2 Esdras 15

The Lord says: Listen, speak into the ears of my people the words of prophecy that I will put in your mouth.

1Behold, speak thou in the ears of my people the words of prophecy, which I will put in thy mouth, saith the Lord:

NoteChapters 15 and 16 are an appendix to 2 Esdras. They survive only in Latin (and in later Arabic and Coptic fragments), are absent from the Greek and Eastern versions of the book, and are a separate prophecy from the visions of Ezra in chapters 3 to 14. Scholars often call them 6 Ezra. Here the Lord speaks directly throughout, rather than through the angel of the earlier chapters.

2Have them written down on paper, because they are trustworthy and true.

2And cause them to be written in paper: for they are faithful and true.

NoteThe "paper" is papyrus, sheets made by pressing strips of a reed together, the ordinary writing material of the ancient Mediterranean. It is not paper of wood pulp, which was unknown there.

3Do not be afraid of the schemes made against you. Do not let the unbelief of those who speak against you upset you.

3Fear not the imaginations against thee, let not the incredulity of them trouble thee, that speak against thee.

Note"Imaginations" in the King James means plots and schemes devised against you, not daydreams or fantasies. "Incredulity" is simply refusal to believe.

4For all who do not believe will die in their unbelief.

4For all the unfaithful shall die in their unfaithfulness.

5The Lord says: Look, I will bring disasters on the world, the sword, famine, death and destruction.

5Behold, saith the Lord, I will bring plagues upon the world; the sword, famine, death, and destruction.

Note"Plagues" in the King James is a general word for disasters or blows of any kind and does not mean disease in particular. The four listed, sword, famine, death and destruction, are a standard set of calamities in prophetic writing: war, hunger, dying and ruin.

6For wickedness has fouled the whole earth beyond measure, and the harm people do has reached its full amount.

6For wickedness hath exceedingly polluted the whole earth, and their hurtful works are fulfilled.

Note"Their hurtful works are fulfilled" uses the old idea of a measure being filled. Wrongdoing was pictured as accumulating until it reached a fixed amount, at which point judgment falls.

7So this is what the Lord says:

7Therefore saith the Lord,

8I will keep quiet no longer about the wickedness they commit with no respect for me, and I will not put up with them in the evil things they busy themselves with. Look, the blood of the innocent and the righteous cries out to me, and the souls of the righteous complain without stopping.

8I will hold my tongue no more as touching their wickedness, which they profanely commit, neither will I suffer them in those things, in which they wickedly exercise themselves: behold, the innocent and righteous blood crieth unto me, and the souls of the just complain continually.

Note"Suffer" in the King James means allow or put up with, and carries no idea of pain. The same use returns in verse 10, "I will not suffer them now to dwell".

9And so, says the Lord, I will certainly avenge them, and take to myself all the innocent blood that is among them.

9And therefore, saith the Lord, I will surely avenge them, and receive unto me all the innocent blood from among them.

NoteThe image comes from Genesis 4, where the blood of a murdered man cries out to God from the ground. For God to "receive unto me" the innocent blood means to take the case into his own hands and settle the account himself.

10Look, my people are being led like a flock to be slaughtered. I will not allow them to live in the land of Egypt any longer,

10Behold, my people is led as a flock to the slaughter: I will not suffer them now to dwell in the land of Egypt:

11but I will bring them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. I will strike Egypt with plagues, as I did before, and I will destroy the whole land.

11But I will bring them with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm, and smite Egypt with plagues, as before, and will destroy all the land thereof.

Note"A mighty hand and a stretched out arm" is the fixed phrase used all through Exodus and Deuteronomy for God bringing Israel out of Egypt. Its use here signals that what is coming is meant to be read as a second exodus, with Egypt struck by plagues "as before".

12Egypt will mourn, and its foundation will be struck by the plague and the punishment that God will bring on it.

12Egypt shall mourn, and the foundation of it shall be smitten with the plague and punishment that God shall bring upon it.

13Those who farm the ground will mourn, because their seed will fail through blight and hail, and through a terrible storm.

