2 Esdras 2

Thus saith the Lord, ^aI brought this people out of bondage, and ^bI gave them my commandments by my servants the prophets; whom they would not hear, but despised my counsels. ²The mother that bare them saith unto them, Go your way, ye children; for ^cI am a widow and forsaken. ³I brought you up with gladness; but with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned before the Lord your God, and done that thing that is evil before him. ⁴But what shall I now do unto you? ^cI am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the Lord. ⁵As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of these children, which would not keep my covenant, ⁶that thou bring them to confusion, and ^dtheir mother to a spoil, ^ethat there may be no offspring of them. ⁷Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen, let their names be put out of the earth: for they have despised my covenant. ⁸Woe be unto thee, Assur, ^fthou that hidest the unrighteous in thee! O thou wicked people, remember ^gwhat I did unto Sodom and Gomorrha; ^9gwhose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that hear me not, saith the ^hAlmighty Lord.

¹⁰Thus saith the Lord unto Esdras, Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given unto ⁱIsrael. ¹¹ⁱTheir glory also will I take unto me, and give these the ^keverlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for ⁱthem. ¹²They shall have the ^ltree of life for an ointment of sweet savour; ^mthey shall neither labour, nor be weary. ¹³Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, ⁿthat they may be shortened: ^othe kingdom is already prepared for you: ^pwatch. ^14qTake heaven and earth to witness; for I have broken the evil in pieces, and created the good: for ^rI live, saith the Lord.

^15sMother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar: ^tfor I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. ¹⁶And ^uthose that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and ^ubring them out of the graves: for I have known my name in Israel. ¹⁷Fear not, thou ^smother of the children: ^tfor I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. ¹⁸For thy help I will send my servants Esay and Jeremie, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee ^wtwelve trees laden with divers fruits, ¹⁹and as many fountains ^xflowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow ^yroses and ^ylilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy. ^20zDo right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, ^aclothe the naked, ²¹heal the broken and the weak, ^blaugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness. ²²Keep the old and young within thy walls. ^23cWheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and ^dI will give thee the first place in my resurrection. ²⁴Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness shall come. ²⁵Nourish thy children, O thou ^egood nurse; stablish their feet. ^26fAs for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number. ²⁷Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance. ²⁸The heathen shall envy thee, ^gbut they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the Lord. ^29hMy hands shall cover thee, so that thy children shall not see ⁱhell. ³⁰Be joyful, O thou ^emother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the Lord. ³¹Remember thy children that sleep, for ^kI shall bring them out of the sides of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord ^lAlmighty. ³²Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.

³³I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount ^mOreb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord. ³⁴And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for ⁿyour Shepherd, he shall give you everlasting ^orest; for he is nigh at hand, ^pthat shall come in the end of the world. ³⁵Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for ^qthe everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore. ³⁶Flee ^xthe shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of ^qyour glory: I testify ^rmy Saviour openly. ³⁷O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him ^sthat hath called you to the heavenly kingdom. ³⁸Arise up and stand, behold ^tthe number of those that be ^usealed in ^wthe feast of the Lord; ³⁹which are departed from ^xthe shadow of the world, and ^yhave received glorious garments of the Lord. ⁴⁰Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up those of thine ^ythat are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord. ^41zThe number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, ^awhich have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed.

⁴²I Esdras saw ^bupon the mount Sion ^ca great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs. ⁴³And in the midst of them there was a ^hyoung man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads ^dhe set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly. ⁴⁴So I asked ^ethe angel, and said, ^fSir, what are these? ⁴⁵He answered and said unto me, These be they ^gthat have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now ^dare they crowned, and ^creceive palms. ⁴⁶Then said I unto ^ethe angel, What ^hyoung person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands? ⁴⁷So he answered and said unto me, ^dIt is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord. ⁴⁸Then ^ethe angel said unto me, Go thy way, and ⁱtell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God thou hast seen.

III.