a day for the marriage feast.
10‘But it happened that when my son entered his wedding-chamber, he fell down and died. 2So all of us put out our lamps, and all my neighbours* attempted to console me; I remained quiet until the evening of the second day. 3But when all of them had stopped consoling me, encouraging me to be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and I came to this field, as you see. 4And now I intend not to return to the town, but to stay here; I will neither eat nor drink, but will mourn and fast continually until I die.’
5 Then I broke off the reflections with which I was still engaged, and answered her in anger and said, 6‘You most foolish of women, do you not see our mourning, and what has happened to us? 7For Zion, the mother of us all, is in deep grief and great distress. 8It is most appropriate to mourn now, because we are all mourning, and to be sorrowful, because we are all sorrowing; you are sorrowing for one son, but we, the whole world, for our mother.* 9Now ask the earth, and she will tell you that it is she who ought to mourn over so many who have come into being upon her. 10From the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come; and, lo, almost all go* to perdition, and a multitude of them will come to doom. 11Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great a multitude, or you who are grieving for one alone? 12But if you say to me, “My lamentation is not like the earth’s, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth in pain and bore in sorrow; 13but it is with the earth according to the way of the earth—the multitude that is now in it goes as it came”; 14then I say to you, “Just as you brought forth in sorrow, so the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, humankind, to him who made her.” 15Now, therefore, keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear bravely the troubles that have come upon you. 16For if you acknowledge the decree of God to be just, you will receive your son back in due time, and will be praised among women. 17Therefore go into the town to your husband.’
18 She said to me, ‘I will not do so; I will not go into the city, but I will die here.’
19 So I spoke again to her, and said, 20‘Do not do that, but let yourself be persuaded—for how many are the adversities of Zion?—and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem. 21For you see how our sanctuary has been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple destroyed; 22our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered, our holy things have been polluted, and the name by which we are called has been almost profaned; our children* have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into exile, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished; our righteous men* have been carried off, our little ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong men made powerless. 23And, worst of all, the seal of Zion has been deprived of its glory, and given over into the hands of those that hate us. 24Therefore shake off your great sadness and lay aside your many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may be merciful to you again, and the Most High may give you rest, a respite from your troubles.’
25 While I was talking to her, her face suddenly began to shine exceedingly; her countenance flashed like lightning, so that I was too frightened to approach her, and my heart was terrified. While* I was wondering what this meant, 26she suddenly uttered a loud and fearful cry, so that the earth shook at the sound. 27When I looked up, the woman was no longer visible to me, but a city was being built,* and a place of huge foundations showed itself. I was afraid, and cried with a loud voice and said, 28‘Where is the angel Uriel, who came to me at first? For it was he who brought me into this overpowering bewilderment; my end has become corruption, and my prayer a reproach.’
29 While I was speaking these words, the angel who had come to me at first came to me, and when he saw me 30lying there like a corpse, deprived of my understanding, he grasped my right hand and strengthened me and set me on my feet, and said to me,
| << | >> |
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Enter another bible reference:
obb
bible browser
biblemail@oremus.org
v 2.9.2
30 June 2021