Hope vs Justice V: the case of 2 Esdras

 

Hope vs Justice V: the case of 2 Esdras

In this post, I’ll provide the text of most of the chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the book 2 Esdras[1], which is an Apocalyptic work that presents a series of visions attributed to the Jewish Prophet Esdras (but the text itself is generally considered to have been written far later).

I decided to quote this text because its content is an extreme inversion of the other texts I quoted in the previous series about this topic, especially the second and third posts[2] I made about this topic. While in the case of those texts, I quoted texts in which the prayers of the saints on behalf of the ‘lost souls’ were answered, this text is extremely harsh on that kind of ‘hope’. Indeed, we have Esdras having a hard time to accept the idea that most souls will be eternally damned only to see his hope being crushed.  

2 Esdras

Chapter 6 (staring from verse 35)

Third dialogue (source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Esdras%206&version=CEB )

³⁵ After all this I wept again and abstained from food for another seven days, to complete the three weeks that had been prescribed for me. ³⁶ Then on the eighth night my heart was disturbed within me again, and I began to speak before the Most High. ³⁷ My spirit was greatly agitated, and my soul was troubled.

³⁸ Then I said: “Lord, you spoke from the beginning of creation on the first day, ‘Let heaven and earth be made,’ and your word accomplished the deed. ³⁹ Then the spirit was hovering, darkness was spread around, and there was silence. There was as yet no sound of a human voice.^[j] 40 Then you commanded that a ray of light be brought forth from your treasuries so that your works might be seen.

⁴¹ “Then on the second day you created the spirit of the firmament and commanded that it divide and make a division between the waters so that a certain part might recede upward and another part remain below.

⁴² “On the third day you commanded the waters to be gathered together in a seventh part of the earth, but you made six parts dry and preserved them so that some of these might be sown and cultivated, to be of service before you. ⁴³ Your word went forth, and the work was immediately accomplished. ⁴⁴ Suddenly, fruit blossomed in great abundance in an infinite variety of flavors, and flowers with matchless color and scents of unspeakable fragrance. These things were done on the third day.

⁴⁵ “On the fourth day you commanded the sun’s splendor to be made, the moon’s light, and the arrangement of the stars. ⁴⁶ You commanded them to serve the human being who was about to be formed.

⁴⁷ “On the fifth day you commanded the seventh part where the water was gathered to produce animals, birds, and fish. ⁴⁸ The silent and lifeless water, as it was commanded, brought forth animals so that peoples might recount your wonders. ⁴⁹ You kept two living creatures^[k] in reserve; one you named Behemoth, and the second you named Leviathan. ⁵⁰ You separated them from each other, for the seventh part where the water was gathered couldn’t contain them. ⁵¹ You gave Behemoth one part of the land that had been dried on the third day, where there are a thousand mountains so that he might live there. ⁵² To Leviathan, however, you gave the watery seventh part. You kept them to be eaten by whomever you wish, and whenever you wish.

⁵³ “On the sixth day you commanded the earth that it create before you cattle, beasts, and reptiles, ⁵⁴ and over these you set Adam, the leader over all the things you had made. From him we all, the people you have chosen, have been brought forth.

⁵⁵ “I have said all these things before you, Lord, because you have said that you created the oldest age^[l] for our sake. ⁵⁶ You have said that the other nations born of Adam are nothing, that they are like spit, and you have compared their abundance to a drop from a pitcher. ⁵⁷ But look now, Lord! These nations that are valued as nothing rule over us and devour us, ⁵⁸ while we, your people, whom you have called your oldest offspring, your one and only child, those who are zealous for you, your dearest ones, are handed over to them. ⁵⁹ If the world was created for our sake, why don’t we possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this situation last?”

Chapter 7 (source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Esdras%207&version=CEB )

When I finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the previous nights was sent to me again. ² He said to me, “Rise, Ezra, and hear the words I have come to speak to you.”

³ I said, “Speak, my Lord.”

