2 ESDRAS 9

1 Then He answered me, and said, “Measure the time diligently in itself; and when you see some of the signs past, which I have told you before,

2 then you shall understand, that it is the very same time, wherein the Most High shall begin to avenge the world which He made.

3 “Therefore when there are seen earthquakes and the people of the world in uproar;

4 then you shall understand well, that the Most High spoke of those matters from the days that were before you, even from the beginning.

5 “For as all that is made in the world has a beginning and an end, and the end is manifest;

6 so also the times of the Most High have clear beginnings in wonder and works of power, and endings in signs and wonders.

7 “And everyone that shall be saved, and shall be able to escape by his works, and by belief, by which you have believed,

8 shall survive the dangers spoken of, and shall see My deliverance in My land, and within My borders; for I have qadosh them for Myself from the beginning.

9 “Then those who have abused My Ways shall be in a wretched state; and those who have thrown them away in spite shall dwell in torture.

10 “For such have received benefits in their life, but have not known Me;

11 and those who have loathed My Law, while they still had freedom, and when a place for repentance was still open to them, did not understand, but despised it;

12 the same must aknowledge it in anguish after death.

13 “And therefore do not question how the wicked shall be punished, and when; but inquire how the righteous shall be delivered, to whom the world belongs, and for whom the world is created.”

14 Then I answered and said,

15 “I have said before, and now speak, and shall also speak it after, that there are many more of those who perish, than of those who shall be delivered;

16 as a wave is greater than a drop!”

17 And He answered me, saying, “As the field is, so is the seed also; as are the flowers, such are the colours also; as the workman is, such is the work also; and as the farmer is himself, so is his harvest also; for it was the time for the world.

18 “And now when I prepared the world, which was not yet made, even for those to dwell within who now live, no man spoke against Me.

19 “For then everyone obeyed; but now the way of those who are created in this world that is made are a corrupted seed forever, and rid themselves of the Law which is unsearchable.

20 “So I considered the world, and see, there was danger because of the schemes that were brought into it.

21 “And I saw, and spared it greatly, and have kept for Myself a grape of the cluster, and a plant of a great people.

22 “Let the multitude perish then, who were brought forth in ruin; and let My grape be kept, and My plant; for with great labour I have made it perfect.

23 “Nevertheless, if you shall wait yet seven more days, and you do not fast in them,

24 but go into a field of flowers, where no house is built, and eat only the flowers of the field; taste no meat, drink no wine, but eat flowers only.

25 “And pray to the Most High continually, then I shall come and speak with you.”

26 So I went my way into the field which is called Arpaḏ, as He commanded me; and I sat there among the flowers, and ate of the plants of the field, and the food they gave satisfied me.

27 After seven days I sat on the grass, and my heart was tortured within me, as before;

28 and I opened my mouth, and began to speak before the Most High, and said,

29 “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, You who show Yourself to us, You were shown to our fathers in the wilderness, in a place where no man treads, in a barren place, when they came out of Mitsrayim.

30 “And You spoke saying, ‘Hear Me, O Yisra’ĕl; and guard My Words, you seed of Ya’aqoḇ.

31 ‘For look, I sow My Torah in you, and it shall bear fruit in you, and you shall be esteemed in it forever.’

32 “But our fathers, who received the Torah, did not guard it, and did not observe Your Laws; and though the fruit of Your Torah did not perish, nor could it, for it was Yours;

33 yet those who received it perished, because they did not guard that which was sown in them.

34 “And see, it is the manner, when the ground has received seed, or the sea a ship, or any vessel food or drink, that, that in which it was sown or thrown into is perished,

35 that which was sown, or thrown in, or received, also perishes, and does not remain with us; but with us it has not come to be.

36 “For we who have received the Law perish by sin, and our heart also which received it,

37 however the Law does not perish, but remains enforced.”

38 And when I spoke these matters in my heart, I looked back with my eyes, and on the right side I saw a woman, and see, she mourned and wept with a loud voice, and was very grieved in heart, and her garments were torn, and she had ashes upon her head.

39 Then I dismssed my thoughts that I was in, and I turned to her,

40 and said to her, “Why do you weep? Why are you so grieved in your heart?”

41 And she said to me, “Master, leave me alone, that I may bewail myself, and add to my sorrow, for I am very troubled in my heart, and brought very low.”

42 And I said to her, “Tell me, what troubles you?”

43 She said to me, “I your servant have been barren, and had no child, though I had a husband thirty years,

44 and those thirty years I did naught day and night, and every hour, but make my prayer to the Most High.

45 “After thirty years Elohim heard me, your female servant, looked upon my misery, considered my trouble, and gave me a son; and I was very pleased with him, as was my husband also, and all my neighbours; and we gave great esteem to the Almighty,

46 and I provided for him with great struggles.

47 “So when he grew up, and came to the time that he should have a wife, I made a feast.