11, 12. ▾ Cp. Gen. & Acts 14 * Cp. Gen. & 1 Pet. 3. & 2 Pet. 2. Gen. 12. 1. Cp. Gen. 17. 5. Gen. 15. 12. Gen. 21. 2, 3. * Gen. 25. 25, 26. a Mal. 1. 2, 3. II. ESDRAS. [CHAP. 4, V. 7. ver. 1. P Cp. Jer. 12. 1 & Mal. 3. 15. things doing even as Adam and all his generations had done: for they also bare a 2 wicked heart; 27 and so thou gavest thy city over into the hands of thine enemies. 28 And I said then in mine heart, " Are their deeds any better" ver. 31. that inhabit Babylon? and hath she therefore dominion over Sion? 29 For it came to pass when I came hither, that I saw also impieties without number, and my soul saw many evil-doers in this thirtieth year, so that my heart failed me. sufferest them sinning, and hast spared 30 P For I have seen how thou the ungodly doers, and hast destroyed enemies; and thou hast not signified thy people, and hast preserved thine 31 unto any how thy way may be comprehended. Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Sion? 3a Or is there any other nation that knoweth thee beside Israel? or what tribes have so believed thy covenants as these tribes of Jacob? 33 And yet their reward appeareth not, and their labour hath no fruit: for I have gone hither and thither through the nations, and I see that they abound in wealth, and think not upon thy commandments. and there were born of him nations and tribes, peoples and kindreds, out of 7 Cp. Gen. 6. number. 8 And every nation walked after their own will, and did ungodly things before thee, and despised thy commandments, and rthou didst not forbid them. 98 Nevertheless again in process of time thou broughtest the Gen. 7. 10. flood upon those that dwelt in the world, and destroyedst them. 10 And it came to pass that the same hap befell them; like as death was to Adam, so was the flood to these. 11 Nevertheless one of them thou leftest, Noah with his household, even all the righteous men that came of him. pass, that when they that dwelt upon 12 And it came to the earth began to multiply, they multiplied also children, and peoples, and many nations, and began again to be more ungodly than the first. 13 And it came to pass, when they did wickedly before thee, thou didst choose thee one from among them, whose name was Abraham; 14 and him thou lovedst, and wunto him only thou shewedst the end Gen. 17. 7. of the times secretly by night: 15 and madest an everlasting covenant with him, promising him that thou wouldest never forsake his seed. 16 And unto him thou gavest Isaac, and unto Isaac thou gavest Jacob and Esau. a And thou didst set apart Jacob for thyself, Rom. 9, 13. but didst put by Esau: and Jacob became a great multitude. 17 And it came to pass, that when thou leddest his seed out of Egypt, thou broughtest them up to the mount Sinai. 18 Thou bowedst the heavens also, and ddidst 1shake the earth, and movedst the whole world, and madest the depths to tremble, and troubledst the course of that age. 19 And thy glory went through four 4 gates, of fire, and of earthquake, and of wind, and of cold; that thou mightest give the law unto the seed of Jacob, and the commandment unto the generation of Israel. 20 g And yet tookest thou not away from them their 2 wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them. 21h For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and not he only, but all they also that are born of him. 22 Thus disease was made permanent; and the law was in the heart of the people along with the wickedness of the root; so the good departed away, and that which was 2 wicked abode still. 23 So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David, 24 whom thou commandedst to build a city 'unto thy name, and to offer oblations unto thee therein m of thine own. this was done many years, then they 25 When that inhabited the city did evil, 26 in all Ex. 19. 1. Deut. 4. 10. €9 Sam. 22. 10. Ex. 19. 18. Cp. ch. 6. 16. Ps. 77. 16. 1 Cp. Ex. 19. See Ps. 18. 16, 18. 7-15. 9 Cp. ch. 4. 30, 31 & 7. [48]. ▲ ch. 4. 30 & 7.48. See Rom. 7. 7-13. 1 Sam. 16. 