Fourth Ezra

And he answered and said to me, "Measure carefully within yourself; and when you see that a certain part of the signs mentioned beforehand has passed,

then understand that this is the very time in which the Most High will visit the world that was made by him.

And when there shall appear in the world earthquakes of places, turmoil of peoples, intrigues of nations, unrest among leaders, and the confusion of princes,

then understand that it was concerning these that the Most High spoke from of old.

For just as with everything that occurred in the world, its beginning is known and its end is manifest,

so also the times of the Most High: their beginnings are known by wonders, signs, and mighty acts, and their end by retribution and signs.

And it shall be that whoever shall be saved, and whoever shall be able to escape on account of his works or on account of his faith by which he believed,

he will survive the dangers mentioned beforehand, and will see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have consecrated for myself from eternity.

Then those who have now neglected my ways will be astonished, and those who despised and cast them away will abide in torments.

For all who did not acknowledge me in their life, even when they were receiving benefits from me,

and all who grew arrogant against my law while they still had freedom,

and while the opportunity for patience was still open to them, and they did not understand but neglected it—for these

it was necessary

that they should learn after death.

Therefore, do not inquire any longer how the ungodly are tormented, but seek how the righteous are saved, to whom the world belongs, and for whose sake the world was made."

And I answered and said,

"I say again now, and I will say it again hereafter: those who perish are more numerous than those who are saved,

even as the wave is greater than a drop."

And he answered and said to me, "As is the land, so also is its seed; and as are the flowers, so also are their colors; and as is the work, so also are the scents; and as is the farmer, so also is the threshing floor.

For there was a time of the world when I was preparing for those who now exist, before the worlds were made in which they should dwell; and no one opposed me, for indeed there was no one.

And now, though they have been created in a world that is prepared, and at a table that does not fail, and under an unsearchable law, they have become corrupted in their ways.

So I looked upon my world, and behold, it was ruined; and upon my inhabited earth, and behold, it was in peril, on account of the plots of its inhabitants.

And I saw and spared a very small remnant, and preserved for myself a single grape from a cluster, and a plant from a great forest.

Let the multitude perish, then, since it was made in vain; but let my grape and my plant be preserved, which were fashioned with much labor."

But as for you, if you set apart another seven days, yet you shall not fast in them again,

and go to the field of flowers where no house has been built, and eat only of the flowers of the field, and taste no meat, and drink no wine, but only the flowers;

and pray to the Most High continually, then I will come to you and speak with you."

So I went, as he commanded me, to the field which is called Arphad, and I sat there among the flowers of the ground, and I ate of the herbs of the field, and their nourishment satisfied me.

And it came to pass after seven days, while I was lying on the grass, my heart began again to be troubled within me, as before.

And my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and I said:

"O Lord, my Lord, you were revealed to our fathers in the wilderness of Sinai, when they came out from Egypt, and when they were passing through the wilderness, in a land where there is no fruit,

and through which no

one passed; and you said to them:

'Hear me, O Israel, and listen to my words, O seed of Jacob!

For behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth in you the fruits of righteousness, and you shall be glorified in it forever.'

Yet our fathers received the law and did not keep it, and the commandments, and did not perform them. And the fruits of your law remained imperishable, for they could not perish, because they were yours.

Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep that which had been sown in them.

And this is the law: when the earth receives seed, or the sea a ship, or any other vessel food that is placed in it, or whatever is deposited or kept,

when they are destroyed, the things that received them remain; but with us it was not so.

Rather, we who received the law and sinned perish along with our heart that received it.

Yet your law does not

perish,

but remains in its glory."

And while I was speaking these things in my heart, I lifted up my eyes and saw a woman on the right side, lamenting and weeping with a loud voice, and she was sighing deeply in her soul and grieving greatly; and her clothes were torn, and dust was cast upon her head.

Then I dismissed the thoughts that I had been thinking, and I turned to her and said to her,

"Why are you weeping, and why are you grieving in your soul?"

And she answered and said to me, "Leave me alone, my lord, that I may weep for myself and continue to sigh, for my soul is very bitter, and I am brought very low."

And I said to her, "Tell me what has happened to you." And she answered and said to me,

"I, your handmaid, was barren and did not give birth, though I was with my husband thirty years.

And every day and at every hour during these thirty years, I was praying and entreating the Most High, day and night.

And it came to pass after these thirty years, God heard the voice of your handmaid, and saw her humiliation, and looked upon my distress, and gave me a son. And I rejoiced and was delighted in him greatly, I and my husband and all the people of my city; and we glorified the Mighty One.

And I brought him up with great toil.

And when he grew up, I went to take a wife for him, and I made a wedding feast and a great banquet.