2 Esdras 9

Then he answered me and said, “Measure the time carefully in itself. When you see that part of the signs I told you about earlier have already happened,

1He answered me then, and said, Measure thou the time diligently in itself: and when thou seest part of the signs past, which I have told thee before,

NoteThe speaker answering here is the angel Uriel, who has been sent to answer Ezra's questions since chapter 4. From verse 7 onward the speech slides into God's own voice ("my land," "my salvation," "I have sanctified"), which is normal in this book: the messenger's words and the words of the one who sent him are not kept apart.

2then you will understand that this is the very time when the Most High will begin to visit the world he made.

2Then shalt thou understand, that it is the very same time, wherein the Highest will begin to visit the world which he made.

Note"Visit" in 1611 English does not mean a friendly call. To visit a place or a people is to come and deal with them, whether to rescue or to punish. The King James "begin to visit the world" means begin to act on it, to settle accounts with it.

3So when earthquakes and the uproar of peoples are seen in the world,

3Therefore when there shall be seen earthquakes and uproars of the people in the world:

NoteThe Latin text of this verse is longer than what the King James translators printed, adding plans of nations, wavering of leaders and confusion of princes to the earthquakes and uproar. Other modern Bibles therefore give a fuller list here.

4then you will understand clearly that the Most High spoke of these things from the days that were before you, from the very beginning.

4Then shalt thou well understand, that the most High spake of those things from the days that were before thee, even from the beginning.

5For just as everything made in the world has a beginning and an end, and the end is plain to see,

5For like as all that is made in the world hath a beginning and an end, and the end is manifest:

6so also the times of the Most High have beginnings that are plain to see in wonders and mighty works, and endings in results and signs.

6Even so the times also of the Highest have plain beginnings in wonder and powerful works, and endings in effects and signs.

7And everyone who will be saved, and who is able to escape by his works and by faith, the faith by which you have believed,

7And every one that shall be saved, and shall be able to escape by his works, and by faith, whereby ye have believed,

NoteThe Latin manuscripts differ at this point: some read "by his works and by faith," others "by his works or by faith." The difference matters to the sense, and the translations split accordingly.

8will be kept safe from the dangers I spoke of, and will see my rescue in my land and inside my borders, for I have set them apart for myself from the beginning.

8Shall be preserved from the said perils, and shall see my salvation in my land, and within my borders: for I have sanctified them for me from the beginning.

Note"Salvation" here carries its plain older sense of rescue, being brought safely through the dangers just listed. "My land" and "my borders" mean the land of Israel, pictured as the place where that rescue will be seen.

9Then those who have misused my ways will be in a wretched state, and those who threw my ways away with contempt will live in torments.

9Then shall they be in pitiful case, which now have abused my ways: and they that have cast them away despitefully shall dwell in torments.

10For those who received good things during their life and yet did not know me,

10For such as in their life have received benefits, and have not known me;

11and those who hated my law while they still had freedom, and who did not understand while the chance to turn back was still open to them, but despised it,

11And they that have loathed my law, while they had yet liberty, and, when as yet place of repentance was open unto them, understood not, but despised it;

Note"Place of repentance" is a set phrase, originally a legal one, meaning an opportunity to change your mind while there is still time to act on it. It is not a location.

12these same people must come to know it after death, through pain.

12The same must know it after death by pain.

13So do not be curious about how the ungodly will be punished, or when. Ask instead how the righteous will be saved, the ones the world belongs to, and the ones the world was created for.”

13And therefore be thou not curious how the ungodly shall be punished, and when: but enquire how the righteous shall be saved, whose the world is, and for whom the world is created.

14Then I answered and said,

14Then answered I and said,

15“I have said it before, and I say it now, and I will say it again later: far more people perish than are saved,

15I have said before, and now do speak, and will speak it also hereafter, that there be many more of them which perish, than of them which shall be saved:

16just as a wave is greater than a drop.”

16Like as a wave is greater than a drop.

17And he answered me: “As the field is, so is the seed. As the flowers are, so are the colors. As the workman is, so is his work. And as the farmer himself is, so is his farming. For that was the time of the world.

17And he answered me, saying, Like as the field is, so is also the seed; as the flowers be, such are the colours also; such as the workman is, such also is the work; and as the husbandman ls himself, so is his husbandry also: for it was the time of the world.

NoteThis string of sayings works like proverbs: each thing matches what produced it, so a crop answers to its field and a piece of work to its workman. The King James "husbandman" and "husbandry" mean farmer and farming. The last clause, "for it was the time of the world," is obscure in the Latin, and translators disagree about where the sentence ends and how it joins to the next verse.

