2 Esdras 6:36–9:26

^36aAnd in the eighth night was my heart vexed within me again, and I began to speak before the most High. ³⁷For my spirit was greatly set on fire, and my soul was in distress. ³⁸And I said,

O Lord, thou spakest from the beginning of the creation, even the first day, and saidst thus; ^bLet heaven and earth be made; and thy word was a perfect work. ³⁹And ^cthen was the Spirit, and darkness and ^ccsilence were on every side; the sound of man’s voice was not yet formed. ^40dThen commandedst thou a fair light to come forth ^eof thy treasures, that thy work might appear. ^41fUpon the second day thou madest the spirit of the firmament, and commandedst it to part asunder and to make a division betwixt the waters, that the one part might go up, and the other remain beneath. ^42gUpon the third day thou didst command that the waters should be gathered in the seventh part of the earth: six parts hast thou dried up, and kept them, to the intent that of these some being planted of God and tilled might serve thee. ⁴³For as soon as thy word went forth the work was made. ⁴⁴For immediately there was ^hgreat and innumerable fruit, and many and divers pleasures for the taste, and ⁱflowers of unchangeable colour, and odours of wonderful smell: and this was done the third day. ^45jUpon the fourth day thou commandedst that the sun should shine, and the moon give her light, and the stars should be in order: ⁴⁶and gavest them a charge to do ^kservice unto man, that was to be made. ^47lUpon the fifth day thou saidst unto ^mthe seventh part, where the waters were gathered, that it should bring forth living creatures, fowls and fishes: and so it came to pass. ^48lFor the dumb water and without life brought forth living things at the commandment of God, that all people might praise thy wondrous works. ⁴⁹Then didst thou ordain two living creatures, the one thou calledst Enoch, and the other ⁿLeviathan; ⁵⁰and didst separate the one from the other: for ^mthe seventh part (namely, where the water was gathered together) might not hold them both. ⁵¹Unto ^oEnoch thou gavest ^mone part, which was dried up the third day, that he should dwell in the same part, wherein are ^pa thousand hills: ⁵²but unto Leviathan thou gavest ^mthe seventh part, namely, the moist; and ^qhast kept him to be devoured of whom thou wilt, and when. ^53rUpon the sixth day thou gavest commandment unto the earth, that before thee it should bring forth beasts, cattle, and creeping things: ^54sand after these, Adam also, whom thou madest lord of all thy creatures: of him come we all, and the people also whom thou hast chosen. ⁵⁵All this have I spoken before thee, O Lord, because ^tthou madest the world for our sakes. ⁵⁶As for the other people, which also come of Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle: and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel. ⁵⁷And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen, which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us, and to devour us. ⁵⁸But we thy people, (whom thou hast called ^uthy firstborn, thy only begotten, and thy fervent lover) are given into their hands. ⁵⁹If ^tthe world now be made for our sakes, why do we not possess an inheritance with the world? ^whow long shall this endure?

VII.And when I had made an end of speaking these words, there was sent unto me ^athe angel which had been sent unto me the nights afore: ²and he said unto me, Up, Esdras, and hear the words that I am come to tell thee. ³And I said, Speak on, ^bmy God. Then said he unto me, The sea is set in a wide place, that it might be deep and great. ⁴But put the case the entrance were narrow, and like a river; ⁵who then could go into the sea to look upon it, and to rule it? if he went not through the narrow, how could he come into the broad? ⁶There is also another thing; A city is builded, and set upon a broad field, and is full of all good things: ⁷the entrance thereof is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left a deep water: ⁸and one only path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so small that there could but one man go there at once. ⁹If this city now were given unto a man for an inheritance, if he never shall pass the danger set before it, how shall he receive this inheritance? ¹⁰And I said, It is so, Lord. Then said he unto me, Even so also is Israel’s portion. ¹¹Because ^cfor their sakes I made the world: and ^dwhen Adam transgressed my statutes, then was decreed that now is done. ¹²Then were the entrances of this world made narrow, ^efull of sorrow and travail: they are but few and evil, full of perils, and very painful. ¹³For the entrances of the ^felder world were wide and sure, and brought ^gimmortal fruit. ¹⁴If then they that live labour not to enter these ^hstrait and vain things, they can never ⁱreceive those that are laid up for them. ¹⁵Now therefore why disquietest thou thyself, seeing thou art but a corruptible man? and why art thou moved, whereas thou art but mortal? ¹⁶Why hast thou not considered in thy mind this thing that is to come, rather than that which is present? ¹⁷Then answered I and said, ^kO Lord that bearest rule, thou hast ordained ^lin thy law, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish. ¹⁸Nevertheless the righteous shall suffer strait things, and hope for wide: for they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things, and yet shall not see the wide. ¹⁹And he said unto me, There is no judge above God, and none that hath understanding above the Highest. ²⁰For there be many that perish in this life, because they despise the law of God that is set before them. ²¹For God hath given strait commandment to such as came, what they should do to live, even as they came, and what they should observe to avoid punishment. ²²Nevertheless they were not obedient unto him; but spake against him, and imagined vain things; ²³and deceived themselves by their wicked deeds; and said of the most High, that he is not; and knew not his ways: ²⁴but ^mhis law have they despised, and denied his covenants: in his statutes have they not been faithful, and have not performed his works. ²⁵And therefore, Esdras, ⁿfor the empty are empty things, and for the full are the full things.

