THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF ESDRAS.

CHAP. I.

Esdras is sent to expostulate with the vngratful Iewes for neglecting Gods manie great benefites.

1 THE second book of Esdras the prophet, the sonne of Sarei, the sonne of Azarei, the sonne of Helcias, the sonne of Sadanias, the sonne of Sadoch, the sonne of Achitob, (1 Esd 7:1)

2 the onne of Achias, the sonne of Phinees, the sonne of Heli, the sonne of Amerias, the sonne of Asiel, the sonne of Marimoth, the sonne of Arna, the sonne of Ozias, the sonne of Borith, the sonne f Abisei, the sonne of Phinees, the sonne of Eleazar,

3 the sonne of Aaron of the tribe of Leui; who was captiue in the countrie of the Medes, in the reigne of Artaxerxes king of the Persians.

4 nd the word of our Lord came to me, saying: 

5 Goe, and tel my people their wicked deedes, and their children the iniquities, that they haue done against me, that they may tel their childrens hildren: 

6 because the sinnes of their parentes are increased in them, for they being forgetful of me haue sacrified to strange goddes. 

7 Did not I bring them out of the land of AEgypt from the ouse of bondage?  But they haue prouoked me, & haue despised my counsels. 

8 But doe thou shake of the heare of thy head, and throw al euils vpon them:  because they haue not obeyed my aw.  And it is a people without discipline. 

9 How long shal I beare with them, on whom I haue bestowed so great benefiates? 

10 I haue ouer throwen manie kinges from them.  I haue stroke harao with his seruantes, and al his hoste.  (Ex 14) 

11 Al nations did I destroy before their face, & in the East I dissipated the peoples of two prouinces Tyre and Sidon, and I slew al their duersaries. 

12 But speake thou to them, saying:  Thus sayth our Lord: 

13 I made you passe through the sea, and gaue you fensed streates from the beginning.  I gaue you Moyses for your ouernour, and Aaron for the Priest: 

14 I gaue you light by the piller of fire, & did manie meruelous things among you:  but you haue forgotten me, sayth our Lord.  (Ex 13) 

15 Thus sayth our ord omnipotent:  The quayle was a signe to you, I gaue you a campe for defense, and there you murmured: 

16 And you triumphed not in my name for the destruction of your enemies, but yet ntil now you haue murmured.  (Ex 16) 

17 Where are the benefites, that I haue geuen you?  Did you not crie out to me when you were hungrie in the desert,

18 saying:  Why hast thou brought s into this desert to kil vs?  it had bene better for vs to serue the AEgyptians, then to dye in this desert.  (Num 14) 

19 I was sorie for your mournings, & gaue you manna to eate.  You did eate read of Angels. (Ex 16 / Wis 16:20) 

20 When you thirsted did not I cleaue the rocke, & waters flowed in abundance?  for the heates I couered you with the leaues of trees. 

21 I deliuered vnto ou fatte landes:  The Chananeites, and Pherezeites, and Philistheans I threw out from your face:  what shal I yet doe to you, sayth our Lord?  (Isa 9:4) 

22 Thus sayth our Lord omnipotent:  In he desert when you were thirstie in the riuer of the Amorrheites, and blasphemeing my name, (Ex 15:25)

23 I gaue you not fire for blasphemies, but casting wood into the water, I made the riuer wete.

24 What shal I doe to thee Iacob?  Thou wouldest not obey o Iuda.  I wil transferre my self to other nations, and wil geue them my name, that they may keepe my ordinances.  (Ex 32) 

25 ecause you haue forsaken me, I aslo forsake you:  when you aske mercie of me, I wil not haue mercie. (Isa 1:15) 

26 When you shal inuocate me, I wil not heare you.  For you haue defiled your andes with bloud, and your fete are quicke to commit murders. 

27 Not as though you haue forsaken me, but yourselues, sayth our Lord. 

28 Thus saith our Lord omnipotent, haue not I desired ou, as a father his sonnes, and a mother her daughters, and as a nurce her litle ones,

29 that you would be my people, and I your God, and to me for children, and I to you for a father? 

30 So aue I gathered you, as the henne her chickenes vnder her winges.  But now what shal I doe to you?  I wil throw you from my face.  (Matt 23:37) 

31 When you shal bring me oblation, I wil urne away my face from you.  (Isa 66:5)  For I haue refused your festiual dayes, & newmoones, and circumcisions. 

32 I sent my seruantes the prophetes to you, whom being taken you slew, and angled their bodies, whose bloud I wil require, sayth our Lord. 

33 Thus sayth our Lord omnipotent, your house is made desolate, I wil throw you away, as the winde doth stubble,

34 and your hildren shal not haue issue: because they haue neglected my commandment, and haue done that which is euil before me. 

35 I wil deliuer your houses to a people comming, who not hearing me o beleue:  to whom I haue not shewed signes, they wil do the thinges that I haue commanded. 

36 The prophetes they haue not sene, and they wil be mindful of their iniquities. 

37 I cal to itnes the grace of the people comming, whose litle ones reioyce with ioy, not seing me with their carnal eyes, but in spirit beleuing the thinges that I haue sayd. 

38 And now brother behold hat glorie:  and see people comming from the east,

39 to whom I wil geue the conduction of Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob, and of Osee, and Amos, and of Ioel, and Abdias, and Ionas, and ichaeas,

40 and Naum and Habacuc, of Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, and Malachias, who also is called the Angel of our Lord.  (Mal 3:1)

CHAP. II.

The Synagogue expostulateth with her children for their ingratitude; 10. shewing that they shal be forsaken, and the gentiles called.

1 THVS saith our Lord:  I brought this people out of bondage, to whom I gaue commandment by my seruantes the Prophetes, whom they would not heare, but made my counsel frustrate. 

2 Their mother that bare them, sayth to them:  Goe children, because I am a wydow and forsaken. 

3 I brought you vp with ioy, & haue lost you with mourning & sorow, because you haue sinned efore our Lord your God, & haue done that which is euil before him. 

4 But now what shal I doe to you?  I am a wydow and desolote, goe my children, & aske mercie of our Lord. 

5 And I cal hee o father a witnes vpon the mother of the children, that would not keepe my testament,

6 that thou geue them confusion, & their mother into spoile, that there be no generation of them. 

7 Let heir names be dispersed into the Gentiles, let them be destroyed out of the land:  because they haue despised my sacrament. 

8 Woe be to thee Assur, which hidest the wicked with thee.  Thou aughtie nation, remember what I did to Sodom & Gomorrha:  (Gen 19:24) 

9 whose land lieth in cloddes of pitch, & heapes of ashes:  so wil I make them, that haue not heard me, saith our Lord mnipotent. 

10 Thus saith our Lord to Esdras:  Tel my pople, that I wil geue them the kingdom of Ierusalem, which I ment to geue to Isreal.

11 And I wil take to me the glorie of them, and wil eue them eternal tabernacles, which I had prepared for them. 

12 The wood of life shal be to them for an odour of oyntment, and they shal not labour, nor be wearied. 

13 Goe & you shal eceiue.  Aske for your selues a few dayes, that they may abide.  Now the kingdom is prepared for you, watch ye.

14 Cal thou heauen and earth to witnes:  for I haue destroyed euil, and haue reated good, because I liue sayth our Lord. 

15 Mother embrace thy children, bring them vp with ioy.  As a doue confirme their feete: because I haue chosen thee, sayth our Lord. 

16 And I wil aise againe the dead out of their places, and out of the monumentes I wil bring them forth, because I haue knowen my name in Israel. 

17 Feare not o mother of the children, because I haue hosen thee, saith our Lord. 

18 I wil send thee ayde, my seruantes I saie, and Ieremie, at whose counsel I haue sanctified, and prepared for thee tweleue trees loden with diuerse fruites,

19 and s manie fountaines flowing milke and honie:  and seuen huge mountaines, hauing the rose and the lilie, in the which I wil fil thy children with ioy.  (Ex 15:27) 

20 Iustifie thou the widow, iudge or the pupil, geue to the needie, defend the orphane, cloth the naked,

21 cure the broken & feeble, mocke not the lame, defend the maimed, and admitte the blind to the vision of my glorie. 

22 he old man & the yong keepe with in thy walles: 

23 where thou shalt finde the dead, committe them to the graue signing it, & I wil geue thee the first seate in my resurrection.  (Tob 1:20) 

24 ause and rest my people, because thy rest shal come. 

25 As a good nurce nourish thy children, confirme their feete. 

26 The seruantes that I haue geuen thee, none of them shal perish.  For I wil equire them of thy number. 

27 Be not wearied.  For when the day of affliction and distresse shal come, others shal weepe, and be sad, but thou shalt be merie and plenteous. 

28 The gentiles hal enuie, and shal be able to doe nothing against thee, sayth our Lord.

29 My handes shal couer thee, that thy children see not hel. 

30 Be pleasant thou mother with thy children, because I wil eliuer thee sayth our Lord. 

31 Remember thy children that sleepe, for I wil bring them out of the sides of the earth, & wil doe mercie with them:  because I am merciful, sayth our Lord mnipotent. 

32 Embrace thy children til I come, & shew them mercie:  because my fountaines runne ouer, and my grace shal not faile. 

33 I Esdras receiued commandment of our Lord, in mount reb; that I should goe to Israel:  to whom when I came, they refused me, and reiected the commandement of our Lord. 

34 And therfore, I say vnto you gentiles, which heare, and vnderstand, ooke for your pastor, he wil geue you the rest of eternitie:  because he is at hand, that shal come in the end of the world. 

35 Be ye readie for the rewardes of the kingdom, because perpetual ight shal shine to you for time euerlasting. 

36 Flee from the shadow of this world:  receiue ye the pleasantnes of your glorie.  I openly cal to witnes my sauiour. 

37 Receiue the commended gift nd be pleasant, geuing thankes to him that called you to the heauenlie kingdomes. 

38 Arise, & stand & see the number of them that are signed in the feast of our Lord. 

39 They that haue ransferred them selues from the shadow of the world, haue receiued glorious garmentes of our Lord. 

40 Receiue o Sion thy number, and shut vp thyne made white, which haue accomplished he law of our Lord. 

41 The number of thy children, which thou didst wish is ful.  Desire the powre of our Lord that thy people may be sanctified, which was called from the beginning.

42 I sdras saw in mount Sion a great multiude, which I could not number, and they did al prayse our Lord with songes.  (Apoc 7:9) 

43 And in the middes of them was a young man high of stature, ppearing aboue ouer them al, & he put crownes vpon euerie one of their heades, and he was more exalted.  And I was astonied at the miracle. 

44 Then asked I an Angel, and sayd:  Who are hese Lord? 

45 Who answering sayd to me:  These are they that haue laid of the mortal garment, and taken an immortal, and haue confessed the name of God.  Now they are crowned, and eceiue palmes. 

46 And I sayd to the Angel:  That yongman what is he, which putteth the crownes vpon them, and geueth palmes into their handes?

47 And answering he sayd to me:  The same s the Sonne of God, whom they did confesse in the world:  & I begane to magnifie them, that stood strongly for the name of our Lord. 

48 Then sayd the Angel to me:  Goe, tel my people, what aner of meruelous thinges and how great, thou hast sene of the Lord God.

CHAP. III.

The workes of God are wonderful from the beginning, and men vngrateful In Abraham God chose to himself a peculiar people:  who neuertheles were froward, and obstinate.  e also chose Dauid, but stil the people were sinful:  the Babylonians also, by whom the are afflicted, are no lesse but rather greater sinners.

1 IN the thirteth yeare of the ruine of the citie I was in Babylon, and was trubled lying in my chamber, and my cogitations came vp ouer my hart:

2 because I saw the desolation of Sion, and he abundance of them that dwelt in Babylon. 

3 And my spirit was tossed excedingly, and I began to speake to the highest timorous wordes,

4 and sayd:  O Lord dominatour thou spakest from he beginning, when thou didst plant the earth, and that alone, and didst rule ouer the people, (Gen 1)

5 and gauest Adam a dead bodie:  but that also was the worke of thy handes, & didst reath into him the spirit of life, and he was made to liue before thee: (Gen 2:7) 

6 and thou broughst him into paradise, which thy right hand had planted, before the earth came. 

7 And him thou idst command to loue thy way, and he transgressed it, & forth with thou didst institute death in him, and in his posteritie, and there were borne nations, and tribes, and peoples, and kindreds, herof there is no number. 

8 And euerie nation walked in their owne wil, & they did meruelous thinges before thee, and despised thy preceptes. 

9 And agane in time thou broughst in the floud pon inhabitantes of the world, and didst destroy them. (Gen 7) 

10 And there was made in euery one of them, as vnto Adam to dye, so to them the floud,

11 But thou didst leaue one of them, oe with his house and of him were al the iust. 

12 And it came to passe, when they began to be multiplied, that dwelt vpon the earth, & multiplied children and peoples and manie nations:  and hey begane againe to doe impietie more then the former. 

13 And it came to passe when they did iniquitie before thee, thou didst choose thee a man of them whose name was Abraham.

14 And hou didst loue him and to him onlie thou didst shew thy wil. (Gen 12) 

15 And thou didst dispose vnto him an euerlasting testament, and toldst him that thou wouldst neuer forsake his seede.  nd thou gauest him Issac, and to Isaac thou gauest Iacob and Esau. 

16 And Iacob thou didst seuer to thy selfe, but Esau thou didst separate.  And Iacob grewe to a great multitude. 

17 And it ame to passe when thou didst bring forth his sede out of AEgypt, thou broughst it vpon mount Sinai. (Ex 19) 

18 And thou didst bowe the heauens, and fasten the earth, and didst shake the orld, and madest the depthes to tremble, and trubledst the world,

19 and thy glorie passed foure gates of fire, and of earthquake, and winde, and frost, that thou mightst geue a law to the eede of Iacob, and to the generation of Israel diligence. 