He said to me: “A certain sea is set in a spacious place so that it can be deep and vast, ⁴ but its entrance is set in a narrow place, like a river. ⁵ If anyone wants to go to the sea to see it or to rule over it, how can he come into the broad place unless he passes through the narrow? ⁶ Another instance: A city is built and positioned on a broad plain, full of all good things. ⁷ Its entrance, however, is narrow and located on a precipice so that there is fire on the right and deep water on the left. ⁸ There is a single path located between them, between the fire and the water, and the path has only room for human footprints. ⁹ If that city is given to someone as an inheritance, if the heir doesn’t pass through the danger, how will the heir receive the inheritance?”

¹⁰ I said, “Indeed, Lord.”

He said to me: “So also is Israel’s portion. I indeed made the world on account of them. ¹¹ When Adam transgressed my ordinances, what had been made was judged, ¹² and the entrances of this world were made narrow, sorrowful, and troublesome. They are few and bad, full of dangers and involving people in great hardships. ¹³ The entrances of the greater world, however, are spacious and secure, and they generate the fruit of immortality. ¹⁴ If those who live don’t enter these narrow and empty places, they can’t receive the things that are in store. ¹⁵ Therefore, why are you disturbed, being corruptible, and why are you upset, being mortal? ¹⁶ Why haven’t you focused your mind on what is still to come, rather than on what is present?”

¹⁷ I answered: “Supreme Lord, you ordained in your Law that the just will inherit these things, but the impious will perish. ¹⁸ The just then can tolerate the narrow, hoping for the spacious, but those who have acted impiously endure the narrow and won’t see the spacious.”

¹⁹ He said to me: “You aren’t a higher judge than God, nor more intelligent than the Most High. ²⁰ Better that many of those now alive should perish than that the Law of God, which is laid out before them, be disregarded. ²¹ God commanded those who come into the world, after they came, what they needed to do to live, and what laws they should observe to avoid punishment. ²² But they weren’t persuaded and opposed him. They filled their heads with worthless thoughts, ²³ and they invented excuses for their sins. They emphatically denied that the Most High exists, and they didn’t learn his ways. ²⁴ They despised his Law and rejected his covenants. They weren’t faithful to his statutes, and didn’t perform the works he prescribed. ²⁵ Therefore, Ezra, empty things are for the empty and full things for the full.

²⁶ “Look! The time is coming when the signs appear that I told you about in advance, and the city will appear, appearing as a bride, and the land that is now hidden will be openly displayed. ²⁷ Everyone who is rescued from the evils foretold will see my wonders. ²⁸ My Son the anointed one^[a] will be revealed along with those who are with him, and those who remain will rejoice for four hundred years.

²⁹ “After these years, my Son the anointed one and all who have human breath will die. ³⁰ The world will be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as in the earliest beginnings so that no one is left alive. ³¹ After seven days, the world that isn’t yet awake will be roused, and the corrupt world will die. ³² The earth will give back those who sleep, and the dust will give back in silence those who dwell in it, and the resting places will give back the souls that have been entrusted to them. ³³ The Most High will be revealed on the throne of judgment, and mercy will pass away. Patience will be withdrawn, ³⁴ and only judgment will remain. Truth will arise, faith will recover strength, ³⁵ and works will have their consequences. Reward will come about, righteous deeds will awake, and unrighteous deeds won’t sleep.

³⁶ “The lake^[b] of torment will appear, and across from it will be the place of rest. Hell’s^[c] furnace will be displayed and across from it the delightful paradise. ³⁷ Then the Most High will speak to the nations that have been raised: ‘Look and understand whom it is you have denied, whom you haven’t served, and whose ordinances you have despised. ³⁸ Look to one side and the other: Here is delight and rest, and over there are fire and torments.’ He will say these things to them on the Judgment Day, ³⁹ a day that has no sun or moon or stars, ⁴⁰ no cloud or thunder or lightning, no wind or water or air, no darkness or evening or morning, ⁴¹ no summer or spring or heat, no winter or frost or cold, no hail or rain or dew, ⁴² no noon or night or early dawn, no shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the light of the Most High. All will then begin to see what things are in store for them. ⁴³ It will take a period of about a week of years. ⁴⁴ This is my judgment and the arrangements made for it. I have shown this to you alone.”

