4 Ezra thus stages a profound debate about the relationship between God’s mercy and God’s justice, and whether incongruous goodness can be, or should be, the last word. Ezra’s pleas are presented with such sympathy, and accord so well with our own hopes, that we are liable to find Uriel’s view excessively harsh. But from Uriel’s perspective, Ezra is pleading for a compromise of justice, which is ultimately unsatisfactory as a view of the world. The text poses a significant question: If grace is given