20 And thou didst not take away from them a malignant hart, that thy law might bring forth fruite in them. 

21 For Adam the first earing a vicious hart transgressed and was ouercome, yea and al that were borne of him. 

22 And it was made a permanent infirmitie, and the law with the hart of the people, with the wickednes f the roote, and that which is good departed, and the wicked remayned. 

23 And the times passed, & the yeares were ended:  and thou didst raise vp vnto thee a seruant named Dauid,

24 and pakest vnto him to build a citie of thy name, and to offer vnto thee in it frankencense, and oblations. 

25 And this was done manie yeares, and they that inhabited the citie forsooke thee,

26 in al hings as Adam and al his generations.  For they also vsed a wicked hart. 

27 And thou didst deliuer thy citie into the hands of thyne enimies. 

28 Why, doe they better thinges, that inhabite abylon?  And for this shal she rule ouer Sion?  (Jer 12) 

29 It came to passe when I was come hither, and had sene the impieties that can not be numbred:  and my soul saw manie offending this hirteth yeare, & my hart was astonied: 

30 because I saw how thou bearest with their sinne, and didst spare them that did impiously, and didst destroy thine owne people, and preserue thine nimies, and didst not signifie it. 

31 I nothing remember how this way should be forsaken: doth Babylon better thinges then Sion? 

32 Or hath anie nation knowen thee beside Israel:  or what ribes haue beleued thy testamentes as Iacob? 

33 Whose reward hath not appeared, nor their labour fructified. For passing through I passed among the nations, and I saw them abound, and not indeful of thy commandmentes. 

34 Now therfore wey our iniquities in a ballance, and theirs that dwel in the world:  & thy name shal not be found, but in Israel. 

35 Or when haue not they inned in thy sight, that inhabite the earth?  or what nation hath so obserued thy commandmentes? 

36 These certes by their names thou shalt finde to haue kept thy commandments, but the ations thou shalt not finde.

CHAP. IIII.

Mans witte and reason is not able to vnderstand the counsel and iudgement of God, why his people are afflicted by wicked nations, nor of times, and thinges to come.

1 AND the Angel answered me, that was sent to me, whose name was Vriel,

2 and sayd to me:  Thy hart exceding hath exceded in this world, & thou thinkest to comprehend the way of he Highest. 

3 And I sayd:  It is so my Lord.  And he answered me, & sayd:  I am sent to shew thee three wayes, & to propose to thee three similitudes. 

4 Of the which if thou shalt declare to e one of them, I also wil shew thee the way which thou desirest to see, and wil teach thee whence a wicked hart is. 

5 And I sayd, Speak my Lord.  And he sayd to me:  Goe, wey me the eight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the winde, or cal me backe the day that is past. 

6 And I answered, and sayd:  what man borne can doe it, that thou askest me of these thinges? 

7 nd he sayd to me:  If I should aske thee, saying:  How great habitations are there in the hart of the sea, or how great vaines be there in the beginning of the depth, or how great vaines be there boue the firmament, and what are the issues of paradise:

8 thou wouldest perhaps say to me:  I haue not descended into the depth, nor into hel as yet, neither haue I ascended at anie time into eauen.

9 But now I haue not asked thee, sauing of the fire, and the winde, and the day by the which thou hast passed, and from the which thou canst not be separated:  and thou hast not nswered me of them. 

10 And he sayd to me:  Thou canst not know the thinges that are thine which grow together with thee: 

11 and how can thy vessel comprehend the way of the Highest, nd now the world being outwardly corrupted, vnderstand the corruption euident in my sight: 

12 I sayd to him:  Better were it for vs not to be, then yet liuing to liue in impieties, and to suffer, nd not to vnderstand for what thing. 

13 And he answered me, & said:  Going forth I went forward to a wood of trees in the filde, and they deuised a deuise, (Judges 9 / 2 Par 25)

14 and said:  ome and let vs goe, and make warre against the sea, that it may retyre backe before vs, and we may make vs other woodes. 

15 And in like maner the waues of the sea they also deuised a euise, and sayd:  Come let vs goe vp, let vs ouerthrow the woodes of the filde, that there also we may consummate an other countrie for our selues. 

16 And the woodes deuise was made vaine, or fire came, and consumed it. 

17 Likewise also the deuise of the waues of the sea. For the sand stood, & stayed them. 

18 For if thou wert iudge of these, whom wouldest thou begin to ustifie, or whom to condemne? 

19 And I answered, and sayd:  Verely they deuised a vayne deuise.  For the earth is geuen to the wood, and a place to the sea to carie her waues. 

20 And he nswered me, and sayed:  Thou hast iudged wel, and why hast thou not iudged for thy self? 

21 For as the earth is geuen to the wood, and the sea for the waues therof:  so they that inhabite pon the earth, can vnderstand onlie the thinges that are vpon the earth:  and they vpon the heauens, the thinges that are aboue the height of the heauens. 

22 And I answered, and sayd:  I besech hee Lord, that sense may be geuen me to vnderstand. 

23 For I meant not to aske of thy superiour thinges, but of those that passe by vs dayly.  For what cause Israel is geuen into reproche to the entiles, the people whom thou hast loued, is geuen to impious tribes, & the law of our fathers is brought to destruction, & the written ordinances are no where: 

24 and we haue passed out of the orld, as locustes, and our life is astonishment and dreade, and we are not worthie to obtaine mercie. 

25 But what wil he doe to his name that is inuocated vpon vs?  and of these thinges I did ske. 

26 And he answered me, and sayd:  If thou search very much, thou shalt often meruail: because the world hastening hasteneth to passe,

27 and can not comprehend the thinges which in imes to come are promised to the iust:  because this world is ful of iniustice and infirmities. 

28 But conerning the thinges that thou demandest I wil tel thee:  for the euil is sowed, and the estruction therof is not yet come. 

29 If then that which is sowen be not turned vp, and the place depart where the euil is sowen, that shal not come where the good is sowen. 

30 Because the rayne of il seede hath bene sowen in the hart of Adam from the beginning:  and how much impietie hath it ingendered vntil now, and doth ingender vntil the floore come?

31 And esteme with hy self the graine of the il seede, how much fruite of impietie it hath ingendred: 

32 When the eares shal be cut, which are innumerable, what a great floore wil they begin to make? 

33 And I nswered, and sayd:  How, and when shal these things be?  why are our yeares few and euil? 

34 And he answered me, and sayd to me, Hasten not aboue the Highest.  For thou doest hasten in aine to be aboue him, for thy excesse is much. 

35 Did not the soules of the iust in the cellars, aske of these things, saying:  How hope I so, and when shal the fruite come of the floore of our eward? 

36 And Ieremiel the Archangel answered to those things, and sayd:  When the number of the sedes in you shal be filled, because he hath weyed the world in a balance,

37 and with a easure hath he measured the times, and in number he hath numbered the times, and hath not moued, nor stirred them, vntil the foresayd measure be filled. 

38 And I answered, and sayd:  O ord Dominatour, we also are al ful of impietie. 

39 And left perhaps for vs the floores of the iust be not filled, for the sinnes of the inhabitantes vpon the earth. 

40 And he answered me, and ayd:  Goe, and aske a woman with childe, if when she hath accomplished her nine monethes, her wombe can yet hold the infant within it? 

41 And I sayd it can not Lord.  And he sayd to me, in el the cellars of the soules are like to the matrice. 

42 For as she that is:  In trauail maketh hast, to escape the necessitie of trauailing: so this also hasteneth to render those thinges which are ommended to it.

43 From the beginning it shal be shewed thee touching those thinges, which thou doest couet to see. 

44 And I answered, and sayd:  If I haue found grace before thine eyes, & f it be possible, and if I by fitte,

45 shew mee if there be more to come then is passed, or more things haue passed, then are to come. 

46 What passed, I know:  but what is to come, I know not. 
47 And he sayd to me:  Stand vpon the right side, and I wil shew thee the interpretation of the similitude. 

48 And I stood, and saw: and behold a burning fornace passed before me, & it came to asse when the flame passed, I saw:  and behold the smoke ouercame. 

49 And these thinges there passed before me a clowd ful of water, and with violence casting in much raine:  and when the iolence of raine was cast, the droppes therin ouercame. 

50 And he sayd to me:  Thinke with thyself, as the raine increaseth more then the droppes, and the fire then the smoke: so did the easure that passed, more a bound.  But the droppes, and the smoke ouercame: 

51 and I prayed, & sayd, shal I liue thinkest thou vntil these dayes?  or what shal be in those dayes? 

52 He nswered me, and sayd:  Of the signes wherof thou askest me, in part I can tel thee, howbeit of thy life I was not sent to tel thee, neither doe I know.

CHAP. V.

Diuers signes of thinges to come are shewed to Esdras by an Angel: 16. for the comforth of the people in captiuitie.

1 BVT concerning signes:  behold the dayes shal come, wherin they that inhabite the earth shal be taken in a great number:  and the way of truth shal be hid:  and the countrie shal be barren rom fayth. 

2 And iniustice shal be multiplied aboue that which thy self seest, & aboue that which thou hast heard in time past.  (Matt 24) 

3 And they shal put their foote into the countrie which ow thou seest to reigne, and they shal see it desolate. 

4 And if the Highest geue thee life, thou shalt see after the third trumpet, and the sunne shal sodenly shine agayne in the night, and the oone thrise in a day,

5 and out of wood bloud shal distil, and the stone shal geue his voice, and the peoples shal be moued:

6 and he reigne, whom they hope not that inhabite vpon the earth, nd soules shal make their flight away. 

7 & the sea of Sodom shal cast the fishes, and shal make a noise in the night, which manie knew not, and al shal heare the voice therof,

8 and there shal be ade a confusion in manie places, and the fire shal often be sent backe, and the sauage beastes shal goe to other places, and wemen in their monethlie flowers shal bring forth monsters,

9 and in wete waters shal salt waters be found, and al frendes shal ouerthrow one an other:  and then shal witte be hid, and vnderstanding shal be separated into his cellar: 

10 and it shal be sought of anie, and shal not be found:  and iniustice shal be multiplied, and incontinencie vpon the earth. 

11 And one countrie shal aske her neighbour, and shal say:  Hath iustice doing iust passed hrought thee?  and she shal denie it. 

12 And it shal be in that time, men shal hope, and shal not obtaine:  they shal labour, and their wayes shal not haue successe. 

13 These signes I am permitted o tel thee:  and if thou pray againe and weepe, as also now, and fast seuen dayes, thou shalt heare againe greater thinges then these. 

14 And I awaked, and my bodie did shiuer excedingly:  and y soule laboured, that it fainted:

15 and the Angel that came, that spake in me, held me, and strengthened me, and sette me vpon my feete. 

16 And it came to passe in the second night, and alathiel the prince of the people came to me, and sayd to me: Where wast thou?  and why is thy countenance heauie? 

17 Knowest thou not that Isreal is committed to thee in the countrie of heir transmigration?

18 Rise vp therfore, and taste bread, and forsake vs not, as the pastour his flocke in the hand of wicked wolues. 

19 And I sayd to him:  Goe from me, & approch not vnto e.  And he heard, as I sayd:  and he departed from me. 

20 And I fasted seuen dayes howling & weeping, as Vriel the Angel commanded me. 

21 And it came to passe after seuen dayes, and gaine cogitations of my hart molested me very much,

22 and my soule resumed the spirit of vnderstanding:  & agayne I began to speake wordes before the Highest: 

23 and I sayd:  Lord ominatour of euerie wood of the earth, & al the trees therof, thou hast chosen one vineyard: 

24 & of euerie land of the world thou hast chosen thee one ditch:  & of al the flowers of the world hou hast chosen thee one lilie: 

25 and of al depthes of the sea, thou hast filled thee one riuer:  and of al the builded cities, thou hast sanctified vnto thyself Sion: 

26 and of al created soules, hou hast named thee one doue:  and of al beastes that were made, thou hast prouided thee one shepe: 

27 and of al multiplied peoples, thou host purchased thee one people:  and a law approued f al thou hast geuen to this people, whom thou didst desire. 

28 And now Lord, why hast thou deliuered one vnto manie?  And thou hast perpared vpon one roote others, and hast dispersed thy nlie one in manie: 

29 and they haue troden vpon it, which gainesayd thy couenants, and which beleued not thy testamentes. 

30 And if hating thou hatest thy people, it ought to be chastised ith thy handes. 

31 And it came to passe, when I had spoken the wordes, and the Angel was sent to me, that came to me before the night past,

32 and he sayd to me:  Heare me, and I wil nstruct thee: and harken to me, and I wil adde before thee. 

33 And I sayd:  Speake my Lord.  And he sayd to me:  Thou art become excedingly in excesse of minde for Israel:  hast thou loued it ore then him that made it? 

34 And I sayd to him:  No Lord, but for sorow I haue spoken, for my veynes torment me euerie houre, to apprehend the pathe of the Highest, and to search part of is iudgement. 

35 And he sayd to me:  Thou canst not.  And I sayd:  Why Lord?  To what was I borne, or why was not my mothers wombe my graue, that I might not see the labour of Iacob, & he wearines of the stocke of Israel? 

36 And he sayd to me:  Number me the thinges that are not yet come, and gather me the dispersed droppes, and make me the withered flowers grene againe,

37 and open me the shut cellars, & bring me forth the blastes inclosed in them, shew me the image of a voice:  and then wil I shew thee the labour that thou desirest to see. 

38 And I sayd:  Lord ominatour, for who is there that can know these thinges, but he that hath not his habitation with men? 

39 And I am vnwise, and how can I speake of these thinges, which thou hast asked me? 

40 And he sayd to me:  As thou canst not doe one of these thiges, which haue bene sayd: so canst thou not finde my iudgement, or in the end the charitie, which I haue promised to the people. 

41 And I sayd:  But behold Lord thou art nigh to them that are nere the end:  and what shal they doe that haue bene before me, or we, or they after vs? 

42 And he sayd to me:  I wil resemble my udgement to a crowne.  As there shal not be slacknes of the last, so neither swiftnes of the former. 

43 And I answered, and sayd: Couldst thou not make them that haue bene, and that are, and hat shal be, at once, that thou mayst shew thy iudgement the quicker? 

