Ezra Again Appeals to God’s Mercy

4 I answered and said, “Then drink your fill of understanding,a O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart. 5 For not of your own will did you come into the world,b and against your will you depart, for you have been given only a short time to live. 6 O 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 likenessc of a human being may be able to live.