2 Esdras

Comprising what is sometimes called 5 Ezra (chapters 1-2), 4 Ezra (chapters 3-14), and 6 Ezra (chapters 15-16)

The Genealogy of Ezra

1 The book^a of the prophet Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ²son of Ahijah, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraimoth, son of Arna, son of Uzzi, son of Borith, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, ³son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, who was a captive in the country of the Medes in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.^b

Ezra's Prophetic Call

  4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵"Go, declare to my people their evil deeds, and to their children the iniquities that they have committed against me, so that they may tell^c their children's children ⁶that the sins of their parents have increased in them, for they have forgotten me and have offered sacrifices to strange gods. ⁷Was it not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage? But they have angered me and despised my counsels. ⁸Now you, pull out the hair of your head and hurl^d all evils upon them, for they have not obeyed my law--they are a rebellious people. ⁹How long shall I endure them, on whom I have bestowed such great benefits? ¹⁰For their sake I have overthrown many kings; I struck down Pharaoh with his servants and all his army. ¹¹I destroyed all nations before them, and scattered in the east the peoples of two provinces,^e Tyre and Sidon; I killed all their enemies.

God's Mercies to Israel

  12 "But speak to them and say, Thus says the Lord: ¹³Surely it was I who brought you through the sea, and made safe highways for you where there was no road; I gave you Moses as leader and Aaron as priest; ¹⁴I provided light for you from a pillar of fire, and did great wonders among you. Yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord.
  15 "Thus says the Lord Almighty:^f The quails were a sign to you; I gave you camps for your protection, and in them you complained. ¹⁶You have not exulted in my name at the destruction of your enemies, but to this day you still complain.^g 17Where are the benefits that I bestowed on you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry out to me, ¹⁸saying, 'Why have you led us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.' ¹⁹I pitied your groanings and gave you manna for food; you ate the bread of angels. ²⁰When you were thirsty, did I not split the rock so that waters flowed in abundance? Because of the heat I clothed you with the leaves of trees.^h 21I divided fertile lands among you; I drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Philistinesⁱ before you. What more can I do for you? says the Lord. ²²Thus says the Lord Almighty:^j When you were in the wilderness, at the bitter stream, thirsty and blaspheming my name, ²³I did not send fire on you for your blasphemies, but threw a tree into the water and made the stream sweet.

Israel's Disobedience and Rejection

  24 "What shall I do to you, O Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will turn to other nations and will give them my name, so that they may keep my statutes. ²⁵Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When you beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy. ²⁶When you call to me, I will not listen to you; for you have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit murder. ²⁷It is not as though you had forsaken me; you have forsaken yourselves, says the Lord.
  28 "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her children, ²⁹so that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my children and I should be your father? ³⁰I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. ³¹When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have rejected your^k festal days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh.^l 32I sent you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and killed them and torn their bodies^m in pieces; I will require their blood of you, says the Lord.ⁿ
  33 "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw; ³⁴and your sons will have no children, because with you^o they have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight. ³⁵I will give your houses to a people that will come, who without having heard me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs will do what I have commanded. ³⁶They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state.^p 37I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children rejoice with gladness;^q though they do not see me with bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.
  38 "And now, father,^r look with pride and see the people coming from the east; ³⁹to them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Hosea and Amos and Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah ⁴⁰and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.^s

a Other ancient authorities read The second book  b Other ancient authorities, which place chapters 1 and 2 after 16.78, lack verses 1-3 and begin the chapter: The word of the Lord that came to Ezra son of Chusi in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar, saying, "Go,  c Other ancient authorities read nourish  d Other ancient authorities read and shake out  e Other ancient authorities read Did I not destroy the city of Bethsaida because of you, and to the south burn two cities . . . ?  f Other ancient authorities lack Almighty  g Other ancient authorities read verse 16, Your pursuer with his army I sank in the sea, but still the people complain also concerning their own destruction.  h Other ancient authorities read I made for you trees with leaves  i Other ancient authorities read Perizzites and their children  j Other ancient authorities lack Almighty  k Other ancient authorities read I have not commanded for you  l Other ancient authorities lack of the flesh  m Other ancient authorities read the bodies of the apostles  n Other ancient authorities add Thus says the Lord Almighty: Recently you also laid hands on me, crying out before the judge's seat for him to deliver me to you. You took me as a sinner, not as a father who freed you from slavery, and you delivered me to death by hanging me on the tree; these are the things you have done. Therefore, says the Lord, let my Father and his angels return and judge between you and me; if I have not kept the commandment of the Father, if I have not nourished you, if I have not done the things my Father commanded, I will contend in judgment with you, says the Lord.  o Other ancient authorities lack with you  p Other ancient authorities read their iniquities  q Other ancient authorities read The apostles bear witness to the coming people with joy  r Other ancient authorities read brother  s Other ancient authorities read and Jacob, Elijah and Enoch, Zechariah and Hosea, Amos, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zephaniah, ⁴⁰Nahum, Jonah, Mattia (or Mattathias), Habakkuk, and twelve angels with flowers  

2 "Thus says the Lord: I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them commandments through my servants the prophets; but they would not listen to them, and made my counsels void. ²The mother who bore them^a says to them, 'Go, my children, because I am a widow and forsaken. ³I brought you up with gladness; but with mourning and sorrow I have lost you, because you have sinned before the Lord God and have done what is evil in my sight.^b 4But now what can I do for you? For I am a widow and forsaken. Go, my children, and ask for mercy from the Lord.' ⁵Now I call upon you, father, as a witness in addition to the mother of the children, because they would not keep my covenant, ⁶so that you may bring confusion on them and bring their mother to ruin, so that they may have no offspring. ⁷Let them be scattered among the nations; let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.
  8 "Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous within you! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah, ⁹whose land lies in lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes.^c That is what I will do to those who have not listened to me, says the Lord Almighty."
  10 Thus says the Lord to Ezra: "Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel. ¹¹Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had prepared for Israel.^d 12The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they shall neither toil nor become weary. ¹³Go^e and you will receive; pray that your days may be few, that they may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you; be on the watch! ¹⁴Call, O call heaven and earth to witness: I set aside evil and created good; for I am the Living One, says the Lord.

Exhortation to Good Works

  15 "Mother, embrace your children; bring them up with gladness, as does a dove; strengthen their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord. ¹⁶And I will raise up the dead from their places, and bring them out from their tombs, because I recognize my name in them. ¹⁷Do not fear, mother of children, for I have chosen you, says the Lord. ¹⁸I will send you help, my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to their counsel I have consecrated and prepared for you twelve trees loaded with various fruits, ¹⁹and the same number of springs flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains on which roses and lilies grow; by these I will fill your children with joy.
  20 "Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the ward, give to the needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, ²¹care for the injured and the weak, do not ridicule the lame, protect the maimed, and let the blind have a vision of my splendor. ²²Protect the old and the young within your walls. ²³When you find any who are dead, commit them to the grave and mark it,^f and I will give you the first place in my resurrection. ²⁴Pause and be quiet, my people, because your rest will come.
  25 "Good nurse, nourish your children; strengthen their feet. ²⁶Not one of the servants^g whom I have given you will perish, for I will require them from among your number. ²⁷Do not be anxious, for when the day of tribulation and anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice and have abundance. ²⁸The nations shall envy you, but they shall not be able to do anything against you, says the Lord. ²⁹My power will protect^h you, so that your children may not see hell.ⁱ
  30 "Rejoice, O mother, with your children, because I will deliver you, says the Lord. ³¹Remember your children that sleep, because I will bring them out of the hiding places of the earth, and will show mercy to them; for I am merciful, says the Lord Almighty. ³²Embrace your children until I come, and proclaim mercy to them; because my springs run over, and my grace will not fail."

Ezra on Mount Horeb

  33 I, Ezra, received a command from the Lord on Mount Horeb to go to Israel. When I came to them they rejected me and refused the Lord's commandment. ³⁴Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, "Wait for your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand. ³⁵Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because perpetual light will shine on you forevermore. ³⁶Flee from the shadow of this age, receive the joy of your glory; I publicly call on my savior to witness.^j 37Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful, giving thanks to him who has called you to the celestial kingdoms. ³⁸Rise, stand erect and see the number of those who have been sealed at the feast of the Lord. ³⁹Those who have departed from the shadow of this age have received glorious garments from the Lord. ⁴⁰Take again your full number, O Zion, and close the list of your people who are clothed in white, who have fulfilled the law of the Lord. ⁴¹The number of your children, whom you desired, is now complete; implore the Lord's authority that your people, who have been called from the beginning, may be made holy."

