THE HOLY BIBLE: Douay-Rheims: The Fourth Book of Esdras

1‡ ¤ THE second book of Esdras the prophet, the sonne of Sarei, the sonne of Azarei, the sonne of Helcias, the sonne of Sadanias, the sonne of Sadoch, the sonne of Achitob, (1 Esd. 7:1)2the sonne of Achias, the sonne of Phinees, the sonne of Heli, the sonne of Amerias, the sonne of Asiel, the sonne of Marimoth, the sonne of Arna, the sonne of Ozias, the sonne of Borith, the sonne of Abisei, the sonne of Phinees, the sonne of Eleazar,3the sonne of Aaron of the tribe of Leui; who was captiue in the countrie of the Medes, in the reigne of Artaxerxes king of the Persians.4And the word of our Lord came to me, saying:5Goe, and tel my people their wicked deedes, and their children the iniquities, that they haue done against me, that they may tel their childrens children:6because the sinnes of their parentes are increased in them, for they being forgetful of me haue sacrified to strange goddes.7Did not I bring them out of the land of AEgypt from the house of bondage? But they haue prouoked me, & haue despised my counsels.8But doe thou shake of the heare of thy head, and throw al euils vpon them: because they haue not obeyed my law. And it is a people without discipline.9How long shal I beare with them, on whom I haue bestowed so great benefiates?10I haue ouer throwen manie kinges from them. I haue stroke Pharao with his seruantes, and al his hoste. (Ex. 14)11Al nations did I destroy before their face, & in the East I dissipated the peoples of two prouinces Tyre and Sidon, and I slew al their aduersaries.12But speake thou to them, saying: Thus sayth our Lord:13I made you passe through the sea, and gaue you fensed streates from the beginning. I gaue you Moyses for your gouernour, and Aaron for the Priest:14I gaue you light by the piller of fire, & did manie meruelous things among you: but you haue forgotten me, sayth our Lord. (Ex. 13)15Thus sayth our Lord omnipotent: The quayle was a signe to you, I gaue you a campe for defense, and there you murmured:16And you triumphed not in my name for the destruction of your enemies, but yet vntil now you haue murmured. (Ex. 16)17Where are the benefites, that I haue geuen you? Did you not crie out to me when you were hungrie in the desert,18saying: Why hast thou brought vs into this desert to kil vs? it had bene better for vs to serue the AEgyptians, then to dye in this desert. (Num. 14)19I was sorie for your mournings, & gaue you manna to eate. You did eate bread of Angels. (Ex. 16/ Wis. 16:20)20When you thirsted did not I cleaue the rocke, & waters flowed in abundance? for the heates I couered you with the leaues of trees.21I deliuered vnto you fatte landes: The Chananeites, and Pherezeites, and Philistheans I threw out from your face: what shal I yet doe to you, sayth our Lord? (Isa. 9:4)22Thus sayth our Lord omnipotent: In the desert when you were thirstie in the riuer of the Amorrheites, and blasphemeing my name, (Ex. 15:25)23I gaue you not fire for blasphemies, but casting wood into the water, I made the riuer swete.24What shal I doe to thee Iacob? Thou wouldest not obey o Iuda. I wil transferre my self to other nations, and wil geue them my name, that they may keepe my ordinances. (Ex. 32)25Because you haue forsaken me, I aslo forsake you: when you aske mercie of me, I wil not haue mercie. (Isa. 1:15)26When you shal inuocate me, I wil not heare you. For you haue defiled your handes with bloud, and your fete are quicke to commit murders.27Not as though you haue forsaken me, but yourselues, sayth our Lord.28Thus saith our Lord omnipotent, haue not I desired you, as a father his sonnes, and a mother her daughters, and as a nurce her litle ones,29that you would be my people, and I your God, and to me for children, and I to you for a father?30So haue I gathered you, as the henne her chickenes vnder her winges. But now what shal I doe to you? I wil throw you from my face. (Matt. 23:37)31When you shal bring me oblation, I wil turne away my face from you. (Isa. 66:5) For I haue refused your festiual dayes, & newmoones, and circumcisions.32I sent my seruantes the prophetes to you, whom being taken you slew, and mangled their bodies, whose bloud I wil require, sayth our Lord.33Thus sayth our Lord omnipotent, your house is made desolate, I wil throw you away, as the winde doth stubble,34and