2 Esdras 6:35–59

35 Now after this I wept again and fasted seven days as before, in order to complete the three weeks as I had been told. 36 And on the eighth night my heart was troubled within me again, and I began to speak in the presence of the Most High. 37 For my spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress.

38 I said, “O Lord, thou didst speak at the beginning of creation, and didst say on the first day, ‘Let heaven and earth be made,’ and thy word accomplished the work. 39 And then the Spirit was hovering, and darkness and silence embraced everything; the sound of man’s voice was not yet there. 40 Then thou didst command that a ray of light be brought forth from thy treasuries, so that thy works might then appear.

41 “Again, on the second day, thou didst create the spirit of the firmament, and didst command him to divide and separate the waters, that one part might move upward and the other part remain beneath.

42 “On the third day thou didst command the waters to be gathered together in the seventh part of the earth; six parts thou didst dry up and keep so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of service before thee. 43 For thy word went forth, and at once the work was done. 44 For immediately fruit came forth in endless abundance and of varied appeal to the taste; and flowers of inimitable color; and odors of inexpressible fragrance. These were made on the third day.

45 “On the fourth day thou didst command the brightness of the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come into being; 46 and thou didst command them to serve man, who was about to be formed.

47 “On the fifth day thou didst command the seventh part, where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures, birds, and fishes; and so it was done. 48 The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as it was commanded, that therefore the nations might declare thy wondrous works.

49 “Then thou didst keep in existence two living creatures; the name of one thou didst call Behemoth and the name of the other Leviathan. 50 And thou didst separate one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both. 51 And thou didst give Behemoth one of the parts which had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains; 52 but to Leviathan thou didst give the seventh part, the watery part; and thou hast kept them to be eaten by whom thou wilt, and when thou wilt.

53 “On the sixth day thou didst command the earth to bring forth before thee cattle, beasts, and creeping things; 54 and over these thou didst place Adam, as ruler over all the works which thou hadst made; and from him we have all come, the people whom thou hast chosen.

55 “All this I have spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou hast said that it was for us that thou didst create this world. 56 As for the other nations which have descended from Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and thou hast compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket. 57 And now, O Lord, behold, these nations, which are reputed as nothing, domineer over us and devour us. 58 But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy first-born, only begotten, zealous for thee, and most dear, have been given into their hands. 59 If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so?”