Ezra Sees the Son of God

  42 I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. ⁴³In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound. ⁴⁴Then I asked an angel, "Who are these, my lord?" ⁴⁵He answered and said to me, "These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God. Now they are being crowned, and receive palms." ⁴⁶Then I said to the angel, "Who is that young man who is placing crowns on them and putting palms in their hands?" ⁴⁷He answered and said to me, "He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world." So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord.^k 48Then the angel said to me, "Go, tell my people how great and how many are the wonders of the Lord God that you have seen."

a Other ancient authorities read They begat for themselves a mother who  b Other ancient authorities read in his sight  c Other ancient authorities read Gomorrah, whose land descends to hell  d Lat for those  e Other ancient authorities read Seek  f Or seal it; or mark them and commit them to the grave  g Or slaves  h Lat hands will cover  i Lat Gehenna  j Other ancient authorities read I testify that my savior has been commissioned by the Lord  k Other ancient authorities read to praise and glorify the Lord 

3 In the thirtieth year after the destruction of the city, I was in Babylon--I, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra. I was troubled as I lay on my bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart, ²because I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those who lived in Babylon. ³My spirit was greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious words to the Most High, and said, ⁴"O sovereign Lord, did you not speak at the beginning when you planted^a the earth--and that without help--and commanded the dust^b 5and it gave you Adam, a lifeless body? Yet he was the creation of your hands, and you breathed into him the breath of life, and he was made alive in your presence. ⁶And you led him into the garden that your right hand had planted before the earth appeared. ⁷And you laid upon him one commandment of yours; but he transgressed it, and immediately you appointed death for him and for his descendants. From him there sprang nations and tribes, peoples and clans without number. ⁸And every nation walked after its own will; they did ungodly things in your sight and rejected your commands, and you did not hinder them. ⁹But again, in its time you brought the flood upon the inhabitants of the world and destroyed them. ¹⁰And the same fate befell all of them: just as death came upon Adam, so the flood upon them. ¹¹But you left one of them, Noah with his household, and all the righteous who have descended from him.
  12 "When those who lived on earth began to multiply, they produced children and peoples and many nations, and again they began to be more ungodly than were their ancestors. ¹³And when they were committing iniquity in your sight, you chose for yourself one of them, whose name was Abraham; ¹⁴you loved him, and to him alone you revealed the end of the times, secretly by night. ¹⁵You made an everlasting covenant with him, and promised him that you would never forsake his descendants; and you gave him Isaac, and to Isaac you gave Jacob and Esau. ¹⁶You set apart Jacob for yourself, but Esau you rejected; and Jacob became a great multitude. ¹⁷And when you led his descendants out of Egypt, you brought them to Mount Sinai. ¹⁸You bent down the heavens and shook^c the earth, and moved the world, and caused the depths to tremble, and troubled the times. ¹⁹Your glory passed through the four gates of fire and earthquake and wind and ice, to give the law to the descendants of Jacob, and your commandment to the posterity of Israel.
  20 "Yet you did not take away their evil heart from them, so that your law might produce fruit in them. ²¹For the first Adam, burdened with an evil heart, transgressed and was overcome, as were also all who were descended from him. ²²Thus the disease became permanent; the law was in the hearts of the people along with the evil root; but what was good departed, and the evil remained. ²³So the times passed and the years were completed, and you raised up for yourself a servant, named David. ²⁴You commanded him to build a city for your name, and there to offer you oblations from what is yours. ²⁵This was done for many years; but the inhabitants of the city transgressed, ²⁶in everything doing just as Adam and all his descendants had done, for they also had the evil heart. ²⁷So you handed over your city to your enemies.

Babylon Compared with Zion

  28 "Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better? Is that why it has gained dominion over Zion? ²⁹For when I came here I saw ungodly deeds without number, and my soul has seen many sinners during these thirty years.^d And my heart failed me, ³⁰because I have seen how you endure those who sin, and have spared those who act wickedly, and have destroyed your people, and protected your enemies, ³¹and have not shown to anyone how your way may be comprehended.^e Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion? ³²Or has another nation known you besides Israel? Or what tribes have so believed the covenants as these tribes of Jacob? ³³Yet their reward has not appeared and their labor has borne no fruit. For I have traveled widely among the nations and have seen that they abound in wealth, though they are unmindful of your commandments. ³⁴Now therefore weigh in a balance our iniquities and those of the inhabitants of the world; and it will be found which way the turn of the scale will incline. ³⁵When have the inhabitants of the earth not sinned in your sight? Or what nation has kept your commandments so well? ³⁶You may indeed find individuals who have kept your commandments, but nations you will not find."

a Other ancient authorities read formed  b Syr Ethiop: Lat people or world  c Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Georg: Lat set fast  d Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Lat Syr in this thirtieth year  e Syr; compare Ethiop: Lat how this way should be forsaken

4 Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered ²and said to me, "Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?" ³Then I said, "Yes, my lord." And he replied to me, "I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. ⁴If you can solve one of them for me, then I will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil."
  5 I said, "Speak, my lord."
  And he said to me, "Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a blast^a of wind, or call back for me the day that is past."
  6 I answered and said, "Who of those that have been born can do that, that you should ask me about such things?"
  7 And he said to me, "If I had asked you, 'How many dwellings are in the heart of the sea, or how many streams are at the source of the deep, or how many streams are above the firmament, or which are the exits of Hades, or which are the entrances^b of paradise?' ⁸perhaps you would have said to me, 'I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into Hades, neither did I ever ascend into heaven.' ⁹But now I have asked you only about fire and wind and the day--things that you have experienced and from which you cannot be separated, and you have given me no answer about them." ¹⁰He said to me, "You cannot understand the things with which you have grown up; ¹¹how then can your mind comprehend the way of the Most High? And how can one who is already worn out^c by the corrupt world understand incorruption?"^d When I heard this, I fell on my face^e 12and said to him, "It would have been better for us not to be here than to come here and live in ungodliness, and to suffer and not understand why."

Parable of the Forest and the Sea

  13 He answered me and said, "I went into a forest of trees of the plain, and they made a plan ¹⁴and said, 'Come, let us go and make war against the sea, so that it may recede before us and so that we may make for ourselves more forests.' ¹⁵In like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, 'Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.' ¹⁶But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it; ¹⁷likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea was in vain,^f for the sand stood firm and blocked it. ¹⁸If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?"
  19 I answered and said, "Each made a foolish plan, for the land has been assigned to the forest, and the locale of the sea a place to carry its waves."
  20 He answered me and said, "You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case? ²¹For as the land has been assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who inhabit the earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is^g above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens."

The New Age Will Make All Things Clear

  22 Then I answered and said, "I implore you, my lord, why^h have I been endowed with the power of understanding? ²³For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but about those things that we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles in disgrace; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our ancestors has been brought to destruction and the written covenants no longer exist. ²⁴We pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist,ⁱ and we are not worthy to obtain mercy. ²⁵But what will he do for his^j name that is invoked over us? It is about these things that I have asked."
  26 He answered me and said, "If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long,^k you will often marvel, because the age is hurrying swiftly to its end. ²⁷It will not be able to bring the things that have been promised to the righteous in their appointed times, because this age is full of sadness and infirmities. ²⁸For the evil about which^l you ask me has been sown, but the harvest of it has not yet come. ²⁹If therefore that which has been sown is not reaped, and if the place where the evil has been sown does not pass away, the field where the good has been sown will not come. ³⁰For a grain of evil seed was sown in Adam's heart from the beginning, and how much ungodliness it has produced until now--and will produce until the time of threshing comes! ³¹Consider now for yourself how much fruit of ungodliness a grain of evil seed has produced. ³²When heads of grain without number are sown, how great a threshing floor they will fill!"

When Will the New Age Come?