18And back when I was preparing the world, which was not yet made, for the people now living to live in, no one spoke against me.

18And now when I prepared the world, which was not yet made, even for them to dwell in that now live, no man spake against me.

19For then everyone obeyed. But now the ways of those created in this world that has been made are corrupted by a seed that never ends, and by a law that cannot be searched out they have ruined themselves.

19For then every one obeyed: but now the manners of them which are created in this world that is made are corrupted by a perpetual seed, and by a law which is unsearchable rid themselves.

NoteThis is one of the most damaged sentences in the book. The Latin is uncertain, and translators reconstruct it in very different ways: some speak of a table that never fails, others of an unending seed, and the "law which is unsearchable" is read by some as the cause of the corruption and by others as something the corrupt have escaped. The plain rendering follows the King James; other Bibles will look quite different here.

20So I looked closely at the world, and there it was in danger, because of the schemes that had come into it.

20So I considered the world, and, behold, there was peril because of the devices that were come into it.

21And I saw, and I spared it greatly, and I kept for myself one grape out of the cluster, and one plant out of a great people.

21And I saw, and spared it greatly, and have kept me a grape of the cluster, and a plant of a great people.

NoteA single grape kept back from the whole cluster is a picture of a remnant, the tiny surviving few left when the mass is lost. The second image is uncertain in the manuscripts: some read "a plant out of a great forest," others "out of a great people."

22So let the crowd perish, who were born for nothing, and let my grape be kept, and my plant, for with great labor I have made it perfect.

22Let the multitude perish then, which was born in vain; and let my grape be kept, and my plant; for with great labour have I made it perfect.

23Even so, if you will wait seven days more (but you must not fast during them,

23Nevertheless, if thou wilt cease yet seven days more, (but thou shalt not fast in them,

24rather go into a field of flowers where no house is built, and eat only the flowers of the field; taste no meat and drink no wine, but eat flowers only),

24But go into a field of flowers, where no house is builded, and eat only the flowers of the field; taste no flesh, drink no wine, but eat flowers only;)

NoteEarlier in this book Ezra prepared for a vision by fasting seven days. Here he is told to do the opposite and eat, but only wild flowers and green plants, with no meat and no wine. Meat and wine were the food of feasting, so this is a restricted diet rather than a fast, and the empty field with no house in it keeps him away from ordinary human company.

25and pray to the Most High without stopping, then I will come and talk with you.”

25And pray unto the Highest continually, then will I come and talk with thee.

26So I went on my way into the field that is called Ardath, just as he had told me. There I sat among the flowers and ate the plants of the field, and that food was enough for me.

26So I went my way into the field which is called Ardath, like as he commanded me; and there I sat among the flowers, and did eat of the herbs of the field, and the meat of the same satisfied me.

Note"Ardath" is not a place known from anywhere else, and the manuscripts spell it differently (Ardat, Ardaf, Arphad), so the name cannot be located. Note also that in 1611 English "meat" means food of any kind, not flesh in particular, so the King James "the meat of the same" means simply that food; and "herbs" means green plants in general, not seasonings.

27After seven days I sat on the grass, and my heart was troubled inside me, as it had been before.

27After seven days I sat upon the grass, and my heart was vexed within me, like as before:

28I opened my mouth and began to speak before the Most High, and I said,

28And I opened my mouth, and began to talk before the most High, and said,

29“O Lord, you who show yourself to us, you were shown to our fathers in the desert, in a place where no one walks, in a place where nothing grows, when they came out of Egypt.

29O Lord, thou that shewest thyself unto us, thou wast shewed unto our fathers in the wilderness, in a place where no man treadeth, in a barren place, when they came out of Egypt.

NoteThe wilderness after the exodus from Egypt is where Israel received the law at Sinai, which is what the next two verses quote. "A place where no man treadeth" and "a barren place" describe the desert as land nobody walks in and nothing grows on.

30And you spoke and said, ‘Listen to me, Israel. Pay attention to my words, you children of Jacob.

30And thou spakest saying, Hear me, O Israel; and mark my words, thou seed of Jacob.

NoteJacob was the man renamed Israel, so "Israel" and "the seed of Jacob" in the same breath are two names for the same people, his descendants.

31For look, I am sowing my law in you, and it will bring fruit in you, and you will be honored in it forever.’

31For, behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring fruit in you, and ye shall be honoured in it for ever.

