The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Esdras 02
1 The Lord says, “I brought this people
out of bondage. I gave them my commandments
by my servants the prophets,
whom they would not listen to, but made
my counsels void.
2 The mother who bore them says to
them, ‘Go your way, my children, for I am
a widow and forsaken.
3 I brought you up with gladness, and I
have lost you with sorrow and heaviness,
for you have sinned before the Lord God,
and done that which is evil before me.
4 But now what can I do for you? For I am
a widow and forsaken. Go your way, my
children, and ask formercy fromtheLord.’
5 As for me, O father, I call upon you for a
witness in addition to the mother of these
children, because they would not keep my
covenant,
6 that you may bring them to confusion,
and their mother to ruin, that they may
have no offspring.
7 Let them be scattered abroad among
the heathen. Let their names be blotted
out of the earth, for they have despised my
covenant.
8 Woe to you, Assur, you who hide the
unrighteous with you! You wicked nation,
remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah,
9 whose land lies in lumps of pitch and
heaps of ashes. That is what I will also do
to those who have not listened to me,” says
the Lord Almighty.
10 The Lord says to Esdras, “Tell my
people that I will give them the kingdom of
Jerusalem, which I would have given to
Israel.
11 I will also take their glory back
to myself, and give these the everlasting
tabernacles which I had prepared for them.
12 They will have the tree of life for
fragrant perfume. They will neither
labor nor be weary.
13 Ask, and you will receive. Pray that
your days may be few, that they may be
shortened. The kingdom is already prepared
for you. Watch! 14 Call heaven and earth to witness. Call
them to witness,for I have left out evil, and
created the good, for I live, says the Lord.
15 “Mother, embrace your children. I will
bring them out with gladness like a dove
does. Establish their feet,for I have chosen
you, says the Lord.
16 I will raise those who are dead up
again from their places, and bring them
out from their tombs, for I recognize my
name in them.
17 Don’t be afraid, you mother of children,
for I have chosen you, says the Lord.
18 For your help, I will send my servants
Esaias and Jeremy, after whose counsel
I have sanctified and prepared for you
twelve trees laden with various fruits,
19 and as many springsflowing with milk
and honey, and seven mighty mountains,
on which roses and lilies grow, with which
I will fill your children with joy.
20 Do right to the widow. Secure justice
for the fatherless. Give to the poor. Defend
the orphan. Clothe the naked.
21 Heal the broken and the weak. Don’t
laugh a lame man to scorn. Defend the
maimed. Let the blind man have a vision
of my glory.
22 Protect the old and young within your
walls.
23 Wherever you find the dead, set a sign
upon them and commit them to the grave,
and I will give you the first place in my
resurrection.
24 Stay still, my people, and take your
rest, for your rest will come.
25 Nourish your children, good nurse,
and establish their feet.
26 As for the servants whom I have given
you, not one of them will perish, for I will
require them from among your number.
27 Don’t be anxious, for when the day of
suffering and anguish comes, others will
weep and be sorrowful, but you will
rejoice and have abundance.
28 The nations will envy you, but they
will be able to do nothing against you, says
the Lord.
29 My hands will cover you, so that your
children don’t see Gehenna.†
30 Be joyful, mother, with your children,
for I will deliver you, says the Lord.
31 Remember your children who sleep,
for I will bring themout ofthe secret places
of the earth and show mercy to them, for I
am merciful, says the Lord Almighty.
32 Embrace your children until I come,
and proclaim mercy to them, for my wells
run over, and my grace won’t fail.”
33 I, Esdras, received a command from
the Lord on Mount Horeb to go to Israel,
but when I came to them, they rejected me
and rejected the Lord’s commandment.
34 Therefore I say to you, O nations that
hear and understand, “Look for your shepherd.
He will give you everlasting rest, for
he is near at hand who will come atthe end
of the age.
35 Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom,
for the everlasting light will shine on
you forevermore.
36 Flee the shadow of this world, receive
the joy of your glory. I call to witness my
savior openly.
37 Receive that which is given to you by
the Lord, and be joyful, giving thanks to
him who has called you to heavenly kingdoms.
38 Arise and stand up, and see the
number of those who have been
sealed at the Lord’s feast.
39 Those who withdrew themselves from
the shadow of the world have received
glorious garments from the Lord.
40 Take again your full number, O Zion,
and make up the reckoning of those of
yours who are clothed in white, which
have fulfilled the law of the Lord.
41 The number of your children, whom
you long for, is fulfilled. Ask the power
of the Lord, that your people, which have
been called from the beginning, may be
made holy.”
42 I, Esdras, saw upon Mount Zion a great
multitude, whom I could not number, and
they all praised the Lord with songs.
43 In the midst of them, there was a
young man of a high stature, taller than all
the rest, and upon every one of their heads
he set crowns, and he was more exalted
than they were. I marveled greatly at this.
44 So I asked the angel, and said, “What
are these, my Lord?”
45 He answered and said to me, “These
are those who have put off the mortal
clothing, and put on the immortal, and
have confessed the name of God. Now are
they crowned, and receive palms.”
46 Then said I to the angel, “Who is the
young man who sets crowns on them, and
gives them palms in their hands?”
47 So he answered and said to me, “He is
the Son of God, whom they have confessed
in the world.” Then I began to
praise those who stood
so valiantly for the name of the Lord.
48 Then the angel said to me, “Go your
way, and tell my people what kind of
things, and how great wonders of the Lord
God you have seen.”