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1 And it came to pass upon the third day, I sat under an oak, and, behold, there came a voice out of a bush over against me, and said, Esdras, Esdras. 2 And I said, Here am I, Lord. And I stood up upon my feet. 3 Then said he unto me, In the bush I did manifestly reveal myself, and talked with Moses, when my people were in bondage in Egypt: 4 and I sent him, and * he led my people out of Egypt; and I brought him up to the mount of Sinai, where I held him by me for many days; 5 and told him many wondrous things, and shewed him the secrets of the times, and the end of the seasons; and commanded him, saying, 6 These words shalt thou publish openly, and these shalt thou hide. 7 And now I say unto thee, 8 Lay up in thy heart the signs that I have shewed, and the dreams that thou hast seen, and the interpretations which thou hast heard: 9 for thou shalt be taken away from men, and from henceforth thou shalt remain with my Son, and with such as be like thee, until the times be ended. 10 For the world hath lost its youth, and the times begin to wax old. 11 † For the world is divided into twelve parts, and ten parts of it are gone already, ‡ even the half of the tenth part: 12 and there remain of it two parts after the middle of the tenth part. 13 Now therefore set thine house in order, and reprove thy people, comfort the lowly among them, § and instruct such of them as be wise, and now renounce the life that is corruptible, 14 and let go from the mortal thoughts, cast away from thee the burdens of man, put off now thy weak nature, 15 and lay aside the thoughts that are most grievous unto thee, and haste thee to remove from these times. 16 For yet worse evils than those which thou hast seen happen shall be done hereafter. 17 For look, how much the world shall be weaker through age, so much the more shall evils increase upon them that dwell therein. 18 For the truth shall withdraw itself further off, and leasing be hard at hand: for now hasteth ** the eagle to come, which thou sawest in vision.
19 Then answered I and said, †† I will speak before thee, O Lord. 20 Behold, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and reprove the people that now be: but they that shall be born afterward, who shall admonish them? for the world is set in darkness, and they that dwell therein are without light. 21 For thy law is burnt, therefore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or the works that shall be done. 22 But if I have found favour before thee, send the Holy Spirit unto me, and I shall write all that hath been done in the world since the beginning, even the things that were written in thy law, that men may be able to find the path, and that they which would live in the latter days may live. 23 And he answered me and said, Go thy way, gather the people together, and say unto them, that they seek thee not for forty days. 24 But look thou prepare thee many tablets, and take with thee Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel, these five, which are ready to write swiftly; 25 and come hither, and I shall light a lamp of understanding in thine heart, which shall not be put out, till the things be ended which thou shalt write. 26 And when thou hast done, some things shalt thou publish openly, and some things shalt thou deliver in secret to the wise: tomorrow this hour shalt thou begin to write.
27 Then went I forth, as he commanded me, and gathered all the people together, and said, 28 Hear these words, O Israel. 29 Our fathers at the beginning were strangers in Egypt, and they were delivered from thence, 30 and received the law of life, which they kept not, which ye also have transgressed after them. 31 Then was ‡‡ the land, even the land of Sion, given you for a possession: but ye yourselves, and your fathers, have done unrighteousness, and have not kept the ways which the Most High commanded you. 32 And forasmuch as he is a righteous judge, he took from you for a while the thing that he had given you. 33 And now ye are here, and your brethren are among you. 34 Therefore if so be that ye will rule over your own understanding, and instruct your hearts, ye shall be kept alive, and after death ye shall obtain mercy. 35 For after death shall the judgement come, when we shall live again: and then shall the names of the righteous be manifest, and the works of the ungodly shall be declared. 36 Let no man therefore come unto me now, nor seek after me these forty days. 37 So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we went forth into the field, and remained there. 38 And it came to pass on the morrow that, lo, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thy mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink. 39 Then opened I my mouth, and, behold, there was reached unto me a full cup, which was full as it were with water, but the colour of it was like fire. 40 And I took it, and drank: and when I had drunk of it, my heart uttered understanding, and wisdom grew in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory: 41 and my mouth was opened, and shut no more. 42 The Most High gave understanding unto the five men, and they wrote by course the things that were told them, in §§ characters which they knew not, and they sat forty days: now they wrote in the day-time, and at night they ate bread. 43 As for me, I spake in the day, and by night I held not my tongue. 44 So in forty days were written *** fourscore and fourteen books. 45 And it came to pass, when the forty days were fulfilled, that the Most High spake unto me, saying, The first that thou hast written publish openly, and let the worthy and unworthy read it: 46 but keep the seventy last, that thou mayest deliver them to such as be wise among thy people: 47 for in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge. 48 And I did so.
* 14:4 Another reading is. I. † 14:11 Verses 11, 12 are omitted in the Syriac. The Aethiopic has For the world is divided into ten parts, and is come unto the tenth: and half of the tenth remaineth. Now &c. ‡ 14:11 Lat. and. § 14:13 The Latin alone omits and...wise. ** 14:18 So the Oriental versions. †† 14:19 The Latin omits I will speak. ‡‡ 14:31 Another reading is, a land in the land of Sion. §§ 14:42 So the Oriental versions. *** 14:44 So the Oriental versions. The copies of the Latin vary and are corrupt.