²⁶Behold, the time shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth. ²⁷And whosoever is delivered from ^othe foresaid evils shall see my wonders. ²⁸For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with him, and they that remain shall rejoice within ^pfour hundred years. ^29pAfter these years shall my son Christ die, and all men that have life. ³⁰And the world shall be turned into ^qthe old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall remain. ³¹And after seven days the world, that yet awaketh not, shall be raised up, and that shall die that is corrupt. ³²And ^rthe earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and so ^rshall the dust those that dwell in silence, and the ^ssecret places shall deliver those souls that were committed unto them. ³³And ^tthe most High shall appear upon the seat of judgment, and misery shall pass away, and the long suffering shall have an end: ³⁴but judgment only shall remain, ^utruth shall stand, and ^ufaith shall wax strong: ³⁵and ^vthe work shall follow, and ^wthe reward shall be shewed, and the good deeds shall be of force, and wicked deeds shall bear no rule.

³⁶Then said I, ^xAbraham prayed first for the Sodomites, and ^yMoses for the fathers that sinned in the wilderness: ³⁷and ^zJesus after him for Israel in the time of Achan: ³⁸and ^aSamuel and ^bDavid for the destruction: and ^cSolomon for them that should come to the sanctuary: ³⁹and Helias ^dfor those that received rain; and ^efor the dead, that he might live: ⁴⁰and ^fEzechias for the people in the time of Sennacherib: and many for many. ⁴¹Even so now, seeing corruption is grown up, and wickedness increased, and the righteous have prayed for the ungodly; wherefore shall it not be so now also? ⁴²He answered me, and said, This present life is not the end, where much glory doth abide; therefore have they prayed for the weak. ⁴³But the day of doom shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of ^gthe immortality for to come, ^gwherein corruption is past, ⁴⁴intemperance is at an end, ^hinfidelity is cut off, righteousness is grown, ^hand truth is sprung up. ⁴⁵Then ⁱshall no man be able to save him that is destroyed, nor to oppress him ^kthat hath gotten the victory. ⁴⁶I answered then and said,

This is my first and last saying, that it had been better not to have given the earth unto Adam: or else, when it was given him, to have restrained him from sinning. ^47lFor what profit is it for men now in this present time to live in heaviness, and after death to look for punishment? ⁴⁸O thou Adam, what hast thou done? for ^mthough it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee. ⁴⁹For what profit is it unto us, if there be promised us an immortal time, whereas we have done ⁿthe works that bring death? ⁵⁰And that there is promised us an everlasting hope, whereas ourselves being most wicked are made vain? ⁵¹And that there are laid up for us dwellings of health and safety, whereas we have lived wickedly? ⁵²And that the glory of the most High is kept to defend them which have led a wary life, whereas we have walked in the most wicked ways of all? ⁵³And that there should be shewed ^oa paradise, whose fruit endureth for ever, wherein is security and ^pmedicine, sith we shall not enter into it? ⁵⁴(For we have walked in unpleasant places.) ⁵⁵And that ^qthe faces of them which have used abstinence shall shine above the stars, whereas ^rour faces shall be blacker than darkness? ⁵⁶For while we lived and committed…