13. *Cp. 2 Sam. 7. 8, 12, 13. Jer. 25. 29. 1 Chr. 29. 14, 16. sent to shew thee three ways, and to set 5 And I said, Say on, my Lord. the sons of men is able to do this, that 30. 4. thee, saying, How many dwellings are 1 So some versions. Lat. set fast. 3 Or, corruptness 16. CHAP. 4, V. 7.] 4 ch. 6. 2 &7. (36), 53 & 8. 52. b Cp. Deut. 30. 12, 13 & PB, 139, 8 II. ESDRAS. are above the firmament? or which are the outgoings of hell? or which are the paths of a paradise? 8 peradventure thou wouldest say unto me, I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever climb up into heaven. 9Nevertheless now have I asked thee but only of the fire and wind, and of the day, things where& Wisdom through thou hast passed, and without which thou canst not be, and yet hast thou given me no answer of them. & Rom. 10. 6, 7. 9. 16. 10 He said moreover unto me, Thine own things, that are grown up with thee, canst thou not know; 11 how then can dthy vessel comprehend the way of the Most High? and how can he that &1 Thess. is already worn out with the corrupted world understand incorruption? 4 ch. 7. [88]. Cp. 2 Cor. 4.7 4. 4 & 1 Pet. 3. 7. Cp. ver. 2. 1 Cp. Ezek. 1.28 & 3. 23. # Cp, ch.7. 46, 47. 124 And when I heard these things I fell upon my face, and said unto him, It were better that we were not here at all, than that we should come hither and live in the midst of ungodliness, and suffer, and not know wherefore. 13 He answered me, and said, "The woods of the trees of the field went forth, and took counsel together, 14 and said, Come, let us go and make war against the sea, that it may depart away before us, and that we may make us more woods. 15 The waves of the sea also in like manner took counsel together, and said, Come, let us go up and subdue the wood of the plain, that there also we may make us another country. 16 The counsel of the wood was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it: 17 likewise also the counsel of the waves of the sea, for the sand stood up and stopped them. 18 If thou wert judge now betwixt these & Jer. 5. 22. two, whom wouldest thou justify, or whom condemn ? Cp. Judg. 9. 15. iCp. Job 38.11 & Ps. 104. 9 19 I answered and said, It is a foolish counsel that they both have taken, for the ground is given unto the wood, and Cp. Gen. 1. the place of the sea is given to bear his 9. * Cp. Isal. 55, 8, 9 & John 3. 31 & 1 Cor. 2. 14. waves. 20 Then answered he me, and said, Thou hast given a right judgement, and why judgest thou not in thine own case? 21 For like as the ground is given unto the wood, and the sea to his waves, keven so they that dwell upon the earth may understand nothing but that which is upon the earth: and he only that dwelleth above the heavens may understand the things that are above the height of the heavens. by us daily; because Israel is given up 26 Then answered he me, and said, IfSee Num. thou be alive, thou shalt see, and if thou livest long, thou shalt marvel; "for the world hasteth fast to pass away. 27 For it is not able to bear the things that are promised to the righteous in the times to come: $for this world is full of sadness and infirmities. 28 For Cp. Rom. the evil 9 whereof thou askest me is sown, but the gathering thereof is not 29 If therefore that which is yet come. sown be not reaped, and if the place where the evil is sown pass not away, there cannot come the field where the good is sown. 8. 22. 20-22 & 7.48. 3. 12 & 13. 30, 39 & Rev. 14. 15. 30t For a grain of evil Cp. ch. 3. seed was sown in the heart of Adam from the beginning, and how much wickedness hath it brought forth unto this time! and how much shall it yet bring forth until the 10 time of threshing" Cp. Matt. come! 31 Ponder now by thyself, how great fruit of wickedness a grain of evil seed hath brought forth. 32 When the ears which are without number shall be sown, how great a floor shall they fill! 33 Then I answered and said, 11 How Cp. Rev. 6. * Cp. ch. . long? and when shall these things come to pass? wherefore are our years few and evil? 34 And he answered me, and said, 36 And unto them Jeremiel measure be fulfilled. 