44 And he answered me, and sayd:  The creature can not hasten aboue the Creatour, nor the world sustayne them that are o be created in it, at once.

45 And I sayd:  As thou didst say to thy seruant, that quickening thou didst quicken the creature created by thee at once, and the creature susteined it:  it may now lso beare them present at once. 

46 And he sayd to me:  Aske the matrice of a woman, & thou shalt say to it:  And if thou bring forth children, why by times?  Aske it therfore, that it geue ten at nce. 

47 And I sayd, it can not verily:  but according to time.

48 And he sayd to me:  And I haue geuen a matrice to the earth for them, that are sowen vpon it by time. 

49 For as the infant ringeth not forth the thinges that perteyne to the aged, so haue I disposed the world created of me. 

50 And I asked, and sayd:  Wheras thou hast now geuen me a way, I wil speake before thee:  or our mother, of whom thou toldest me, yet she is yong:  now draweth nigh to old age. 

51 And he answered me, and sayd:  Aske her that beareth children, and she wil tel thee.

52 For thou halt say to her:  Why are not they whom thou hast brought forth, now like to them that were before thee, but lesse of stature?

53 And she also wil say vnto thee:  They that are borne in the youth f streingth are of one sort, and they of an other, that are borne about the time of old age, when the matrice fayleth. 

54 Consider therfore thou also, that you are of lesse stature, then they that ere before you:

55 and they that are after you, of lesser then you, as it were creatures now waxing old, and past the strength of youth. 

56 And I sayd:  I besech thee Lord, if I haue found grace efore thine eyes, shew vnto thy seruant, by whom thou doest visite thy creature.

CHAP. VI.

God knowing al thinges before they were made, created them 54. for man: and considerth the endes of al.

1 AND he sayd to me:  In the beginning of the earthlie world, and before the endes of the world stood, and before the congregation of the windes did blow, (Prov 8)

2 and before the oyces of thunders sounded, & before the flashinges of lightenings shined, and before the fundations of paradise were confirmed,

3 and before beautiful flowers were sene, and before the oued powers were established, and before the innumerable hostes of Angels were gathered,

4 and before the heightes of the ayre were aduanced, and before the measures of the firmaments ere named, and before the chymneies were hote in Sion,

5 and before the present yeares were searched out, and before their inuentions that now sinne, were put away, and they signed that ade fayth their treasure: 

6 then I thought, and they were made by me only, and not by any other:  and the end by me, and not by any other. 

7 And I answered, and sayd:  What separation of imes shal there be?  and when shal the end of the former be, and the begynning of that which foloweth? 

8 And he sayd to me, from Abraham vnto Isaac, when Iacob and Esau were borne of im, the hand of Iacob held from the begynning the heele of Esau,

9 for the end of this world is Esau, and the begynning of the next Iacob. 

10 The hand of a man betwen the heele and the and.  Aske no other thing Esdras. 

11 And I answered, and sayd: O Lord dominatour, if I haue found grace before thyne eyes,

12 I pray thee shew thy seruant the end of thy signes, wherof hou didst shew me part the night before. 

13 And he answered, and sayd to me:  Arise vpon thy feete, and heare a voice most ful of sound. 

14 And it shal be as it were a commotion, neither hal the place be moued wherin thou standest.

15 Therfore when it speaketh be not thou afrayd, because of the end is the word, and the fundation of the earth vnderstood,

16 for concerning hem the word trembleth and is moued, for it knoweth that their end must be changed. 

17 And it came to passe, when I had heard, I rose vpon my feete, and I heard:  and behold a voice peaking, and the sound therof as the sound of manie waters: 

18 and it sayd:  Behold the dayes come, and the time shal be when I wil begyne to approch, that I may visite the inhabitantes vpon he earth. 

19 And when I wil begin to enquire of them that vniustly haue hurt with their iniustice, and when the humilitie of Sion shal be accomplished. 

20 And when the world shal be uersigned that shal beginne to passe, I wil doe these signes:  Bookes shal be opened before the face of the firmament, and al shal see together,

21 and infantes of one yeare shal speake with their oices, & wemen with child shal bring forth vntimely infantes not ripe of three or foure monethes, and shal liue, and shal be raysed vp. 

22 And sodenly shal appeare sowen places not sowen, & ul cellers shal sodenly be found emptie: 

23 and a trumpet shal sound; which when al shal heare, they wil sodenly be afrayd.

24 And it shal be in that time, freindes as enimies shal ouerthrow reindes, and the earth shal be afrayd with them:  & the vaynes of fountaynes shal stand, and shal not runne in three howres: 

25 and it shal be, euerie one that shal be leaft of al these, of whom I aue foretold thee, he shal be saued, and shal see my saluation, & the end of your world. 

26 And the men that are receiued, shal see, they that tasted not death from their natiuitie, and the hart f the inhabitantes shal be turned into an other sense. 

27 For euil shal be put out, and deceite shal be extinguished,

28 but fayth shal florish, and corruption shal be ouercome, and truth shal be hewed, which was without fruite so manie dayes. 

29 And it came to passe, when he spake to me, & I loe by litle & litle looked on him before whom I stood,

30 and he sayd to me these wordes:   am come to shew thee the time of the night to come. 

31 If therfore thou pray agayne, and fast agayne seuen dayes, agayne I wil tel thee greater thinges by the day which I haue heard. 

32 For hy voice is heard before the Highest.  For the strong hath sene thy direction, and hath fore sene the chastitie which thou hast had from thy youth: 

33 and for this cause he hath sent me to shew hee al these thinges, and to say to thee, haue confidence, and feare not,

34 and hasten not with the former times to thinke vayne thinges, that thou hasten not from the last times. 

35 And it came o passe after these thinges, and I wept againe, and in like maner I fasted seuen dayes, to accomplish the three weekes, that were told me. 

36 And it came to passe in the eight night, and my hart as trubled againe in me, and I began to speake before the Highest.

37 For my spirit was inflamed excedingly, and my soul was distressed.

38 And I sayd:  O Lord, speaking thou didst speake rom the beginning of creature from the first day, saying:  Let heauen be made and earth:  and thy word was a perfect worke. 

39 And then there was spirit, and darknesse was caried about, and ilence, the sound of the voyce of man was not yet from thee. 

40 Then thou didst command the lighsome light to be brought forth of thy treasures, wherby thy worke might appeare.

41 And in he second day thou didst create the spirit of the firmament, and commandest it to diuide, and to make a diuision betwen the waters, that a certayn part should depart vpward, and part should emaine beneth.

42 And in the third day thou didst command the waters to be gathered together in the seuenth part of the earth:  but sixe partes thou didst drie and preserue, that of them might e seruing before thee thinges sowen of God, and tilled. 

43 For thy word proceded, and the worke forth with was made. 

44 For sodenly came forth fruite of multitude infinite, and diurse tastes f concupiscence, and flowers of vnchangeable colour, and odours of vnsearcheable smel, and in the third day these thinges were made. 

45 And in the fourth day thou didst command to be ade the brightnesse of the sunne, the light of the moone, the disposition of the starres: 

46 and didst command them that they should serue man, that should be made. 

47 And in the fifth day:  hou saydst to the seuenth part, where the water was gathered together, that it should bring forth beastes, and foules, and fishes:  and so was it done,

48 the dumme water and without life, the hinges that by Gods appointement were commanded, made beastes, that therby the nations may declare thy meruelous workes.

49 And then thou didst preserue two soules:  the name of one hou didst cal Henoch, and the name of the second thou didst cal Leuiathan,

50 and thou didst separate them from eche other.  For the seuenth part, where the water was gathered together, ould not hold them. 

51 And thou gauest to Henoch one part, which was dried the third day, to dwelt therin, where are a thousand mountaynes. 

52 But to Leuiathan thou gauest the seuenth art being moyst, and kepst it, that it might be to deuoure whom thou wilt, and when thou wilt. 

53 And in the sixt day thou didst command the earth, to create before thee cattel, and beastes, nd creeping creatures:

54 and ouer these Adam, whom thou madest ruler ouer al the workes, which thou didst make, & out of him are al we brought forth, and the people whom thou hast hosen. 

55 And al these thinges I haue sayd before thee o Lord, because thou didst create the world for vs. 

56 But the residue of the nations borne of Adam thou saydst that they were nothing, nd that they were like to spittle, and as it were the droping out of a vessel thou didst liken the abundance of them. 

57 And now Lord, behold these nations which are reputed for nothing, haue egune to rule ouer vs, and to deuoure vs: 

58 but we thy people whom thou didst cal thy first onlie begotten emulatour, are deliuered into their handes: 

59 and if the world was created for vs, hy doe not we possesse inheritance with the world? how long these thinges?

CHAP. VII.

Without tribulations no man can attayne immortal life:  which the iust shal inherite:  and the wicked shal perish.  Christ wil come, and dye for mankind.  Prayers of the iust shal rofite til the end of this world, but not after the general iudgement.  Al sinned in Adam. and haue added more sinnes, but it is in mans powre, by Gods grace, to liue eternally.

1 AND it came to passe when I had ended to speake these wordes, the Angel was sent to me, which had bene sent to me the first nights,

2 and he sayd to me:  Arise Esdras, and heare the ordes which I am come to speake to thee. 

3 And I sayd:  Speake my God.  And he sayd to me:  The sea is set in a large place, that it might be deepe and wide: 

4 but the entrance to it shal be et in a straict place, that it might be like to riuers.

5 For who witting wil enter into the sea, and see it, or rule ouer it: if he passe not the streite, how shal he come into the bredth? 

6 Also an other hing:  A citie is built, and set in a plaine place, and it is ful of al goodes. 

7 The entrance therof narrow, and set in a stepe place, so that on the right hand there was fire, & on the left depe water: 

8 and there is one onlie pathe set betwen them, that is, betwen the fire and the water, so that the pathe can not conteyne, but onlie a mans steppe.

9 And if the citie shal be geuen a man for nheritance, if he neuer passe through the peril set before it, how shal he receiue his inhertance?

10 And I sayd:  So Lord.  And he sayd to me, So it is:  Israel also a part. 

11 For I made the world or them:  and when Adam transgressed my constitution, that was iudged which was done. 

12 And the entrance of this world were made streite, and sorowful, & paynful, and few and euil, and ul of dangers, & stuffed very much with labour. 

13 For the entrances of the greater world are large andsecure, and making fruite of immortalitie. 

14 If then they that liue entring in enter into hese streite and vayne thinges:  they can not receiue the thinges that are layd vp. 

15 Now therfore why art thou trubled, wheras thou art corruptible?  and why art thou moued, wheras thou art ortal? 

16 And why hast thou not taken in thy hart that which is to come, but that which is present? 

17 I answered, and sayd:  Lord dominatour:  behold thou hast disposed by thy law that the ust shal inherite these thinges, and the impious shal perish.  (Deut 8) 

18 But the iust shal suffer the streites, hoping for the wyde places, for they that haue done impiously, haue both suffered the treites, and shal not see the wide places. 

19 And he sayd to me:  There is no iudge aboue God, nor that vnderstandeth aboue the Highest. 

20 For manie present doe perish, because the law of od which was set before, is neglected. 

21 For God commanding commanded them that came, when they came, what doing they should liue, and what obseruing they should not be punished. 

22 But they were not perswaded, and gaynesayd him, and made to them selues a cogitation of vanitie,

23 and proposed to them selues deceites of sinnes, & they sayd to the Highest that he was ot, and they knew not his wayes,

24 and dispised his law, and denyed his couenaunces, and had not fidelitie in his ordinances, and did not accomplish his workes. 

25 For this cause Esdras, the mptie to the emptie, and the ful to the ful. 

26 Behold the time shal come, and it shal be when the signes shal come, which I haue foretold thee, and the bride shal appeare, and appearing she shal e shewed that now is hid with the earth: 

27 and euerie one that is deliuered from the foresaid euils, he shal see my meruelous thinges. 

28 For my sonne IESVS shal be reueled with them that re with him, and they shal be merie that are leaft in the foure hundred yeares. 

29 And it shal be after these yeares, and my sonne CHRIST shal dye:  and al men that haue breath,

30 and the orld shal be turned into the old silence seuen dayes, as in the former iudgementes, so that none shal be leaft. 

31 And it shal be after seuen dayes, and the world shal be raysed vp that yet aketh not, and shal dye corrupted:

32 and the earth shal render the thinges that sleepe in it, & the dust them that dwel in it with silence, and the cellars shal render the soules that are ommended to them. 

33 And the Highest shal be reueled vpon the seate of iudgement, and miseries shal passe, and long sufferance shal be gathered together. 

34 And iudgement onlie shal emayne, truth shal stand, and fayth shal waxe strong,

35 and the worke shal folow, and the reward shal be shewed, and iustice shal awake, and iniustice shal not haue dominion.  [See note elow.] 

36 And I sayd:  First Abraham prayed for the Sodomites, and Moyses for the fathers that sinned in the desert. (Gen 18 / Ex 32) 

37 And they that were after him for Isreal in the dayes f Achaz, and of Samuel,

38 and Dauid for the destruction, and Salomon for them that came vnto the sanctification.  (2 Kings 24:17 / 2 Par 6:13)

39 And Elias for them that receiued raine, and or the dead that he might liue, (3 Kings 17 & 18)

40 and Ezechias for the people in the dayes of Sennacherib, and manie for manie.  (4 Kings 19:15) 

41 If therfore now when corruptible did ncrease, and iniustice was multiplied, and the iust prayed for the impious:  why now also shal it not be so? 

42 And he answered me and sayd:  This present world is not the end, much glorie emaineth in it:  for this cause they prayed for the impotent. 

43 For the day of iudgement shal be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortalitie to come, wherein corruption is past: 

44 intemperance is dissolued, incredulitie is cut of:  and iustice hath increased, truth is strong. 

45 For then no man can saue him that hath perished, nor drowne him that hath ouercome.  And I nswered,

46 and sayd:  This is my word the first and the last, that it had bene better not to geue the earth to Adam, or when he had now geuen it, to restraine him that he should not sinne. 