⁴⁵ I replied: “I said before, Lord, and I say now: Privileged are those now living who observe what you have commanded. ⁴⁶ But what of those who were the subject of my prayer? Who is there of all the living who hasn’t sinned, or who among those who have been born hasn’t transgressed your covenant? ⁴⁷ Now I see that the world to come will bring delight to few but torment to many. ⁴⁸ The inclination to do evil^[d] grew in us. It alienated us and led us into corruption and the paths that lead to death. It showed us the way to damnation and removed us far from life—and this happened not to a few people but to nearly all who were created.”

⁴⁹ He replied to me: “Listen to me, and I will instruct you and will advise you yet again. ⁵⁰ Because of this the Most High made not one world but two. ⁵¹ Regarding what you said about the just being not many but few and the wicked being numerous, think about this: ⁵² If you have very few choice stones, will you add lead and clay to their number?”^[e]

⁵³ I said, “Lord, who would do such a thing?”

⁵⁴ He said to me, “Not only this, but ask the earth and it will inform you; flatter it and it will tell you. ⁵⁵ Say to it: You create gold, silver, bronze, iron, and also lead and clay. ⁵⁶ But silver is more numerous than gold, and bronze than silver, and iron than bronze, lead than iron, and clay than lead. ⁵⁷ Decide yourself then which things are precious and desirable, what is abundant or what is rare.”

⁵⁸ I said, “Supreme Lord, that which is abundant is cheaper, because what is more rare is valuable.”

⁵⁹ He replied to me: “Reflect on what you have thought. One who has what is scarce rejoices more than one who has what is abundant. ⁶⁰ So also will be the judgment^[f] I have promised. I will rejoice over the few who will be saved, because they are the ones who made my honor to prevail now and through whom my reputation is celebrated. ⁶¹ I will have no regrets over the multitude who perish, for they are even now like vapor, the equivalent of flame or smoke; they burn and flare up and are quenched.”

⁶² I replied: “Earth, what have you brought to birth? If consciousness is made of dust like other creatures, ⁶³ it would have been better that the dust itself had never been born, so that consciousness shouldn’t be made from it. ⁶⁴ But now consciousness grows with us, and due to this we are tortured, because we perish and are aware of the fact. ⁶⁵ Let the human race lament and let the wild beasts rejoice. Let all people who are born lament, but let four-footed animals and flocks be happy! ⁶⁶ It is much better for them than for us. They don’t expect judgment. They don’t know about either the torments or the deliverance that you promise after death. ⁶⁷ But what does it profit us that we will be preserved, only to be tortured with torments? ⁶⁸ All who are born are mixed up with violations, full of sins, and weighed down with crimes. ⁶⁹ If we were not to come into judgment after death, it would perhaps have been better for us.”

⁷⁰ He replied to me: “When the Most High made the world and Adam and all who are descended from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment. ⁷¹ Now understand on the basis of your own words—because you said, ‘Consciousness grows with us.’ ⁷² Those who sojourn on earth will be tormented precisely because, although they were aware, they committed violations. Although they received the commandments, they didn’t keep them. When they did follow the Law, they falsified its contents. ⁷³ What will they have to say in the judgment? How will they respond in the last times? ⁷⁴ How long a time the Most High has put up with those who inhabit the world! But this wasn’t for their sakes; rather for the sake of the schedule that he has established for the unfolding of the times.”

⁷⁵ I replied: “If I have found favor with you, Lord, show this also to your servant: After death, as soon as each person gives up his or her soul, will we be kept asleep until the time comes for you to begin to renew creation, or will we be tormented right away?”

⁷⁶ He replied to me: “I will show you this too. But don’t associate yourself with those who have shown contempt, and don’t count yourself among those who are tormented. ⁷⁷ You have a treasure of works stored up with the Most High, but it won’t be shown to you until the last times.

⁷⁸ “Now a word about death: When the final sentence goes forth from the Most High that a person should die, when the spirit recedes from the body so that it may be sent again to him who gave it, the first thing is to stand in awe before the glory of the Most High. ⁷⁹ If the spirit belonged to one of those who showed contempt and didn’t keep the Most High’s way, if it was one of those who despised his Law and who hates those who fear God, ⁸⁰ these spirits don’t go into their dwellings but will immediately wander about in torments. They will constantly grieve and be sorrowful for seven reasons:^[g]

⁸¹ The first reason—because they despised the Law of the Most High.

