厄斯德拉四書（拉丁 2 Esdras） 第 7 章

And it came to pass, when I had finished speaking these words, that the angel was sent to me, who had been sent to me on the former nights,

and he said to me: Rise up, Esdras, and hear the words which I have come to speak to you.

And I said: Speak, my God. And he said to me: The sea was set in a spacious place, so that it was deep and immense;

but its entrance was set in a narrow place, so that it was like a river.

For who that wished to enter the sea, and to behold it, or to be master of it, if he did not pass through the narrow place, how could he come to the breadth?

Again another likeness: a city is built and set in a level place, and it is full of all good things.

Its entrance is narrow and set in a steep place, so that there is fire on the right hand, and deep water on the left;

and there is but one single path set between them, that is, between the fire and the water, so narrow that the path can hold only the footstep of a man.

But if the city is given to a man for an inheritance, how shall he receive his inheritance, if he has never passed through the danger set before it?

And I said: So it is, Lord. And he said to me: Even so is Israel's portion.

For for their sake I made the age; and when Adam transgressed my ordinances, that which was made was judged.

And the entrances of this age were made narrow, and sorrowful, and toilsome; few indeed, and evil, and full of dangers, and burdened with great labour.

But the entrances of the greater age are wide and secure, and yield the fruit of immortality.

If then those who live have not entered through these narrow and vain things, they cannot receive the things that are laid up.

Now therefore why are you troubled, seeing you are corruptible? And why are you moved, seeing you are mortal?

And why did you not lay to heart what is to come, rather than what is in the present?

I answered and said: O Lord, Sovereign, behold, you have ordained by your law that the righteous shall inherit these things, but the ungodly shall perish.

But the righteous shall bear the narrow things, while hoping for the spacious. For those who have acted ungodly have suffered the narrow things, and yet shall not see the spacious.

And he said to me: There is no judge above God, nor any that understands above the Most High.

For many that are present perish, because the law of God set before them is neglected.

For God strictly commanded those who came, when they came, what they should do to live, and what they should observe that they might not be punished.

But these were not persuaded, and contradicted him, and devised for themselves vain imaginations,

and set before themselves crafty schemes of transgression, and even said that the Most High does not exist, and did not know his ways,

and despised his law, and denied his promises, and had no faith in his ordinances, and did not perform his works.

Therefore, Esdras, empty things are for the empty, and full things for the full.

Behold, the time shall come, and it shall be when the signs that I have foretold to you shall come, that the bride shall appear, and appearing she shall be made manifest, the land which is now hidden;

and everyone who is delivered from the evils aforesaid shall himself behold my wonders.

For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice four hundred years.

And it shall be after these years, that my son the Christ shall die, and all men who have breath.

And the age shall be turned into the ancient silence for seven days, as in the former judgements, so that no one shall be left.

And it shall be after seven days, that the age which is not yet awake shall be roused, and that which is corrupted shall die;

and the earth shall give back those who sleep in it, and the dust those who dwell in silence in it, and the storehouses shall give back the souls committed to them.

And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgement, and miseries shall pass away, and long-suffering shall be gathered up.

But judgement alone shall remain, truth shall stand, and faith shall grow strong,

and the work shall follow, and the reward shall be shown, and acts of righteousness shall awake, and acts of injustice shall not have dominion.

And I said: Abraham first prayed for the Sodomites, and Moses for the fathers who sinned in the wilderness,

and those after him for Israel in the days of Achan and of Samuel,

David for the plague, and Solomon for those who came into the sanctuary,

and Elijah for those who received the rain, and for the dead, that he might live,

and Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib, and many for many.

If then, just when corruption increased and injustice was multiplied, the righteous prayed for the ungodly, why shall it not be so even now?

And he answered me and said: The present age is not the end; in it the glory abides only at times; for this reason they prayed for the weak.

For the day of judgement shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of the time of immortality to come, in which corruption has passed away;

intemperance is loosed, unbelief is cut off; but righteousness has increased, truth has arisen.

For then no one shall be able to save him who has perished, nor to drown him who has prevailed. And I answered

and said: This is my first and my last word: it would have been better not to give the earth to Adam, or, having already given it, to have restrained him so that he should not sin.

For what does it profit men to live in sorrow in the present, and after death to look for punishment?

O you, Adam, what have you done? For though it was you who sinned, the fall has not become yours alone, but ours also, who have come from you.

For what does it profit us, if an immortal age is promised to us, but we have done mortal works?

And though everlasting hope was foretold to us, we have become utterly worthless, in vain.

And though dwellings of health and safety were reserved for us, we have indeed lived wickedly.

And though the glory of the Most High is reserved to protect those who have lived with restraint, we have walked in the worst of ways.

And though a Paradise shall be shown, whose fruit remains incorruptible, in which is safety and healing,

yet we shall not enter; for we have lived in unlovely places.

And though the faces of those who practised abstinence shall shine above the stars, our faces shall be blacker than the darkness.

For while we lived and committed iniquity, we did not consider that we should begin to suffer after death.

And he answered and said: This is the thought of the conflict which the man born upon the earth shall fight,

that if he is overcome, he shall suffer what you have said; but if he prevails, he shall receive what I say;

for this is the life of which Moses spoke, when he lived, to the people, saying: Choose for yourself life, that you may live.

But they did not believe him, nor the prophets after him, nor even me who spoke to them,

so that there should be no grief over their destruction, even as there shall be joy over those to whom salvation is assured.

And I answered and said: I know, Lord, that the Most High is called merciful, in that he shows mercy on those who have not yet come into the age,

and that he shows mercy on those who turn to his law;

and he is long-suffering, in that he grants long-suffering to those who have sinned, as to his own works;

and he is bountiful, in that he is willing to give according to need;

and of great mercy, in that he multiplies his mercies the more upon those who are present, and those who have passed away, and those who are to come.

For if he did not multiply his mercies, the age would not be made alive with those who shall inherit in it.

And he gives; for if he did not give out of his goodness, that those who have done iniquity might be relieved of their iniquities, not one in ten thousand of men could be made alive.

And if the Judge did not pardon those who are healed by his word, and blot out the multitude of contentions, perhaps there would not be left, out of an innumerable multitude, except a very few.