厄斯德拉四書（拉丁 2 Esdras） 第 12 章

And it came to pass, while the lion was speaking these words to the eagle, that I saw,

and behold, the head that remained disappeared, and those four wings that had passed over to it did not appear, which had been raised up to reign; and their kingdom was feeble, and full of tumult.

And I saw, and behold, they appeared no more, and the whole body of the eagle was burned up, and the earth was greatly terrified; and I, from the tumult and the bewilderment of mind, and from great fear, awoke, and said to my spirit,

Behold, you have brought this upon me, in that you search out the ways of the Most High.

Behold, I am still weary in mind, and exceedingly weak in my spirit, and there is not even a little strength in me, by reason of the great fear with which I was terrified this night.

Now therefore I will pray to the Most High to strengthen me to the end.

And I said: O Lord, Sovereign, if I have found grace before your eyes, and if I have been justified before you above many, and if surely my supplication has gone up before your face,

strengthen me, and show your servant the interpretation and the meaning of this dreadful vision, that you may comfort my soul most fully.

For you have counted me worthy to show me the end of the times. And he said to me,

This is the interpretation of this vision.

The eagle which you saw rising from the sea, this is the kingdom which was seen in the vision by your brother Daniel.

But it was not interpreted to him, as I now interpret it to you.

Behold, the days are coming, and a kingdom shall arise upon the earth, and it shall be more dreadful than all the kingdoms that were before it.

And twelve kings shall reign in it, one after another.

For the second shall begin to reign, and he shall hold a longer time than the twelve.

This is the interpretation of the twelve wings which you saw.

And as for the voice which you heard speaking, not coming from its heads, but from the middle of its body,

this is the interpretation: after the time of that kingdom, no small contentions shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; yet it shall not fall then, but shall again be re-established at its beginning.

And as for your seeing the eight under-wings clinging to its wings,

this is the interpretation: eight kings shall arise in it, whose times shall be brief, and their years swift; and two of them shall perish,

and as the middle time draws near, four shall be kept for the time when his time begins to draw near to its end; but two shall be kept until the end.

And as for your seeing the three heads at rest,

this is the interpretation: in its last days the Most High shall raise up three kingdoms, and shall restore many things in them, and they shall rule the earth,

and those who dwell in it, with much oppression, beyond all who were before these. For this reason they are called the heads of the eagle.

For these are they who shall sum up its impieties, and who shall bring its end to completion.

And as for your seeing that the greater head appeared no more, this is its interpretation: one of them shall die upon his bed, and yet in torments.

For the two who remain, the sword shall devour them.

For the sword of the one shall devour him who is with him; yet at the last this one too shall fall by the sword.

And as for your seeing the two under-wings passing over to the head that is on the right side,

this is the interpretation: these are they whom the Most High has preserved for its end, that is, the feeble kingdom, and full of confusion.

And as for the lion which you saw, roused from the forest, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking it, and reproving its injustices through all his words, as you heard,

this is the Anointed One whom the Most High has kept until the end, to come upon them and their impieties; and he shall reprove them, and shall set before them their crimes.

For he shall set them alive in the judgement; and it shall be, when he has reproved them, then he shall destroy them.

For he shall deliver the remnant of my people in mercy, those who have been saved within my borders, and he shall make them glad, until the end comes, the day of judgement, of which I spoke to you from the beginning.

This is the dream which you saw, and these are the interpretations.

You alone, therefore, have been worthy to know this secret of the Most High.

Write therefore all these things which you have seen in a book, and put them in a hidden place;

and you shall teach them to the wise among your people, whose hearts you know are able to grasp and to keep these secrets.

But you, wait here yet another seven days, that there may be shown to you whatever it shall please the Most High to show you. And he departed from me.

And it came to pass, when all the people heard that the seven days had passed, and that I had not returned to the city, that they all gathered together, from the least to the greatest; and they came to me, and spoke to me, saying:

What have we sinned against you, and what wrong have we done you, that you have forsaken us and sat down in this place?

For of all peoples you alone are left to us, like a cluster from the vine, and like a lamp in a dark place, and like a harbour and a ship saved from the storm.

Or are not the evils that have befallen us enough?

If then you forsake us, how much better would it have been for us, had we too been burned in the burning of Zion?

For we are no better than those who died there. And they wept with a loud voice. And I answered them and said:

Trust, O Israel, and do not be sorrowful, you house of Jacob.

For there is remembrance of you before the Most High, and the Mighty One has not forgotten you in the trial.

For I have not forsaken you, nor departed from you; but I came to this place to plead for the desolation of Zion, and to seek mercy for the humiliation of your sanctuary.

And now go, each one of you, to his own house, and after these days I will come to you.

And the people set out, as I had told them, into the city;

but I sat in the field seven days, as he had commanded me; and I ate only of the flowers of the field, and herbs became my food in those days.