47 or what doth it profit men presently to liue in sorow, and being dead to hope for punishment? 

48 O what hast thou done Adam?  For if thou didst sinne, it was not made thy fal only, but ours lso which came of thee.  (Rom 5:12) 

49 For what doth it profit vs if immortal time be promised to vs:  but we haue done mortal workes? 

50 And that euerlasting hope is foretold vs:  but we ost wicked are become vayne?

51 And that habitations of health and securitie are reserued for vs, but we haue conuerst naughtely? 

52 And that the glorie of the Highest is reserued to protect hem that haue slowly conuerst:  but we haue walked in most wicked wayes. 

53 And that paradise shal be shewed, whose fruite continueth incorrupted, wherin is securitie and remedie: 

54 but e shal not enter in:  for we haue conuerst in vnlawful places. 

55 And their faces which haue had abstinence, shal shyne aboue the starres:  but our faces blacke aboue darkenes. 

56 For we did ot thinke liuing when we did iniquitie, that we shal beginne after death to suffer. 

57 And he answered, and sayd:  This is the cogitation of the battel which man shal fight, who is borne vpon he earth,

58 that if he shal be ouercome, he suffer that which thou hast sayd:  but if he ouercome he shal receiue that which I say: 

59 for this is the life which Moyses spake of when he liued, to he people, saying:  Choose vnto thee life, that thou mayst liue.  (Deut 30:19) 

60 But they beleued him not, no nor the Prophetes after him, no nor me which haue spoken to them. 

61 Because here should not be sorow vnto their perdition, as there shal be ioy vpon them, to whom saluation is perswaded. 

62 And I answered, and sayd:  I know Lord, that the Highest is called merciful in hat, that he hath mercie on them which are not yet come into the world,

63 and that he hath mercie on them which conuerse in his law:  

64 and he is long suffering, because he sheweth long ufferance to them that haue sinned, as it were with their owne workes: 

65 and he is bountiful, because he wil geue according to exigentes: 

66 and of freat mercie, because he multiplieth more ercies to them that are present, and that are past, and that are to come.

67 For if he shal not multiplie his mercies, the world shal not be made aliue with them that did inherite it. 

68 And he eueth:  for if he shal not geue of his bountie, that they may be releeued which haue done iniquitie, the tenth thousand part of men can not be quickned from their iniquities. 

69 And the iudge if e shal not forgeue them that are cured with his word, and wype away a multitude of contentions:  there should not perhaps be leaft in an innumerable multitiude, but very few.

CHAP. VIII.

God is merciful in this world, yet fewe are saued.  Gods workes, and disposition of his creatures are meruelous.  Esdras prayeth for the people of Israel:  and saluation is romised to the iust, and punishment threatned to the wicked.

1 AND he answered me, & sayd:  This world the Highest made for manie, but that to come for few. 

2 And I wil speake a similitude Esdras before thee.  For as thou shalt aske the earth, nd it wil tel thee, that it wil geue much more earth wherof earthen worke may be made, but a litle dust wherof gold is made:  so also is the act of this present world. 

3 Manie in deede are reated, but few shal be saued.  (Matt 20:16) 

4 And I answered, and sayd:  Then o soul swallow vp the sense, and deuoure that which is wise. 

5 For thou art agred to obey, and willing to rophecie. For there is no space geuen thee but only to liue. 

6 O Lord if thou wilt not permitte thy seruant, that we pray before thee, and thou geue vs seede to the hart, and tillage to the nderstanding, wherof may the fruite be made, wherby euerie corrupt person may liue, that shal beare the place of a man? 

7 For thou art alone, and we are one workmanshippe of thy handes, as hou hast spoken: 

8 and as now the bodie made in the matrice, and thou doest geue the members, thy creature is preserued in fire & water:  and nine monethes thy workemanship doth suffer thy reature that is created in it: 

9 and it self that keepeth, and that which is kept, both shal be preserued:  and the matrice being preserued rendreth agayne at some time the thinges that are growen n it. 

10 For thou hast commanded of the members, that is the brestes to geue milke vnto the fruite of the brestes,

11 that the thing which is made, may be nourished til a certayne time, and fterward thou mayst dispose him to thy mercie. 

12 For thou hast, brought him vp in thy iustice, and hast instructed him in thy law, and hast corrected him in thy vnderstanding:

13 and thou halt mortifie him, as thy creature:  and shalt geue him life, as thy worke. 

14 If then thou wilt destroy him that is made with so great labours:  it is easie by thy commandment to be ordayned, hat also which was made, might be preserued. 

15 And now Lord I wil speake, of euerie man thou rather knowest:  but concerning thy people, for which I am sorowful: 

16 and concerning thine nheritance, for which I mourne, and for Israel for whom I am pensiue, and concerning Iacob, for whom I am sorowful. 

17 Therfore wil I begin to pray before thee for me, & for them:  because I ee our defaultes that inhabite the earth. 

18 But I haue heard of the celeritie of the iudge that shal be. 

19 Therfore heare my voyce, and vnderstand my word, and I wil speake before thee. 

20 he beginning of the wordes of Esdras before he was assumpted:  and I sayd: Lord which inhabitest the world, whose eyes are eleuated vnto thinges on high and in the ayre: 

21 and whose hrone is inestimable, and glorie incomprehensible:  by whom standeth an host of Angels with trembling,

22 whose keping is turned in wynde and fire, thou whose word is true, and sayings remanent: 

23 whose commandment is strong, and disposition terrible:  whose looke dryeth vp the depthes, and indignation maketh the mountaynes to melt, and truth doth testifie. 

24 Heare the rayer of thy seruant, & with thine eares receiue the petition of thy creature. 

25 For whiles I liue, I wil speake:  and whiles I vnderstand, I wil answere:

26 Neither doe thou respect the sinnes of hy people, but them that serue thee in truth. 

27 Neither doe thou attend the impious endeuours of the nations, but them that with sorowes haue kept thy testimonies.

28 Neither thinke thou of hem that in thy sight haue conuerst falsly, but remember them that according to thy wil haue knowen thy feare.

29 Neither be thou willing to destroy them that haue had the maners of beastes:  ut respect them that haue taught thy law gloriously.

30 Neither haue indignation towards them, which are iudged worse then beastes:  but loue them that alwayes haue confidence in thy iustice, nd glorie. 

31 Because we and our fatheres languish with such diseases:  but thou for sinners shalt be called merciful. 

32 For if thou shalt be desirous to haue mercie on vs, then thou shalt be alled merciful, to vs hauing no workes of iustice. 

33 For the iust which haue manie workes layd vp, of their owne workes shal receiue reward. 

34 For what is man, that thou art angrie with him:  r the corruptible kinde, that thou art so bitter touching it? 

35 For in truth there is no man of them that be borne, which hath not done impiously, and of them that confesse, which haue not inned.  (3 Kings 8:46 / 2 Par 6:36) 

36 For in this shal thy iustice be declared, and thy goodnes, o Lord, when thou shalt haue mercie on them, that haue no substance of good workes. 

37 And he nswered me, and sayd:  Thou hast spoken somethinges rightly:  and according to thy wordes, so also shal it be done,

38 because I wil not in dede thinke vpon the worke of them that haue inned before death, before the iudgement, before perdition: 

39 but I wil reioyce vpon the creature of the iust, and I wil remember their pilgrimage also, and saluation, and receiuing of reward. 

40 Therfore as I haue spoken, so also it is. 

41 For as the husbandman soweth vpon the ground manie seedes, and planteth manie plantes, but not al which were sowen in time, are preserued, nor et al that were planted, shal take roote:  so they also that are sowen in the world, shal not al be saued.  (Matt 13 & 20) 

42 And I answered, and sayd:  If I haue found grace, let me speake. 

43 s the seede of the husbandman, if it come not vp, or receiue not the rayne in time, if it be corupted with much rayne, perisheth: 

44 so likewise also man who made with thy handes, and thou amed his image:  because thou art likened to him, for whom thou hast made al thinges, and hast likened him to the seede of the husbandman. 

45 Be not angrie vpon vs, but spare thy people, nd haue mercie on thy inheritance.  And thou hast mercie on thy creature. 

46 And he answered me, and sayd:  The thinges that are present to them that are present, and that shal be, to them that hal be. 

47 For thou lackest much to be able to loue my creature aboue me:  and to thee often times, euen to thyselfe I haue approched, but to the vniust neuer.

48 But in this also thou art eruelous before the Highest,

49 because thou hast humbled thyself as becometh thee:  & hast not iudged thyself, that among the iust thou maist be very much glorified. 

50 For which cause anie miseries, and miserable thinges shal be done to them that inhabite the world in the later dayes:  because they haue walked in much  pride. 

51 But thou for thyselfe vnderstand, & for them hat are like vnto thee seeke glorie. 

52 For to you paradise is open, the tree of life is planted, time to come is prepared, abundance is prepared, a citie is builded, rest is approued, goodnes is erfited, & perfit wisdome. 

53 The roote of euil is signed from you:  infirmitie, and mothe is hid from you: & corruption is fled into hel in obliuion. 

54 Sorowes are past, & the treasure of mmortalitie is shewed in the end. 

55 Adde not therfore inquiring of the multitude of them that perish. 

56 For they also receiuing libertie, haue despised the Highest, and contemned his lawe, nd forsaken his wayes. 

57 Yea and moreouer they haue troden downe his iust ones,

58 and haue sayd in their hart, that there is no God:  and that, knowing that they dye.  (Ps 13 & 52) 

59 For s the thinges aforesayd shal receiue you:  so thirst and torment, which are prepared shal take them:  for he would not man to be destroyed. 

60 But they them selues also which are created, haue efyled his name which made them:  & haue bene vnkind to him that prepared life. 

61 Wherfore my iudgement now approcheth. 

62 Which thinges I haue not shewed to al, but to thee, & to few ike vnto thee.  And I answered, and sayd: 

63 Behold now Lord thou hast shewed me a multitude of signes, which thou wilt beginne to doe in the latter times:  but thou hast not shewed me at hat time.

CHAP. IX.

Certaine signes shal goe before the day of iudgement.  More shal perish then be saued.  Prayer with other good workes, are meanes to saluation.

1 AND he answered me, and sayd:  Measuring measure thou the time in it selfe:  and it shal be when thou seest, after a certaine part of the signes which are spoken of before shal passe,

2 hen shalt thou vnderstand, that the same is the time wherin the Highest wil beginne to visite the world that was made by him. 

3 And when there shal be sene in the world mouing of places, and ruble of peoples,

4 then shalt thou vnderstand, that of these spake the Highest, from the dayes that were before thee, from the beginning. 

5 For as al that is made in the world hath a beginning, nd also a consummation, and the consummation is manifest: 

6 so also the times of the Highest haue the beginning manifest in wonders and powers, and the consummations in worke and in ignes.

7 And it shal be, euery one that shal be saued, and that can escape by his workes, and by fayth, in which you haue beleeued,

8 shal be leaft out of the foresayd dangers, and shal see my aluation in my land, and in my costes, because I haue sancitifed my selfe from the world. 

9 And then shal they be in miserie, that now haue abused my wayes:  and they that haue reiected them n contempt, shal abide in torments. 

10 For they that knew not me, hauing obtained benefits when they liued: 

11 and they that loathed my law, when they yet had libertie,

12 and when as yet lace of penance was open to them vnderstoode not, but despised:  they must after death in torment know it. 

13 Thou therfore be not yet curious, how the impious shal be tormented:  but inquire ow the iust shal be saued, and whose the world is, and for whom the world is, and when. 

14 And I answered, and sayd: 

15 I haue spoken hertofore, and now I say, and hereafter wil say:  that hey are more which perish then that shal be saued:  (Matt 10) 

16 as a floud is multiplied aboue, more then a droppe.

17 And he answered me, and sayd:  Like as the field so also the sedes: and s the flowers, such also the colours:  and as the workeman, such also the worke:  and such as the husbandman, such is the husbandrie: because it was the time of the world. 

18 And now when I as preparing for them, for these that now are before the world was made, wherin they should dwel:  and no man gaynsayd me. 

19 For then euery man, and now the creator in this world repared, and haruest not fayling, and law vnsearchable their manners are corrupted. 

20 And I considered the world, and behold there was danger because of the cogitations that came in it.

21 nd I saw, and spared it very much:  and I kept vnto my selfe a grape kernel of a cluster, and a plant of a great trybe. 

22 Let the multitude therfore perish, which was borne without cause, and et my kernel be kept, & my plant:  because I finished it with much labour. 

23 And thou if thou adde yet seuen other dayes, but thou shalt not fast in them,

24 thou shalt goe into a field of lowers, where no house is built:  & thou shalt eate only of the flowers of the field, and flesh thou shalt not tast, and wine thou shalt not drinke, but only flowers. 

25 Pray to the Highest without ntermission, and I wil come, and wil speake with thee. 

26 And I went forth, as he sayd to me, into a field which is called Ardath, and I sate there among the flowers.  And I did eate of the erbes of the field, and the meate of them made me ful. 

27 And it came to passe after seuen dayes, and I sate downe vpon the grasse, and my hart was trubled ayayne as before. 

28 And my outh was opened, and I beganne to speake before the Highest, and sayd: 

29 O Lord thou shewing thy selfe to vs, wast shewed to our fathers in the desert, which is not troden, and vnfruitful, hen they came out of AEgypt:  and saying thou saydst: (Ex 19 & 24 / Deut 4) 

30 Thou Israel heare me, and sede of Iacob attend to my wordes. 

31 For behold, I sow my lawe in you, and it hal bring forth fruite in you, and you shal be glorified in it for euer. 

32 For our fathers receiuing the law obserued it not, and kept not my ordinances, and the fruite of the law did not appeare:  or it could not, because it was thine. 

33 For they that receiued it, perished, not keeping that which had bene sowen in them.  (Ex 32) 

34 And behold it is the custome, that when the earth hath eceiued sede, or the sea a shippe, or some vessel meate or drinke:  when that shal be destroyed wherin it was sowne, or into the which it was cast: 

35 that which was sowne, or cast in, or the hinges that were receiued, are destroyed withal, and the thinges receiued now tarye not with vs:  but it is not so done to vs.