⁸² The second reason—because they can’t now effectively change their hearts and lives so that they might live.

⁸³ The third reason—because they will see the reward laid up for those who have believed the Most High’s testimonies.

⁸⁴ The fourth reason—because they will consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days.

⁸⁵ The fifth reason—because they will see the dwelling places of others, guarded by angels in great silence.

⁸⁶ The sixth reason—because they see the torment coming upon them from now on.^[h]

⁸⁷ The seventh reason, which is greater than all the previously mentioned reasons—because they will melt away in confusion and be consumed in disgrace.^[i]

“They will wither in fear when they see the glory of the Most High, before whom they sinned when they were alive and before whom they are to be judged in the last times.

⁸⁸ “The arrangement for those who kept God’s ways is this when they begin to be separated from the corruptible body.^[j] 89 In the time of their exile here they labored hard to serve the Most High. Every hour they endured danger so that they might keep the Law of the lawgiver perfectly. ⁹⁰ Therefore, this is the word about them: ⁹¹ First, they will see with great joy the glory of him who receives them. They will have rest on account of seven orders:

⁹² The first order—because they have struggled hard to overcome the evil thought fashioned within them so that it wouldn’t lead them astray from life to death.

⁹³ The second order—because they see the panic in which the souls of the wicked wander and the punishment that awaits them.

⁹⁴ The third order—seeing the testimony that their maker has testified on their behalf, because when they were alive, they kept the Law that was given through faith.

⁹⁵ The fourth order—understanding the peaceful rest that they now enjoy, gathered in their resting chambers, guarded by angels in deep silence, and understanding the glory that awaits them in their last days.

⁹⁶ The fifth order—rejoicing at how they have now escaped the corruptible and how they will have a future inheritance; moreover, seeing the narrow space, full of labor, from which they have been freed, and the spacious place they are about to receive and enjoy, now that they are immortal.

⁹⁷ The sixth order—when they are shown how their face begins to shine like the sun and how they begin to be like the stars, as beings of incorruptible light.

⁹⁸ The seventh order, which is greater than all those mentioned—because they will rejoice with confidence and will trust without being disappointed and will rejoice without fear; for they hasten to see the face of him whom they served when they were alive and from whom they are about to receive a reward now that they are glorified.

⁹⁹ “This is the order of the souls of the just, as is announced immediately, and those previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who paid no heed will suffer.”

¹⁰⁰ I answered: “Will time, therefore, be given to souls after they are separated from the bodies to see what you told me?”

¹⁰¹ He said to me: “They will be free for seven days so that they may see in those seven days the things^[k] that have been foretold. After this, they will be gathered in their dwelling places.”

¹⁰² I answered: “If you look on me with favor, show your servant further whether on the Judgment Day the just will be able to seek mercy for the wicked or intercede for them with the Most High. ¹⁰³ Will parents be allowed to intercede^[l] for children, children for parents, siblings for each other, relatives for those close to them, faithful ones for those most dear to them?”

¹⁰⁴ He replied to me: “Because I do indeed favor you, I will also show you this. The Judgment Day is decisive.^[m] It reveals the seal of truth to all. Even in the here and now a parent doesn’t send a child, or a child the parent, or a master his servant, or a faithful friend a dear confidant, so that the one should understand or sleep or eat or be taken care of in the other person’s place. ¹⁰⁵ Just so, no one will ever intercede for another; everyone will then bear his or her own deeds of justice or injustice.”

¹⁰⁶ I answered: “How then do we find that Abraham first interceded for the people of Sodom; and Moses for our ancestors who sinned in the desert; ¹⁰⁷ and Joshua, who came after him, for Israel, in the days of Achan; ¹⁰⁸ and Samuel in the days of Saul;^[n] and David for the plague;^[o] and Solomon for those in the sanctuary; ¹⁰⁹ and Elijah for those who received the rain, and for a dead person that he might live; ¹¹⁰ and Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib, and many for many people? ¹¹¹ If, therefore, the just prayed for the wicked when corruption had increased and injustice had multiplied, why won’t it be the same then?”

