2 Esdras 5

1But concerning the signs: behold, days are coming when those who dwell on the earth will be seized with great terror, and the way of truth will be hidden, and the land will be barren of faith.

2And unrighteousness will be multiplied beyond what you yourself see, and beyond what you heard long ago.

3And the region that you now see ruling will be a trackless waste, and they will see it desolate.

4But if the Most High grants that you live, you will see after the third disturbance that the sun will suddenly shine at night, and the moon by day.

5And blood will drip from wood, and the stone will give its voice, and peoples will be shaken, and steps will be changed.

6And one whom those who dwell on the earth do not expect will reign, and the birds will migrate.

7And the Sea of Sodom will cast out fish, and by night it will utter a sound that many have not known, but all will hear it.

8And chaos will come in many places, and fire will often break out, and wild beasts will leave their own region,

9and women will give birth to monstrous things in menstruation. And in sweet waters salty waters will be found, and all friends will make war on one another, and then understanding will be hidden, and insight will withdraw into its storehouse.

10And it will be sought by many and will not be found, and unrighteousness and lack of self-control will be multiplied on the earth.

11Injustice and lack of self-control will be multiplied upon the earth. And one region will ask its neighbor and say, 'Has righteousness passed through you?'

12Has righteousness passed through, or one who does righteousness? And it will say no. And it will be at that time that men will hope and not obtain;

13They will labor, but their ways will not be directed. I have been permitted to tell you these signs; and if you pray again and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you will hear again things greater than these.

14Then I awoke, and my body shuddered greatly, and my soul

15it labored to the point of failing. And the angel who had come, who was speaking in me, took hold of me and strengthened me and set me on my feet.

16And it happened on the second night that Phaltiel, leader of the people, came to me and said, 'Where were you, and why is your face sad?

17Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you in the land of their exile?

18Rise therefore and eat some bread, and do not abandon us like a shepherd his flock into the hands of evil wolves.

19And I said to him, 'Go away from me, and do not come near me until seven days have passed, and then you may come to me.' And he did as I said and withdrew from me.

20And I fasted for seven days, wailing and weeping, as Uriel the angel had commanded me.

21And it happened after seven days that the thoughts of my heart were again very grievous to me.

22And my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and again I began to speak before the Most High.

23And I said, 'Sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees you have chosen one vine,

24and from all the lands of the world you chose for yourself one pit, and from all the flowers of the world you chose for yourself one lily,

25and from all the depths of the sea you filled for yourself one stream, and from all the cities that have been built you sanctified Zion for yourself,

26and from all the birds that have been created you named for yourself one dove, and from all the cattle that have been formed you provided for yourself one sheep,

27and from all the multiplied peoples you acquired for yourself one people, and to this people whom you desired you gave the law approved by all.

28And now, Lord, why have you handed over the one to the many, and prepared one root above the others, and scattered your only one among the many?

29And those who opposed your promises have trampled those who believed your covenants.

30And if you indeed hate your people, they ought to be chastised by your own hands.

31And it happened, when I had spoken these words, and was sent

32the angel who had come to me on the previous night was with me, and he said to me, 'Hear me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will add further.'

33...before you.' And I said, 'Speak, my lord.' And he said to me, 'You have become greatly beside yourself in mind over Israel; or have you loved him more...

34him more than he who made him?' And I said, 'No, lord, but I have spoken in grief, for my inward parts torment me every hour as I seek to grasp the path of the Most High and to search out part of his judgment.' And he said to me, 'You cannot.' And I said, 'Why, lord? Or why was I born? Or why did my mother's womb not become my grave, so that I might not see Jacob's trouble?'

35And he said to me, 'You cannot.' And I said, 'Why, Lord? Or why was I born? Or why did my mother's womb not become my grave, so that I might not see the trouble of Jacob and the weariness of the stock of Israel?'

36And he said to me, 'Count for me those who have not yet come, and gather for me the scattered drops, and

37Restore to me the dried flowers, and open for me the storehouses that are shut, and bring out for me the winds enclosed in them, or show me the image of a voice; then I will show you that labor which you ask.

38And I said, 'Lord, Master, who indeed can know these things, except one who does not dwell among men?'

39But I am foolish; how then can I speak about these things concerning which

40And he said to me, 'Just as you cannot do one of these things that have been spoken, so you cannot find out the judgment.'

41And I said, 'But behold, Lord, you preside over those who are at the end. And what will those do who were before us, or we ourselves, or those who will be after us?'

42And he said to me, 'I will liken my judgment to a crown: as there is no delay for the last, so there is no haste for the first.'

43And I answered and said, 'For could you not make those who have been made, and those who are, and those who will be, all at once, so that you might show your judgment more quickly?'

44And he answered me and said, 'The creature cannot hasten faster than the Creator, nor can the age sustain those who were created in it all at once.'

45And I said, “How then did you say to your servant that you will surely give life to the creation created by you all at once? If then the living will live all at once and the creation will endure, it can also now bear those who are present all at once.”

46And he said to it, “If you bear ten, why over time? Ask it therefore to give birth to ten at one time.” And I said, “Certainly it cannot, but—”

47according to its time. And he said to me, “And I gave the womb

48And he said to me, 'So I also gave the womb of the earth to those who were sown upon it in their time.'

49For just as an infant does not bear children, nor does one who has grown old bear any longer, so I ordered the age that I created.'

50And I asked and said, 'Since you have now given me a way, I will speak before you: is our mother, of whom you spoke to me, still young, or is she already drawing near to old age?'

51And he said, 'Ask a woman who bears, and she will tell you. For you will say to her, "Why

52For you will say to her, "Why are those whom you have now borne not like those who came before, but smaller in stature?"

53And she herself will say to you, "Different are those born in the strength of youth, and different are those born toward the time of old age, when the womb is failing."

54Therefore consider also for yourself, that you are smaller in stature than those before you,

55Therefore consider also for yourself: you are smaller in stature than those before you, and those who come after you will be smaller than you, as of a creation already growing old and passing beyond the strength of youth.