36 We in dede that receiued the law, sinning haue perished, and our art that receiued it: 

37 For the law hath not perished, but hath remayned in his labour.  (Ezech 48) 

38 And when I spake these thinges in my hart, I looked backe with myne eyes, and saw a oman on the right side, and behold she mourned, and wept with a lowd voice, and was sorrowful in mynde exceedingly, and her garments rent, and ashes vpon her heade.

39 And I left the ogitations, wherin I was thinking, and I turned to her and sayd to her: 

40 Why weepest thou?  and why art thou sorie in mynde. And she sayd to me: 

41 Suffer me my Lord, that I may lament yselfe, & adde sorrow:  because I am of a very pensiue mynde, and am humbled exceedingly. 

42 And I sayd to her, What ayleth thee:  tel me.  And she sayd to me: 

43 I thy seruant haue eene barren, and haue not borne childe, hauing a husband thirty yeares. 

44 For I euery howre, and euerie day, and these thirty yeares do beseche the Highest night and day.

45 And it came to asse, after thirtie yeares God heard me thy handmayd, and saw my humilitie, and attended to my tribulation, and gaue me a sonne:  and I was very ioyful vpon him, and my husband, and al my itizens, and we did glorifie the Strong exceedingly. 

46 And I nourished him with much labour. 

47 And it came to passe when he was growen, and came to take a wife, I made a feast day.

CHAP. X.

The state of Ierusalem is prefigured by a woman mourning, and afterwardes reioycing.

1 AND it came to passe, when my sonne was entred into his inner chamber, he fel downe, and dyed: 

2 and we al ouerthrewe the lights, and al my citizens rose vp to comfort me, and I was uiet vntil the other day at night. 

3 And it came to passe, when al were quiet to comfort me, that I might be quiet:  and I arose in the night, and fled:  and came as thou seest into this field. 

4 nd I meane nowe not to returne into the citie, but to stay here:  and neither eate, nor drinke, but without intermission to mourne, and to fast vntil I dye. 

5 And I left the talke wherin I was, and ith anger answered her, & sayd: 

6 Thou foole aboue al wemen, seest thou not our mourning, & what thinges chance to vs? 

7 Because Sion our mother is sorroweful with al sorrowe, and umbled, and mourneth most bitterly. 

8 And now wheras we al mourne, and are sadde:  wheras we are sorrowful, and art thou sorrowful for one sonne? 

9 For aske the earth, and it wil tel thee:  hat it is she, that ought to lament the fal of so manie thinges that spring vpon it. 

10 And of her were al borne from the beginning, and others shal come:  and behold, almost al walke into erdition, and the multitude of them commeth to destruction. 

11 And who then ought to mourne more, but she that hath lost so great a multitude, rather then thou which art sorie for one? 

12 nd if thou say vnto me, that my mourning is not lyke the earthes:  because I haue lost the fruite of my wombe, which I bare with sorrowes, and brought forth with paynes:

13 but the earth ccording to the maner of the earth, and the present multitude in it hath departed as it came:  and I saye to thee,

14 as thou hast brought forth with payne, so the earth also geueth her fruite for an from the beginning to him that made her. 

15 Now therfore kepe in with thy sorrowe, and beare stoutly the chances that haue befallen thee.

16 For if thou iustifie the end of God, thou shalt n time both receiue his counsel, and also in such thinges thou shalt be praysed. 

17 Goe in therfore into the citie to thy husband.  And she sayd to me: 

18 I wil not doe it, neither wil I enter into he citie, but here wil I dye.

19 And I added yet to speake to her, & sayd: 

20 Doe not this word, but consent to him that counseleth thee.  For how manie are the chances of Sion?  Take comfort or the sorrowe of Ierusalem. 

21 For thou seest that our sanctification is made desert, and our altar is throwen downe, and our temple is destroyed,

22 and our psalter is humbled, and hymne is ilent, and our exultation is dissolued, and the light of our candelsticke is extinguished, and the arke of our testament is taken for spoyle, & our holie thinges are contaminated, and the name that s inuocated vpon vs, is almost prophaned:  and our children haue suffred contumelie, and our Priestes are burnt, & our Leuites are gone into captiuitie, & our virgins are defloured, and our wiues aue suffered rape, and our iust men are violently taken, and our litle ones are lost, and our yong men are in bondage, and our valiants are made impotent:

23 and that which is greatest of al, the eale of Sion, because she is vnsealed of her glorie:  For she is also deliuered into the handes of them that hate vs. 

24 Thou therfore shake of thy great heauines, and lay away from thee the ultitude of sorrowes, that the Strong may be propicious to thee agayne, and the Highest wil geue thee rest, rest from thy labours. 

25 And it came to passe, when I spake to her, her face did hine suddenly, and her shape, and her visage was made glistering, so that I was afrayde excedingly at her, & thought what this thing should be. 

26 And Behold, suddenly she put forth a great ound of a voyce ful of feare, that the earth was moued at the womans sound.  And I saw:

27 and behold, the woman did no more appeare vnto me, but a citie was built, & a place was shewed f great fundations:  and I was afrayd, & crying with a loude voyce I sayd: 

28 Where is Vriel the Angel, that from the beginning came to me?  for he made me come in multitude in excesse of his minde, and my end is made into corruption, & my prayer into reproch.

29 And when I was speaking these thinges, behold he came to me, and sawe me. 

30 And behold I was layd as dead, & my vnderstanding was alienated, and he held my right hand, and strengthned me, & set me vpon my feete, & sayd to me: 

31 What ayleth thee?  and why is thy vnderstanding, and the sense f thy hart trubled, & why art thou trubled?  And I sayd:

32 Because thou hast forsaken me, and I in dede haue done according to thy wordes, & went out into the field:  & behold, I haue seene,
& doe see that which I cannot vtter.  And he sayd to me: 

33 Stand like a man, & I wil moue thee.  And I sayd: 

34 Speake thou my Lord in me, forsake me not, that I die not in vaine: 

35 ecause I haue seene thinges that I knew not, & I doe heare thinges that I know not. 

36 Or is my sense deceiued, & doth my soule dreame? 

37 Now therfore I besech thee, that thou shew vnto hy seruant concerning this trance.  And he answered me, & sayd: 

38 Heare me, and I wil teach thee, and wil tel thee of what thinges thou art afrayd:  because the Highest hath reuealed vnto hee manie mysteries. 

39 He hath seene thy right way, that without intermission thou was forrowful for thy people, and didst mourne exceedingly for Sion. 

40 This therfore is the vnderstanding f the vision which appeared to thee a litle before. 

41 The woman whom thou sawest mourning, thou beganst to comfort her. 

42 And now thou seest not the forme of the woman, but there ppeared to thee a citie to be built.

43 And because she tolde thee of the fal of her sonne, this is the interpretation. 

44 This woman which thou sawest, she is Sion, and wheras she told thee of er, whom now also thou shalt see, as a citie builded.

45 And whereas she told thee, that she was barren thirtie yeares:  for the which there were thirtie yeares, when there was not yet oblation ffered in it. 

46 And it came to passe after thirtie yeares, Salomon built the citie, and offered oblations:  then it was, when the barren bare a childe. 

47 And that which she sayd vnto thee, that he nourished him with labour, this was the habitation in Ierusalem. 

48 And wheras she sayd to thee, that my sonne comming into the bryde chamber dyed, and that a fal chanced vnto him, this as the ruine of Ierusalem that is made.

49 And behold, thou hast seene the similitude of her:  and because she lamented her sonne, thou beganst to comfort her:  and of these thinges that haue hanced, these were to be opened to thee. 

50 And now the Highest seeth that thou wast sorie from the hart:  and because with thy whole hart thou sufferest for her, he hath shewed thee the learnes of her glorie, and the fayrenes of her beautie. 

51 For therfore did he say to thee, that thou shouldest tarie in a field where house is not built.

52 For I knew that the Highest beganne to hew thee these thinges:

53 therfore I sayd vnto thee, that thou shouldest goe into a field, where is no fundation of building. 

54 For the worke of mans building could not be borne in the place, here the citie of the Highest began to be shewed.

55 Thou therfore feare not, neither let thy hart dread:  but goe in, and see the beautie, and greatnes of the building, as much as the sight of hyne eyes is capable to see: 

56 & afterward thou shalt heare as much, as the hearing of thyne eares is capable to heare. 

57 For thou art blessed aboue manie, and art called with the Highest as ew. 

58 And to morrow night thou shalt tarie here: 

59 and the Highest wil shew thee those visions of the thinges on high, which the Highest wil doe to them that inhabite vpon the earth in the ater dayes. 

60 And I slept that night, and the other next, as he had sayd to me.

CHAP. XI.

An eagle appeareth to Esdras coming forth of the sea, with three heades, and twelue winges:  sometimes one reigning in the world, sometimes an other, but euerie one vanisheth away.  lion also appeareth coming forth of the wood, to suppresse the eagle.

1 AND I sawe a dreame, & behold an eagle came vp out of the sea:  which had twelue winges of fethers, and three heades. 

2 And I saw, and behold she spred her winges into al the earth, nd al the windes of heauen blew vpon her, and were gathered together. 

3 And I saw, and of her fethers sprang contrarie feathers, and they became litle winges, and smale. 

4 For her heades ere at rest, and the midle head was greater then the other heades, but she rested with them. 

5 And I saw, and behold the eagle flew with her winges, and reigned ouer the earth, and ouer them hat dwel in it. 

6 And I saw, that al thinges vnder heauen were subiect to her, and no man gaynesayd her, no not one of the creature that is vpon the earth.

7 And I saw, and behold the eagle rose p vpon her talons, and made a voice with her winges, saying: 

8 Watch not al together, sleepe euerie one in his place, & watch according to time. 

9 But let the heades be preserued to the last. 

10 And I saw, and behold the voice came not out of her heades, but from the middes of her bodie. 

11 And I numbered her contrarie winges, and behold they were eight. 

12 And I saw, and ehold on the right side rose one wing, and reighned ouer al the earth. 

13 And it came to passe, when it reigned, an end came to it, and the place therof appeared not:  and the next rose vp, & eigned, that held much time. 

14 And it came to passe, when it reigned, & the end of it also came, that it appeared not as the former. 

15 And behold, a voice was sent forth to it, saying: 

16 eare thou that hast held the earth of long time.  Thus I tel thee before thou beginne not to appeare. 

17 None after thee shal hold thy time, no nor the halfe therof. 

18 And the third lifted vp it elfe, and held the principalitie as also the former:  and that also appeared not. 

19 And so it chanced to al the other by one & by one to haue the principalitie, & agayne to appeare nowhere. 

20 nd I saw, and behold in time the rest of the winges were sent vp on the right side, that they also might hold the principalitie:  and of them there were that held it, but yet forthwith they ppeared not. 

21 For some also of them stoode vp, but they held not the principalitie. 

22 And I saw after these thinges, and behold the twelue winges, and two litle winges appeared not: 

23 nd nothing remayned in the bodie of the eagle but two heades resting, and six litle winges. 

24 And I saw, and behold from the six litle winges two were diuided, and they remayned vnder the ead, that is on the right side.  For foure taried in their place. 

25 And I saw, and behold the vnderwinges thought to set vp them selues, and to hold the principalities. 

26 And I saw, and behold ne was set vp, but forthwith it appeared not. 

27 And they that were second did sooner vanish away then the former. 

28 And I saw, and behold the two that remayned, thought with them elues that they also would reigne: 

29 and when they were thincking thereon, behold one of the resting heades, which was the midde one awaked, for this was greater then the other two heades. 

30 And I saw that the two heades were complete with themselues. 

31 And behold the head with them that were with him turned, and did eate the two vnderwinges that thought to reigne. 

32 nd this head terrified al the earth, & ruled in it ouer them that inhabite the earth with much labour, and he that held the dominion of the whole world aboue al the winges that were. 

33 And I aw after these thinges, and behold the midle head sodenly appeared not, as did the winges. 

34 And there remained two heads, which reigned also themselues ouer the earth, and ouer them that welt therein. 

35 And I saw, and behold the head on the right side deuoured that which was on the left. 

36 And I heard a voice saying to me, Looke against thee, and consider what thou seest. 

37 And I saw, & behold as a lion raysed out of the wood roaring:  and I saw that he sent out a mans voyce to the eagle.  And he spake saying. 

38 Heare thou, and I wil speake to thee, and the ighest wil say to thee: 

39 Is it not thou that hast ouercome of the foure beastes, which I made to reigne in my world, and that by them the end of their times might come? 

40 And the fourth oming ouercame al the beastes that were past, and by might held the world with much feare, and al the world with most wicked laboure, and he inhabitied the whole earth so long time with eceipte. 

41 And thou hast iudged the earth not with truth. 

42 For thou hast afflicted the meeke, and hast trubled them that were quiet, and hast loued lyers, & hast destroyed their habitations hat did fructifie, and hast ouerthrowen their walles that did not hurt thee. 

43 And thy contumelie is ascended euen to the Highest, and thy pride to the Strong. 

44 And the Highest hath looked pon the proud times:  and behold they are ended, and the abominations therof are accomplished. 

45 Therfore thou eagle appeare no more, and thy horrible winges, & thy litle winges most icked, and thy heades malignant, and thy talons most wicked, and al thy bodie vayne,

46 that al the earth may be refreshed, and may returne deliuered from thy violence, and may hope for his udgement, and mercie that made it.

CHAP. XII.

The eagle vanisheth away, Esdras prayeth, and the former visions are declared to him.

1 AND it came to passe, whiles the lyon spake these wordes to the eagle:  I saw,

2 and behold the head that had ouercome, and those foure winges appeared not which passed to him, and ere set vp to reigne:  and their reigne was smal, and ful of tumult. 