your children shal not haue issue: because they haue neglected my commandment, and haue done that which is euil before me.35I wil deliuer your houses to a people comming, who not hearing me do beleue: to whom I haue not shewed signes, they wil do the thinges that I haue commanded.36The prophetes they haue not sene, and they wil be mindful of their iniquities.37I cal to witnes the grace of the people comming, whose litle ones reioyce with ioy, not seing me with their carnal eyes, but in spirit beleuing the thinges that I haue sayd.38And now brother behold what glorie: and see people comming from the east,39to whom I wil geue the conduction of Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob, and of Osee, and Amos, and of Ioel, and Abdias, and Ionas, and Michaeas,40and Naum and Habacuc, of Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, and Malachias, who also is called the Angel of our Lord. (Mal. 3:1)

1¤ THVS saith our Lord: I brought this people out of bondage, to whom I gaue commandment by my seruantes the Prophetes, whom they would not heare, but made my counsel frustrate.2Their mother that bare them, sayth to them: Goe children, because I am a wydow and forsaken.3I brought you vp with ioy, & haue lost you with mourning & sorow, because you haue sinned before our Lord your God, & haue done that which is euil before him.4But now what shal I doe to you? I am a wydow and desolote, goe my children, & aske mercie of our Lord.5And I cal thee o father a witnes vpon the mother of the children, that would not keepe my testament,6that thou geue them confusion, & their mother into spoile, that there be no generation of them.7Let their names be dispersed into the Gentiles, let them be destroyed out of the land: because they haue despised my sacrament.8Woe be to thee Assur, which hidest the wicked with thee. Thou naughtie nation, remember what I did to Sodom & Gomorrha: (Gen. 19:24)9whose land lieth in cloddes of pitch, & heapes of ashes: so wil I make them, that haue not heard me, saith our Lord omnipotent.10Thus saith our Lord to Esdras: Tel my pople, that I wil geue them the kingdom of Ierusalem, which I ment to geue to Isreal.11And I wil take to me the glorie of them, and wil geue them eternal tabernacles, which I had prepared for them.12The wood of life shal be to them for an odour of oyntment, and they shal not labour, nor be wearied.13Goe & you shal receiue. Aske for your selues a few dayes, that they may abide. Now the kingdom is prepared for you, watch ye.14Cal thou heauen and earth to witnes: for I haue destroyed euil, and haue created good, because I liue sayth our Lord.15Mother embrace thy children, bring them vp with ioy. As a doue confirme their feete: because I haue chosen thee, sayth our Lord.16And I wil raise againe the dead out of their places, and out of the monumentes I wil bring them forth, because I haue knowen my name in Israel.17Feare not o mother of the children, because I haue chosen thee, saith our Lord.18I wil send thee ayde, my seruantes I saie, and Ieremie, at whose counsel I haue sanctified, and prepared for thee tweleue trees loden with diuerse fruites,19and as manie fountaines flowing milke and honie: and seuen huge mountaines, hauing the rose and the lilie, in the which I wil fil thy children with ioy. (Ex. 15:27)20Iustifie thou the widow, iudge for the pupil, geue to the needie, defend the orphane, cloth the naked,21cure the broken & feeble, mocke not the lame, defend the maimed, and admitte the blind to the vision of my glorie.22The old man & the yong keepe with in thy walles:23where thou shalt finde the dead, committe them to the graue signing it, & I wil geue thee the first seate in my resurrection. (Tob. 1:20)24Pause and rest my people, because thy rest shal come.25As a good nurce nourish thy children, confirme their feete.26The seruantes that I haue geuen thee, none of them shal perish. For I wil require them of thy number.27Be not wearied. For when the day of affliction and distresse shal come, others shal weepe, and be sad, but thou shalt be merie and plenteous.28The gentiles shal enuie, and shal be able to doe nothing against thee, sayth our Lord.29My handes shal couer thee, that thy children see not hel.30Be pleasant thou mother with thy children, because I wil deliuer thee sayth our Lord.31Remember thy children that