Fourth Ezra

And the angel who had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered

and said to me,

“Your heart is utterly dismayed in this world,

and do you wish to comprehend the way of the Most High?”

And I answered and said, “Yes, my lord.”

And he answered again and said to me,

“I have been sent to show you three ways,

and to set before you three parables.

If you can declare one of them to me,

I also will show you

the way that you long to see,

and I will teach you why the heart is evil.”

And I answered and said,

“Speak, my lord.”

And he answered and said to me,

“Go, weigh for me the weight of fire,

or measure for me a measure of wind,

or call back for me a day that has passed.”

And I said to him,

“Who among those born of woman is able to do these things that you have spoken of,

that of me,

that you should ask all these things of me, my lord?”

And he said to me,

“If I had asked you and said to you,

‘How many storehouses are in the heart of the sea?

Or how many springs are at the fountainhead of the deep?

Or how many paths are above the firmament?

Or which are the exits of Sheol?

Or which are the paths of Paradise?’

you would have said to me, ‘I have not gone down into the deep,

nor have I yet gone down into Sheol,

nor have I ever ascended into heaven.’

Now, however, I have not asked you about these things,

but about fire and wind and the day—

things through which

you have passed,

and without which you cannot exist—

and you have not told me about them.”

And he said to me,

“You cannot understand the things that have grown up with you;

how then can your vessel comprehend the way of the Most High?

For in that which is incomprehensible

the way of the Most High was created,

and one who is corruptible in a corruptible world is unable

to know the way of the Incorruptible.”

And when I heard these things,

I fell on my face

and said to him,

“It would have been better for us if we had not come into being,

or that, when we have come, we live in wickedness,

and we suffer and do not know

why we suffer?"

And he answered and said to me,

“The trees of the forest of the plain went forth

and devised a plan,

and said,

‘Come, let us go and wage war against the sea,

that it may recede before us,

and we will make for ourselves another forest.’

The waves of the sea likewise devised a plan and said,

‘Come, let us go up and wage war against the forest of the plain,

so that there also we may make for ourselves another place.’

And the plan of the forest came to nothing,

for fire came and consumed it.

And likewise

also the plan of the waves of the sea,

for the sand stood up and stopped them.

If, therefore, you were their judge,

which of them would you justify, and which would you condemn?”

And I answered and said,

“Both of them devised a vain plan,

for the earth was given to the forest,

and the place of the sea to bear its waves.”

And he answered and said to me,

“You have judged well,

and why have you not judged yourself?

For just as the earth is given to the forest

and the place of the sea to bear its waves,

so also those who dwell upon the earth

are able to understand only what is upon the earth,

and he who is above the heavens, what is above the heavens.”

And I answered and said,

“I beseech you, my Lord,

why, my Lord, was understanding given to me to think?

For I did not wish to ask about the ways above,

but about those things that pass over us every day:

why Israel was given over to the gentiles,

and the people whom you loved was given over to wicked tribes,

and the holy Law of our fathers has been annulled,

and the written covenants are no more;

and we pass away from the world like locusts,

and our life

is like a vapor,

and we are not even worthy to receive mercy.

But what will he do for his great name that has been called upon us?

Concerning these things I asked.”

And he answered and said to me,

“If you remain, you will see;

and if you live long, you will marvel.

because the world is hurrying to pass away,

for it cannot bear to bring what is promised to the righteous.

For this world is full of groaning

and many infirmities.

For the evil about which you asked me has been sown,

and its harvest has not yet come.

Unless, therefore, that which has been sown is reaped, and the place departs

where the evil has been sown,

the land where good is sown will not come.

For a single grain of evil seed was sown in the heart of Adam

from the beginning,

and how much fruit of ungodliness has it produced

until now,

and will produce until the harvest comes!

Consider, then, in yourself and see:

a single grain of evil seed that was sown, how much fruit of ungodliness it has produced!

When, therefore, the countless ears of good things are sown,

how great a harvest will they produce?”

Then I answered and said,

“How long and when will these things be?

For our years are few and evil.”

And he answered and said to me,

“Do not hasten faster than the Most High;

for you hasten on your own account,

but the Most High on behalf of many.

Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask concerning these things,

saying, ‘How long are we to remain here?

And when is the harvest of our reward?’”

And Remiel the angel answered and said to them,

“Until the number of those like you is completed.

For the Holy One has weighed the world in the balance,

and measured the times by measure,

and numbered the seasons by number,

and he will not move nor awaken them until the prescribed number is completed.”

Then I answered and said, “O Lord, my Lord,

yet

behold,

we all are full of ungodliness.

And perhaps on our account the reward of the righteous is withheld,

because of

the sins of those who dwell on the earth.”

And he answered and said to me,

“Go and ask a pregnant woman

whether, when she has completed her nine months,

her womb can still hold the infant within it.”

And I said,

“It cannot, my lord.”

And he answered and said to me,

“Sheol and the chambers of souls are like the womb.

For just as a woman in travail hastens to escape the distress of childbirth,

Even so these also hasten to deliver up that which was placed in them from the beginning.

And then it will be revealed to you concerning those things which you desire to see.”

And I answered and said,

“If I have found favor in your eyes,

and if it is possible, and I am worthy,

make known to me this also:

whether the time that has passed by us is more,

or that which is yet to come.

For the time that has passed I know,

but what is to come I do not know.”

And he answered and said to me,

“Stand on the right side,

and I will show you the interpretation of the parable.”

So I stood and looked,

and behold, a burning furnace of fire passed before me.

And it happened that when the flame had passed by,

I looked, and behold,

there remained

smoke.

And after these things, a cloud full of water passed before me,

and it poured down a very violent rain.

And when the violence of the rain had passed,

drops remained in it.

And he answered and said to me,

“Consider in yourself and see:

just as the rain is more

than the drops, and the fire than the smoke, so has the measure that has passed exceeded;

and the drops and the smoke remain.”

Then I besought him and said,

“Do you think that I shall live until those days?

Or who will be in those days?”

And he answered and said to me,

“Concerning the signs about which you ask me,

I am able to tell you of some of them;

but concerning your life I was not sent to tell you,

for neither do I know.