Fourth Ezra

And it happened on the second night that I saw a dream, and behold, an eagle was coming up from the sea, exceedingly great in its size; and it had twelve wings and three heads.

And I looked, and behold, it spread its wings over all the earth, and all the winds of heaven blew toward it, and the clouds gathered to it.

And I looked, and out of its wings were born small wings, slender and tiny.

Its heads, however, were at rest; the middle head was larger than the others, yet it too was at rest with them.

And I looked, and behold, the eagle commanded its wings to rule over all the earth and over its inhabitants.

And I saw how everything under heaven was made subject to it, and nothing resisted it among the creatures that are on the earth.

And I looked, and behold, the eagle stood up on its talons, and raised its voice to its wings, and said to them, “Go, rule over all the earth; but now rest,

and do not seek to awake all at once, but sleep, each one of you in his place, and awake in succession;

but let the heads be kept for the end.”

And I looked, and its voice did not come out from its heads, but from the midst of its body.

And I counted its small wings, and they were eight.

And I looked, and behold, one wing arose on the right side, and ruled over all the earth.

And I saw that its end came and it vanished, so that even its place was not known. And I looked, and behold, a second wing arose, and it too ruled over all the earth for a long time.

And it came to pass that when it was ruling, its end came to vanish like the first.

And behold, a voice was heard speaking to it, saying:

“Hear, you who have held the earth for all this time! Receive this announcement before you vanish:

None of those after you shall hold rule as long a time as this, nor even half of it.”

And I looked, and behold, the third wing arose, and it too ruled over all the earth like its previous companions; and it also vanished like the first ones.

And thus

it happened

to all the wings, that each one of them ruled, and again vanished.

And I looked, and behold, in time the small wings also arose on the right side, so that they might hold the earth; and some of them held rule, but quickly vanished.

And some of them arose, but did not hold dominion.

And after these things I looked, and its twelve wings had vanished, and two of the small wings.

And nothing remained of the body of the eagle, except only the three heads that were at rest, and six small wings.

And I looked, and behold, two wings separated from the small wings, and went and stood under the head that was on the right side; but four remained in their place.

And I looked, and behold, those four small wings planned to arise and seize dominion.

And I looked, and behold, one arose, but quickly vanished.

And again a second, but it too vanished quickly,

even more so than

the first.

And I looked, and behold, those two that remained of them were also planning to seize the headship.

And while they were planning to rule over the earth, I looked, and behold, one of the heads that were at rest—the middle one—awoke. It was larger than the two other heads,

[and joined] the two with it.

And together with the two that were with it, it turned and devoured the two small wings that were planning to rule.

Moreover, that head gained control over all the earth, and oppressed its inhabitants with great hardship, and held sway over the world more than all the wings that had been.

And after these things I looked, and behold, suddenly that middle head vanished, it too, just as

the wings.

And two heads remained, and they also ruled over all the earth and over its inhabitants.

And I looked, and behold, the head on the right side devoured the one on the left.

And I heard a voice saying to me, “Look straight before you, Ezra, and consider what you see at the end.”

And I looked, and behold, as it were a lion aroused from

the forest,

roaring and growling; and I heard how it uttered a human voice to the eagle, and spoke and said to it:

“Hear, you eagle, and I will speak to you; the Most High says to you:

‘Are you not the one that remains of the four beasts which I made to reign in my world, that the end of the times might come through them?’

‘And you, the fourth, came and overcame all the beasts that had passed, and you held sway over the world with great hardships, and over the whole earth with bitter oppression, and you dwelt in the world with deceit for a long time.’

‘And you have judged the earth without truth;’

‘for you have plundered and robbed the meek and faithful, and harmed the humble, and hated the upright, and loved liars, and destroyed the strongholds of those who were prosperous, and cast down the walls of those who did you no harm.’

‘And your insolence has reached the Most High, and your pride the Mighty One.’

‘And the Most High looked upon his times, and behold, they are ended, and his ages are completed.’”

Therefore you shall surely be destroyed, O eagle, you and your haughty wings, and your little, wicked wings, and your bitter heads, and your evil talons, and your whole hateful and wicked body,

so that the whole earth may be refreshed and relieved, once delivered from your violence, looking for the judgment and the mercies of its Maker.”