  33 Then I answered and said, "How long?^m When will these things be? Why are our years few and evil?" ³⁴He answered me and said, "Do not be in a greater hurry than the Most High. You, indeed, are in a hurry for yourself,ⁿ but the Highest is in a hurry on behalf of many. ³⁵Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask about these matters, saying, 'How long are we to remain here?^o And when will the harvest of our reward come?' ³⁶And the archangel Jeremiel answered and said, 'When the number of those like yourselves is completed;^p for he has weighed the age in the balance, ³⁷and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.' "
  38 Then I answered and said, "But, O sovereign Lord, all of us also are full of ungodliness. ³⁹It is perhaps on account of us that the time of threshing is delayed for the righteous--on account of the sins of those who inhabit the earth."
  40 He answered me and said, "Go and ask a pregnant woman whether, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the fetus within her any longer."
  41 And I said, "No, lord, it cannot."
  He said to me, "In Hades the chambers of the souls are like the womb. ⁴²For just as a woman who is in labor makes haste to escape the pangs of birth, so also do these places hasten to give back those things that were committed to them from the beginning. ⁴³Then the things that you desire to see will be disclosed to you."

How Much Time Remains?

  44 I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, and if it is possible, and if I am worthy, ⁴⁵show me this also: whether more time is to come than has passed, or whether for us the greater part has gone by. ⁴⁶For I know what has gone by, but I do not know what is to come."
  47 And he said to me, "Stand at my right side, and I will show you the interpretation of a parable."
  48 So I stood and looked, and lo, a flaming furnace passed by before me, and when the flame had gone by I looked, and lo, the smoke remained. ⁴⁹And after this a cloud full of water passed before me and poured down a heavy and violent rain, and when the violent rainstorm had passed, drops still remained in the cloud.^q
  50 He said to me, "Consider it for yourself; for just as the rain is more than the drops, and the fire is greater than the smoke, so the quantity that passed was far greater; but drops and smoke remained."
  51 Then I prayed and said, "Do you think that I shall live until those days? Or who will be alive in those days?"
  52 He answered me and said, "Concerning the signs about which you ask me, I can tell you in part; but I was not sent to tell you concerning your life, for I do not know.

a Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arab 2 Georg a measure  b Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Lat lacks of Hades, or which are the entrances  c Meaning of Lat uncertain  d Syr Ethiop the way of the incorruptible?  e Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Meaning of Lat uncertain  f Lat lacks was in vain  g Or those who are  h Syr Ethiop Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain  i Syr Ethiop Arab Georg: Lat a trembling  j Ethiop adds holy  k Syr: Lat live  l Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  m Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  n Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain  o Syr Ethiop Arab 2 Georg: Lat How long do I hope thus?  p Syr Ethiop Arab 2: Lat number of seeds is completed for you  q Lat in it

5 "Now concerning the signs: lo, the days are coming when those who inhabit the earth shall be seized with great terror,^a and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith. ²Unrighteousness shall be increased beyond what you yourself see, and beyond what you heard of formerly. ³And the land that you now see ruling shall be a trackless waste, and people shall see it desolate. ⁴But if the Most High grants that you live, you shall see it thrown into confusion after the third period;^b
     and the sun shall suddenly begin to shine at night,
         and the moon during the day.
 ⁵  Blood shall drip from wood,
         and the stone shall utter its voice;
     the peoples shall be troubled,
         and the stars shall fall.^c
6And one shall reign whom those who inhabit the earth do not expect, and the birds shall fly away together; ⁷and the Dead Sea^d shall cast up fish; and one whom the many do not know shall make his voice heard by night, and all shall hear his voice.^e 8There shall be chaos also in many places, fire shall often break out, the wild animals shall roam beyond their haunts, and menstruous women shall bring forth monsters. ⁹Salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber, ¹⁰and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found, and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth. ¹¹One country shall ask its neighbor, 'Has righteousness, or anyone who does right, passed through you?' And it will answer, 'No.' ¹²At that time people shall hope but not obtain; they shall labor, but their ways shall not prosper. ¹³These are the signs that I am permitted to tell you, and if you pray again, and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you shall hear yet greater things than these."

Conclusion of the Vision

  14 Then I woke up, and my body shuddered violently, and my soul was so troubled that it fainted. ¹⁵But the angel who had come and talked with me held me and strengthened me and set me on my feet.
  16 Now on the second night Phaltiel, a chief of the people, came to me and said, "Where have you been? And why is your face sad? ¹⁷Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you in the land of their exile? ¹⁸Rise therefore and eat some bread, and do not forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves the flock in the power of savage wolves."
  19 Then I said to him, "Go away from me and do not come near me for seven days; then you may come to me."
  He heard what I said and left me. ²⁰So I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, as the angel Uriel had commanded me.

Ezra's Second Prayer of Complaint

  21 After seven days the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me again. ²²Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High. ²³I said, "O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees you have chosen one vine, ²⁴and from all the lands of the world you have chosen for yourself one region,^f and from all the flowers of the world you have chosen for yourself one lily, ²⁵and from all the depths of the sea you have filled for yourself one river, and from all the cities that have been built you have consecrated Zion for yourself, ²⁶and from all the birds that have been created you have named for yourself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made you have provided for yourself one sheep, ²⁷and from all the multitude of peoples you have gotten for yourself one people; and to this people, whom you have loved, you have given the law that is approved by all. ²⁸And now, O Lord, why have you handed the one over to the many, and dishonored^g the one root beyond the others, and scattered your only one among the many? ²⁹And those who opposed your promises have trampled on those who believed your covenants. ³⁰If you really hate your people, they should be punished at your own hands."

Response to Ezra's Complaints

  31 When I had spoken these words, the angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me. ³²He said to me, "Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more."
  33 Then I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "Are you greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his Maker does?"
  34 I said, "No, my lord, but because of my grief I have spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand the way of the Most High and to search out some part of his judgment."
  35 He said to me, "You cannot." And I said, "Why not, my lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother's womb become my grave, so that I would not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel?"
  36 He said to me, "Count up for me those who have not yet come, and gather for me the scattered raindrops, and make the withered flowers bloom again for me; ³⁷open for me the closed chambers, and bring out for me the winds shut up in them, or show me the picture of a voice; and then I will explain to you the travail that you ask to understand."^h
  38 I said, "O sovereign Lord, who is able to know these things except him whose dwelling is not with mortals? ³⁹As for me, I am without wisdom, and how can I speak concerning the things that you have asked me?"
  40 He said to me, "Just as you cannot do one of the things that were mentioned, so you cannot discover my judgment, or the goal of the love that I have promised to my people."

Why Successive Generations Have Been Created

  41 I said, "Yet, O Lord, you have charge of those who are alive at the end, but what will those do who lived before me, or we, ourselves, or those who come after us?"
  42 He said to me, "I shall liken my judgment to a circle;ⁱ just as for those who are last there is no slowness, so for those who are first there is no haste."
  43 Then I answered and said, "Could you not have created at one time those who have been and those who are and those who will be, so that you might show your judgment the sooner?"
  44 He replied to me and said, "The creation cannot move faster than the Creator, nor can the world hold at one time those who have been created in it."
  45 I said, "How have you said to your servant that you^j will certainly give life at one time to your creation? If therefore all creatures will live at one time^k and the creation will sustain them, it might even now be able to support all of them present at one time."
  46 He said to me, "Ask a woman's womb, and say to it, 'If you bear ten^l children, why one after another?' Request it therefore to produce ten at one time."
  47 I said, "Of course it cannot, but only each in its own time."
  48 He said to me, "Even so I have given the womb of the earth to those who from time to time are sown in it. ⁴⁹For as an infant does not bring forth, and a woman who has become old does not bring forth any longer, so I have made the same rule for the world that I created."

When and How Will the End Come?

