| 1 | Thus saith the Lord, I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them my commandments by menservants the prophets; whom they would not hear, but despised my counsels. |
| 2 | The mother that bare them saith unto them, Go your way, ye children; for I am a widow and forsaken. |
| 3 | I brought you up with gladness; but with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned before the Lord your God, and done that thing that is evil before him. |
| 4 | But what shall I now do unto you? I am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the Lord. |
| 5 | As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of these children, which would not keep my covenant, |
| 6 | That thou bring them to confusion, and their mother to a spoil, that there may be no offspring of them. |
| 7 | Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen, let their names be put out of the earth: for they have despised my covenant. |
| 8 | Woe be unto thee, Assur, thou that hidest the unrighteous in thee! O thou wicked people, remember what I did unto Sodom and Gomorrha; |
| 9 | Whose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that hear me not, saith the Almighty Lord. |
| 10 | Thus saith the Lord unto Esdras, Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given unto Israel. |
| 11 | Their glory also will I take unto me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for them. |
| 12 | They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour; they shall neither labour, nor be weary. |
| 13 | Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch. |
| 14 | Take heaven and earth to witness; for I have broken the evil in pieces, and created the good: for I live, saith the Lord. |
| 15 | Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. |
| 16 | And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out of the graves: for I have known my name in Israel. |
| 17 | Fear not, thou mother of the children: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. |
| 18 | For thy help will I send my servants Esau and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with divers fruits, |
| 19 | And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy. |
| 20 | Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, |
| 21 | Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness. |
| 22 | Keep the old and young within thy walls. |
| 23 | Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection. |
| 24 | Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness still come. |
| 25 | Nourish thy children, O thou good nurse; stablish their feet. |
| 26 | As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number. |
| 27 | Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance. |
| 28 | The heathen shall envy thee, but they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the Lord. |
| 29 | My hands shall cover thee, so that thy children shall not see hell. |
| 30 | Be joyful, O thou mother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the Lord. |
| 31 | Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the sides of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty. |
| 32 | Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail. |
| 33 | I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount Oreb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord. |
| 34 | And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for your Shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world. |
| 35 | Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore. |
| 36 | Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I testify my Saviour openly. |
| 37 | O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath led you to the heavenly kingdom. |
| 38 | Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord; |
| 39 | Which are departed from the shadow of the world, and have received glorious garments of the Lord. |
| 40 | Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord. |
| 41 | The number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed. |
| 42 | I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs. |
| 43 | And 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 was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly. |
| 44 | So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what are these? |
| 45 | He answered and said unto me, These be they that 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 unto the angel, What young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands? |
| 47 | So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord. |
| 48 | Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen. |