2 Esdras 11–12

Then saw I a dream, and behold, there came up ^afrom the sea ^aaan eagle, which had twelve feathered wings, and three heads. ²And I saw, and behold, she spread her wings over all the earth, and all the winds of the air blew on her, and were gathered together. ³And I beheld, and out of her feathers there grew other ^bcontrary feathers; and they became little feathers and small. ⁴But her heads were at rest: the head in the midst was greater than the other, yet rested it with the residue. ⁵Moreover I beheld, and lo, the eagle flew with her feathers, and reigned upon earth, and over them that dwelt therein. ⁶And I saw that all things under heaven were subject unto her, and no man spake against her, no, not one creature upon earth. ⁷And I beheld, and lo, the eagle rose upon her talons, and spake to her feathers, saying, ⁸Watch not all at once: sleep every one in his own place, and watch by course: ⁹but let the heads be preserved for the last. ¹⁰And I beheld, and lo, the voice went not out of her heads, but from the midst of her body. ¹¹And I numbered her ^bcontrary feathers, and behold, there were ^feight of them. ¹²And I looked, and behold, ^con the right side there arose one feather, and reigned over all the earth; ¹³and so it was, that when it reigned, the end of it came, and ^dthe place thereof appeared no more: so the next following stood up, and reigned, and had a great time; ¹⁴and it happened, that when it reigned, the end of it came also, like as the first, so that it appeared no more. ¹⁵Then came there a voice unto it, and said, ¹⁶Hear thou that hast borne rule over the earth so long: this I say unto thee, before thou beginnest to appear no more, ¹⁷There shall none after thee attain unto thy time, neither unto the half thereof. ¹⁸Then arose the third, and reigned as the other before, and appeared no more also. ¹⁹So went it with all the residue one after another, as that every one reigned, and then appeared no more. ²⁰Then I beheld, and lo, in process of time the feathers that followed stood up ^cupon the right side, that they might rule also; and some of them ruled, but within a while they appeared no more: ²¹for some of them were set up, but ruled not. ²²After this I looked, and behold, ^ethe twelve feathers appeared no more, nor the ^ftwo ^blittle feathers: ²³and there was no more upon the eagle’s body, but three ^gheads that rested, and ^fsix ^blittle wings. ²⁴Then saw I also that two little feathers divided themselves from the six, and remained under the head that was upon the right side: for ⁱthe four continued ^hin their place. ²⁵And I beheld, and lo, ^hthe feathers that were under the wing thought to set up themselves, and to have the rule. ²⁶And I beheld, and lo, there was ⁱone set up, but shortly it appeared no more. ²⁷And ⁱthe second was sooner away than the first. ²⁸And I beheld, and lo, ⁱthe two that remained thought also in themselves to reign: ²⁹and when they so thought, behold, there awaked one of ^gthe heads that were at rest, namely, it that was in the midst; for that was greater than the two other heads. ³⁰And then I saw that the two other heads were joined with it. ³¹And behold, the head was turned ^jwith them that were with it, and did eat up ⁱthe two ^hfeathers under the wing that would have reigned. ³²But this head put the whole earth in fear, and bare rule in it over all those that dwelt upon the earth, ^kwith much oppression; and it had the governance of the world more than all the wings that had been. ³³And after this I beheld, and lo, the head that was in the midst suddenly appeared no more, ^llike as the wings. ³⁴But there remained the two heads, which also in like sort ruled upon the earth, and over those that dwelt therein. ³⁵And I beheld, and lo, the head upon the right side devoured it that was upon the left side.

³⁶Then I heard a voice, which said unto me, Look before thee, and consider the thing that thou seest. ³⁷And I beheld, and lo, as it were a roaring ^mlion chased out of the wood: and I saw that he sent out a man’s voice unto the eagle, and said, ³⁸Hear thou, I will talk with thee, and the Highest shall say unto thee, ³⁹Art not thou it that remainest of ⁿthe four beasts, whom I made to reign in my world, that the end of their times might come through them? ⁴⁰And ^othe fourth came, and overcame all the beasts that were past, and had power over the world with great fearfulness, and over ^pthe whole compass of the earth ^kwith much wicked oppression; and so long time dwelt he upon the earth with deceit. ⁴¹For the earth hast thou not judged with truth. ⁴²For thou hast afflicted the meek, thou hast hurt the peaceable, thou hast loved liars, and destroyed the dwellings of them that brought forth fruit, and hast cast down the walls of such as did thee no harm. ⁴³Therefore is thy wrongful dealing come up unto the Highest, and thy pride unto the Mighty. ⁴⁴The Highest also hath looked upon the proud times, and behold, they are ended, and his abominations are fulfilled. ⁴⁵And therefore appear no more, thou eagle, nor ^qthy horrible wings, nor ^rthy wicked feathers, nor ^qthy malicious heads, nor thy hurtful ^sclaws, nor all thy vain body: ⁴⁶that all the earth ^tmay be refreshed, and may return, being delivered from thy violence, and that she may hope for the judgment and mercy of him that made her.