13They that till the ground shall mourn: for their seeds shall fail through the blasting and hail, and with a fearful constellation.

Note"A fearful constellation" does not mean a pattern of stars in the modern sense. Ancient weather language held that the stars sent the weather, so the word stands for a destructive storm or spell of ruinous weather. "Blasting" is blight, a scorching that withers a crop in the field.

14Trouble is coming to the world and to those who live in it!

14Woe to the world and them that dwell therein!

15For the sword and their destruction are coming close, and one people will rise up and fight against another, with swords in their hands.

15For the sword and their destruction draweth nigh, and one people shall stand up and fight against another, and swords in their hands.

16For there will be rebellion among people, and they will attack one another. They will pay no attention to their kings or their princes, and what they do will be decided by their own power.

16For there shall be sedition among men, and invading one another; they shall not regard their kings nor princes, and the course of their actions shall stand in their power.

Note"Sedition" is armed revolt against the ruling authority. "Princes" in the King James means the leading men and nobles of a state, not the sons of a king. The last clause means that nothing will govern people's conduct except their own strength.

17A man will want to go into a city, and will not be able to.

17A man shall desire to go into a city, and shall not be able.

18For because of their pride the cities will be thrown into trouble, the houses will be destroyed, and people will be afraid.

18For because of their pride the cities shall be troubled, the houses shall be destroyed, and men shall be afraid.

19A man will have no pity on his neighbor, but will attack their houses with the sword and plunder their goods, because of the lack of bread and because of great suffering.

19A man shall have no pity upon his neighbour, but shall destroy their houses with the sword, and spoil their goods, because of the lack of bread, and for great tribulation.

NoteTo "spoil" goods is to strip a place and carry off what is in it as plunder. The word has nothing to do with ruining something, and returns in verse 63.

20God says: Look, I will call together all the kings of the earth to honor me (those from where the sun rises, from the south, from the east, and from Libanus), so that they turn against one another and pay back the things that were done to them.

20Behold, saith God, I will call together all the kings of the earth to reverence me, which are from the rising of the sun, from the south, from the east, and Libanus; to turn themselves one against another, and repay the things that they have done to them.

NoteLibanus is the Latin form of Lebanon, the mountain range north of Israel. The list mixes compass directions with one named region, and names the east twice, so it reads as a sweep meaning everywhere. The Latin behind "to reverence me" is uncertain; some manuscripts and modern versions read a word meaning to stir up or rouse, which would make the kings the ones being stirred against each other rather than summoned to honor God.

21Just as they still do today to my chosen ones, so I will do too, and I will pay them back into their own lap. This is what the Lord God says:

21Like as they do yet this day unto my chosen, so will I do also, and recompense in their bosom. Thus saith the Lord God;

NoteThe "bosom" is the fold of a loose outer garment above the belt, used as a pocket and also as a measure for grain. To repay into someone's bosom is to hand the full amount over to them in person. The phrase returns in verse 55.

22My right hand will not spare the sinners, and my sword will not stop over those who spill innocent blood on the earth.

22My right hand shall not spare the sinners, and my sword shall not cease over them that shed innocent blood upon the earth.

23Fire has gone out from his anger and has burned up the foundations of the earth, and the sinners with them, like straw that has been set alight.

23The fire is gone forth from his wrath, and hath consumed the foundations of the earth, and the sinners, like the straw that is kindled.

NoteThe speaker shifts here from God saying "I" to a description of God in the third person, "his wrath". The change is in the Latin and is common in this kind of prophetic writing; it is not a different speaker being introduced.

24Trouble is coming to those who sin and do not keep my commandments, says the Lord.

24Woe to them that sin, and keep not my commandments! saith the Lord.

25I will not spare them. Go away, children, from the power. Do not defile my holy place.

25I will not spare them: go your way, ye children, from the power, defile not my sanctuary.

NoteThe Latin of this line is uncertain and the manuscripts differ. The King James reads it as an order to children to get away from "the power", while other manuscripts have a word meaning rebellious or faithless, giving "Go your way, you rebellious children". "Sanctuary" is the temple, the holy building itself.

