2 Esdras — Large Print

Chapter 1

The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

the son of Ahijah, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the son of Amariah, the son of Aziel, the son of Marimoth, the son of Arna, the son of Uzzi, the son of Borith, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar,

the son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; who was a captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Go and declare to my people their sinful deeds, and to their children the wickedness they have committed against me, so that they may tell it to their children's children:

because the sins of their fathers have multiplied in them, for they have forgotten me and offered sacrifice to foreign gods.

Was it not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery? Yet they have provoked me to anger and despised my counsel.

Tear the hair from your head, then, and heap all punishment upon them, for they have not obeyed my law — they are a rebellious people.

How long shall I endure them, this people on whom I have lavished so much good?

For their sake I have overthrown many kings; I struck down Pharaoh with his servants and all his army.

I destroyed all the nations before them, and in the east I scattered the peoples of two provinces, Tyre and Sidon, and slew all their enemies.

Speak to them therefore, and say, This is what the Lord declares:

I led you through the sea and from the very beginning gave you a broad and safe passage; I gave you Moses as your leader and Aaron as your priest.

I gave you light in a pillar of fire, and I worked great wonders among you — yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord.

This is what the Almighty Lord says: The quails were given to you as a sign; I provided you with tents for your shelter — and yet you grumbled there,

and you did not triumph in my name over the destruction of your enemies, but go on murmuring to this very day.

Where is the gratitude for all I have done for you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry out to me,

saying, Why have you brought us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to go on serving the Egyptians than to die out here.

Then I had compassion on your misery and gave you manna to eat, and you ate the bread of angels.

When you were thirsty, did I not split the rock so that water flowed out in abundance? Against the heat I sheltered you with the shade of the trees.

I divided a fertile land among you; I drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Philistines before you. What more can I do for you? says the Lord.

This is what the Almighty Lord says: When you were in the wilderness, at the river of the Amorites, parched with thirst and blaspheming my name,

I did not send fire upon you for your blasphemies, but threw a tree into the water and made the river sweet.

What am I to do with you, O Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will turn to other nations and give them my name, and they will keep my statutes.

Since you have abandoned me, I will abandon you in turn; when you beg me to show you favor, I will have no mercy on you.

Whenever you call upon me, I will not hear you, for you have defiled your hands with blood and your feet are quick to commit murder.

It is not as though you have forsaken me — you have forsaken your own selves, says the Lord.

This is what the Almighty Lord says: Have I not appealed to you as a father appeals to his sons, as a mother to her daughters, as a nurse to her little children,

asking you to be my people and let me be your God, to be my children and let me be your father?

I gathered you to myself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings — but now what am I to do with you? I will cast you away from my presence.

When you bring me offerings, I will turn my face from you; for your solemn feasts, your new moons, and your circumcisions I have no regard.

I sent you my servants the prophets, and you seized them and killed them and tore their bodies apart; their blood I will require at your hands, says the Lord.

This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your house is desolate; I will scatter you as the wind scatters stubble.

Your children will have no fruitfulness, for they have despised my commandment and done what is evil in my sight.

I will give your houses to a people yet to come — a people who, though they have never heard of me, will believe in me; to whom I have shown no signs, yet they will do what I have commanded.

They have seen no prophets, yet they will call their sins to mind and acknowledge them.

I call to witness the grace of the people who are coming, whose little ones leap for joy; and though they have never seen me with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they believe what I say.

And now, brother, look and see what glory this is — behold the people coming from the east.

To them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Hosea, Amos, and Micah; Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah;

Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: I brought this people out of slavery and gave them my commandments through my servants the prophets, whom they refused to hear and whose counsel they despised.

The mother who bore them says to them, Go your way, my children, for I am a widow and forsaken.

I raised you with gladness, but I have lost you in grief and sorrow, for you have sinned before the Lord your God and done what is evil in his sight.

But what can I do for you now? I am a widow and forsaken. Go your way, my children, and ask the Lord for mercy.