  50 Then I inquired and said, "Since you have now given me the opportunity, let me speak before you. Is our mother, of whom you have told me, still young? Or is she now approaching old age?"
  51 He replied to me, "Ask a woman who bears children, and she will tell you. ⁵²Say to her, 'Why are those whom you have borne recently not like those whom you bore before, but smaller in stature?' ⁵³And she herself will answer you, 'Those born in the strength of youth are different from those born during the time of old age, when the womb is failing.' ⁵⁴Therefore you also should consider that you and your contemporaries are smaller in stature than those who were before you, ⁵⁵and those who come after you will be smaller than you, as born of a creation that already is aging and passing the strength of youth."
  56 I said, "I implore you, O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, show your servant through whom you will visit your creation."

a Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  b Literally after the third; Ethiop after three months; Arm after the third vision; Georg after the third day  c Ethiop Compare Syr and Arab: Meaning of Lat uncertain  d Lat Sea of Sodom  e Cn: Lat fish; and it shall make its voice heard by night, which the many have not known, but all shall hear its voice.  f Ethiop: Lat pit  g Syr Ethiop Arab: Lat prepared  h Lat see  i Or crown  j Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Meaning of Lat uncertain  k Lat lacks If . . . one time  l Syr Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain

6 He said to me, "At the beginning of the circle of the earth, before^a the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled winds blew, ²and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were laid, ³and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the powers of movements^b were established, and before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered together, ⁴and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of Zion was established, ⁵and before the present years were reckoned and before the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who stored up treasures of faith were sealed-- ⁶then I planned these things, and they were made through me alone and not through another; just as the end shall come through me alone and not through another."

The Dividing of the Times

 7 I answered and said, "What will be the dividing of the times? Or when will be the end of the first age and the beginning of the age that follows?"
  8 He said to me, "From Abraham to Isaac,^c because from him were born Jacob and Esau, for Jacob's hand held Esau's heel from the beginning. ⁹Now Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning of the age that follows. ¹⁰The beginning of a person is the hand, and the end of a person is the heel;^d seek for nothing else, Ezra, between the heel and the hand, Ezra!"

More Signs of the End

  11 I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, ¹²show your servant the last of your signs of which you showed me a part on a previous night."
  13 He answered and said to me, "Rise to your feet and you will hear a full, resounding voice. ¹⁴And if the place where you are standing is greatly shaken ¹⁵while the voice is speaking, do not be terrified; because the word concerns the end, and the foundations of the earth will understand ¹⁶that the speech concerns them. They will tremble and be shaken, for they know that their end must be changed."
  17 When I heard this, I got to my feet and listened; a voice was speaking, and its sound was like the sound of mighty^e waters. ¹⁸It said, "The days are coming when I draw near to visit the inhabitants of the earth, ¹⁹and when I require from the doers of iniquity the penalty of their iniquity, and when the humiliation of Zion is complete. ²⁰When the seal is placed upon the age that is about to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before the face of the firmament, and all shall see my judgment^f together. ²¹Children a year old shall speak with their voices, and pregnant women shall give birth to premature children at three and four months, and these shall live and leap about. ²²Sown places shall suddenly appear unsown, and full storehouses shall suddenly be found to be empty; ²³the trumpet shall sound aloud, and when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified. ²⁴At that time friends shall make war on friends like enemies, the earth and those who inhabit it shall be terrified, and the springs of the fountains shall stand still, so that for three hours they shall not flow.
  25 "It shall be that whoever remains after all that I have foretold to you shall be saved and shall see my salvation and the end of my world. ²⁶And they shall see those who were taken up, who from their birth have not tasted death; and the heart of the earth's^g inhabitants shall be changed and converted to a different spirit. ²⁷For evil shall be blotted out, and deceit shall be quenched; ²⁸faithfulness shall flourish, and corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, shall be revealed."

Conclusion of the Second Vision

  29 While he spoke to me, little by little the place where I was standing began to rock to and fro.^h 30And he said to me, "I have come to show you these things this night.^i 31If therefore you will pray again and fast again for seven days, I will again declare to you greater things than these,^j 32because your voice has surely been heard by the Most High; for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness and has also observed the purity that you have maintained from your youth. ³³Therefore he sent me to show you all these things, and to say to you: 'Believe and do not be afraid! ³⁴Do not be quick to think vain thoughts concerning the former times; then you will not act hastily in the last times.' "

The Third Vision

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

God's Work in Creation

  38 I said, "O Lord, you spoke at the beginning of creation, and said on the first day, 'Let heaven and earth be made,' and your word accomplished the work. ³⁹Then the spirit was blowing, and darkness and silence embraced everything; the sound of human voices was not yet there.^k 40Then you commanded a ray of light to be brought out from your store-chambers, so that your works could be seen.
  41 "Again, on the second day, you created the spirit of the firmament, and commanded it to divide and separate the waters, so that one part might move upward and the other part remain beneath.
  42 "On the third day you commanded the waters to be gathered together in a seventh part of the earth; six parts you dried up and kept so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of service before you. ⁴³For your word went forth, and at once the work was done. ⁴⁴Immediately 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 you commanded the brightness of the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come into being; ⁴⁶and you commanded them to serve humankind, about to be formed.
  47 "On the fifth day you commanded the seventh part, where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures, birds, and fishes; and so it was done. ⁴⁸The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as it was commanded, so that therefore the nations might declare your wondrous works.
  49 "Then you kept in existence two living creatures;^l the one you called Behemoth^m and the name of the other Leviathan. ⁵⁰And you separated one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both. ⁵¹And you gave Behemothⁿ one of the parts that had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains; ⁵²but to Leviathan you gave the seventh part, the watery part; and you have kept them to be eaten by whom you wish, and when you wish.
  53 "On the sixth day you commanded the earth to bring forth before you cattle, wild animals, and creeping things; ⁵⁴and over these you placed Adam, as ruler over all the works that you had made; and from him we have all come, the people whom you have chosen.

Why Do God's People Suffer?

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

a Meaning of Lat uncertain: Compare Syr The beginning by the hand of humankind, but the end by my own hands. For as before the land of the world existed there, and before; Ethiop: At first by the Son of Man, and afterwards I myself. For before the earth and the lands were created, and before  b Or earthquakes  c Other ancient authorities read to Abraham  d Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  e Lat many  f Syr: Lat lacks my judgment  g Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Lat lacks earth's  h Syr Ethiop Compare Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain  i Syr Compare Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  j Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Lat adds by day  k Syr Ethiop: Lat was not yet from you  l Syr Ethiop: Lat two souls  m Other Lat authorities read Enoch  n Other Lat authorities read Enoch  o Syr Ethiop Arab 2: Lat the firstborn world Compare Arab 1 first world  p Meaning of Lat uncertain 

7 When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again. ²He said to me, "Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that I have come to speak to you."
  3 I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "There is a sea set in a wide expanse so that it is deep and vast, ⁴but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so that it is like a river. ⁵If there are those who wish to reach the sea, to look at it or to navigate it, how can they come to the broad part unless they pass through the narrow part? ⁶Another example: There is a city built and set on a plain, and it is full of all good things; ⁷but the entrance to it is narrow and set in a precipitous place, so that there is fire on the right hand and deep water on the left. ⁸There is only one path lying between them, that is, between the fire and the water, so that only one person can walk on the path. ⁹If now the city is given to someone as an inheritance, how will the heir receive the inheritance unless by passing through the appointed danger?"
  10 I said, "That is right, lord." He said to me, "So also is Israel's portion. ¹¹For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. ¹²And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. ¹³But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and yield the fruit of immortality. ¹⁴Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult and futile experiences, they can never receive those things that have been reserved for them. ¹⁵Now therefore why are you disturbed, seeing that you are to perish? Why are you moved, seeing that you are mortal? ¹⁶Why have you not considered in your mind what is to come, rather than what is now present?"

The Fate of the Ungodly

  17 Then I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, you have ordained in your law that the righteous shall inherit these things, but that the ungodly shall perish. ¹⁸The righteous, therefore, can endure difficult circumstances while hoping for easier ones; but those who have done wickedly have suffered the difficult circumstances and will never see the easier ones."
  19 He said to me, "You are not a better judge than the Lord,^a or wiser than the Most High! ²⁰Let many perish who are now living, rather than that the law of God that is set before them be disregarded! ²¹For the Lord^b strictly commanded those who came into the world, when they came, what they should do to live, and what they should observe to avoid punishment. ²²Nevertheless they were not obedient, and spoke against him;
     they devised for themselves vain thoughts,
 ²³   and proposed to themselves wicked frauds;
     they even declared that the Most High does not exist,
         and they ignored his ways.
 ²⁴  They scorned his law,
         and denied his covenants;
     they have been unfaithful to his statutes,
         and have not performed his works.
²⁵That is the reason, Ezra, that empty things are for the empty, and full things are for the full.