38 Then answered I and said, dO Lord 2 Another reading is, from which 1 So the Syriac. The Latin omits of hell or which are the paths. 9.8. So the Oriental versions. The Latin is corrupt. See Judg. 8 So the Syriac. So the Syriac and Ethiopic. peradventure it is that the threshing 40 So he answered me, and said, Go 41 Then said I, No, Lord, that can it not. And he said unto me, In the grave Cp. ver. 35 the chambers of souls are like the & ch. 7. 32 (mg.). womb: 42 for like as a woman that travaileth maketh haste to escape the anguish of the travail: even so do these places haste to deliver those things that are committed unto them from the beginning. 43 Then shall it be shewed thee concerning those things which thou desirest to see. A ch. 5. 56 & 6. 11 & 8. 42 & 12.7 & 14. 22. i Cp. ver. 50. i 44 Then answered I and said, hIf I have found favour in thy sight, and if it be possible, and if I be meet therefore, 45 shew me this also, whether there be more to come than is past, or whether the more part is gone over us. 46 For what is gone I know, but what is for to come I know not. 47 And he said unto me, Stand up upon the right side, and I shall expound the similitude unto thee. 48 So I stood, and saw, and, behold, a hot burning oven passed by before me: and it happened, that when the flame was gone by I looked, and, behold, the smoke remained still. 49 After this there passed by before me a watery cloud, and sent down much rain with a storm; and when the stormy rain was past, the drops remained therein still. 50 Then said he unto me, Consider with thyself; as the rain is more than the drops, and as the fire is greater than Cp. ver. 45 the smoke, so the quantity which is past did more exceed; but the drops and the smoke remained still. & ch. 14. 11, 12. * ch. 5. 13 & 6. 12 & 7. 26. ich. 6. 24. Cp. Luke 21.26. ch. 14. 18. * Cp. Luke 18.8. 51 Then I prayed, and said, May I live, thinkest thou, until that time? or who shall be in those days? 52 He answered me, and said, As for the tokens whereof thou askest me, I may tell thee of them in part: but as touching thy life, I am not sent to shew thee; for I do not know it. Nevertheless as concerning the 5 tokens, behold, the days shall come, that they which dwell upon earth shall be taken with great amazement, mand the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith. 20 But iniquity shall be increased above Cp. ver. 10 & Matt. 24. that which now thou seest, or that thou hast heard long ago. 3 And the land, that thou seest now to have rule, shall be waste and 2untrodden, and men shall see it desolate. 4 But if the Most High 12. [CHAP. 5, V. 23. Cp. ch. 11. 39, 40 2.11 40. grant thee to live, thou shalt see that which is after the third kingdom to be troubled; and the sun shall suddenly in the day: 5 and blood shall drop out shine forth in the night, and the moon of wood, and the stone shall give his Cp. Hab. voice, and the peoples shall be troubled; and their goings shall be changed: dwell upon the earth look not for, and 6 and he shall rule, whom they that together: 7 and the Sodomitish sea shall the fowls shall take their flight away cast out fish, and make a noise in the night, which many have not known: but all shall hear the voice thereof. 8 There shall be chaos also in many places, and the fire shall be oft sent out, and the wild beasts shall change their places, and women shall bring forth monsters: 9 and salt waters shall be found in the Cp. James another; then shall wit hide itself, and sweet, and all friends shall destroy one understanding withdraw itself into its chamber; 10 and it shall be sought of many, and shall not be found: and "unrighteousness and incontinency shall be multiplied upon earth. shall ask another, and say, Is righteous11 One land also gone through thee? And it shall say, ness, is a man that doeth righteousness, No. 12 And it shall come to pass at not obtain: they shall labour, but their that time that men shall hope, but shall thee such tokens I have leave; and if ways shall not prosper. 