¹¹² He answered me: “The present world isn’t the end. Glory does not^[p] continuously remain in it, and so those who were able prayed for the weak. ¹¹³ But the Judgment Day will be the end of this time and the beginning of the future, endless time in which decay is no more, ¹¹⁴ indulgence is undone, unbelief is cut off, but justice is fully grown, and truth arisen. ¹¹⁵ Therefore, no one will then be able to have mercy on someone who has been condemned in the judgment, nor to overwhelm one who has conquered.”

¹¹⁶ I answered: “This is my first and last word: It would have been better if the earth hadn’t brought forth Adam, or when it had brought him forth, that it had forced him not to sin. ¹¹⁷ What does it benefit everyone to live in sadness during the present time, and when dead to expect punishment? ¹¹⁸ Adam, what have you done?! If you sinned, the downfall wasn’t yours alone but also ours who are descended from you. ¹¹⁹ What benefit is it to us that we are promised an immortal time, but we have done works that bring death? ¹²⁰ What good is it to us that everlasting hope has been predicted for us, but we have utterly failed? ¹²¹ What good is it that safe and healthy dwelling places are reserved, but we have behaved badly? ¹²² What good is it that the glory of the Most High will protect those who have conducted themselves decently, but we have conducted ourselves indecently? ¹²³ What good is it that paradise will be revealed, whose fruit remains uncorrupted, in which there is plenty and healing, ¹²⁴ but we won’t enter it, for we have visited unseemly places? ¹²⁵ What good is it that the faces of those who practiced abstinence will shine brighter than stars when our faces are blacker than darkness? ¹²⁶ While we were alive and doing evil, we didn’t think about what we would suffer after death.”

¹²⁷ He answered: “These are the rules for the contest in which everyone born on earth takes part: ¹²⁸ Those who are defeated will suffer what you said, but those who conquer will receive what I say. ¹²⁹ This is the path that Moses declared when he was alive, speaking to the people, Choose life for yourself… so that you may live.^[q] 130 But they didn’t believe him or the prophets who came after him. They didn’t even believe me when I spoke to them. ¹³¹ There won’t be sadness over their destruction, as there will be joy over those for whom salvation is sure.”

¹³² I answered: “I know, Lord, that the Most High is now called merciful, since he has mercy on those who haven’t yet come into the world. He is called ¹³³ gracious, since he has mercy on those who convert to his Law, ¹³⁴ and patient, because he shows patience to those who have sinned, since they are his own creation. ¹³⁵ I know that he is called generous, because he wants to give gifts rather than demand them, ¹³⁶ and very merciful, because he multiplies mercies more and more to those now alive and those who went before and those who are to come in the future. ¹³⁷ If, indeed, he hadn’t multiplied them, the world with those who live in it would not now exist. ¹³⁸ He is called^[r] giver, because if he didn’t give out of his own goodness some relief from their sins to people who committed sins, not one ten-thousandth part of humanity could live. ¹³⁹ He is called judge, because unless he forgave those created by his word and wiped out the multitude of their offenses, ¹⁴⁰ perhaps only a very few would be left from the innumerable multitude.”

Chapter 8 (source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Esdras%208&version=CEB )

He answered me: “The Most High made this world for the sake of many but the future world for the sake of few. ² But I will tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as when you ask the earth and it tells you that it provides much clay to make earthenware, but little dust from which gold comes to be, so the present world also works. ³ Many indeed are created, but few will be saved.”

⁴ I replied: “Therefore, take delight^[a] in understanding, my soul, and drink your fill of knowledge.^[b] 5 You came into the world^[c] unwillingly,^[d] and against your will you depart, and you are given but a little while to live. ⁶ Lord above us—if you will permit your servants to pray before you—give us seed for the heart and cultivation for the understanding that there may be fruit from which every mortal who bears the form of a human being may live. ⁷ You alone exist, and we are your handiwork, as you have said. ⁸ Because you give life to the body that is now fashioned in the womb and give it members, your creation is preserved in fire and water. For nine months the womb you have fashioned endures what is created in it. ⁹ But both the container and its contents will be conserved by your care. And when the womb at last gives forth what is created in it, ¹⁰ you have commanded that from the members themselves; that is, from the breasts, milk (the fruit of the breasts) should be provided. ¹¹ By this means, that which is fashioned may be nourished for a time, and afterward you will dispose of this person in your mercy. ¹² You nourished him with your justice, tutored him in your Law, and reproved him in your wisdom.^[e] 13 You will cause him to die as your creation and give him life as your work.