3 And I saw, and behold they appeared not, and al the bodie of the eagle was burnt, & the earth was afrayd excedingly, and I y the tumult and traunce of minde, and for great feare awaked, and sayd to my spirit: 

4 Behold thou hast geuen me this, in that, that thou searchest the wayes of the Highest. 

5 Behold yet I m wearie in minde, and in my spirit I am very feeble, and there is not so much as a litle strength in me for the great feare, that I was afrayd of this night. 

6 Now therfore I wil pray the Highest, hat he strengthen me euen to the end. 

7 And I sayd:  Lord Dominatour, if I haue found grace before thine eyes, and if I am iustified before thee aboue manie, and if in deede my prayer be scended before thy face,

8 strengthen me, and shew vnto me thy seruant the interpretation, and distinction of this horrible vision, that thou mayst comfort my soule most fully. 

9 For thou hast ounted me worthie to shew vnto me the later times.  And he sayd to me: 

10 This is the interpretation of this vision.

11 The eagle which thou sawest coming vp from the sea, this is the kingdom hich was sene in a vision to Daniel thy brother.  (Dan 7:7)

12 But it was not interpreted to him, therfore I do now interprete it to thee. 

13 Behold the dayes come, and there shal rise a kingdon pon the earth, and the feare shal be more terrible then of al the kingdomes that were before it. 

14 And there shal twelue kinges reigne in it, one after an other. 

15 For the second shal beginne to eigne, and he shal continew more time then the rest of the twelue. 

16 This is the interpretation of the twelue winges which thou sawest. 

17 And the voice that spake which thou heardst, not oming forth of her heads, but from the middes of her bodie,

18 this is the interpretation, that after the time of that kingdom shal rise no smal contentions, and it shal be in danger to fal:  and it hal not fal then, but shal be constituted againe according to the beginning therof. 

19 And wheras thou sawest eight vnderwings cleauing to the wings therof,

20 this is the interpretation, eight inges shal arise in it, whose times shal be light, and yeares swift, and two of them shal perish. 

21 But when the middest time approcheth, foure shal be kept til a time, when the time therof shal eginne to approch to be ended, yet two shal be kept to the end. 

22 And wheras thou sawest three heads resting,

23 this is the interpretation:  in her last dayes the Highest wil rayse vp three ingdoms, and wil cal backe manie thinges into them, and they shal rule ouer the earth,

24 and them that dwel in it, with much labour  aboue al them that were before them.  For this cause they re called the heads of the eagle. 

25 For these shal be they that shal recapitulate her impieties, and that shal accomplish her last thinges. 

26 And wheras thou sawest a greater head not appearing, his is the interpretation therof: that one of them shal dye vpon his bed, and yet with torments. 

27 For the two that shal remayne, the sword shal eate them. 

28 For the sword of one shal deuoure im that is with him:  but yet this also at the last shal fal by the sword. 

29 And wheras thou sawest two vnderwings passing ouer the head that is on the right side,

30 this is the interpretation: hese are they whom the Highest hath kept to their end, this is a smal kingdom, and ful of truble. 

31 As thou sawest the lyon also, whom thou sawest awaking out of the wood, and roaring, and peaking to the eagle, and rebuking her, and her iniustices by al his wordes as thou hast heard:

32 this is the wynde which the Highest hath kept vnto the end for them, and their impieties:  and he hal rebuke them, and shal cast in their spoyles before them. 

33 For he shal sette them in iudgment aliue:  and it shal be, when he hath reproued them, then shal he chastise them.

34 For the rest f my people he shal deliuer with miserie, them that are saued vpon my borders, and he shal make them ioyful til the end shal come, the day of iudgment, wherof I haue spoken to thee from the eginning. 

35 This is the dreame which thou sawest, and these be the interpretations. 

36 Thou therfore only hast bene worthie to know this secrete of the Highest. 

37 Write therfore in a booke l these thinges which thou hast sene, and put them in a hidden place:  

38 and thou shalt teach them the wise men of thy people, whose harts thou knowest able to take, and to kepe these ecretes. 

39 But doe thou stay here yet other seuen dayes, that there may be shewed thee whatsoeuer shal seme good to the Highest to shew thee. 

40 And he departed from me.  And it came to asse, when al the people had heard that the seuen dayes were past, and I had not returned into the citie, and al gathered them selues together from the least vnto the greatest:  & came to me, & pake to me saying:

41 What haue we sinned to thee, or what haue we done vniustly against thee, that leauing vs thou hast sitten in this place? 

42 For thou alone art remayning to vs of al eoples, as a cluster of grapes of the vineyard, and as a candle in a darke place, and as an hauen and shippe saued from the tempest. 

43 Or are not the euiles that chance, sufficient for vs? 

44 If hen thou shalt forsake vs, how much better had it bene to vs, if we also had bene burnt with the burning of Sion? 

45 For we are not better then they that dyed there.  And they wept with a owd voice. And I answered them, and sayd: 

46 Be of good chere Israel, and be not sorowful thou house of Iacob. 

47 For there is remebrance of you before the Highest, and the Strong hath ot forgotten you in tentation. 

48 For I haue not forsaken you, neither did I depart form you:  but I came into this place, to pray for the desolation of Sion, and to seeke mercie for the low estate f your sanctification. 

49 And now goe euery one of you into his house, and I wil come to you after these dayes. 

50 And the people departed, as I sayd to them, into the citie: 

51 but I sate in he fielde seuen dayes, as he commanded me:  and I did eate of the flowers of the field only, of the herbes was my meate made in those dayes.

CHAP. XIII.

A vision of a winde (as it first semed, but) in dede, v. 3. of a man: strong against the enimies:  with the interpretation.

1 AND it came to passe after seuen dayse, and I dreamed a dreame in the night. 

2 And behold there rose a winde from the sea, that trubled al the waues therof. 

3 And I saw, and behold hat man grew strong with thousandes of heauen:  and when he turned his countenance to consider, al thinges trembled that were sene vnder him: 

4 and whersoeuer voyce proceded out of his outh, al that heard his voices begane to burne, as the earth is quiet when it feeleth the fire. 

5 And I saw after these, and behold a multitude of men was gathered together, of whom there was o number, from the foure windes of heauen, to fight against the man that was come vp out of the sea. 

6 And I saw, and behold he had grauen to himself a great mountaine, & he flew vpon it. 

7 And I sought to see the countrie, or the place whence the mountaine was grauen, & I could not.

8 And after these thinges I saw, and behold al that were gathered to him, to ouerthrowe him, eared exceedingly, yet they were bold to fieght.

9 And behold as he sawe the violence of the multitude that came, he lifted not vp his hand, nor held sword, nor anie warlyke instrument but nly as I saw,

10 that he sent forth out of his mouth as it were a blaste of fire, and from his lippes a spirit of flame, & from his tongue he sentforth sparkles & tempests, and al thinges were ingled together with this blast of fire, & spirit of flame, & multitude of tempests. 

11 And it fel with violence vpon the multitude, that was prepared to fight, and burned them al, that suddenly here was nothing sene of an innumerable multitude, but only dust, & the sauour of smoke:  and I saw, and was afrayd. 

12 And after these thinges I saw the man himself descending from the ountaine, and calling to him an other peaceable multitude,

13 and there came to him the countenance of manie men some reioycing, and some sorrowing:  and some bond, some bringing of hem them that were offered. And I was sicke for much feare, and awaked, and sayd. 

14 Thou from the beginning hast shewed thy seruant these meruelous thinges, and hast counted me worthie hat thou wouldest receiue my petition. 

15 And now shew me yet the interpretation of this dreame. 

16 For as I thinke in my iudgement, woe to them that were leaft in those dayes:  & much ore woe to them that were not leaft. 

17 For they that were not leaft, were sorrowful. 

18 I vnderstand now what thinges are layde vp in the later dayes, and they shal happen to them, yea and o them that are leaft.

19 For therefore they came into great dangers, and manie necessities, as these dreames do shew. 

20 But yet it is easier, aduenturing to come into it, then to passe, as a cloud rom the world, and vow to see the thinges that happen in the later time.  And he answered me, and sayd: 

21 Both the interpretation of the vision I wil tel thee:  and also concerning the thinges hat thou hast spoken I wil open to thee. 

22 Wheras thou speakest of them that were leaft, this is the interpretation. 

23 He that taketh away danger at that time, he hath garded himself.  They hat haue fallen into danger, these are they that haue workes, and fayth in the Strongest. 

24 Know therefore that they are more blessed which are leaft, then they that are dead. 

25 These are the nterpretations of the vision, wheras thou sawest a man coming from the hart of the sea,

26 the same is he whom the Highest preserueth much time, which by himself shal deliuer his creature:  and e shal dispose them that are leaft. 

27 And wheras thou sawest proceede out of his mouth, as it were winde, and fire, and tempest: 

28 and wheras he held no sworde, nor warlike instrument:  or his violence destroyed the multitude that came to ouerthrow him:  this is the interpretation. 

29 Behold the dayes come, when the Highest shal begin to deliuer them, that are vpon the earth: 

30 and he shal come in excesse of minde vpon them that inhabit the earth. 

31 And one shal thinke to ouerthrow an other:  one citie an other citie, one place an other place, and nation against ation, and kingdom against kingdom. (Matt 24 / Luke 21) 

32 And it shal be, when these thinges shal come to passe, and the signes shal happen, which I shewed thee before:  and then shal my onne be reueled, whom thou sawest, as a man coming vp. 

33 And it shal be when al nations shal heare his voice:  and euery one in his countrie shal leaue their warre, that they haue toward each ther:

34 and an innumerable multitude shal be gathered in one, as willing to come to ouerthrow him. 

35 But he shal stand vpon the top of mount Sion.

36 And Sion shal come, and it shal be hewed to al prepared and builded, as thou sawest the mountaine to be grauen without handes. 

37 And the same my sonne shal reproue the thinges that the gentils haue inuented, these their mpieties which came nere to the tempest, because of their euil cogitaitons, and torments wherewith they shal begin to be tormented.

38 Which were likened to the flame, and he shal destroy hem without labour by the law that was likened to the fyre. 

39 And wheras thou sawest him gathering vnto him an other peaceable multitude. 

40 These are the ten tribes, which were made aptiue out of their land in the dayes of Osee the King, whom Salmanasar the King of the Assyrians led captiue: and he transported them beyond the riuer, and they were transported into an ther land.  (4 Kings 17) 

41 But they gaue themselues this counsel, to forsake the multitude of nations, and to goe forth into a farther countrie, where mankind neuer inhabited. 

42 Or there to bserue their ordinances, which they had not kept in their countrie. 

43 And they entred in by the narrow entrances of the riuer Euphrates. 

44 For the Highest then wrought them signes, and tayed the vaines of the riuer til they passed.  (Ex 14 / Jos 3) 

45 For by that countie was a great way to goe, of one yeare and a half:  for the countrie is called Arsareth.

46 Then did they inhabite here til in the later time:  and now againe when they beginne to come,

47 againe the Highest shal stay the vaines of the riuer, that they may passe:  for these thou sawest a multitiude with peace. 

48 But they also that were leaft of the people, these are they that be within my border. 

49 In shal come to passe therefore, when he shal begine to destroy the multitude of these nations, that are athered, he shal protect them that haue ouercome the people: 

50 and then shal he shew them very manie wonders. 

51 And I sayd:  Lord dominatour, shew me this, why I saw a man comming p from the hart of the sea, and he sayd to me: 

52 As thou canst not either search these thinges, or know what thinges are in the depth of the sea:  so can not any man vpon the earth see my onne, or them that are with him, but in the time of a day.

53 This is the interpretation of the dreame which thou sawest, and for the which thou only art here illuminated. 

54 For thou hast leaft hyne owne law, and hast bene occupied about my law, and hast sought it.

55 For thou hast disposed thy lyfe in wisdom, and thyne vnderstanding thou hast called mother: 

56 and for this I haue hewed thee riches with the Highest.  For it shal be after other three dayes, I wil speake other thinges to thee, and I wil expound to thee weightie and meruelous thinges. 

57 And I went forth, nd passed into the fielde, much glorifying & praising the Highest for the meruelous thinges that he did by time. 

58 And because he gouerneth it, and the thinges that are brought in times, & I ate there three dayes.

CHAP. XIIII.

God appeareth in a bush, reuealing some thinges to be published, and some thinges to be hid.  As the world waxeth old, al thinges become worse.  The people of Israel are ngratful.  Al shal be iudged in the Resurrection according to their deedes.

1 AND it came to passe the third day, and I sate vnder an oke. 

2 And behold a voice came forth against me out of a bush, and sayd:  Esdras, Esdras:  and I sayd:  Loe here I am Lord.  And  arose vpon my feete. And he sayd to me: 

3 Reueling I was reueled vpon the bush, and spake to Moyses, when the people serued in AEgypt, (Ex 3)

4 and I sent him, and brought my people out f AEgypt, and brought him vpon mount Sina, & held him with me manie dayes. 

5 And I told him manie meruelous thinges, & shewed him the secrets of times, and the end:  and I commanded im, saying: 

6 These wordes thou shalt publish abroade, and these thou shalt hyde. 

7 And now to thee I say: 

8 The signes which I haue shewed, and the dreames which thou hast sene, and the nterpretations which thou hast sene, lay them vp in thy hart. 

9 For thou shalt be receiued of al, thou shalt be conuerted the residue with thy counsel, and with the like to thee, til the times be inished: 

10 Because the world hath lost his youth, and the times draw nere to waxe old. 

11 For the world is diuided by twelue partes, & the tenth part, & half of the tenth part are passed:

12 nd there remaineth hereafter the half of the tenth part. 

13 Now therefore dispose thy house, and correct thy people, & comfort the humble of them, & forsake now corruption,

14 and put from hee mortal cogitations, and cast from thee humane burdens, and doe from thee now infirme nature, & lay at one side cogitations most trublesome to thee, & make speedie transmigration from hese times,

15 for the euiles which thou hast sene to haue chanced now, worse then these wil they doe againe: (Matt 24 / 1 John 2) 

16 for looke how much the world shal become weake by age, o much shal euiles be multiplied vpon the inhabitants. 