13 To shew thou wilt pray again, and weep as now, and wfast seven days, thou shalt hear yet greater things than these. 3. 11, 12. ch. 6. 24. Cp. Matt. 10. 21 & Mark 13. 12. * Cp. Prov. 22.3. "Cp. ver. 2. ver. 1. ch. 4. 52. ch. 6. 31, 35. 22 ch. 10. 30. Cp. Dan. 10, 10, 11. & ch. 12. 5. trembling went through my body, and and then shalt thou come unto me. 3 According to some Oriental versions, the air. 4 The Syriac has Psaltiel. See ch. 4. 38. 1 PB. 80. 8. Cp, ch. 9. 21 7. Isai. 5. 1, Cp. Deut. 11. 12 & Isai. 51. 1 (for mg.). A Hos. 14. 5. i Cp. Ps. 46. 4. j See Deut. 12. 11. O Lord that bearest rule, of all the woods of the earth, and of all the trees thereof, thou hast chosen thee one vine: 24 and of all the lands of the world thou hast chosen thee one 1country: and of all the flowers of the world thou hast chosen thee one lily: 25 and of all the depths of the sea thou hast filled thee 'one river: and of all builded Cp. S. of S. cities thou hast hallowed Sion unto 21, 2. thyself: 26 and of all the fowls that are created thou hast named thee kone dove: and of all the cattle that are made thou hast provided thee one 'sheep: 27 and among all the multitudes of peoples thou hast gotten thee one people and unto this people, mwhom thou lovedst, thou gavest a law that is approved of all. 28 And now, O Lord, why hast thou given this one people over unto many, and 2hast dishonoured the one root above others, and hast scattered thine only one among many? 29 And they which did gainsay thy promises have trodden them down that believed thy covenants. 30 If thou dost so much hate thy people, they should be punished with thine own hands. * Cp. Ps. 74. 19. Cp. Ps. 74.1 & 79. 13 See Deut. 7.8. "Cp. ch. 4. 23 & 6. 57. • See Lev. 26. 33. P Cp. 2 Sam. 24. 14 & Ecclus. 2. 18. 7 ch. 4. 1. ch. 8. 47. & 12. 4. 31 Now when I had spoken these words, the angel that came to me the night afore was sent unto me, 32 and said unto me, Hear me, and I will instruct thee; hearken unto me, and I shall tell thee more. 33 And I said, Speak on, my Lord. Then said he unto me, Thou art sore troubled in mind for Israel's sake: rlovest thou that people better than he that made them? 34 And I said, No, Lord: but of very grief have I spoken: for my reins torCp. ch.42 ment me every hour, while I labour to comprehend the way of the Most High, and to seek out part of his judgement. 35 And he said unto me, Thou canst not. And I said, Wherefore, Lord, or whereunto was I born? or twhy was not my mother's womb then my grave, that I might not have seen the travail of Jacob, and the wearisome toil of the stock of Israel? t Job 3. 11. Jer. 20. 17. "Cp. Ecclus. 1. 2. *ch. 4. 35. " See ch. 4. 38. 36 And he said unto me, " Number me them that are not yet come, gather me together the drops that are scattered abroad, make me the flowers green again that are withered, 37 open me "the chambers that are closed, and bring me forth the winds that in them are shut up, or shew me the image of a voice: and then I will declare to thee the travail that thou askest to see. 38 And I said, wO Lord that bearest rule, who may know these things, but he that hath not his dwelling with men? Cp. Jer. 1. 39 As for me, I am unwise: how may I then speak of these things whereof thou askest me? 6. 40 Then said he unto me, Like as thou canst do none of these things that I have spoken of, even so canst thou not find out my judgement, or the end of Cp. Isai. the love that I have promised unto my people. 41 And I said, But, lo, O Lord, thou hast made the promise unto them that be in the end: and what shall they do that have been before us, or we that be now, or they that shall come after us? 44 Then answered he me, and said, The creature may not haste above the Cp. ch. 4. creator; neither may the world hold them at once that shall be created therein. 