XII.And it came to pass, whiles the lion spake these words unto the eagle, I saw, ²and behold, ^athe head that remained, and ^bthe four wings appeared no more, and ^cthe two went unto it, and set themselves up to reign, and ^ctheir kingdom was small, and full of uproar. ³And I saw, and behold, they appeared no more, and the whole body of the eagle was burnt, so that the earth was in great fear: then awaked I out of the trouble and ^cctrance of my mind, and from great fear, and said unto my spirit, ⁴Lo, this hast thou done unto me, in that thou searchest out the ways of the Highest. ⁵Lo, yet am I weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was affrighted this night. ⁶Therefore will I now beseech the Highest, that he will comfort me unto the end. ⁷And I said, ^dLord that bearest rule, ^eif I have found grace before thy sight, and if I am justified with thee before many others, and if my prayer indeed be come up before thy face; ⁸comfort me then, and shew me thy servant the interpretation and plain difference of this fearful vision, that thou mayest perfectly comfort my soul. ^9fFor ^gthou hast judged me worthy to shew me ^hthe last times. ¹⁰And he said unto me,

This is the interpretation of the vision: ¹¹ⁱThe eagle, whom thou sawest come up from the sea, is the kingdom which was seen ^jin the vision of thy brother Daniel. ¹²But it was not expounded unto him, therefore now I declare it unto thee. ¹³Behold, the days will come, that there shall rise up a kingdom upon earth, and it shall be feared above all the kingdoms that were before it. ¹⁴In the same ^kshall twelve kings reign, one after another: ¹⁵whereof ^lthe second shall begin to reign, and shall have more time than any of the twelve. ¹⁶And this do the twelve wings signify, which thou sawest. ¹⁷As for the voice which thou heardest speak, and ^mthat thou sawest ⁿnot to go out from the heads, but from the midst of the body thereof, this is the interpretation: ¹⁸That after the time of that kingdom there shall arise great strivings, and it shall stand in peril of falling: nevertheless it shall not then fall, but shall be restored again to his beginning. ¹⁹And whereas thou sawest ^othe eight small under feathers sticking to her wings, this is the interpretation: ²⁰That in him there shall arise eight kings, whose times shall be but small, and their years swift. ²¹And ^ptwo of them shall perish, the middle time approaching: ^qfour shall be kept until their end begin to approach: but ^rtwo shall be kept unto the end. ²²And whereas thou sawest ^sthree heads resting, this is the interpretation: ^23tIn his last days shall the most High raise up three kingdoms, and renew many things therein, and they shall have the dominion of the earth, ²⁴and of those that dwell therein, ^uwith much oppression, above all those that were before them: therefore are they called the heads of the eagle. ²⁵For these are they that shall accomplish his wickedness, and that shall finish his last end. ²⁶And whereas thou sawest that ^wthe great head appeared no more, it signifieth that one of them shall die upon his bed, and yet with pain. ²⁷For the two that remain shall be slain with the sword. ²⁸For ^xthe sword of the one shall devour the other: but at the last ^yshall he fall through the sword himself. ²⁹And whereas thou sawest ^rtwo feathers under the wings passing over the head that is on the right side; ³⁰it signifieth that these are they, whom the Highest ^rhath kept unto their end: this is ^zthe small kingdom and full of trouble, as thou sawest. ³¹And ^athe lion, whom thou sawest rising up out of the wood, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her for her unrighteousness with all the words which thou hast heard; ³²this is the anointed, which the Highest hath kept for them and for their wickedness unto the end: he shall reprove them, and shall upbraid them with their cruelty. ³³For he shall set them before him alive in judgment, and shall rebuke them, and correct them. ³⁴For the rest of my people shall he deliver with mercy, those that have been preserved upon my borders, and he shall make them joyful until the coming of the day of judgment, ^bwhereof I have spoken unto thee from the beginning. ³⁵This is the dream that thou sawest, and these are the interpretations. ³⁶Thou only hast been meet to know this secret of the Highest. ³⁷Therefore ^cwrite all these things that thou hast seen in a book, and ^cchide them: ³⁸and teach them to the wise of the people, whose hearts thou knowest may comprehend and keep these secrets. ³⁹But wait thou here thyself yet ^dseven…