26For the Lord knows everyone who sins against him, and that is why he hands them over to death and destruction.

26For the Lord knoweth all them that sin against him, and therefore delivereth he them unto death and destruction.

27For now the disasters have come on the whole earth, and you will stay in them. God will not rescue you, because you have sinned against him.

27For now are the plagues come upon the whole earth and ye shall remain in them: for God shall not deliver you, because ye have sinned against him.

28Look at a terrifying sight, and it appears from the east!

28Behold an horrible vision, and the appearance thereof from the east:

29From there the nations of the dragons of Arabia will come out with many chariots, and their great number will be carried like the wind over the earth, so that everyone who hears them will be afraid and tremble.

29Where the nations of the dragons of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and the multitude of them shall be carried as the wind upon earth, that all they which hear them may fear and tremble.

NoteThe Latin word is draco, which covers large serpents as well as the fabulous dragon. "The dragons of Arabia" names peoples to the east and south under a monstrous image, though the passage then treats them as a real army with chariots. Some manuscripts say their hissing is carried over the earth, which fits the serpent picture; the text the King James followed read "multitude" instead.

30The Carmanians too, raging with anger, will go out like wild boars from the forest. They will come with great power and join battle with them, and will lay waste part of the land of the Assyrians.

30Also the Carmanians raging in wrath shall go forth as the wild boars of the wood, and with great power shall they come, and join battle with them, and shall waste a portion of the land of the Assyrians.

NoteCarmania was a province on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, roughly the Kerman region of southeastern Iran today. "The Assyrians" by this date was a literary name for whoever held Mesopotamia, not the Assyrian empire that fell in 612 BC.

31Then the dragons will get the upper hand, remembering what they are by nature. And if they turn themselves around and plot together with great power to hunt them down,

31And then shall the dragons have the upper hand, remembering their nature; and if they shall turn themselves, conspiring together in great power to persecute them,

Note"Remembering their nature" means falling back on what they are by breed, the serpent's way of fighting. Be warned that the pronouns in verses 31 to 33 are hard to follow: "they", "them" and "these" shift between the dragons, the Carmanians and those attacked, and the Latin does not make clear which is meant where.

32then these others will be thrown into trouble, and will keep silent because of their power, and will run away.

32Then these shall be troubled bled, and keep silence through their power, and shall flee.

NoteThe 1611 printing reads "shall be troubled bled", with a syllable accidentally set twice by the compositor. The sentence is simply "then these shall be troubled".

33And from the land of the Assyrians the enemy will lay siege to them and destroy some of them. In their army there will be fear and dread, and quarreling among their kings.

33And from the land of the Assyrians shall the enemy besiege them, and consume some of them, and in their host shall be fear and dread, and strife among their kings.

Note"Host" means an army in the field, the whole body of fighting men.

34Look at the clouds, coming from the east and from the north down to the south! They are terrible to look at, full of anger and storm.

34Behold clouds from the east and from the north unto the south, and they are very horrible to look upon, full of wrath and storm.

35They will crash into one another, and they will hurl down a huge storm on the earth, their own storm. And blood from the sword will reach up to the belly,

35They shall smite one upon another, and they shall smite down a great multitude of stars upon the earth, even their own star; and blood shall be from the sword unto the belly,

NoteThe Latin word the King James renders "star" is sidus, which means a heavenly body but also the weather that body was believed to send, that is, a tempest. That is why this verse and verses 39 to 44 read as storm rather than star in plainer versions, and why the King James can speak of pouring a star out over a city. "Blood ... unto the belly" is a stock measure of slaughter, blood standing as deep as a horse's belly; some manuscripts say horse outright.

36and human dung up to a camel's hock.

36And dung of men unto the camel’s hough.

Note"Hough" is the older spelling of hock, the sharply angled joint partway up the hind leg of a four footed animal. On a camel it stands well above the ground, so the line raises the measure of verse 35 still higher.

37There will be great fear and trembling on the earth. Those who see this anger will be afraid, and trembling will come over them.