The Temporary Messianic Kingdom

  26 "For indeed the time will come, when the signs that I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the city that now is not seen shall appear,^c and the land that now is hidden shall be disclosed. ²⁷Everyone who has been delivered from the evils that I have foretold shall see my wonders. ²⁸For my son the Messiah^d shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years. ²⁹After those years my son the Messiah shall die, and all who draw human breath.^e 30Then the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginnings, so that no one shall be left. ³¹After seven days the world that is not yet awake shall be roused, and that which is corruptible shall perish. ³²The earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the dust those who rest there in silence; and the chambers shall give up the souls that have been committed to them. ³³The Most High shall be revealed on the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn.^f 34Only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and faithfulness shall grow strong. ³⁵Recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep.^g36 The pit^h of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hellⁱ shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight.³⁷ Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, 'Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised.³⁸ Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments.' Thus he will^j speak to them on the day of judgment--³⁹ a day that has no sun or moon or stars,⁴⁰ or cloud or thunder or lightning, or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning,⁴¹ or summer or spring or heat or winter^k or frost or cold, or hail or rain or dew,⁴² or noon or night, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been destined.⁴³ It will last as though for a week of years.⁴⁴ This is my judgment and its prescribed order; and to you alone I have shown these things."

Only a Few Will Be Saved

  45 I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, I said then and^l I say now: Blessed are those who are alive and keep your commandments!⁴⁶ But what of those for whom I prayed? For who among the living is there that has not sinned, or who is there among mortals that has not transgressed your covenant?⁴⁷ And now I see that the world to come will bring delight to few, but torments to many.⁴⁸ For an evil heart has grown up in us, which has alienated us from God,^m and has brought us into corruption and the ways of death, and has shown us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life--and that not merely for a few but for almost all who have been created."
  49 He answered me and said, "Listen to me, Ezra,ⁿ and I will instruct you, and will admonish you once more.⁵⁰ For this reason the Most High has made not one world but two.⁵¹ Inasmuch as you have said that the righteous are not many but few, while the ungodly abound, hear the explanation for this.
  52 "If you have just a few precious stones, will you add to them lead and clay?"^o53 I said, "Lord, how could that be?"⁵⁴ And he said to me, "Not only that, but ask the earth and she will tell you; defer to her, and she will declare it to you.⁵⁵ Say to her, 'You produce gold and silver and bronze, and also iron and lead and clay;⁵⁶ but silver is more abundant than gold, and bronze than silver, and iron than bronze, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.'⁵⁷ Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable, those that are abundant or those that are rare?"
  58 I said, "O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare is more precious."
  59 He answered me and said, "Consider within yourself^p what you have thought, for the person who has what is hard to get rejoices more than the person who has what is plentiful.⁶⁰ So also will be the judgment^q that I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored.⁶¹ I will not grieve over the great number of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke--they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished."

Lamentation of Ezra, with Response

  62 I replied and said, "O earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things?⁶³ For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it.⁶⁴ But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tormented, because we perish and we know it.⁶⁵ Let the human race lament, but let the wild animals of the field be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the cattle and the flocks rejoice.⁶⁶ It is much better with them than with us; for they do not look for a judgment, and they do not know of any torment or salvation promised to them after death.⁶⁷ What does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive but cruelly tormented?⁶⁸ For all who have been born are entangled in^r iniquities, and are full of sins and burdened with transgressions.⁶⁹ And if after death we were not to come into judgment, perhaps it would have been better for us."
  70 He answered me and said, "When the Most High made the world and Adam and all who have come from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment.⁷¹ But now, understand from your own words--for you have said that the mind grows with us.⁷² For this reason, therefore, those who live on earth shall be tormented, because though they had understanding, they committed iniquity; and though they received the commandments, they did not keep them; and though they obtained the law, they dealt unfaithfully with what they received.⁷³ What, then, will they have to say in the judgment, or how will they answer in the last times?⁷⁴ How long the Most High has been patient with those who inhabit the world!--and not for their sake, but because of the times that he has foreordained."

State of the Dead before Judgment

  75 I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, show this also to your servant: whether after death, as soon as everyone of us yields up the soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come when you will renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented at once?"
  76 He answered me and said, "I will show you that also, but do not include yourself with those who have shown scorn, or number yourself among those who are tormented.⁷⁷ For you have a treasure of works stored up with the Most High, but it will not be shown to you until the last times.⁷⁸ Now concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone out from the Most High that a person shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores the glory of the Most High.⁷⁹ If it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High, who have despised his law and hated those who fear God--⁸⁰ such spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall immediately wander about in torments, always grieving and sad, in seven ways.⁸¹ The first way, because they have scorned the law of the Most High.⁸² The second way, because they cannot now make a good repentance so that they may live.⁸³ The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the covenants of the Most High.⁸⁴ The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days.⁸⁵ The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by angels in profound quiet.⁸⁶ The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will cross over^s into torments.⁸⁷ The seventh way, which is worse^t than all the ways that have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame,^u and shall wither with fear at seeing the glory of the Most High in whose presence they sinned while they were alive, and in whose presence they are to be judged in the last times.
  88 "Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body.^v89 During the time that they lived in it,^w they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly.⁹⁰ Therefore this is the teaching concerning them:⁹¹ First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders.⁹² The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought that was formed with them, so that it might not lead them astray from life into death.⁹³ The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander and the punishment that awaits them.⁹⁴ The third order, they see the witness that he who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life they kept the law with which they were entrusted.⁹⁵ The fourth order, they understand the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory waiting for them in the last days.⁹⁶ The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and toil^x from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality.⁹⁷ The sixth order, when it is shown them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on.⁹⁸ The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they press forward to see the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified.⁹⁹ This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced;^y and the previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter."
  100 Then I answered and said, "Will time therefore be given to the souls, after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what you have described to me?"
  101 He said to me, "They shall have freedom for seven days, so that during these seven days they may see the things of which you have been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered in their habitations."

No Intercession for the Ungodly

  102 I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, show further to me, your servant, whether on the day of judgment the righteous will be able to intercede for the ungodly or to entreat the Most High for them--¹⁰³ fathers for sons or sons for parents, brothers for brothers, relatives for their kindred, or friends for those who are most dear."
  104 He answered me and said, "Since you have found favor in my sight, I will show you this also. The day of judgment is decisive^z and displays to all the seal of truth. Just as now a father does not send his son, or a son his father, or a master his servant, or a friend his dearest friend, to be ill^a or sleep or eat or be healed in his place,¹⁰⁵ so no one shall ever pray for another on that day, neither shall anyone lay a burden on another;^b for then all shall bear their own righteousness and unrighteousness."
  36 106 I answered and said, "How then do we find that first Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom, and Moses for our ancestors who sinned in the desert,^{37 107} and Joshua after him for Israel in the days of Achan,^{38 108} and Samuel in the days of Saul,^c and David for the plague, and Solomon for those at the dedication,^{39 109} and Elijah for those who received the rain, and for the one who was dead, that he might live,^{40 110} and Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib, and many others prayed for many?^{41 111} So if now, when corruption has increased and unrighteousness has multiplied, the righteous have prayed for the ungodly, why will it not be so then as well?"
  42 112 He answered me and said, "This present world is not the end; the full glory does not^d remain in it;^e therefore those who were strong prayed for the weak.^{43 113} But the day of judgment will be the end of this age and the beginning^f of the immortal age to come, in which corruption has passed away,^{44 114} sinful indulgence has come to an end, unbelief has been cut off, and righteousness has increased and truth has appeared.^{45 115} Therefore no one will then be able to have mercy on someone who has been condemned in the judgment, or to harm^g someone who is victorious."