45 And I said, How hast thou said unto thy servant, that thou wilt surely make alive at once the creature that thou hast created? If therefore they shall be alive at once, and the creature shall sustain them: even so it might now also support them to be present at once. 46 And he said unto me, Ask the womb of a woman, and say unto her, If thou bringest forth ten children, why doest thou it at several times? pray her therefore to bring forth ten children at once. 47 And I said, She cannot: but must do it by distance of time. 48 Then said he unto me, Even so have 51 He answered me, and said, Ask a woman that beareth children, and she shall tell thee. 52 Say unto her, Wherefore are not they whom thou hast now brought forth like those that were before, but less of stature? 53 And she also shall answer thee, They that be born in the strength of youth are of one fashion, and they that are born in the time of age, when the womb faileth, are other-Cp. Gen. wise. 54 Consider therefore thou also, how that ye are less of stature than 2 After the Oriental versions. The Latin reads The Latin omits If... alive at once. 1 After the Oriental versions. The Latin has pit. hast prepared. 3 So the Syriac. 6.4 & Num. 13. 33. 9 See ch. 4. 44. A ch. 6. 18 & 9. 2. Cp. Prov. 8. 23-25. See Gen. 1. 1. J See ch. 4. 7. * Cp. ver. 44. Cp. Heb. 12. 22. those that were before you. 55 And so 56 Then said I, Lord, I beseech thee, And he said unto me, In the ch. 14. 2 Cp. ver. 13. heard it I stood up upon my feet, and 6 beginning, when the earth was made, affliction of Sion shall be fulfilled, so and before the outgoings of the world were fixed, or ever the gatherings of the winds blew, a before the voices of the thunder sounded and before the flashes of the lightning shone, or ever the foundations of paradise were laid, 3 before * the fair flowers were seen, or ever the powers of the earthquake were esta blished, before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered together, 4 or ever the heights of the air were lifted up, before the measures of the firmament were named, or ever n the footstool "See 1 Chr. of Sion was established, 5 and ere the present years were sought out, and or ever the imaginations of them that now sin were estranged, before they were Cp. Matt. sealed that have gathered faith for Pa treasure: 6 then did I consider these things, and they all were made through me alone, and through none other: as by me also they shall be ended, and by none other. " ver. 41. See Gen. 1. 6, 7. 28. 2. ch. 2. 38. 6. 20. ? Gen. 17. 5 (for mg.). Hos. 12. 3. 7 Then answered I and said, What shall be the parting asunder of the times? or when shall be the end of the first, and the beginning of it that followeth ? 8 And he said unto me, From 29 Abraham unto Abraham, inasmuch as Jacob Gen. 25. 26 and Esau were born of him, "for Jacob's hand held the heel of Esau from the beginning. 9 For Esau is the end of this world, and Jacob is the beginning of it that followeth. 104 The beginning of a man is his hand, and the end of a man is his heel; between the heel and the hand seek thou nought else, Esdras. See ch. 4. 38. * See ch. 5. 1-13. 33 & Ezek. 2. 1,2 & Dan. 8. 18. III answered then and said, O Lord that bearest rule, gif I have found favour in thy sight, a I beseech thee, shew thy servant the end of thy tokens, whereof thou shewedst me part the last night. น 13 So he answered and said unto me, Cp. ch. 10. Stand up upon thy feet, and thou shalt hear "a mighty sounding voice; 14 and if the place whereon thon standest be greatly moved, 15 when it speaketh be not thou afraid: for the word is of the end, and the foundations of the earth shall understand, 16 that the speech is of them: they shall tremble and be moved: for they know that their end must be changed. ver. 17. Cp. Dan. 10. 6. Cp.ver. 29. * Cp. ch. 3. 18. 17 And it happened, that when I had So the Syriac. The Latin is defective. when the seal shall be set upon the Cp. Matt. 24. 30 & Luke 21. 29 And when he talked with me, behold, 35 And it came to pass after this, that 39 23. 'See ch. 7. [44]. 34 & 5. 44. |
