2 Esdras 1

1The second book of Ezra the prophet, 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 Aziah, son of Meraioth, son of Arna, son of Uzziah, son of Borith, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar,

3sons of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, who were captives in the region of the Medes, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians.

4And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5“Go and declare to my people their evil deeds, and to their children the iniquities that they have committed against me, so that they may tell their children's children.

6For the sins of their fathers have increased in them; for they forgot me and sacrificed to foreign gods.

7Was it not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery? But they provoked me and despised my counsels.

8But you, shake out the hair of your head and cast all evils upon them, because they have not obeyed my law; they are an undisciplined people.

9How long shall I endure them, to whom I have given such great benefits?

10For their sake I overthrew many kings; I struck Pharaoh with his servants and all his army.

11I destroyed all the nations before them, and in the east I scattered the people of the two provinces, Tyre and Sidon, and killed all their enemies.

12But you, speak to them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:’

13Surely I brought you through the sea, and in trackless places I made roads secure for you.

14I gave you Moses as a leader and Aaron as a priest. I provided you light by a pillar of fire, and I did great wonders among you.

15But you have forgotten me, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord Almighty: Quail were a sign for you; camps were for you

16I gave for protection, and there you grumbled. You did not exult in my name over the destruction of your enemies, but still

17Until now you have kept murmuring. Where are the benefits that I bestowed on you? Did you not cry out in the wilderness when you were hungry and thirsty,

18saying, “Why have you brought us into this wilderness, to kill us? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.”

19in this wilderness. I grieved over your groanings and gave you manna.

20You ate the bread of angels for food. When you were thirsty, did I not split the rock, and waters flowed in abundance? Because of the heat I covered you with the leaves of trees.

21I covered you with the leaves of trees. I divided fertile lands for you; I drove out the Canaanites and Perizzites and Philistines from before you. What shall I do for you? says the Lord.

22Thus says the Lord Almighty: In the wilderness, when you were thirsty at the bitter stream and blasphemed my name,

23I did not give you fire for your blasphemies, but by casting wood into the water I made the stream sweet.

24What shall I do to you, Jacob? You would not obey me, Judah. I will turn to other nations, and I will give them my name, that they may keep my statutes.

25Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When you ask me for mercy, I will not have mercy on you.

26When you call upon me, I will not hear you, for you have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit murder.

27It is not as though you have forsaken me, but yourselves, says the Lord.

28Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you, as a father his sons, and as a mother her daughters, and a nurse her little children,

29that you should be my people, and I should be your God, and you should be my sons, and I should be your father?

30Thus I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now what shall I do with you? I will cast you out from before my face.

31When you bring offerings to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have rejected your feast days and new moons and circumcisions of the flesh.

32I sent my servants the prophets to you, whom you received and killed and tore their bodies apart; their blood I will require, says the Lord.

33Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate. I will cast you out like stubble before the wind.

34And your sons will not produce offspring, because they neglected my commandment among you and did what is evil before me.

35I will give your houses to a people that is coming, who, without hearing me, believe; to whom I have shown no signs, yet they will do what I have commanded.

36They have not seen, yet they will remember their antiquity. I call to witness

37the favor of the people that is coming, whose little ones rejoice with gladness, not seeing me with bodily eyes, but in spirit believing what I have said. And now, Father, look with glory and see the people that is coming

38from the east, to whom I will give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as leaders,

39Hosea and Amos and Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah,

40Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who is also called the angel of the Lord.”