Lamentation over the Fate of Most People

  46 116 I answered and said, "This is my first and last comment: it would have been better if the earth had not produced Adam, or else, when it had produced him, had restrained him from sinning.^{47 117} For what good is it to all that they live in sorrow now and expect punishment after death?^{48 118} O Adam, what have you done? For though it was you who sinned, the fall was not yours alone, but ours also who are your descendants.^{49 119} For what good is it to us, if an immortal time has been promised to us, but we have done deeds that bring death?^{50 120} And what good is it that an everlasting hope has been promised to us, but we have miserably failed?^{51 121} Or that safe and healthful habitations have been reserved for us, but we have lived wickedly?^{52 122} Or that the glory of the Most High will defend those who have led a pure life, but we have walked in the most wicked ways?^{53 123} Or that a paradise shall be revealed, whose fruit remains unspoiled and in which are abundance and healing, but we shall not enter it^{54 124} because we have lived in perverse ways?^{h55 125} Or that the faces of those who practiced self-control shall shine more than the stars, but our faces shall be blacker than darkness?^{56 126} For while we lived and committed iniquity we did not consider what we should suffer after death."
  57 127 He answered and said, "This is the significance of the contest that all who are born on earth shall wage:^{58 128} if they are defeated they shall suffer what you have said, but if they are victorious they shall receive what I have said.^{i59 129} For this is the way of which Moses, while he was alive, spoke to the people, saying, 'Choose life for yourself, so that you may live!'^{60 130} But they did not believe him or the prophets after him, or even myself who have spoken to them.^{61 131} Therefore there shall not be^j grief at their destruction, so much as joy over those to whom salvation is assured."

Ezra Appeals to God's Mercy

  62 132 I answered and said, "I know, O Lord, that the Most High is now called merciful, because he has mercy on those who have not yet come into the world;^{63 133} and gracious, because he is gracious to those who turn in repentance to his law;^{64 134} and patient, because he shows patience toward those who have sinned, since they are his own creatures;^{65 135} and bountiful, because he would rather give than take away;^{k66 136} and abundant in compassion, because he makes his compassions abound more and more to those now living and to those who are gone and to those yet to come--^{37 137} for if he did not make them abound, the world with those who inhabit it would not have life--^{68 138} and he is called the giver, because if he did not give out of his goodness so that those who have committed iniquities might be relieved of them, not one ten-thousandth of humankind could have life;^{69 139} and the judge, because if he did not pardon those who were created by his word and blot out the multitude of their sins,^{l70 140} there would probably be left only very few of the innumerable multitude."

a Other ancient authorities read God; Ethiop Georg the only One  b Other ancient authorities read God  c Arm: Lat Syr that the bride shall appear, even the city appearing  d Syr Arab 1: Ethiop my Messiah; Arab 2 the Messiah; Arm the Messiah of God; Lat my son Jesus  e Arm all who have continued in faith and in patience  f Lat shall gather together  g The passage from verse 36 to verse 105, formerly missing, has been restored to the text  h Syr Ethiop: Lat place  i Lat Syr Ethiop Gehenna  j Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat you shall  k Or storm  l Syr: Lat And I answered, "I said then, O Lord, and  m Cn: Lat Syr Ethiop from these  n Syr Arab 1 Georg: Lat Ethiop lack Ezra  o Arab 1: Meaning of Lat Syr Ethiop uncertain  p Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Meaning of Lat uncertain  q Syr Arab 1: Lat creation  r Syr defiled with  s Cn: Meaning of Lat uncertain  t Lat Syr Ethiop greater  u Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  v Lat the corruptible vessel  w Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  x Syr Ethiop: Lat fullness  y Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  z Lat bold  a Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat to understand  b Syr Ethiop: Lat lacks on that . . . another  c Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat Arab 2 Arm lack in the days of Saul  d Lat lacks not  e Or the glory does not continuously abide in it  f Syr Ethiop: Lat lacks the beginning  g Syr Ethiop: Lat overwhelm  h Cn: Lat Syr places  i Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat what I say  j Syr: Lat there was not  k Or he is ready to give according to requests  l Lat contempts 

8 He answered me and said, "The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of only a few. ²But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you ask the earth, it will tell you that it provides a large amount of clay from which earthenware is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes, so is the course of the present world. ³Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved."

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. ⁵For 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. ⁶O 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 likeness^c of a human being may be able to live. ⁷For you alone exist, and we are a work of your hands, as you have declared. ⁸And because you give life to the body that is now fashioned in the womb, and furnish it with members, what you have created is preserved amid fire and water, and for nine months the womb^d endures your creature that has been created in it. ⁹But that which keeps and that which is kept shall both be kept by your keeping.^e And when the womb gives up again what has been created in it, ¹⁰you have commanded that from the members themselves (that is, from the breasts) milk, the fruit of the breasts, should be supplied, ¹¹so that what has been fashioned may be nourished for a time; and afterwards you will still guide it in your mercy. ¹²You have nurtured it in your righteousness, and instructed it in your law, and reproved it in your wisdom. ¹³You put it to death as your creation, and make it live as your work. ¹⁴If then you will suddenly and quickly^f destroy what with so great labor was fashioned by your command, to what purpose was it made? ¹⁵And now I will speak out: About all humankind you know best; but I will speak about your people, for whom I am grieved, ¹⁶and about your inheritance, for whom I lament, and about Israel, for whom I am sad, and about the seed of Jacob, for whom I am troubled. ¹⁷Therefore I will pray before you for myself and for them, for I see the failings of us who inhabit the earth; ¹⁸and now also^g I have heard of the swiftness of the judgment that is to come. ¹⁹Therefore hear my voice and understand my words, and I will speak before you."

Ezra's Prayer

  The beginning of the words of Ezra's prayer,^h before he was taken up. He said: ²⁰"O Lord, you who inhabit eternity,ⁱ whose eyes are exalted^j and whose upper chambers are in the air, ²¹whose throne is beyond measure and whose glory is beyond comprehension, before whom the hosts of angels stand trembling ²²and at whose command they are changed to wind and fire,^k whose word is sure and whose utterances are certain, whose command is strong and whose ordinance is terrible, ²³whose look dries up the depths and whose indignation makes the mountains melt away, and whose truth is established^l forever-- ²⁴hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servant, and give ear to the petition of your creature; attend to my words. ²⁵For as long as I live I will speak, and as long as I have understanding I will answer. ²⁶O do not look on the sins of your people, but on those who serve you in truth. ²⁷Do not take note of the endeavors of those who act wickedly, but of the endeavors of those who have kept your covenants amid afflictions. ²⁸Do not think of those who have lived wickedly in your sight, but remember those who have willingly acknowledged that you are to be feared. ²⁹Do not will the destruction of those who have the ways of cattle, but regard those who have gloriously taught your law.^m 30Do not be angry with those who are deemed worse than wild animals, but love those who have always put their trust in your glory. ³¹For we and our ancestors have passed our lives in ways that bring death;ⁿ but it is because of us sinners that you are called merciful. ³²For if you have desired to have pity on us, who have no works of righteousness, then you will be called merciful. ³³For the righteous, who have many works laid up with you, shall receive their reward in consequence of their own deeds. ³⁴But what are mortals, that you are angry with them; or what is a corruptible race, that you are so bitter against it? ³⁵For in truth there is no one among those who have been born who has not acted wickedly; among those who have existed^o there is no one who has not done wrong. ³⁶For in this, O Lord, your righteousness and goodness will be declared, when you are merciful to those who have no store of good works."

Response to Ezra's Prayer

  37 He answered me and said, "Some things you have spoken rightly, and it will turn out according to your words. ³⁸For indeed I will not concern myself about the fashioning of those who have sinned, or about their death, their judgment, or their destruction; ³⁹but I will rejoice over the creation of the righteous, over their pilgrimage also, and their salvation, and their receiving their reward. ⁴⁰As I have spoken, therefore, so it shall be.
  41 "For just as the farmer sows many seeds in the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown will come up^p in due season, and not all that were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved."
  42 I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, let me speak. ⁴³If the farmer's seed does not come up, because it has not received your rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.^q 44But people, who have been formed by your hands and are called your own image because they are made like you, and for whose sake you have formed all things--have you also made them like the farmer's seed? ⁴⁵Surely not, O Lord^r above! But spare your people and have mercy on your inheritance, for you have mercy on your own creation."

