2 Esdras 7

When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the nights before was sent to me again.

1And when I had made an end of speaking these words, there was sent unto me the angel which had been sent unto me the nights afore:

NoteEsdras is the Latin and Greek form of the name Ezra. The angel speaking here is Uriel, named earlier in the book, who has been answering Esdras across a series of night visions.

2He said to me, "Get up, Esdras, and hear the words I have come to tell you."

2And he said unto me, Up, Esdras, and hear the words that I am come to tell thee.

3I said, "Speak on, my God." Then he said to me, "The sea is set in a wide place, so that it could be deep and great.

3And I said, Speak on, my God. Then said he unto me, The sea is set in a wide place, that it might be deep and great.

4But suppose the entrance to it were narrow, like a river.

4But put the case the entrance were narrow, and like a river;

5Who then could go into the sea to look at it and to rule it? If he did not go through the narrow part, how could he come into the wide part?

5Who then could go into the sea to look upon it, and to rule it? if he went not through the narrow, how could he come into the broad?

6There is another thing as well. A city is built and set on a broad field, and it is full of all good things.

6There is also another thing; A city is builded, and set upon a broad field, and is full of all good things:

7Its entrance is narrow, and it is set in a place where it is dangerous, easy to fall, as if there were fire on the right hand and deep water on the left.

7The entrance thereof is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to fall, like as if there were a fire on the right hand, and on the left a deep water:

8And there is only one path between the two of them, between the fire and the water, so small that only one man can go there at a time.

8And one only path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so small that there could but one man go there at once.

9Now if this city were given to a man as his inheritance, and he never passes the danger set in front of it, how will he receive that inheritance?"

9If this city now were given unto a man for an inheritance, if he never shall pass the danger set before it, how shall he receive this inheritance?

10I said, "It is so, Lord." Then he said to me, "It is the same with Israel's portion.

10And I said, It is so, Lord. Then said he unto me, Even so also is Israel’s portion.

NoteA portion is a share handed out, and in particular the piece of land assigned to each family or tribe when Canaan was divided up. Israel's portion is the inheritance promised to them, which in this parable can only be reached through the narrow entrance.

11For I made the world for their sakes; and when Adam broke my laws, then what has now been done was decreed.

11Because for their sakes I made the world: and when Adam transgressed my statutes, then was decreed that now is done.

NoteThe reference is to Genesis 3, where Adam breaks the one command given to him. In this book that act is the point at which the present condition of the world was settled.

12Then the entrances of this world were made narrow, full of sorrow and hard labor. They are few and evil, full of dangers, and very painful.

12Then were the entrances of this world made narrow, full of sorrow and travail: they are but few and evil, full of perils,: and very painful.

13For the entrances of the older world were wide and safe, and they brought fruit that does not die.

13For the entrances of the elder world were wide and sure, and brought immortal fruit.

NoteThe older world means the world as it stood before Adam's disobedience, when, as this book pictures it, the ways into life were broad and safe.

14So if those who are alive do not work hard to get through these narrow and empty things, they can never receive the things that are stored up for them.

14If then they that live labour not to enter these strait and vain things, they can never receive those that are laid up for them.

Note"Strait" in the King James means narrow or cramped. It is a different word from "straight" and has nothing to do with straightness. The same word lies behind "strait things" in verse 18.

15So why do you trouble yourself, seeing that you are only a man who decays? Why are you shaken, since you are only mortal?

15Now therefore why disquietest thou thyself, seeing thou art but a corruptible man? and why art thou moved, whereas thou art but mortal?

Note"Corruptible" means perishable, liable to rot and die. Through most of this chapter corruption and corruptible describe decay and mortality rather than moral rot.

16Why have you not thought in your mind about the thing that is to come, rather than the thing that is here now?"

16Why hast thou not considered in thy mind this thing that is to come, rather than that which is present?

17Then I answered and said, "O Lord who rules, you have laid down in your law that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish.

17Then answered I and said, O Lord that bearest rule, thou hast ordained in thy law, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish.

18Even so, the righteous will endure narrow things and hope for wide ones; for those who have done wickedly have endured the narrow things, and still will not see the wide."

18Nevertheless the righteous shall suffer strait things, and hope for wide: for they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things, and yet shall not see the wide.

19And he said to me, "There is no judge above God, and no one who has understanding above the Most High.