37And there shall be great fearfulness and trembling upon earth: and they that see the wrath shall be afraid, and trembling shall come upon them.

38And after that, great storms will come from the south and from the north, and another part of them from the west.

38And then shall there come great storms from the south, and from the north, and another part from the west.

39Strong winds will rise from the east and will open it. And the cloud that he raised up in anger, and the storm stirred up to cause fear toward the east wind and the west wind, will be destroyed.

39And strong winds shall arise from the east, and shall open it; and the cloud which he raised up in wrath, and the star stirred to cause fear toward the east and west wind, shall be destroyed.

NoteThe Latin of this verse is confused and the manuscripts disagree, so translations differ widely over what is opened, what is destroyed, and which wind drives what. The obscurity is in the source text, not in the rendering.

40The great and mighty clouds will swell up, full of anger, and the storm with them, so that they make the whole earth afraid, and everyone living in it. They will pour out a terrible storm over every high and towering place

40The great and mighty clouds shall be puffed up full of wrath, and the star, that they may make all the earth afraid, and them that dwell therein; and they shall pour out over every high and eminent place an horrible star,

41fire, hail, flying swords, and much water, so that all the fields are filled, and all the rivers, with the flood of those great waters.

41Fire, and hail, and flying swords, and many waters, that all fields may be full, and all rivers, with the abundance of great waters.

42They will break down the cities and walls, the mountains and hills, the trees of the forest, and the grass of the meadows, and their grain.

42And they shall break down the cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees of the wood, and grass of the meadows, and their corn.

Note"Corn" in the King James means grain of any kind, chiefly wheat and barley. It does not mean maize, which was unknown in Europe when the translation was made.

43They will keep going steadily on to Babylon, and will terrify her.

43And they shall go stedfastly unto Babylon, and make her afraid.

NoteIn Jewish and Christian writing of the first centuries AD, Babylon was a familiar cover name for Rome, the empire that had destroyed Jerusalem and its temple as Babylon had done centuries before. Readers of this chapter would have heard the name that way.

44They will come to her and lay siege to her. They will pour out the storm and all their anger on her. Then the dust and smoke will go up to the sky, and everyone around her will weep for her.

44They shall come to her, and besiege her, the star and all wrath shall they pour out upon her: then shall the dust and smoke go up unto the heaven, and all they that be about her shall bewail her.

45And those who are left under her will become servants of the ones who terrified her.

45And they that remain under her shall do service unto them that have put her in fear.

NoteTo "do service unto" someone is to be held in subjection to them as slaves or forced laborers, the ordinary fate of a conquered population.

46And you, Asia, who share in Babylon's hope, and are the glory of her person

46And thou, Asia, that art partaker of the hope of Babylon, and art the glory of her person:

NoteAsia here is the Roman province of Asia, the western part of what is now Turkey, a rich region of cities such as Ephesus and Smyrna. It is not the continent.

47trouble is coming to you, you wretched one, because you have made yourself like her. You have dressed up your daughters for prostitution, so that they might please your lovers and take pride in them, lovers who have always wanted to sleep with you.

47Woe be unto thee, thou wretch, because thou hast made thyself like unto her; and hast decked thy daughters in whoredom, that they might please and glory in thy lovers, which have always desired to commit whoredom with thee.

NoteAncient writers regularly spoke of a city or province as a woman, and of her dealings with foreign powers and their gods as prostitution. "Decked thy daughters in whoredom" pictures the lesser cities of the province being dressed up and offered to the same patrons.

48You have followed the one who is hated in everything she does and everything she invents. So this is what God says:

48Thou hast followed her that is hated in all her works and inventions: therefore saith God,

49I will send disasters on you (widowhood, poverty, famine, sword and deadly disease) to lay your houses waste and bring destruction and death.

49I will send plagues upon thee; widowhood, poverty, famine, sword, and pestilence, to waste thy houses with destruction and death.

50And the glory of your power will dry up like a flower, when the heat rises that is sent over you.

