2 Esdras 9–13

Chapter 9

¹He answered me and said, “Measure carefully in your mind, and when you see that a certain part of the predicted signs are past, ²then you will know that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world which 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 requital and in signs. ⁷And it shall be that every one who will be saved and will be able to escape on account of his works, or on account of the faith by which he has 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 dwell in torments. ¹⁰For as many as did not acknowledge me in their lifetime, although 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 as to 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.”

¹⁴I 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.”

¹⁷He answered me and said, “As is the field, so is the seed; and as are the flowers, so are the colors; 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 dwell 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 behold, it was lost, and my earth, and behold, it 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 which has been born in vain, but let my grape and my plant be saved, because with much labor I have perfected them. ²³But if you will let seven days more pass—do not fast during them, however; 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.”

²⁶So I went, as he directed me, into the field which is called Ardat; and there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field, and the nourishment they afforded satisfied me. ²⁷And after seven days, as I lay on the grass, my heart was troubled again as it was before. ²⁸And my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and said, ²⁹“O Lord, thou didst show thyself among us, to our fathers in the wilderness when they came out from Egypt and when they came into the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness; ³⁰and thou didst say, ‘Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to my words, O descendants of Jacob. ³¹For behold, 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 fathers 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 thine. ³³Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep what had been sown in them. ³⁴And behold, it is the rule that, when the ground has received seed, or the sea a ship, or any dish food or drink, and when it happens 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 heart which received it; ³⁷the law, however, does not perish but remains in its glory.”

³⁸When I said these things in my heart, I lifted up my eyes and saw a woman on my right, and behold, she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart, and her clothes were rent, 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?”

⁴¹And she said to me, “Let me alone, my lord, that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply afflicted.”

⁴²And I said to her, “What has happened to you? Tell me.”

⁴³And she said to me, “Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband thirty years. ⁴⁴And every hour and every day during those thirty years I besought the Most High, night and day. ⁴⁵And after thirty years God heard your handmaid, and looked upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. And I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbors; 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.

Chapter 10

¹“But it happened that when my son entered his wedding chamber, he fell down and died. ²Then we all put out the lamps, and all my neighbors attempted to console me; and I remained quiet until evening of the second day. ³But when they all had stopped consoling me, that I might be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and came to this field, as you see. ⁴And now I intend not to return to the city, but to stay here, and I will neither eat nor drink, but without ceasing mourn and fast until I die.”

⁵Then 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 affliction. 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. ¹⁰And from the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come; and behold, almost all go to perdition, and a multitude of them are destined for destruction. ¹¹Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great a multitude, or you who are grieving for one? 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, ‘As you brought forth in sorrow, so the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, man, 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 city to your husband.”

¹⁸She said to me, “I will not do so; I will not go into the city, but I will die here.”

¹⁹So I spoke again to her, and said, ²⁰“Do not say that, but let yourself be persuaded because of the troubles of Zion, and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem. ²¹For you see that 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 profaned; our free men have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into captivity, 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, what is more than all, the seal of Zion—for she has now lost the seal of her glory, and has been 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 relief from your troubles.”

²⁵While I was talking to her, behold, her face suddenly shone exceedingly, and 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, ²⁶behold, she suddenly uttered a loud and fearful cry, so that the earth shook at the sound. ²⁷And I looked, and behold, the woman was no longer visible to me, but there was an established city, and a place of huge foundations showed itself. Then 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.”

²⁹As I was…