19And he said unto me. There is no judge above God, and none that hath understanding above the Highest.

20For there are many who perish in this life, because they despise the law of God that is set in front of them.

20For there be many that perish in this life, because they despise the law of God that is set before them.

21For God gave a strict command to those who came, telling them what they should do in order to live, even as they came, and what they should keep in order to escape punishment.

21For God hath given strait commandment to such as came, what they should do to live, even as they came, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.

Note"Strait commandment" uses the word in a second sense: strict, tightly binding. It is not the narrowness of verses 12 and 14.

22But they were not obedient to him. They spoke against him and thought up empty things.

22Nevertheless they were not obedient unto him; but spake against him, and imagined vain things;

23They fooled themselves with their wicked deeds, and said about the Most High that he does not exist, and they did not know his ways.

23And deceived themselves by their wicked deeds; and said of the most High, that he is not; and knew not his ways:

24They despised his law and denied his covenants. They have not been faithful to his statutes, and have not done his works.

24But his law have they despised, and denied his covenants; in his statutes have they not been faithful, and have not performed his works.

25And so, Esdras, empty things are for the empty, and full things are for the full.

25And therefore, Esdras, for the empty are empty things, and for the full are the full things.

NoteA saying built like a balance: emptiness is what the empty receive, fullness is what the full receive. Each gets what matches what he is.

26Look, the time will come when these signs I have told you about will happen. The bride will appear, and she who is now withdrawn from the earth will come out and be seen.

26Behold, the time shall come, that these tokens which I have told thee shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth.

NoteThe bride is the heavenly Jerusalem, pictured as a woman kept out of sight until she is brought forward. Some Latin manuscripts read "the city" here instead of "the bride"; the two are the same image.

27And whoever is rescued from the evils named before will see my wonders.

27And whosoever is delivered from the foresaid evils shall see my wonders.

28For my son Jesus will be revealed, together with those who are with him, and those who are left will rejoice for four hundred years.

28For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with him, and they that remain shall rejoice within four hundred years.

Note"Jesus" is the Greek and Latin spelling of the Hebrew name Joshua. Early versions of this book in other languages read "my Messiah" rather than a personal name at this point, and the Latin copies behind the King James were made by Christian scribes. The four hundred years is the length of this deliverer's kingdom on earth before the end; manuscripts of the book disagree on the figure, some reading thirty years and some a thousand.

29After those years my son Christ will die, and so will all people who have life.

29After these years shall my son Christ die, and all men that have life.

Note"Christ" is not a surname. It is the Greek word for "anointed," the same idea as the Hebrew word messiah: someone marked out for office by having oil poured on him, as kings and priests were.

30And the world will be turned back into the old silence for seven days, as it was in the judgments before, so that no one will be left.

30And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall remain.

NoteThe old silence is the stillness that existed before the world was made. The seven days of it answer to the seven days of creation in Genesis 1.

31And after seven days the world, which is not yet awake, will be raised up, and what is corruptible will die.

31And after seven days the world, that yet awaketh not, shall be raised up, and that shall die that is corrupt

NoteThe picture is of the world itself asleep through those seven days and then woken again, with everything perishable dying off as it wakes.

32The earth will give back those who sleep in her, and the dust will give back those who live in silence, and the hidden places will hand over the souls that were entrusted to them.

32And the earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell in silence, and the secret places shall deliver those souls that were committed unto them.

NoteThe hidden places are the storerooms where, in this book, the souls of the dead are held between death and the judgment.

33The Most High will appear on the seat of judgment. Misery will pass away, and long patience will come to an end.

33And the most High shall appear upon the seat of judgment, and misery shall pass away, and the long suffering shall have an end:

Note"Long suffering" is one word in the King James, meaning patient restraint, holding back from punishing. It does not mean suffering that goes on a long time. The "seat of judgment" is a judge's bench, the raised chair from which a verdict was delivered.

34Only judgment will remain. Truth will stand, and faith will grow strong.

34But judgment only shall remain, truth shall stand, and faith shall wax strong:

35And the work will follow, and the reward will be shown. Good deeds will have force, and wicked deeds will have no power.

35And the work shall follow, and the reward shall be shewed, and the good deeds shall be of force, and wicked deeds shall bear no rule.