¹⁴ If, therefore, you will destroy with a simple command one who was fashioned at your command with so much labor, why was he made? ¹⁵ Now I will surely speak: You know best about the sum total of humanity, but what about your people who grieve me, ¹⁶ and about your inheritance because of which I lament, and about Israel, on whose account I am sad, and about the seed of Jacob because of which I am disturbed? ¹⁷ Therefore, I will pray before you for myself and for them, because I see the defects of we who live on earth, ¹⁸ but I have heard of the swiftness of the judgment that is to come. ¹⁹ Therefore, hear my voice and consider my words, and I will speak before you.”

²⁰ The beginning of the words of Ezra’s prayer before he was taken up.^[f] He said:

Lord, you live in eternity.^[g] The highest heavens are yours, and your upper chambers are in the air. ²¹ Your authority^[h] is beyond estimation, and your glory is beyond our power to comprehend. The armies of angels wait on in fear, ²² and at your command they are changed into wind and fire. Your word is true, and what you say lasts forever. ²³ Your command is powerful, and your precept is fearsome. Your gaze dries up the deeps, and your threat makes mountains melt. Your truth is acknowledged. ²⁴ Hear your servant’s voice and listen to my request, the request of one whom you formed, and listen to my words. ²⁵ But me! I will speak as long as I live, and while I still have understanding, I will respond.

²⁶ Don’t pay attention to your people’s sins but to those who have served you in truth. ²⁷ Don’t consider those who do evil by sinning but those who have kept your covenants in the midst of torments. ²⁸ Don’t think about those who have conducted themselves wickedly in your presence but of those who have made it their purpose to know what it means to revere you. ²⁹ Don’t set your mind to destroy those who have lived as mindlessly as cows,^[i] but look on those who showed forth your glorious Law. ³⁰ Don’t be angry at those who are esteemed lower than animals, but love those who have constantly hoped to honor you.

³¹ We and those before us have followed ways that lead to death, but it’s on account of us sinners that you are said to be merciful. ³² If you desire to have pity on us who have no good deeds to our credit, then you will be called compassionate. ³³ The righteous who have many works laid up with you will receive a reward for their own works. ³⁴ What are human beings that you should be angry with them, or a corrupt race that you should be irate with them? ³⁵ In truth, no one born has not violated your commands, and no one who grew up has not sinned. ³⁶ But this shows your goodness, Lord, when you have pity on those who have no stockpile of good works.

³⁷ He answered me: “You have said some things correctly, and according to your words it will be done. ³⁸ Indeed, I won’t think about the formation of sinners or their death or judgment or damnation, ³⁹ but I will rejoice over the creation of the righteous, their journey also, and their deliverance and receipt of a reward. ⁴⁰ As I’ve said, then so it is. ⁴¹ Just as a farmer sows many seeds on the land, but in time not all seeds that are sown will be saved nor will all the planted things take root, so also not all of those who are sown in the world will be saved.”

⁴² I answered: “If I have found favor with you, let me speak, ⁴³ because the farmer’s seed doesn’t grow up, perhaps because it didn’t receive your rain in season; or if it was spoiled by abundance of rain, it perishes. ⁴⁴ But human beings, who are shaped by your hands and named in your image, because they are made in your likeness, for whom you created all things—have you compared them to a farmer’s seeds? ⁴⁵ No, Lord above us, but spare your people and have mercy on your inheritance, for you have mercy on your own creation.”