Ezra's Final Appeal for Mercy

  46 He answered me and said, "Things that are present are for those who live now, and things that are future are for those who will live hereafter. ⁴⁷For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it. But you have often compared yourself^s to the unrighteous. Never do so! ⁴⁸But even in this respect you will be praiseworthy before the Most High, ⁴⁹because you have humbled yourself, as is becoming for you, and have not considered yourself to be among the righteous. You will receive the greatest glory, ⁵⁰for many miseries will affect those who inhabit the world in the last times, because they have walked in great pride. ⁵¹But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself, ⁵²because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed,^t goodness is established and wisdom perfected beforehand. ⁵³The root of evil^u is sealed up from you, illness is banished from you, and death^v is hidden; Hades has fled and corruption has been forgotten;^w 54sorrows have passed away, and in the end the treasure of immortality is made manifest. ⁵⁵Therefore do not ask any more questions about the great number of those who perish. ⁵⁶For when they had opportunity to choose, they despised the Most High, and were contemptuous of his law, and abandoned his ways. ⁵⁷Moreover, they have even trampled on his righteous ones, ⁵⁸and said in their hearts that there is no God--though they knew well that they must die. ⁵⁹For just as the things that I have predicted await^x you, so the thirst and torment that are prepared await them. For the Most High did not intend that anyone should be destroyed; ⁶⁰but those who were created have themselves defiled the name of him who made them, and have been ungrateful to him who prepared life for them now. ⁶¹Therefore my judgment is now drawing near; ⁶²I have not shown this to all people, but only to you and a few like you."
  Then I answered and said, ⁶³"O Lord, you have already shown me a great number of the signs that you will do in the last times, but you have not shown me when you will do them."

a Syr: Lat Then release understanding  b Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  c Syr: Lat place  d Lat what you have formed  e Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  f Syr: Lat will with a light command  g Syr: Lat but  h Syr Ethiop; Lat beginning of Ezra's words  i Or you who abide forever  j Another Lat text reads whose are the highest heavens  k Syr: Lat they whose service takes the form of wind and fire  l Arab 2: Other authorities read truth bears witness  m Syr have received the brightness of your law  n Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain  o Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  p Syr Ethiop will live; Lat will be saved  q Cn: Compare Syr Arab 1 Arm Georg 2: Meaning of Lat uncertain  r Ethiop Arab Compare Syr: Lat lacks O Lord  s Syr Ethiop: Lat brought yourself near  t Syr Ethiop: Lat allowed  u Lat lacks of evil  v Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat lacks death  w Syr: Lat Hades and corruption have fled into oblivion; or corruption has fled into Hades to be forgotten  x Syr: Lat will receive 

9 He answered me and said, "Measure carefully in your mind, and when you see that some of the predicted signs have occurred, ²then you will know that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world that 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,^a 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 penalties^b and in signs.
  7 "It shall be that all who will be saved and will be able to escape on account of their works, or on account of the faith by which they have 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 live in torments. ¹⁰For as many as did not acknowledge me in their lifetime, though they received my benefits, ¹¹and as many as scorned my law while they still had freedom, and did not understand but despised it^c while an opportunity of repentance was still open to them, ¹²these must in torment acknowledge it^d after death. ¹³Therefore, do not continue to be curious about 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."^e

The Argument Recapitulated

  14 I 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."
  17 He 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 live 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,^f have become corrupt in their ways. ²⁰So I considered my world, and saw that it was lost. I saw that my earth was in peril because of the devices of those who^g had come into it. ²¹And I saw and spared some^h with great difficulty, and saved for myself one grape out of a cluster, and one plant out of a great forest.^i 22So let the multitude perish that has been born in vain, but let my grape and my plant be saved, because with much labor I have perfected them.
  23 "Now, if you will let seven days more pass--do not, however, fast during them, 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."

The Abiding Glory of the Mosaic Law

  26 So I went, as he directed me, into the field that is called Ardat;^j there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field, and the nourishment they afforded satisfied me. ²⁷After seven days, while I lay on the grass, my heart was troubled again as it was before. ²⁸Then my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and said, ²⁹"O Lord, you showed yourself among us, to our ancestors in the wilderness when they came out from Egypt and when they came into the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness; ³⁰and you said, 'Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to my words, O descendants of Jacob. ³¹For I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you, and you shall be glorified through it forever.' ³²But though our ancestors received the law, they did not keep it and did not observe the^k statutes; yet the fruit of the law did not perish--for it could not, because it was yours. ³³Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep what had been sown in them. ³⁴Now this is the general rule that, when the ground has received seed, or the sea a ship, or any dish food or drink, and when it comes about 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 hearts that received it; ³⁷the law, however, does not perish but survives in its glory."

The Vision of a Weeping Woman

  38 When I said these things in my heart, I looked around,^l and on my right I saw a woman; she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart; her clothes were torn, 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?"
  41 She said to me, "Let me alone, my lord, so that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply distressed."
  42 I said to her, "What has happened to you? Tell me."
  43 And she said to me, "Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband for thirty years. ⁴⁴Every hour and every day during those thirty years I prayed to the Most High, night and day. ⁴⁵And after thirty years God heard your servant, and looked upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbors;^m 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.

a Syr: Ethiop is in the word; Meaning of Lat uncertain  b Syr: Lat Ethiop in effects  c Or me  d Or me  e Syr: Lat saved, and whose is the age and for whose sake the age was made and when  f Cn: Lat law  g Cn: Lat devices that  h Lat them  i Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat tribe  j Syr Ethiop Arpad; Arm Ardab  k Lat my  l Syr Arab Arm: Lat I looked about me with my eyes  m Literally all my citizens

10 "But it happened that when my son entered his wedding chamber, he fell down and died. ²So all of us put out our lamps, and all my neighbors^a attempted to console me; I remained quiet until the evening of the second day. ³But when all of them had stopped consoling me, encouraging me to be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and I came to this field, as you see. ⁴And now I intend not to return to the town, but to stay here; I will neither eat nor drink, but will mourn and fast continually until I die."
  5 Then 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 distress. 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.^b 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. ¹⁰From the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come; and, lo, almost all go^c to perdition, and a multitude of them will come to doom. ¹¹Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great a multitude, or you who are grieving for one alone? 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, 'Just as you brought forth in sorrow, so the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, humankind, 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 town to your husband."
  18 She said to me, "I will not do so; I will not go into the city, but I will die here."
  19 So I spoke again to her, and said, ²⁰"Do not do that, but let yourself be persuaded--for how many are the adversities of Zion?--and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem. ²¹For you see how 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 almost profaned; our children^d have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into exile, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished; our righteous men^e have been carried off, our little ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong men made powerless. ²³And, worst of all, the seal of Zion has been deprived of its glory, and 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 respite from your troubles."
  25 While I was talking to her, her face suddenly began to shine exceedingly; her countenance flashed like lightning, so that I was too frightened to approach her, and my heart was terrified. While^f I was wondering what this meant, ²⁶she suddenly uttered a loud and fearful cry, so that the earth shook at the sound. ²⁷When I looked up, the woman was no longer visible to me, but a city was being built,^g and a place of huge foundations showed itself. 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."

  29 While I was speaking these words, the angel who had come to me at first came to me, and when he saw me ³⁰lying there like a corpse, deprived of my understanding, he grasped my right hand and strengthened me and set me on my feet, and said to me, ³¹"What is the matter with you? And why are you troubled? And why are your understanding and the thoughts of your mind troubled?"
  32 I said, "It was because you abandoned me. I did as you directed, and went out into the field, and lo, what I have seen and can still see, I am unable to explain."
  33 He said to me, "Stand up like a man, and I will instruct you."
  34 I said, "Speak, my lord; only do not forsake me, so that I may not die before my time.^h 35For I have seen what I did not know, and I hearⁱ what I do not understand ³⁶--or is my mind deceived, and my soul dreaming? ³⁷Now therefore I beg you to give your servant an explanation of this bewildering vision."
  38 He answered me and said, "Listen to me, and I will teach you, and tell you about the things that you fear; for the Most High has revealed many secrets to you. ³⁹He has seen your righteous conduct, and that you have sorrowed continually for your people and mourned greatly over Zion. ⁴⁰This therefore is the meaning of the vision. ⁴¹The woman who appeared to you a little while ago, whom you saw mourning and whom you began to console ⁴²(you do not now see the form of a woman, but there appeared to you a city being built)^j 43and who told you about the misfortune of her son--this is the interpretation: ⁴⁴The woman whom you saw is Zion, which you now behold as a city being built.^k 45And as for her telling you that she was barren for thirty years, the reason is that there were three thousand^l years in the world before any offering was offered in it.^m 46And after three thousandⁿ years Solomon built the city, and offered offerings; then it was that the barren woman bore a son. ⁴⁷And as for her telling you that she brought him up with much care, that was the period of residence in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸And as for her saying to you, 'My son died as he entered his wedding chamber,' and that misfortune had overtaken her,^o this was the destruction that befell Jerusalem. ⁴⁹So you saw her likeness, how she mourned for her son, and you began to console her for what had happened.^p 50For now the Most High, seeing that you are sincerely grieved and profoundly distressed for her, has shown you the brilliance of her glory, and the loveliness of her beauty. ⁵¹Therefore I told you to remain in the field where no house had been built, ⁵²for I knew that the Most High would reveal these things to you. ⁵³Therefore I told you to go into the field where there was no foundation of any building, ⁵⁴because no work of human construction could endure in a place where the city of the Most High was to be revealed.
  55 "Therefore do not be afraid, and do not let your heart be terrified; but go in and see the splendor or^q the vastness of the building, as far as it is possible for your eyes to see it, ⁵⁶and afterward you will hear as much as your ears can hear. ⁵⁷For you are more blessed than many, and you have been called to be with^r the Most High as few have been. ⁵⁸But tomorrow night you shall remain here, ⁵⁹and the Most High will show you in those dream visions what the Most High will do to those who inhabit the earth in the last days."
  So I slept that night and the following one, as he had told me.

