4 Esdras (2 Esdras) 16

Woe to you, Babylon and Asia; woe to you, Egypt and Syria.

Gird yourselves with sackcloth and haircloth, and lament for your children, and grieve; for your destruction has drawn near.

A sword has been sent upon you, and who is there to turn it away?

A fire has been sent upon you, and who is there to put it out?

Evils have been sent upon you, and who is there to drive them back?

Will anyone drive back a hungry lion in the forest, or quench a fire in the stubble, once it has begun to burn?

Will anyone drive back an arrow shot by a strong archer?

The mighty Lord sends forth evils, and who is there to drive them back?

A fire has gone forth from his wrath, and who is there to quench it?

He shall flash like lightning, and who shall not be afraid? He shall thunder, and who shall not tremble?

The Lord shall threaten, and who shall not be utterly crushed at his presence?

The earth trembles and its foundations; the sea heaves from the deep, and its waves shall be troubled, and its fish, before the face of the Lord, and before the glory of his power;

for his right hand that bends the bow is strong; his sharp arrows that are shot by him shall not fail when they begin to be sent to the ends of the earth.

Behold, the evils are sent forth, and they shall not return until they come upon the earth.

The fire is kindled, and it shall not be put out, until it consumes the foundations of the earth.

Just as an arrow shot by a strong archer does not return, so the evils that have been sent upon the earth shall not return.

Woe is me, woe is me! Who shall deliver me in those days?

The beginning of sorrows and many groanings; the beginning of famine and many deaths; the beginning of wars, and the powers shall be afraid; the beginning of evils, and all shall tremble.

In these things what shall I do, when the evils come?

Behold, famine and plague, and tribulation, and distress are sent as scourges for correction;

and in all these things they shall not turn from their iniquities, nor shall they always remember the scourges.

Behold, there shall be cheapness of provisions upon the earth, so that they shall think peace is assured to them; and then evils shall spring up upon the earth: the sword, famine, and great confusion.

For many of those who dwell upon the earth shall perish by famine, and the sword shall destroy the rest who have survived the famine.

And the dead shall be cast out like dung, and there shall be none to comfort them. For the land shall be left desolate, and its cities shall be thrown down.

There shall be left none to till the ground, nor to sow it.

The trees shall yield fruit, and who shall gather them?

The grape shall ripen, and who shall tread it? For in places there shall be great desolation.

For a man shall long to see a man, or to hear his voice.

For there shall be left ten out of a city, and two out of the country, who have hidden themselves in dense thickets and in the clefts of the rocks;

just as in an olive grove three or four olives are left upon each tree;

or as in a harvested vineyard a few clusters are left by those who diligently search the vineyard;

so in those days three or four shall be left by those who search their houses with the sword.

And the land shall be left desolate, and its fields shall grow old, and its roads and all its paths shall sprout thorns, because no man shall pass through it.

The virgins shall mourn, having no bridegrooms; the women shall mourn, having no husbands; their daughters shall mourn, having no helper;

their bridegrooms shall be consumed in war, and their husbands shall perish in famine.

But hear these things, and understand them, you servants of the Lord.

Behold the word of the Lord; receive it; do not disbelieve the things of which the Lord speaks.

Behold, the evils draw near, and do not delay.

Just as a woman with child, when she bears her son in the ninth month, as the hour of her delivery draws near, within two or three hours, pains encircle her womb, and as the child comes forth from the womb they do not delay a single moment;

so the evils shall not tarry to come forth upon the earth, and the world shall groan, and pains shall encompass it.

Hear the word, my people; prepare yourselves for the battle, and in the evils be as though you were strangers of the earth.

Let him who sells be as one who flees; and him who buys, as one who is about to lose.

Let him who trades be as one who shall reap no profit; and him who builds, as one who shall not dwell there.

Let him who sows be as one who shall not reap; so also he who tends a vineyard, as one who shall not gather the vintage.

Those who marry, as those who shall have no children; and those who do not marry, as those who are widowed.

Therefore those who labour, labour without purpose;

for strangers shall reap their fruits, and plunder their goods, and overthrow their houses, and take their children captive; for in captivity and famine do they beget their children.

And as for those who trade in robbery, the longer they adorn their cities and their houses, and their possessions and their persons,

so much the more shall I be jealous against them because of their sins, says the Lord.

As a harlot is jealous of a woman who is upright and exceedingly good,

so righteousness shall be jealous of iniquity, when it adorns itself, and shall accuse it to its face, when he comes who defends the one who searches out every sin upon the earth.

Therefore do not be like it, nor like its works;

for yet a little while, and iniquity shall be removed from the earth, and righteousness shall reign among you.

Let not the sinner say that he has not sinned; for coals of fire shall burn upon the head of him who says: I have not sinned before the Lord God and his glory.

Behold, the Lord shall know all the works of men, and their devices, and their thoughts, and their hearts.

For he said: Let the earth be, and it was made; let the heaven be, and it was done.

And by his word the stars were established, and he knows the number of the stars.

He who searches the deep, and its treasures; who has measured the sea, and what it contains.

Who enclosed the sea in the midst of the waters, and suspended the earth above the waters by his word.

Who stretched out the heaven like a vault, and founded it upon the waters.

Who placed in the desert fountains of waters, and pools upon the summits of the mountains, to send forth rivers from the lofty rock, to give the earth drink.

Who formed man, and placed his heart in the midst of his body, and gave him spirit, and life, and understanding,

and the breath of God Almighty, who made all things, and searches out all that is hidden in the hidden places of the earth.

He knows your devising, and what you think in your hearts when you sin, and wish to hide your sins.

Therefore the Lord, searching, has searched out all your works, and shall put you all to shame,

and you shall be put to confusion when your sins come forth before men, and the iniquities shall be the accusers that shall stand up in that day.

What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before God and his angels?

Behold, God is the Judge; fear him. Cease from your sins, and forget your iniquities, so as never again to commit them; and God shall lead you out, and deliver you from all tribulation.

For behold, the burning of a great multitude is kindled against you, and they shall snatch away some of you, and shall feed those slain to idols.

And those who consent to them shall be to them a mockery, and a reproach, and a trampling.

For there shall be in places, place by place, and in the neighbouring cities, a great uprising against those who fear the Lord.

They shall be like madmen, sparing no one, plundering and laying waste those who still fear the Lord;

for they shall lay waste and plunder their goods, and shall drive them out of their houses.

Then shall the trial of my chosen ones appear, like gold that is tested by fire.

Hear, my beloved, says the Lord: Behold, the days of tribulation are at hand, and from these I will deliver you.

Do not be afraid, nor doubt, for God is your guide.

And he who keeps my commandments and my precepts, says the Lord God, let not your sins weigh you down, and let not your iniquities exalt themselves.

Woe to those who are bound fast by their sins, and covered over by their iniquities, just as a field is choked by a forest, and its path is covered with thorns, through which no man passes, and is shut out, and is given over to be devoured by fire.