4 Esdras (2 Esdras) 9

And he answered me and said: Measure the time carefully in itself; and it shall be, when you see that a certain part of the signs which have been foretold has passed,

then you shall understand that this is the very time in which the Most High will begin to visit the age which was made by him.

And when there shall be seen in the age a shaking of places, and a disturbance of peoples,

then you shall understand that it was concerning these things that the Most High had spoken, from the days that were before you, from the beginning.

For just as everything that has been done in the age has a beginning, so also an end, and the end is manifest;

so also the times of the Most High have beginnings manifest in wonders and powers, and ends in acts and in signs.

And it shall be, that everyone who shall be saved, and who shall be able to escape by his works, and by the faith in which you have believed,

shall be left out of the aforesaid dangers, and shall see my salvation in my land, and within my borders, for I have sanctified it to myself from the beginning of the age.

And then those who have now abused my ways shall be in misery, and those who rejected them in contempt shall dwell in torments.

For those who did not know me, while they lived having received benefits,

and those who loathed my law while they still had freedom,

and while there was still a place of repentance open to them, they did not understand, but despised it; these must, after death, come to know it in torment.

You therefore, be no longer curious how the ungodly shall be tormented; but inquire how the righteous shall be saved, and whose the age is, and for whose sake the age is, and when.

And I answered and said,

I have spoken before, and now I say, and afterward I will say it again: there are more who perish than who shall be saved,

even as a wave is greater than a drop. And he answered me and said,

As is the field, such are the seeds; and as are the flowers, such are the colours; and as is the worker, such is his creation; and as is the husbandman, such is the tillage; for it was the time of the age.

And now, when I was preparing it for those who now exist, before ever the age in which they should dwell was made, no one contradicted me.

For then everyone, and now too, is created in this prepared world, with its unfailing harvest, and a law past searching out; yet their ways have been corrupted.

And I considered the age, and behold, there was peril because of the thoughts that had come into it.

And I saw, and spared it greatly; and I kept for myself one grape from the cluster, and one plant out of a great tribe.

Let the multitude then perish, which was born without purpose, and let my grape and my plant be saved; for with much labour I have brought them to perfection.

But you, if you wait yet another seven days, but do not fast in them,

you shall go into a field of flowers, where no house is built; and you shall eat only of the flowers of the field, and shall not taste flesh, and shall not drink wine, but only flowers;

pray to the Most High without ceasing, and I will come and speak with you.

And I went forth, as he told me, into the field which is called Ardath, and I sat there among the flowers. And I ate of the herbs of the field, and their food satisfied me to the full.

And it came to pass after seven days, that I lay upon the grass, and my heart was again troubled as before.

And my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and I said,

O Lord, showing yourself to us, you were shown to our fathers in the wilderness, which is untrodden and unfruitful, when they were coming out of Egypt; and speaking you said,

Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to my words, O seed of Jacob.

For behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you, and you shall be glorified in it for ever.

But our fathers, who received the law, did not keep it, and did not observe my ordinances; and the fruit of the law was barren, for it could not be otherwise, since it was yours.

For those who received it perished, not keeping what had been sown in them.

And behold, it is the custom that, when the earth has received seed, or the sea a ship, or some vessel food or drink; when that in which it was sown, or into which it was put, is destroyed,

at the same time that which was sown, or put in, or received, is also destroyed, and what was received no longer remains with us; but with us it has not been so.

For we who have received the law have perished by sinning, and our heart also which received it;

yet the law did not perish, but remained in its full force.

And while I spoke these things in my heart, I looked up with my eyes, and saw a woman on the right side; and behold, she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved in soul, and her garments were rent, and there were ashes upon her head.

And I let go the thoughts in which I was musing, and turned to her, and said to her,

Why do you weep? And why are you grieved in soul? And she said to me,

Let me alone, my lord, that I may bewail myself, and add to my grief; for I am exceedingly bitter in soul, and greatly humbled.

And I said to her, What has befallen you? Tell me. And she said to me,

I, your handmaid, was barren, and bore no child, though I had a husband for thirty years.

For every hour, and every day, and for these thirty years, I prayed to the Most High night and day.

And it came to pass, after thirty years, God heard me, your handmaid, and saw my humiliation, and gave heed to my affliction, and gave me a son; and I rejoiced over him greatly, I, and my husband, and all my fellow citizens; and we greatly honoured the Mighty One.

And I brought him up with much labour.

And it came to pass, when he had grown up, and had come to take a wife, I made a day of feasting.