The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Esdras 14
1 It came to pass upon the third day, I sat
under an oak, and, behold, a voice came
out of a bush near me, and said, “Esdras,
Esdras!”
2 I said, “Here I am, Lord,” and I stood up
on my feet.
3 Then he said to me, “I revealed myself
in a bush and talked with Moses when my
people were in bondage in Egypt.
4 I sent him, and † he led my people out
of Egypt. I brought him up to Mount Sinai,
where I kept him with me for many days.
5 I told him many wondrous things, and
showed him the secrets of the times and
the end of the seasons. I commanded him,
saying,
6 ‘You shall publish these openly, and
these you shall hide.’
7 Now I say to you:
8 Lay up in your heart the signs that I
have shown, the dreams that you have
seen, and the interpretations which you
have heard;
9 for you will be taken away from men,
and from now on you will live with my Son
and with those who are like you, until the
times have ended.
10 For the world has lost its youth, and
the times begin to grow old.
11 ‡For the age is divided into twelve
parts, and ten parts of it are already gone,
§even the half of the tenth part.
12 There remain of it two parts after the
middle of the tenth part.
13 Now therefore set your house in order,
reprove your people, comfort the lowly
among them, † and instruct those of them
who are wise, and now renounce the life
that is corruptible,
14 and let go of the mortal thoughts, cast
away from you the burdens of man, put off
now your weak nature,
15 lay aside the thoughts that are most
grievous to you, and hurry to escape from
these times.
16 For worse evils than those which you
have seen happen will be done after this.
17 For look how much the world will be
weaker through age, so much that more
evils will increase on those who dwell in it.
18 For the truth will withdraw itself further
off, and falsehood will be near. For
now ‡the eagle which you saw in vision
hurries to come.
19 Then I answered and said, §“Let me
speak in your presence, O Lord.
20 Behold, I will go, as you have commanded
me, and reprove the people who
now live, but who will warn those who will
be born afterward? For the world is set
in darkness, and those who dwell in it are
without light.
21 For your law has been burned, therefore
no one knows the things that are done
by you, or the works that will be done.
22 But if I have found favor before you,
send the Holy Spirit to me, and I will write
all that has been done in the world since
the beginning, even the things that were
written in your law, that men may be able
to find the path, and that those who would
live in the latter days may live.”
23 He answered me and said, “Go your
way, gather the people together, and tell
them not to seek you for forty days.
24 But prepare for yourself many tablets,
and take with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia,
Ethanus, and Asiel, these five, which are
ready to write swiftly;
25 and come here, and I will light a lamp
of understanding in your heart which will
not be put out until the things have ended
about which you will write.
26 When you are done, some things you
shall publish openly, and some things you
shall deliver in secret to the wise.
Tomorrow at this hour you will begin to write.”
27 Then wentI out, ashe commandedme,
and gathered all the people together, and said,
28 “Hear these words, O Israel!
29 Our fathers at the beginning were
foreigners in Egypt, and they were delivered
from there,
30 and received the law of life, which
they didn’t keep, which you also have
transgressed after them.
31 Then the land of Zion was given to you
for a possession; but you yourselves and
your ancestors have done unrighteousness,
and have not keptthe ways which the
Most High commanded you.
32 Because he is a righteous judge, in due
time, he took from you what he had given you.
33 Now you are here, and your kindred
are among you.
34 Therefore if you will rule over your
own understanding and instruct your
hearts, you will be kept alive, and after
death you will obtain mercy.
35 For after death the judgment will
come, when we will live again. Then the
names of the righteous will become manifest,
and the works of the ungodly will be
declared.
36 Let no one therefore come to me now,
nor seek me for forty days.”
37 So I took the five men, as he
commandedme, and we went outinto thefield,
and remained there.
38 It came to pass on the next day that,
behold, a voice called me, saying, “Esdras,
open your mouth, and drink what I give
you to drink.”
39 Then opened I my mouth, and behold,
a full cup was handed to me. It was full of
something like water, but its color was like
fire.
40 I took it, and drank. When I had drunk
it, my heart uttered understanding, and
wisdom grew in my chest, for my spirit
retained its memory.
41 My mouth was opened, and shut no
more.
42 The Most High gave understanding to
the five men, and they wrote by course the
things that were told them, in †characters
which they didn’t know, and they sat forty
days. Now they wrote in the day-time, and
at night they ate bread.
43 As for me, I spoke in the day, and by
night I didn’t hold my tongue.
44 So in forty days, ninety-four books
were written.
45 It came to pass, when the forty days
were fulfilled, that the Most High spoke to
me, saying, “The first books that you have
written, publish openly, and let the worthy
and unworthy read them;
46 but keep the last seventy, that you may
deliver them to those who are wise among
your people;
47 for in them is the spring of understanding,
the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.
48 I did so.