32But our fathers, who received the law, did not keep it, and did not obey your rules. And though the fruit of your law did not perish, and could not perish, because it was yours,

32But our fathers, which received the law, kept it not, and observed not thy ordinances: and though the fruit of thy law did not perish, neither could it, for it was thine;

33still those who received it perished, because they did not keep what was sown in them.

33Yet they that received it perished, because they kept not the thing that was sown in them.

34And look, this is the usual way of things: the ground receives seed, or the sea receives a ship, or a jar receives food or drink; and when the thing that held what was sown or put in is destroyed,

34And, lo, it is a custom, when the ground hath received seed, or the sea a ship, or any vessel meat or drink, that, that being perished wherein it was sown or cast into,

NoteThe argument is drawn from ordinary containers: ground holds seed, a ship holds its cargo on the sea, a jar holds food or drink. The point being made is that when the container is destroyed what it held is destroyed with it, but with Israel it went the other way round. The Latin here is tangled, and translations run it in opposite directions: some have the contents perishing while the containers survive. Either way the conclusion in verses 36 and 37 is the same, that the people who held the law perished while the law itself did not.

35then what was sown or put in or received is destroyed too, and does not stay with us. But with us it has not happened that way.

35That thing also which was sown, or cast therein, or received, doth perish, and remaineth not with us: but with us it hath not happened so.

36For we who have received the law perish because of sin, and so does our heart, which received it.

36For we that have received the law perish by sin, and our heart also which received it

37Yet the law itself does not perish, but stays in full force.”

37Notwithstanding the law perisheth not, but remaineth in his force.

NoteIn 1611 English "his" was the ordinary possessive for "it" as well as for "he," so "remaineth in his force" means remains in its own force. Nothing personal is meant.

38And while I was saying these things in my heart, I looked back with my eyes, and on the right side I saw a woman. She was mourning and crying with a loud voice, and she was deeply grieved in heart. Her clothes were torn, and she had ashes on her head.

38And when I spake these things in my heart, I looked back with mine eyes, and upon the right side I saw a woman, and, behold, she mourned and wept with a loud voice, and was much grieved in heart, and her clothes were rent, and she had ashes upon her head.

NoteTearing your clothes and putting ashes or dust on your head were the recognized public signs of grief in this world, as visible as a black armband. A person in torn clothes covered in ashes was announcing a death or a disaster, not simply feeling sad. This encounter begins a new vision that runs on into the next chapter.

39So I let go of the thoughts I was in, and turned to her,

39Then let I my thoughts go that I was in, and turned me unto her,

40and said to her, “Why are you crying? Why are you so grieved in your mind?”

40And said unto her, Wherefore weepest thou? why art thou so grieved in thy mind?

41And she said to me, “Sir, leave me alone, so that I can weep for myself and add to my sorrow, for I am deeply troubled in my mind and brought very low.”

41And she said unto me, Sir, let me alone, that I may bewail myself, and add unto my sorrow, for I am sore vexed in my mind, and brought very low.

42And I said to her, “What is wrong with you? Tell me.”

42And I said unto her, What aileth thee? tell me.

43She said to me, “I, your servant, have been unable to have children. I had no child, though I had a husband for thirty years.

43She said unto me, I thy servant have been barren, and had no child, though I had an husband thirty years,

NoteIn this society a wife with no children had no heir and no security in old age, and childlessness was taken as a public disgrace that she carried rather than her husband. Thirty years of it explains the extremity of her mourning.

44And in those thirty years I did nothing else, day and night and every hour, but make my prayer to the Most High.

44And those thirty years I did nothing else day and night, and every hour, but make my, prayer to the Highest.

45After thirty years God heard me, your servant, and looked on my misery, and thought about my trouble, and gave me a son. I was very glad of him, and so was my husband, and all my neighbors, and we gave great honor to the Almighty.

45After thirty years God heard me thine handmaid, looked upon my misery, considered my trouble, and gave me a son: and I was very glad of him, so was my husband also, and all my neighbours: and we gave great honour unto the Almighty.

NoteThe King James "handmaid" means a female servant. Calling yourself someone's servant or handmaid when speaking to a superior, or to God, was the polite form of address, not a statement about employment.

46And I raised him with great effort.

46And I nourished him with great travail.

Note"Travail" in the King James means hard toil or painful effort, the same word used for the pains of childbirth. She means raising him cost her a great deal.

47So when he grew up, and reached the time when he should have a wife, I made a feast.

47So when he grew up, and came to the time that he should have a wife, I made a feast.

NoteMarriages were arranged by the parents, so "came to the time that he should have a wife" means he had reached the age at which his mother would find him one. The feast is the wedding celebration, which the family of the groom hosted and which could run for days.