50And the glory of thy Power shall be dried up as a flower, the heat shall arise that is sent over thee.

51You will be made weak like a poor woman beaten with lashes, like someone punished with wounds, so that your mighty ones and your lovers will not be able to take you in.

51Thou shalt be weakened as a poor woman with stripes, and as one chastised with wounds, so that the mighty and lovers shall not be able to receive thee.

52Would I have moved against you with such jealousy, says the Lord,

52Would I with jealousy have so proceeded against thee, saith the Lord,

Note"Jealousy" here has its older and stronger sense, the anger of a husband whose wife has been unfaithful, which fits the marriage picture running through these verses. The sentence is a question expecting the answer no: I would not have moved against you like this if you had not done what follows.

53if you had not always killed my chosen ones, lifting up your hands for the blow and saying over their dead bodies, while you were drunk,

53If thou hadst not always slain my chosen, exalting the stroke of thine hands, and saying over their dead, when thou wast drunken,

Note"Exalting the stroke of thine hands" is ambiguous in the Latin. It can mean lifting your hands to deliver the blow, or lifting them in applause over the killing, and translators have gone both ways.

54"Make your face beautiful"?

54Set forth the beauty of thy countenance?

NoteThis is the taunt spoken over the dead bodies in verse 53. "Set forth the beauty of thy countenance" is roughly make up your face and look your best, a gloating call to celebrate. The exact sense of the Latin is disputed.

55The payment for your prostitution will be in your lap, and so you will get what you are owed.

55The reward of thy whoredom shall be in thy bosom, therefore shalt thou receive recompence.

NoteThe "reward" is a prostitute's fee, dropped into the fold of clothing at the waist that served as a pocket. See the note at verse 21.

56Just as you have done to my chosen ones, says the Lord, so God will do to you, and he will hand you over to harm.

56Like as thou hast done unto my chosen, saith the Lord, even so shall God do unto thee, and shall deliver thee into mischief

57Your children will die of hunger, and you will fall by the sword. Your cities will be torn down, and all who belong to you will die by the sword in the open country.

57Thy children shall die of hunger, and thou shalt fall through the sword: thy cities shall be broken down, and all thine shall perish with the sword in the field.

58Those who are in the mountains will die of hunger. They will eat their own flesh and drink their own blood, out of sheer hunger for bread and thirst for water.

58They that be in the mountains shall die of hunger, and eat their own flesh, and drink their own blood, for very hunger of bread, and thirst of water.

NoteEating one's own flesh and drinking one's own blood is stock language for the last stage of famine in a besieged town. Whether it pictures cannibalism within one's own family or is a figure for a people destroying itself is left open by the text.

59You, in your misery, will come through the sea, and will receive disasters all over again.

59Thou as unhappy shalt come through the sea, and receive plagues again.

Note"Unhappy" in 1611 English means unlucky or wretched, struck by misfortune. It is stronger than merely sad.

60And on the way they will rush at the idle city, and will destroy part of your land, and ruin part of your glory, and will go back to Babylon, which was destroyed.

60And in the passage they shall rush on the idle city, and shall destroy some portion of thy land, and consume part of thy glory, and shall return to Babylon that was destroyed.

Note"Idle" here means at rest and off its guard rather than lazy: a city going about its business and taken by surprise. Some manuscripts have a word meaning hateful instead, which is why versions differ at this point.

61And you will be knocked down by them like dry stalks in a field, and they will be like fire to you.

61And thou shalt be cast down by them as stubble, and they shall be unto thee as fire;

Note"Stubble" is the short dry stalks left standing in a field after the harvest, which farmers burned off. It was a common image for something consumed instantly.

62They will burn you up, and your cities, your land and your mountains. They will set fire to all your woods and your fruit trees.

62And shall consume thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountains; all thy woods and thy fruitful trees shall they burn up with fire.

63They will carry your children away as prisoners, and whatever you have, they will plunder it, and they will ruin the beauty of your face.

63Thy children shall they carry away captive, and, look, what thou hast, they shall spoil it, and mar the beauty of thy face.