17 For truth hath remoued it self farther of, and lying hath approched, for now the vision which thou sawest, hasteneth to come. 

18 And I nswered, and sayd before thee o Lord: 

19 For behold I wil goe, as thou hast commanded me, & wil rebuke the people that now is.  But them that shal yet be born, who shal admonish? 

20 The orld therfore is set in darknes, and they that dwel in it without light. 

21 Because thy law is burnt, therefore no man knowth the workes that haue bene done by thee, or that shal begin.

22 For if  haue found grace with thee, send the Holie Ghost to me, & I wil write al that hath bene done in the world from the beginning, the thinges that were written in thy law, that men may finde the athe:  and they that wil liue in the later times, may liue. 

23 And he answered me, and sayd:  Goe gather together the people, and thou shalt say to them, that they seeke thee not for fourtie ayes. 

24 And doe thou prepare thee manie tables of boxe, & take with thee Sarea, Dabria, Salemia, Echanus, and Asiel, these fiue which are readie to write sweeftly. 

25 And come hither, & I il light in thy hart a candle of vnderstanding, which shal not be put out til the things be finished, which thou shalt begine to write. 

26 And then some thinges thou shalt open to the perfect, ome thou shalt deliuer secretly to the wyse.  For to morrow this houre thou shalt begine to write. 

27 And I went as he commanded me, & gathered together al the people, and sayd: 

28 Heare srael these wordes: 

29 Our fathers were pilgrimes from the beginning in AEgypt, and were deliuered from thence.  (Gen 47) 

30 And they receiued the law of life, which they kept not, which ou also after them haue transgressed:  (Deut 4 / Acts 7)

31 and the land was geuen you by lotte, and the land of Sion, and your fathers, and you haue done iniquitie, and haue not kept the wayes hich the Highest commanded you. 

32 And whereas he is a iust iudge, he hath taken from you in time that which he had geuen. 

33 And now you are here, and your brethren are among you. 

34 f then you wil rule ouer your sense, & instruct your hart, you shal be preserued aliue, and after death shal obtaine mercie. 

35 For the iudgement shal come after death, when we shal returne to yfe againe:  and then the names of the iust shal appeare, and the dedes of the impious shal be shewed. 

36 Let no man therfore come to me now, nor aske for me vntil fourtie dayes. 

37 And I ooke the fiue men, as he commandede me, and we went forth into the field, and taried there. 

38 And I was come to the morrow, & behold as voice called me, saying:  Esdras open thy mouth, nd drinke that which I wil geue thee to drinke.  (Ezech 3) 

39 And I opened my mouth, & behold a ful cuppe was brought me, this was ful as it were with water:  but the colour therof like as ire. 

40 And I tooke it, and dranke; and when I had drunken of it, my hart was tormented with vnderstanding, and wisdome grewe into my brest.  For my spirit was kept by memorie. 

41 And y mouth was opened, and was shut no more. 

42 The Highest gaue vnderstanding vnto the fiue men, and they wrote excesses of the night which were spoken, which they knewe not. 

43 And t night they did eate breade, but I spake by day, & by night held not my peace. 

44 And there were written in the fourtie dayes two hundred foure bookes. 

45 And it came to passe when they ad ended the fourtie daies, the Highest spake, saying: 

46 The former thinges which thou hast written, set abrode, and let the worthie and vnworthiereade:  but the last seuentie bookes thou halt keepe, that thou mayest deliuer them to the wyse of thy people. 

47 For in these is the vaine of vnderstanding, and the fountaine of wisdome, and the streame of knowledge.  and I did soe.

CHAP. XV.

Esdras is bid to denounce, that assuredly manie euiles wil come to the world.  God wil protect his people, the wicked shal be punished, and lament their final miseries, God reuenging or the good.

1 BEHOLD speake into the eares of my people the wordes of prophecie, which I shal put into thy mouth, sayth our Lord: 

2 and see that they be written in paper, because they be faithful nd true. 

3 Be not afrayd of the cogitations against thee, neither let the incredulities truble thee of them that speake. 

4 Because euerie incredulous person shal dye in his incredulitie. 

5 Behold I ring in, sayth our Lord, vpon the whole earth euils, sword, and famine, and death, and destruction. 

6 Because iniquitie hath fully polluted ouer al the earth, and their hurtful workes are ccomplished. 

7 Therefore sayth our Lord: 

8 I wil not now kepe silence of their impieties which they doe irreligiously, neither wil I beare with those thinges, which they practise vniustly.  ehold the innocent & iust bloud crieth to me, & the soules of the iust crie continually. 

9 Reuenging I wil reuenge them, sayth our Lord, and I wil take al innocent bloud out of them vnto me.  (Apoc 6:10 & 19:2)

10 Behold my people is led to slaughter as a flocke, I wil no more suffer it to dwel in the land of AEgypt. 

11 But I wil bring them forth in a mightie hand and valiant arme, nd wil strike with plague as before, and wil corrupt al the land thereof. 

12 AEgypt shal mourne, and fundations thereof beaten with plague, and with the chastisement which God wil bring pon it. 

13 The husbandmen that til the ground shal mourne, because their seedes shal perish by blasting, and haile, and by a terible starre.

14 Woe to the world and them that dwel therein. 

15 ecause the sword is at hand and the destruction of them, and nation shal rise vp against nation to fight, & sword in their handes.  (Matt 24 / Luke 21) 

16 For there shal be instabilitie to men, & rowing one against an other they shal not care for their king, & the princes of the way of their doinges, in their might. 

17 For a man shal desire to go into the citie & can not.

18 Because of their rides the cities shal be trubled, the houses raised, the men shal feare. 

19 Man shal not pitie his neighbour, to make their houses nothing worth in the sword, to spoyle their goodes for famine of read, & much tribulation. 

20 Behold, I cal together sayth God, al the kinges of the earth to feare me, that are from the Orient, & from the South, from the East, & from Libanus, to be turned pon themselues, and to render the thinges that they haue geuen them. 

21 As they doe vntil this day to myne elect, so wil I doe, and render in their bosome.  Thus sayth our Lord God: 

22 My ight hand shal not spare sinners, neither shal the sword cease vpon them that shede innocent bloud vpon the earth.

23 Fire came forth from his wrath, and hath deuoured the fundations of the arth, and sinners as it were straw set on fire. 

24 Woe to them that sinne, and obserue not my comandmentes, sayth our Lord. 

25 I wil not spare them:  depart o children from the powre.  Defile ot my sanctification: 

26 because the Lord knoweth al that sinne against him; therefore hath he deliuered them into death and into slaughter. 

27 For now are euils come vpon the world, and you hal tarrie in them.  For God wil not deliuer you, because you haue sinned against him. 

28 Behold an horrible vision, and the face of it from the east. 

29 And the nations of dragons of Arabians hal come forth in manie chariots, & as a winde the number of them is caried vpon the earth, so that now al doe feare and tremble, that shal heare them. 

30 the Carmonians madde for anger, and hey shal goe forth as wild boares out of the wood, & they shal come with great power, and shal stand in fight with them, & they shal waste the portion of the land of the Assirians. 

31 And after hese thinges the dragons shal preuaile mindful of their natiuitie, and conspiring shal turne themselues in great force to pursue them. 

32 These shal be trubled and hold their peace at their force, nd shal turne their fete into flight. 

33 And from the territorie of the Assirians the besiegers shal beseige them, and shal consume one of them, and there shal be feare and trembling in their armie, nd contention against their kinges. 

34 Behold cloudes from the east, and from the north vnto the south, and their face very horrible, ful of wrath and storme. 

35 And they shal beate one against n other, and they shal beate downe manie starres, and their starre vpon the earth, and bloud shal be from the sword vnto the bellie.

36 And mans dung vnto the camels litter, and there shal be uch feare, and trembling vpon the earth. 

37 And they shal shake that shal see that wrath, and tremble shal take them:  and after these thinges there shal manie showers be moued: 

38 from the outh, and the north:  and an other portion from the weast. 

39 And the windes from the east shal reuaile vpon it, and shal shut it vp, and the cloudes which he raised in wrath, and the starre to ake terrour to the east winde, and the west shal be destroyed. 

40 And there shal be exalted great and mightie cloudes ful of wrath, and a starre to terrifie al the earth, and the inhabitantes herof, and they shal powre in vpon euerie high, and eminent place a terrible starre,

41 fire, and haile, and flying swordes, and manie waters, so that al fildes also shal be filled, and al riuers with he fulnes of manie waters. 

42 And they shal throw downe cities, and walles, and mountaines, and hilles, and the trees of the woodes, and the grasse of the medowes, and their corne. 

43 And hey shal passe constant vnto Babylon, and shal raise her.  (Apoc 18) 

44 They shal come together against her, and shal compasse her, and shal power out the starre, and al wrath vpon her, and the ust and smoke shal goe vp euen into heauen, and round about shal lament her. 

45 And they that shal remaine vnder her, shal serue them that terified her. 

46 And thou Asia agreeing into the ope of Babylon, and the glorie of her person,

47 woe be to thee thou wretch, because thou art like to her, and hast adorned thy daughters in fornication, to please & glorie in thy louers, which aue desired alwayes to fornicate with thee. 

48 Thou hast imitated the odious in al her workes, and in her inuentions:  therefore sayth God: 

49 I wil send in euils vpon thee, widowhood, ouertie, and famine, and sword, and pestilence, to destroy thy houses by violation, and death, and glorie of thy vertue. 

50 As a flower shal be withered, when the heate shal rise that is sent orth vpon thee,

51 thou shalt be weakned as a litle poore soule plaged and chastised of wemen, that the mightie and the louers may not receiue thee. 

52 Wil I be zealous against thee sayth our ord,

53 vnles thou hadst slayne myne elect at al times, exalting the slaughter of the handes, and saying vpon their death, when thou wast drunken.

54 Adorne the beautie of thy countenance. 

55 The reward of thy fornication is in thy bosome, therefore thou shalt receiue recompence.

56 As thou shalt doe to my elect, sayth our Lord, so shal God do to thee, and shal deliuer thee vnto uil. 

57 And thy children shal dye for famine:  and thou shalt fal by the sword, and thy cities shal be destroyed, & al thyne shal fal in the filde by the sword. 

58 And they that are in the ountaines, shal perish, with famine, and shal eate their owne flesh, & drinke bloud, for the famine of bread and thirst of waters.

59 Vnhappie by the seas shalt thou come, and againe thou shalt eceuie euils. 

60 And in the passage they shal beate against the idle citie, and shal destroy some portion of thy land, and shal deface part of thy glorie, againe returning to Babylon ourethrowen. 

61 And being throwen downe thou shalt be to them for stubble, and they shal be to thee fire:

62 and deuoure thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountaynes, al thy woodes and fruitful trees hey wil burne with fire. 

63 Thy children they shal lead captiue, & shal haue thy goodes for a praye, and the glorie of thy face they shal destroy.

CHAP. XVI.

Al are admonished, that extreme calamities shal fal vpon this world, the penitent returning to iustice shal escape, & as al thinges were made by Gods omnipotent powre at his wil, o al thinges shal serue to the reward of the blessed, and punishment of the wicked.

1 WOE to thee Babylon & Asia, woe to thee AEgypt, and Syria. 

2 Gird yourselues with sackclothes and shirtes of heare, & mourne for your children, & be sorie:  because your destruction s at hand. 

3 The sword is sent in vpon you, and who is he that can turne it away? 

4 Fire is sent in vpon you, and who is he that can quench it? 

5 Euiles are sent in vpon you, and who is he that an repel them? 

6 Shal anie man repel the lion being hungrie in the woode, or quench the fire in stubble, forthwith when it beginneth to burne? 

7 Shal anie man repel the arrow shot of a strong rcher? 

8 Our strong Lord sendeth in euiles, and who is he that can repel them? 

9 Fire came forth from his wrath, and who is he that can quench it? 

10 He wil lighten, who shal not feare, he wil hunder, and who shal not be afrayed? 

11 Our Lord wil threaten, and who shal not vtterly be destroyed before his face? 

12 The earth hath trembled, and the fundations thereof, the sea tosseth p waues from the depth, and the floudes of it shal be destroyed, and the fishes thereof at the face of our Lord, and at the glorie of his powre: 

13 because his right hand is strong which bendeth he bow, his arrowes be sharpe that are shot of him, they shal not misse, when they shal begine to be shot into the endes of the earth. 

14 Behold euiles are sent, and they shal not returne til they ome vpon the earth. 

15 The fire is kindled and it shal not be quenched, til it consume the fundations of the earth. 

16 For as the arrow shot of a strong archer returneth not, so shal not the euils eturne backe, that shal be sent vpon the earth. 

17 Woe is me, woe is me:  who shal deliuer me in those dayes? 

18 The beginning of sorrowes and much mourning, the beginning of famine and uch destruction.  The beginning of warres and the potestates shal feare, the beginning of euiles and al shal tremble.

19 In these what shal I doe, when the euils shal come? 

20 Behold famine, nd plague, and tribulation, and distresse are sent al as scourges for amendment,

21 and in al these they wil not conuert themselues from their iniquities, neither wil they be alwayes mindful of the courges.

22 Behold, there shal be good cheape victuals vpon the earth, so that they may thinke that peace is directly coming toward them, and then shal euiles spring vpon the earth, sword, amine, and great confusion. 

23 For by famine manie that inhabit the earth shal dye, and the sword shal destroy the rest that remained aliue of the famine,

24 and the dead shal be cast forth as ung, and there shal be none to comfort them.  For the earth shal be left desert, and the cities therof shal be throwen downe.

25 There shal not be left a man to til the ground and to sow it. 

26 he trees shal yeeld fruites, and who shal gather them? 

27 The grape shal become ripe, & who shal tread it?  For there shal be great desolation to places. 

28 For a man shal desire to see a man, or o heare his voyce.

29 For there shal be leaft ten of a citie, and two of the field that haue hid themselues in thicke woodes, and cliffes of rockes. 