a Literally all my citizens  b Compare Syr: Meaning of Lat uncertain  c Literally walk  d Ethiop free men  e Syr our seers  f Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat lacks I was too . . . terrified. While  g Lat: Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arab 2 Arm but there was an established city  h Syr Ethiop Arab: Lat die to no purpose  i Other ancient authorities read have heard  j Lat: Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arab 2 Arm an established city  k Cn: Lat an established city  l Most Lat Mss read three  m Cn: Lat Syr Arab Arm her  n Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Lat three  o Or him  p Most Lat Mss and Arab 1 add These were the things to be opened to you  q Other ancient authorities read and  r Or been named by

11 On the second night I had a dream: I saw rising from the sea an eagle that had twelve feathered wings and three heads. ²I saw it spread its wings over^a the whole earth, and all the winds of heaven blew upon it, and the clouds were gathered around it.^b 3I saw that out of its wings there grew opposing wings; but they became little, puny wings. ⁴But its heads were at rest; the middle head was larger than the other heads, but it too was at rest with them. ⁵Then I saw that the eagle flew with its wings, and it reigned over the earth and over those who inhabit it. ⁶And I saw how all things under heaven were subjected to it, and no one spoke against it--not a single creature that was on the earth. ⁷Then I saw the eagle rise upon its talons, and it uttered a cry to its wings, saying, ⁸"Do not all watch at the same time; let each sleep in its own place, and watch in its turn; ⁹but let the heads be reserved for the last."
  10 I looked again and saw that the voice did not come from its heads, but from the middle of its body. ¹¹I counted its rival wings, and there were eight of them. ¹²As I watched, one wing on the right side rose up, and it reigned over all the earth. ¹³And after a time its reign came to an end, and it disappeared, so that even its place was no longer visible. Then the next wing rose up and reigned, and it continued to reign a long time. ¹⁴While it was reigning its end came also, so that it disappeared like the first. ¹⁵And a voice sounded, saying to it, ¹⁶"Listen to me, you who have ruled the earth all this time; I announce this to you before you disappear. ¹⁷After you no one shall rule as long as you have ruled, not even half as long."
  18 Then the third wing raised itself up, and held the rule as the earlier ones had done, and it also disappeared. ¹⁹And so it went with all the wings; they wielded power one after another and then were never seen again. ²⁰I kept looking, and in due time the wings that followed^c also rose up on the right^d side, in order to rule. There were some of them that ruled, yet disappeared suddenly; ²¹and others of them rose up, but did not hold the rule.
  22 And after this I looked and saw that the twelve wings and the two little wings had disappeared, ²³and nothing remained on the eagle's body except the three heads that were at rest and six little wings.
  24 As I kept looking I saw that two little wings separated from the six and remained under the head that was on the right side; but four remained in their place. ²⁵Then I saw that these little wings^e planned to set themselves up and hold the rule. ²⁶As I kept looking, one was set up, but suddenly disappeared; ²⁷a second also, and this disappeared more quickly than the first. ²⁸While I continued to look the two that remained were planning between themselves to reign together; ²⁹and while they were planning, one of the heads that were at rest (the one that was in the middle) suddenly awoke; it was greater than the other two heads. ³⁰And I saw how it allied the two heads with itself, ³¹and how the head turned with those that were with it and devoured the two little wings^f that were planning to reign. ³²Moreover this head gained control of the whole earth, and with much oppression dominated its inhabitants; it had greater power over the world than all the wings that had gone before.
  33 After this I looked again and saw the head in the middle suddenly disappear, just as the wings had done. ³⁴But the two heads remained, which also in like manner ruled over the earth and its inhabitants. ³⁵And while I looked, I saw the head on the right side devour the one on the left.

A Lion Roused from the Forest

a Arab 2 Arm: Lat Syr Ethiop in  b Syr: Compare Ethiop Arab: Lat lacks the clouds and around it  c Syr Arab 2 the little wings  d Some Ethiop Mss read left  e Syr: Lat underwings  f Syr: Lat underwings  g Syr Arab Arm: Lat Ethiop The fourth came, however, and conquered . . . and held sway . . . and for so long lived

12 While the lion was saying these words to the eagle, I looked ²and saw that the remaining head had disappeared. The two wings that had gone over to it rose up and^a set themselves up to reign, and their reign was brief and full of tumult. ³When I looked again, they were already vanishing. The whole body of the eagle was burned, and the earth was exceedingly terrified.
  Then I woke up in great perplexity of mind and great fear, and I said to my spirit, ⁴"You have brought this upon me, because you search out the ways of the Most High. ⁵I am still weary in mind and very weak in my spirit, and not even a little strength is left in me, because of the great fear with which I have been terrified tonight. ⁶Therefore I will now entreat the Most High that he may strengthen me to the end."

 7 Then I said, "O sovereign Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, and if I have been accounted righteous before you beyond many others, and if my prayer has indeed come up before your face, ⁸strengthen me and show me, your servant, the interpretation and meaning of this terrifying vision so that you may fully comfort my soul. ⁹For you have judged me worthy to be shown the end of the times and the last events of the times."
  10 He said to me, "This is the interpretation of this vision that you have seen: ¹¹The eagle that you saw coming up from the sea is the fourth kingdom that appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel. ¹²But it was not explained to him as I now explain to you or have explained it. ¹³The days are coming when a kingdom shall rise on earth, and it shall be more terrifying than all the kingdoms that have been before it. ¹⁴And twelve kings shall reign in it, one after another. ¹⁵But the second that is to reign shall hold sway for a longer time than any other one of the twelve. ¹⁶This is the interpretation of the twelve wings that you saw.
  17 "As for your hearing a voice that spoke, coming not from the eagle's^b heads but from the midst of its body, this is the interpretation: ¹⁸In the midst of^c the time of that kingdom great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless it shall not fall then, but shall regain its former power.^d 19As for your seeing eight little wings^e clinging to its wings, this is the interpretation: ²⁰Eight kings shall arise in it, whose times shall be short and their years swift; ²¹two of them shall perish when the middle of its time draws near; and four shall be kept for the time when its end approaches, but two shall be kept until the end.
  22 "As for your seeing three heads at rest, this is the interpretation: ²³In its last days the Most High will raise up three kings,^f and they^g shall renew many things in it, and shall rule the earth ²⁴and its inhabitants more oppressively than all who were before them. Therefore they are called the heads of the eagle, ²⁵because it is they who shall sum up his wickedness and perform his last actions. ²⁶As for your seeing that the large head disappeared, one of the kings^h shall die in his bed, but in agonies. ²⁷But as for the two who remained, the sword shall devour them. ²⁸For the sword of one shall devour him who was with him; but he also shall fall by the sword in the last days.
  29 "As for your seeing two little wingsⁱ passing over to^j the head which was on the right side, ³⁰this is the interpretation: It is these whom the Most High has kept for the eagle's^k end; this was the reign which was brief and full of tumult, as you have seen.
  31 "And as for the lion whom you saw rousing up out of the forest and roaring and speaking to the eagle and reproving him for his unrighteousness, and as for all his words that you have heard,