⁴⁶ He answered me: “The present things are for those who now are, and the future things for the future. ⁴⁷ You are a long way from loving my creation more than I do. But you have often associated yourself with the wicked. Never do so! ⁴⁸ But even in this respect the Most High will admire you, ⁴⁹ because you have humbled yourself, as befits you, and didn’t count yourself among the righteous so that you may be glorified the more. ⁵⁰ Many miseries will afflict those who inhabit the world in the last times because they will walk in great pride. ⁵¹ But think of yourself and ask about the glory of those like you. ⁵² For you, paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the future time is prepared, abundance is made ready, the city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is perfected, and wisdom is perfected in advance. ⁵³ The root of evil^[j] is sealed off from you, weakness is abolished from you, and death is hidden; the netherworld^[k] and decay have fled into oblivion. ⁵⁴ Sorrows have passed, and the treasure of immortality is displayed to the end. ⁵⁵ Therefore, don’t continue to ask about the great many who perish. ⁵⁶ They also received freedom, but they despised the Most High, spoke ill of his Law, and abandoned his ways. ⁵⁷ Moreover, they also trampled his righteous ones. ⁵⁸ They said in their heart that there is no God, even though they knew that they would have to die. ⁵⁹ Just as the things that are predicted will receive you, so also the thirst and torment that are prepared will receive them. The Most High didn’t intend for human beings to be destroyed, ⁶⁰ but those who were themselves created defiled the name of their creator and were ungrateful to him who prepared life for them. ⁶¹ Therefore, my judgment draws close, ⁶² which I haven’t disclosed to all, except to you and to a few like you.”

⁶³ I answered, “Look now, Lord, you have shown me a multitude of signs that you are about to perform in the last times, but you haven’t shown me when they will take place.”

Chapter 9 (source: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Esdras%209&version=CEB )

He answered me: “Measure carefully within yourself, and when you see that a certain part of the signs that were predicted have passed, ² then you will understand that the time has come in which the Most High will begin to visit the world that he made. ³ When the movement of places, tumult of peoples, plotting of nations, inconstancy of leaders, and confusion of princes appear in the world, ⁴ then you will understand that it was about these things that the Most High spoke from former days, from the beginning. ⁵ Just as with everything that has happened in the world, the beginning is known from the end,^[a] and the end comes to be seen, ⁶ so also are the times of the Most High. The beginnings are manifest in prodigies and mighty works, and the end is evident in deeds and in signs. ⁷ All this—who will be saved, who will be able to escape through their works or through the faith with which they believe— ⁸ will survive the predicted dangers and will see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have made holy for myself for a long time. ⁹ Then whoever has now abused my ways will be astonished, and whoever rejected them in contempt will linger in agony. ¹⁰ Those who didn’t acknowledge me when they were alive, even though they received benefits; ¹¹ those who despised my Law while they were enjoying freedom ¹² and didn’t come to their senses but continued to scoff while the opportunity for a changed life was still open to them—these people must acknowledge me in torment after death. ¹³ But don’t be curious any longer about how the wicked will be tortured. Instead, inquire how and when the righteous, to whom the world belongs and because of whom the world exists, will be saved.”

¹⁴ I answered, ¹⁵ “I said before and now will say again that those who perish are more numerous than those who are saved, ¹⁶ just as a wave is greater than a drop.”

¹⁷ He answered me: “As the field is, so is the seed; and as the flowers, so also the colors; as the labor, so also the product;^[b] and as the farmer, so the threshing floor. ¹⁸ There was a time in this world—when I was preparing for those who now are, before the world in which they would dwell was made for them—no one opposed me, because no one existed yet. ¹⁹ Now, however, those who have been created in this world—a world furnished with both an inexhaustible table and an endless pasture^[c]—have become corrupt in their habits. ²⁰ I considered the earth—and, observe, it was ruined. I considered my world, and, observe, it was in danger because of the intrigues of those who had come into it. ²¹ I saw and spared them with great difficulty; I saved for myself one grape out of a cluster and one plant out of a great forest.^[d] 22 Therefore, let the multitude that was born without purpose perish, and let my grape and my plant be preserved, because I perfected these with much effort. ²³ But let seven more days pass. Don’t fast during this time, ²⁴ but go into a field of flowers, where no house is built, and eat only of the flowers of the field. Don’t taste meat, and don’t drink wine, but eat only flowers. ²⁵ Pray to the Most High without pause, and I will come and talk to you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Esdras

[2] I find it ironic that this text seems to be accepted as canonical by the Ethiopian tradition. Compare with the tale of the Saint Kristos Samra (https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/02/hope-vs-justice-ii-case-of-kristos-samra.html ) or the developments of the ‘Apocalypse of Peter’ that are preserved in Ethiopic texts (https://ancientafterlifebelifs.blogspot.com/2026/02/hope-vs-justice-iii-apocalypse-of-peter.html ) .