Note"The work shall follow" means that each person's deeds come after him into the judgment, like witnesses. A textual matter also falls here: between this verse and the next, the King James is missing a long passage of about seventy verses on the judgment, the state of souls after death, and whether the righteous can pray for the wicked once the end has come. A page had been cut from the one Latin manuscript from which the western copies descend, and the missing part was not recovered until a complete manuscript was found in 1875. Modern editions therefore number the next verse 7:102, not 7:36.

36Then I said, "Abraham prayed first for the people of Sodom, and Moses for the fathers who sinned in the wilderness,

36Then said I, Abraham prayed first for the Sodomites, and Moses for the fathers that sinned in the wilderness:

NoteAbraham bargained with God over Sodom in Genesis 18, asking that the city be spared for the sake of a few righteous people inside it. Moses pleaded for Israel after the golden calf in Exodus 32, and again after the report of the spies in Numbers 14.

37and Jesus after him for Israel in the time of Achan,

37And Jesus after him for Israel in the time of Achan:

Note"Jesus" here is Joshua son of Nun, Moses' successor. Greek and Latin use one name for both men, and the King James has simply carried the Latin spelling across. Achan is the soldier whose theft of plunder from Jericho brought defeat on Israel; Joshua's prayer over it is in Joshua 7.

38and Samuel and David for the destruction, and Solomon for those who would come to the sanctuary,

38And Samuel and David for the destruction: and Solomon for them that should come to the sanctuary:

NoteSamuel prayed for Israel when the Philistines attacked, in 1 Samuel 7, and David prayed when a plague fell on the people after his census, in 2 Samuel 24; "the destruction" covers both. Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple that God would hear anyone who later came there to pray, in 1 Kings 8.

39and Helias for those who received rain, and for the dead man, that he might live,

39And Helias for those that received rain; and for the dead, that he might live:

NoteHelias is the Latin form of Elijah. He prayed for rain to end a three year drought in 1 Kings 18, and he prayed over the dead son of the widow of Zarephath, who then revived, in 1 Kings 17.

40and Ezechias for the people in the time of Sennacherib, and many for many.

40And Ezechias for the people in the time of Sennacherib: and many for many.

NoteEzechias is the Latin form of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Sennacherib was the Assyrian king whose army surrounded Jerusalem in Hezekiah's reign; the king's prayer is in 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.

41So now, since corruption has grown up and wickedness has increased, and the righteous have prayed for the ungodly, why should it not be so now as well?"

41Even so now, seeing corruption is grown up, and wickedness increased, and the righteous have prayed for the ungodly: wherefore shall it not be so now also?

42He answered me and said, "This present life is not the end where much glory stays; that is why they have prayed for the weak.

42He answered me, and said, This present life is not the end where much glory doth abide; therefore have they prayed for the weak.

NoteThe sense is that the present age is not the final state where glory stays, and that praying for the weak belongs to this age and not to what follows it.

43But the day of doom will be the end of this time and the beginning of the immortality that is to come, in which corruption is past,

43But the day of doom shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortality for to come, wherein corruption is past,

Note"Doom" in older English means a judgment or a sentence handed down, not disaster. The day of doom is the day the verdict is given.

44lack of self-control is finished, unbelief is cut off, righteousness has grown, and truth has sprung up.

44Intemperance is at an end, infidelity is cut off, righteousness is grown, and truth is sprung up.

45Then no one will be able to save the one who is destroyed, or to crush the one who has won the victory."

45Then shall no man be able to save him that is destroyed, nor to oppress him that hath gotten the victory.

46Then I answered and said, "This is my first word and my last. It would have been better not to have given the earth to Adam, or else, once it was given to him, to have held him back from sinning.

46I answered then and said, This is my first and last saying, that it had been better not to have given the earth unto Adam: or else, when it was given him, to have restrained him from sinning.

47For what good is it for people now, in this present time, to live in heavy sorrow, and after death to expect punishment?

47For what profit is it for men now in this present time to live in heaviness, and after death to look for punishment?

48O Adam, what have you done? Though it was you who sinned, you are not the only one who fell; all of us who come from you fell as well.

48O thou Adam, what hast thou done? for though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee.

49For what good is it to us if an immortal time is promised to us, when we have done the deeds that bring death?

49For what profit is it unto us, if there be promised us an immortal time, whereas we have done the works that bring death?

50And that an everlasting hope is promised to us, when we ourselves, being the most wicked, have been made empty?

50And that there is promised us an everlasting hope, whereas ourselves being most wicked are made vain?

