2 ESDRAS 8:5-48

⁵For thou art come hither without thy will, and departest when thou wouldest not: for there is given thee no longer space than only to live a short time.

⁶O Lord, that art over us, suffer thy servant, that we may pray before thee, and give us seed unto our heart, and culture to our understanding, that there may come fruit of it, whereby every one shall live that is corrupt, who beareth the likeness of a man.

⁷For thou art alone, and we all one workmanship of thine hands, like as thou hast said.

⁸Forasmuch as thou quickenest the body that is fashioned now in the womb, and givest it members, thy creature is preserved in fire and water, and nine months doth thy workmanship endure thy creature which is created in her.

⁹But that which keepeth and that which is kept shall both be kept by thy keeping: and when the womb giveth up again that which hath grown in it,

¹⁰thou hast commanded that out of the parts of the body, that is to say, out of the breasts, be given milk, which is the fruit of the breasts,

¹¹that the thing which is fashioned may be nourished for a time, and afterwards thou shalt order it in thy mercy.

¹²Yea, thou hast brought it up in thy righteousness, and nurtured it in thy law, and corrected it with thy judgement.

¹³And thou shalt mortify it as thy creature, and quicken it as thy work.

¹⁴If therefore thou shalt lightly and suddenly destroy him which with so great labour was fashioned by thy commandment, to what purpose was he made?

¹⁵Now therefore I will speak; touching man in general, thou knowest best; but touching thy people will I speak, for whose sake I am sorry;

¹⁶and for thine inheritance, for whose cause I mourn; and for Israel, for whom I am heavy; and for the seed of Jacob, for whose sake I am troubled;

¹⁷therefore will I begin to pray before thee for myself and for them: for I see the falls of us that dwell in the land;

¹⁸but I have heard the swiftness of the judgment which is to come.

¹⁹Therefore hear my voice, and understand my saying, and I will speak before thee. The beginning of the words of Esdras, before he was taken up. And he said,

²⁰O Lord, thou that abidest for ever, whose eyes are exalted, and whose chambers are in the air;

²¹whose throne is inestimable; whose glory may not be comprehended; before whom the hosts of angels stand with trembling,

²²at whose bidding they are changed to wind and fire; whose word is sure, and sayings constant; whose ordinance is strong, and commandment fearful;

²³whose look drieth up the depths, and whose indignation maketh the mountains to melt away, and whose truth beareth witness:

²⁴hear, O Lord, the prayer of thy servant, and give ear to the petition of thy handiwork;

²⁵attend unto my words, for so long as I live I will speak, and so long as I have understanding I will answer.

²⁶O look not upon the sins of thy people; but on them that have served thee in truth,

²⁷Regard not the doings of them that deal wickedly, but of them that have kept thy covenants in affliction.

²⁸Think not upon those that have walked feignedly before thee; but remember them which have willingly known thy fear.

²⁹Let it not be thy will to destroy them which have lived like cattle; but look upon them that have clearly taught thy law.

³⁰Take thou no indignation at them which are deemed worse than beasts; but love them that have alway put their trust in thy glory.

³¹For we and our fathers have passed our lives in ways that bring death: but thou because of us sinners art called merciful.

³²For if thou hast a desire to have mercy upon us, then shalt thou be called merciful, to us, namely, that have no works of righteousness.

³³For the just, which have many good works laid up with thee, shall for their own deeds receive reward.

³⁴For what is man, that thou shouldest take displeasure at him? or what is a corruptible race, that thou shouldest be so bitter toward it?

³⁵For in truth there is no man among them that be born, but he hath dealt wickedly; and among them that have lived there is none which have not done amiss.

³⁶For in this, O Lord, thy righteousness and thy goodness shall be declared, if thou be merciful unto them which have no store of good works.

³⁷Then answered he me, and said, Some things hast thou spoken aright, and according unto thy words so shall it come to pass.

³⁸For indeed I will not think on the fashioning of them which have sinned, or their death, their judgement, or their destruction;

³⁹but I will rejoice over the framing of the righteous, their pilgrimage also, and the salvation, and the reward, that they shall have.

⁴⁰Like therefore as I have spoken, so shall it be.

⁴¹For as the husbandman soweth much seed upon the ground, and planteth many trees, and yet not all that is sown shall come up in due season, neither shall all that is planted take root: even so they that are sown in the world shall not all be saved.

⁴²I answered then and said, if I have found favour, let me speak before thee.

⁴³Forasmuch as the husbandman’s seed, if it come not up, seeing that it hath not received thy rain in due season, or if it be corrupted through too much rain, so perisheth;

⁴⁴likewise man, which is formed with thy hands, and is called thine own image, because he is made like unto thee, for whose sake thou hast formed all things, even him hast thou made like unto the husbandman’s seed.

⁴⁵Be not wroth with us, but spare thy people, and have mercy upon thine inheritance; for thou hast mercy upon thine own creation.

⁴⁶Then answered he me, and said, Things present are for them that now be, and things to come for such as shall be hereafter.

⁴⁷For thou comest far short that thou shouldest be able to love my creature more than I. But thou hast brought thyself full nigh unto the unrighteous. Let this never be.

⁴⁸Yet in this shalt thou be admirable unto the Most High;