As for me, O Father, I call upon you as witness against the mother of these children, who would not keep my covenant,

that you bring them to ruin, and their mother to plunder, so that there may be no offspring left from them.

Let them be scattered among the nations; let their names be blotted from the earth, for they have despised my covenant.

Woe to you, Assyria, you who shelter the unrighteous within you! O wicked people, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah,

whose land lies in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes — even so will I do to those who do not hear me, says the Almighty Lord.

Thus says the Lord to Ezra: Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given to Israel.

Their glory also I will take to myself, and give to these people the everlasting dwelling places which I had prepared for them.

They shall have the tree of life as a fragrant ointment; they shall neither labor nor grow weary.

Go, and you shall receive. Pray that the days remaining to you may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you — keep watch.

Take heaven and earth as witnesses, for I have broken evil in pieces and created the good, for I live, says the Lord.

Mother, embrace your children, and bring them up with gladness; make their feet firm as a pillar, for I have chosen you, says the Lord.

Chapter 2

And those who are dead I will raise up again from their places, and bring them out of the graves; for I have made my name known in Israel.

Fear not, O mother of children, for I have chosen you, says the Lord.

For your help I will send my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for you twelve trees laden with various fruits,

And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains whereon roses and lilies grow, and by these I will fill your children with joy.

Do right by the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,

Heal the broken and the weak, do not mock a lame man, defend the maimed, and let the blind come into the sight of my radiance.

Keep the old and the young within your walls.

Wherever you find the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give you the first place in my resurrection.

Rest, O my people, and take your ease, for your time of quiet shall come.

Nourish your children, O good nurse; make their feet firm.

As for the servants I have given you, not one of them shall perish, for I will require them from among your number.

Do not grow weary, for when the day of trouble and heaviness comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall be glad and have abundance.

The nations shall envy you, but they shall be able to do nothing against you, says the Lord.

My hands shall cover you, so that your children shall not see hell.

Be joyful, O mother, with your children, for I will deliver you, says the Lord.

Remember your children who sleep, for I shall bring them out of the depths of the earth and show mercy to them, for I am merciful, says the Lord Almighty.

Embrace your children until I come and show mercy to them, for my springs run over and my grace shall not fail.

I, Esdras, received a charge from the Lord on Mount Horeb, that I should go to Israel; but when I came to them, they rejected me and despised the commandment of the Lord.

And therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand: look for your Shepherd, for he shall give you everlasting rest; he is near at hand, and shall come at the end of the world.

Be ready to receive the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore.

Flee the shadow of this world and receive the joy of your glory. I bear open witness to my Savior.

Receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks to him who has led you to the heavenly kingdom.

Arise and stand, and behold the number of those who are sealed at the feast of the Lord,

Those who have departed from the shadow of this world and have received glorious garments from the Lord.

Take your number, O Zion, and close the roll of those clothed in white who have fulfilled the law of the Lord.

The number of your children, for whom you have longed, is now complete. Beseech the power of the Lord, that your people, who have been called from the beginning, may be made holy.

I, Esdras, saw upon Mount Zion a great multitude whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.

And in the midst of them stood a young man of great stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and he was exalted above them all, at which I marveled greatly.

So I asked the angel and said, Sir, who are these?

He answered and said to me, These are they who have put off mortal clothing and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God. Now they are crowned and receive palms.

Then I said to the angel, Who is the young man who crowns them and gives them palms in their hands?

He answered and said to me, He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world. Then I began to give great praise to those who had stood so steadfastly for the name of the Lord.

Then the angel said to me, Go your way and tell my people what manner of things, and how great the wonders of the Lord your God, you have seen.

In the thirtieth year after the ruin of the city I was in Babylon, and lay troubled upon my bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart,

For I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those who dwelt in Babylon.

And my spirit was deeply stirred, so that I began to speak words full of fear to the Most High, and said,