30 As there are left in the oliuet, and on euerie ree, three of foure oliues. 

31 Or as in a vinyeard when it is gathered there are grapes left by them, that diligently search the vineyard: 

32 so shal there be left in those dayes three or foure, by hem that search their houses in the sword. 

33 And the earth shal be left desolate, and the fildes thereof shal waxe old, & the wayes thereof, and al the pathes thereof shal bringforth thornes, ecause no man shal passe by it. 

34 Virgins shal mourne hauing no bridegromes, wemen shal mourne hauing no husbandes, their daughters shal mourne hauing no helpe: 

35 their bridegromes hal be consumed in battel, and their husbandes be destroyed in famine. 

36 But heare these thinges, and know them ye seruantes of our Lord. 

37 Behold the word of our Lord, receiue it:  beleue ot the goddes of whom our Lord speaketh. 

38 Behold the euiles approch, and slacke not. 

39 As a woman with childe when shee bringeth forth her child in the ninth moneth, the houre of her eliuerance approching, two or three howres before, paines come about her wombe, and the infants coming out of her wombe, they wil not tarrie one moment. 

40 So the euiles shal not slacke to ome forth vpon the earth, and the world shal lament, and sorowes shal hold it round about.

41 Heare the word, my people:  prepare yourselues vnto the fight, & in the euiles so be ye as strangers f the earth. 

42 He that selleth as if he should flee, and he that byeth as he that should lose it. 

43 He that playeth the marchant, as he that should take no fruite:  and he that buildeth as he that hould not inhabite. 

44 He that soweth, as he that shal not reape:  so he also that pruneth a vinyeard, as if he should not haue the vintage. 

45 They that marie so as if they should not get children, & they that marie not, so as if were widowes. 

46 Wherfore they that labour, labour without cause: 

47 for foreners shal reape their fruites, & shal violently take their goodes, and ouerthrow their ouses, and lead theire children captiue, because in captiuitie, and famine they beget their children. 

48 And they that play the marchantes by robrie, the longer they adorne their cities and houses, nd their possessions and persons: 

49 so much the more wil I be zealous toward them, vpon their sinnes, sayth our Lord. 

50 As a whore enuieth an honest & very good woman: 

51 so shal iustice ate impietie when she adorneth herselfe, and accuseth her to her face, when he shal come that may defend him that searcheth out al vpon the earth. 

52 Therefore be not made like to her, nor to er workes. 

53 For yet a little whyle & iniquitie shal be taken away from the earth, & iustice shal reigne ouer you. 

54 Let not the sinner say he hath not sinned:  because he shal burne coales of ire vpon his head, that sayth I haue not sinned before our Lord God and his glorie. 

55 Behold our Lord shal know al the workes of men, and their inuentions, & their cogitations, and their artes.  (Eccli 23 / Luke 16)

56 For he sayd:  Let the earth be made, and it was made:  let the heauen be made, & it was made.  (Gen 1) 

57 And by his worde the starrs were made, & he noweth he number of the starres.  (Ps 146:4) 

58 Who searcheth the depth and the treasures therof:  who hath measured the sea, & capacitie therof.  (Job 38) 

59 Who hath shut vp the sea in the midest f waters, & hath hanged the earth vpon the waters with his word. 

60 Who hath spred heauen as it were a vault, ouer the waters he hath founded it.

61 Who hath put fountaines of waters in the esert, and lakes vpon the toppes of mountaines, to send forth riuers from the high rocke to watter the earth. 

62 Who made man & put his hart in the midds of the bodie, and gaue him spirit, life nd vnderstanding. 

63 And the inspiration of God omnipotent that made al thinges, and searcheth al hid thinges, in the secretes of the earth. 

64 He knoweth your inuention, and what you hinke in your hartes sinning, and willing to hide your sinnes. 

65 Wherfore our Lord in searching hath searched al your workes, and he wil put you al to open shame,

66 and you shal be onfounded when your sinnes shal come forth before men, and the iniquities shal be they, that shal stand accusers in that day. 

67 What wil you doe?  or how shal you hide your sinnes before od and his Angels? 

68 Behold God is the Iudge, feare him. Cease from your sinnes, and now forget your iniquities to doe them anie more, & God wil bring you out, and deliuer you from al ribulation.

69 For behold the heate of a great multitude is kindled ouer you, and they shal take certaine of you by violence, & shal make the slaine to be meate for idols. 

70 And they that shal onsent vnto them, shal be to them in derision, and in reproch, and in conculcation. 

71 For there shal be place against places, and against the next cities great insurrection vpon them that feare our ord. 

72 They shal be as it were madde sparing no bodie, to spoyle and waste yet them that feare our Lord. 

73 because they shal waste and spoyle the goodes, and shal cast them out of their ouses. 

74 Then shal appeare the probation of mine elect, as gold that is proued by the fire. 

75 Heare be beloued, sayth our Lord:  Behold the dayes of tribulation are come:  and out of them I il deliuer you.

76 Doe not feare, nor stagger, because God is your guide. 

77 And he that kepeth my commandmentes, and precepts, sayth our Lord God:  Let not your sinnes ouerway you, nor our inquities be aduanced ouer you. 

78 Woe to them that are entangled with their sinnes, and are couered with their iniquities, as a filde is entangled with the wood, & the path therof couered ith thornes, by which no man passeth, & it is closed out, & cast to be deuoured of the fire.


Note:  This translation comes from the Latin text, usually printed in an appendix to editions of the Vulgate, but these editions miss seventy verses between 7:35 and 7:36.  The missing fragment was discovered in a Latin manuscript by Robert Lubbock Bensly in 1874.  Below is a translation of this fragment from a revised Authorized Version. Although often numbered 7:36-7:105, they are here numbered as A:1-A:70 to avoid any repetition in chapter:verse designations.

A:1. And the pit of torment shall appear, and over against it shall be the place of rest:  and the furnace of hell shall be shewed, and over against it the paradise of delight.

A:2. And then hall the Most High say to the nations that are raised from the dead, See ye and understand whom ye have denied, or whom ye have not served, or whose commandments ye have despised.

A:3. ook on this side and on that:  here is delight and rest, and there fire and torments.  Thus shall he speak unto them in the day of judgement:

A:4. This is a day that hath neither sun, nor moon, nor tars,

A:5. neither cloud, nor thunder, nor lightning, neither wind, nor water, nor air, neither darkness, nor evening, nor morning,

A:6. neither summer, nor spring, nor heat, nor winter, neither rost, nor cold, nor hail, nor rain, nor dew,

A:7. neither noon, nor night, nor dawn, neither shining, nor brightness, nor light, save only the splendour of the glory of the Most High, whereby all hall see the things that are set before them:

A:8. for it shall endure as it were a week of years.

A:9. This is my judgement and the ordinance thereof; but to thee only have I shewed these things.

A:10. And I answered, I said even then, O Lord, and I say now:  Blessed are they that be now alive and keep the statutes ordained of thee.

A:11. But as touching them for whom my prayer was ade, what shall I say? for who is there of them that be alive that hath not sinned, and who of the sons of men that hath not transgressed thy covenant?

A:12. And now I see, that the world to ome shall bring delight to few, but torments unto many.

A:13. For an evil heart hath grown up in us, which hath led us astray from these statutes, and hath brought us into corruption and into he ways of death, hath shewed us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life; and that, not a few only, but well nigh all that have been created.

A:14. And he answered me, and said, earken unto me, and I will instruct thee; and I will admonish thee yet again:

A:15. for this cause the Most High hath not made one world, but two.

A:16. For whereas thou hast said that the just re not many, but few, and the ungodly abound, hear the answer thereunto.

A:17. If thou have choice stones exceeding few, wilt thou set for thee over against them according to their number hings of lead and clay?

A:18. And I say, Lord, how shall this be?

A:19. And he said unto me, Not only this, but ask the earth, and she shall tell thee; intreat her, and she shall declare unto thee.

A:20. For thou shalt say unto her, Thou bringest forth gold and silver and brass, and iron also and lead and clay:

A:21. but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than rass, lead than iron, and clay than lead.

A:22. Judge thou therefore which things are precious and to be desired, whatso is abundant or what is rare.

A:23. And I said, O Lord that bearest rule, hat which is plentiful is of less worth, for that which is more rare is more precious.

A:24. And he answered me, and said, Weigh within thyself the things that thou hast thought, for he that hath hat is hard to get rejoiceth over him that hath what is plentiful.

A:25. So also is the judgement which I have promised:  for I will rejoice over the few that shall be saved, inasmuch as these are hey that have made my glory now to prevail, and of whom my name is now named.

A:26. And I will not grieve over the multitude of them that perish; for these are they that are now like unto apour, and are become as flame and smoke; they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are quenched.

A:27. And I answered and said, O thou earth, wherefore hast thou brought forth, if the mind s made out of dust, like as all other created things?

A:28. For it were better that the dust itself had been unborn, so that the mind might not have been made therefrom.

A:29. But now the mind roweth with us, and by reason of this we are tormented, because we perish and know it.

A:30. Let the race of men lament and the beasts of the field be glad; let all that are born lament, but let he fourfooted beasts and the cattle rejoice.

A:31. For it is far better with them than with us; for they look not for judgement, neither do they know of torments or of salvation promised unto hem after death.

A:32. For what doth it profit us, that we shall be preserved alive, but yet be afflicted with torment?

A:33. For all that are born are defiled with iniquities, and are full of sins and aden with offences:

A:34. and if after death we were not to come into judgement, peradventure it had been better for us.

A:35. And he answered me, and said, When the Most High made the orld, and Adam and all them that came of him, he first prepared the judgement and the things that pertain unto the judgement.

A:36. And now understand from thine own words, for thou hast aid that the mind groweth with us.

A:37. They therefore that dwell upon the earth shall be tormented for this reason, that having understanding they have wrought iniquity, and receiving ommandments have not kept them, and having obtained a law they dealt unfaithfully with that which they received.

A:38. What then will they have to say in the judgement, or how will they nswer in the last times?

A:39. For how great a time hath the Most High been longsuffering with them that inhabit the world, and not for their sakes, but because of the times which he hath oreordained!

A:40. And I answered and said, If I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, shew this also unto thy servant, whether after death, even now when every one of us giveth up his soul, e shall be kept in rest until those times come, in which thou shalt renew the creation, of whether we shall be tormented forthwith.

A:41. And he answered me, and said, I will shew thee this lso; but join not thyself with them that are scorners, nor number thyself with them that are tormented.

A:42. For thou hast a treasure of good works laid up with the Most High, but it shall not be hewed thee until the last times.

A:43. For concerning death the teaching is:  When the determinate sentence hath gone forth from the Most High that a man should die, as the spirit leaveth the ody to return again to him who gave it, it adoreth the glory of the Most High first of all.

A:44. And if it be one of those that have been scorners and have not kept the way of the Most High, nd that have despised his law, and that hate them that fear God,

A:45. these spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall wander and be in torments forthwith, ever grieving and sad, in seven ays.

A:46. The first way, because they have despised the law of the Most High.

A:47. The second way, because they cannot now make a good returning that they may live.

A:48. The third ay, they shall see the reward laid up for them that have believed the covenants of the Most High.

A:49. The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days.

A:50. The fifth way, they shall see the dwelling places of the others guarded by angels, with great quietness.

A:51. The sixth way, they shall see how forthwith some of them shall pass into orment.

A:52. The seventh way, which is more grievous than all the aforesaid ways, because they shall pine away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall be withered up by fears, eeing the glory of the Most High before whom they have sinned whilst living, and before whom they shall be judged in the last times.

A:53. Now this is the order of those who have kept the ays of the Most High, when they shall be separated from the corruptible vessel.

A:54. In the time that they dwelt therin they painfully served the Most High, and were in jeopardy every hour, hat they might keep the law of the lawgiver perfectly.

A:55. Wherefore this is the teaching concerning them:

A:56. First of all they shall see with great joy the glory of him who taketh them up, or they shall have rest in seven orders.

A:57. The first order, because they have striven with great labour to overcome the evil thought which was fashioned together with them, that it might not ead them astray from life into death.

A:58. The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander, and the punishment that awaiteth them.

A:59. The third rder, they see the witness which he that fashioned them beareth concerning them, that while they lived they kept the law which was given them in trust.

A:60. The fourth order, they understand he rest which, being gathered in their chambers, they now enjoy with great quietness, guarded by angels, and the glory that awaiteth them in the last days.

A:61. The fifth order, they rejoice, eeing how they have now escaped from that which is corruptible, and how they shall inherit that which is to come, while they see moreover the straitness and the painfulness from which they ave been delivered, and the large room which they shall receive with joy and immortality.

A:62. The sixth order, when it is shewed unto them how their face shall shine as the sun, and how they hall be made like unto the light of the stars, being henceforth incorruptible.

A:63. The seventh order, which is greater than all the aforesaid orders, because they shall rejoice with confidence, and ecause they shall be bold without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of him whom in their lifetime they served, and from whom they shall receive their eward in glory.

A:64. This is the order of the souls of the just, as from henceforth is announced unto them, and aforesaid are the ways of torture which they that would not give heed shall suffer rom henceforth.

A:65. And I answered and said, Shall time therefore be given unto the souls after they are separated from the bodies, that they may see that whereof thou hast spoken unto me?

A:66. And he said, Their freedom shall be for seven days, that for seven days they may see the things whereof thou hast been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered together in their abitations.

A:67. And I answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, shew further unto me thy servant whether in the day of judgement the just will be able to intercede for the ngodly or to intreat the Most High for them,

A:68. whether fathers for children, or children for parents, or brethren for brethren, or kinsfolk for their next of kin, or friends for them that are ost dear.

A:69. And he answered me, and said, Since thou hast found favour in my sight, I will shew thee this also:  The day of judgement is a day of decision, and displayeth unto all the seal f truth; even as now a father sendeth not his son, or a son his father, or a master his slave, or a friend him that is most dear, that in his stead he may be sick, or sleep, or eat, or be healed:

A:70. so ever shall any one pray for another in that day, neither shall one lay a burden on another, for then shall all bear every one his own righteousness or unrighteousness.