51And that homes of health and safety are stored up for us, when we have lived wickedly?

51And that there are laid up for us dwellings of health and safety, whereas we have lived wickedly?

52And that the glory of the Most High is kept to defend those who have lived a careful life, when we have walked in the most wicked ways of all?

52And that the glory of the most High is kept to defend them which have led a wary life, whereas we have walked in the most wicked ways of all?

53And that a paradise is to be shown, whose fruit lasts forever, where there is safety and healing, since we will not enter into it?

53And that there should be shewed a paradise, whose fruit endureth for ever, wherein is security and medicine, since we shall not enter into it?

Note"Paradise" comes from an old Persian word for a walled garden or hunting park. In this book it is a place, the garden planted at the beginning and kept in reserve.

54(For we have walked in unpleasant places.)

54(For we have walked in unpleasant places.)

55And that the faces of those who have practiced self-denial will shine above the stars, while our faces will be blacker than darkness?

55And that the faces of them which have used abstinence shall shine above the stars, whereas our faces shall be blacker than darkness?

56For while we were alive and doing wrong, we did not consider that we would begin to suffer for it after death."

56For while we lived and committed iniquity, we considered not that we should begin to suffer for it after death.

57Then he answered me and said, "This is the condition of the battle that a man who is born on the earth must fight:

57Then answered he me, and said, This is the condition of the battle, which man that is born upon the earth shall fight;

58if he is beaten, he will suffer as you have said; but if he wins the victory, he will receive the thing that I speak of.

58That, if he be overcome, he shall suffer as thou hast said: but if he get the victory, he shall receive the thing that I say.

59For this is the life that Moses spoke about to the people while he was alive, when he said, 'Choose life for yourself, so that you may live.'

59For this is the life whereof Moses spake unto the people while he lived, saying, Choose thee life, that thou mayest live.

NoteThe quotation is from Deuteronomy 30:19, where Moses sets life and death in front of the people and tells them to choose life.

60Yet they did not believe him, nor the prophets after him, nor even me, who have spoken to them,

60Nevertheless they believed not him, nor yet the prophets after him, no nor me which have spoken unto them,

61so that there would not be as much sorrow over their destruction as there will be joy over those who are persuaded to salvation."

61That there should not be such heaviness in their destruction, as shall be joy over them that are persuaded to salvation.

NoteThe Latin of this verse is tangled and its sense is disputed. It appears to mean that the grief over those who are destroyed will be outweighed by the joy over those who are brought to salvation.

62Then I answered and said, "I know, Lord, that the Most High is called merciful, in that he has mercy on those who have not yet come into the world,

62I answered then, and said, I know, Lord, that the most High is called merciful, in that he hath mercy upon them which are not yet come into the world,

NoteMercy on those who have not yet come into the world means mercy reaching people who do not yet exist, the generations still unborn.

63and on those also who turn to his law;

63And upon those also that turn to his law;

64and that he is patient, and puts up for a long time with those who have sinned, since they are his creatures;

64And that he is patient, and long suffereth those that have sinned, as his creatures;

65and that he is generous, for he is ready to give where there is need;

65And that he is bountiful, for he is ready to give where it needeth;

66and that he is of great mercy, for he multiplies his mercies more and more to those who are here now, and to those who are past, and also to those who are still to come.

66And that he is of great mercy, for he multiplieth more and more mercies to them that are present, and that are past, and also to them which are to come.

67For if he did not multiply his mercies, the world would not go on with those who inherit in it.

67For if he shall not multiply his mercies, the world would not continue with them that inherit therein.

68And he pardons; for if he did not do this out of his goodness, so that those who have committed sins might be relieved of them, not even the ten-thousandth part of people would stay alive.

68And he pardoneth; for if he did not so of his goodness, that they which have committed iniquities might be eased of them, the ten thousandth part of men should not remain living.

Note"The ten thousandth part" is not a calculation. It was a standard ancient way of saying "only the tiniest fraction."

69And being judge, if he did not forgive those who are healed by his word, and wipe out the great mass of quarrels,

69And being judge, if he should not forgive them that are cured with his word, and put out the multitude of contentions,

Note"Contentions" are quarrels or legal charges. The image is of a judge striking a mass of cases off the list rather than trying them one by one.

70there would perhaps be very few left out of a countless multitude."

70There should be very few left peradventure in an innumerable multitude.