sleepe, for I wil bring them out of the sides of the earth, & wil doe mercie with them: because I am merciful, sayth our Lord omnipotent.32Embrace thy children til I come, & shew them mercie: because my fountaines runne ouer, and my grace shal not faile.33I Esdras receiued commandment of our Lord, in mount Oreb; that I should goe to Israel: to whom when I came, they refused me, and reiected the commandement of our Lord.34And therfore, I say vnto you gentiles, which heare, and vnderstand, Looke for your pastor, he wil geue you the rest of eternitie: because he is at hand, that shal come in the end of the world.35Be ye readie for the rewardes of the kingdom, because perpetual light shal shine to you for time euerlasting.36Flee from the shadow of this world: receiue ye the pleasantnes of your glorie. I openly cal to witnes my sauiour.37Receiue the commended gift and be pleasant, geuing thankes to him that called you to the heauenlie kingdomes.38Arise, & stand & see the number of them that are signed in the feast of our Lord.39They that haue transferred them selues from the shadow of the world, haue receiued glorious garmentes of our Lord.40Receiue o Sion thy number, and shut vp thyne made white, which haue accomplished the law of our Lord.41The number of thy children, which thou didst wish is ful. Desire the powre of our Lord that thy people may be sanctified, which was called from the beginning.42I Esdras saw in mount Sion a great multiude, which I could not number, and they did al prayse our Lord with songes. (Apoc. 7:9)43And in the middes of them was a young man high of stature, appearing aboue ouer them al, & he put crownes vpon euerie one of their heades, and he was more exalted. And I was astonied at the miracle.44Then asked I an Angel, and sayd: Who are these Lord?45Who answering sayd to me: These are they that haue laid of the mortal garment, and taken an immortal, and haue confessed the name of God. Now they are crowned, and receiue palmes.46And I sayd to the Angel: That yongman what is he, which putteth the crownes vpon them, and geueth palmes into their handes?47And answering he sayd to me: The same is the Sonne of God, whom they did confesse in the world: & I begane to magnifie them, that stood strongly for the name of our Lord.48Then sayd the Angel to me: Goe, tel my people, what maner of meruelous thinges and how great, thou hast sene of the Lord God.

1¤ IN the thirteth yeare of the ruine of the citie I was in Babylon, and was trubled lying in my chamber, and my cogitations came vp ouer my hart:2because I saw the desolation of Sion, and the abundance of them that dwelt in Babylon.3And my spirit was tossed excedingly, and I began to speake to the highest timorous wordes,4and sayd: O Lord dominatour thou spakest from the beginning, when thou didst plant the earth, and that alone, and didst rule ouer the people, (Gen. 1)5and gauest Adam a dead bodie: but that also was the worke of thy handes, & didst breath into him the spirit of life, and he was made to liue before thee: (Gen. 2:7)6and thou broughst him into paradise, which thy right hand had planted, before the earth came.7And him thou didst command to loue thy way, and he transgressed it, & forth with thou didst institute death in him, and in his posteritie, and there were borne nations, and tribes, and peoples, and kindreds, wherof there is no number.8And euerie nation walked in their owne wil, & they did meruelous thinges before thee, and despised thy preceptes.9And agane in time thou broughst in the floud vpon inhabitantes of the world, and didst destroy them. (Gen. 7)10And there was made in euery one of them, as vnto Adam to dye, so to them the floud,11But thou didst leaue one of them, Noe with his house and of him were al the iust.12And it came to passe, when they began to be multiplied, that dwelt vpon the earth, & multiplied children and peoples and manie nations: and they begane againe to doe impietie more then the former.13And it came to passe when they did iniquitie before thee, thou didst choose thee a man of them whose name was Abraham.14And thou didst loue him and to him onlie thou didst shew thy wil. (Gen. 12)15And thou didst dispose vnto him an euerlasting testament, and toldst him that thou wouldst neuer forsake his seede. And thou gauest him Issac, and to Isaac thou gauest Iacob and Esau.16And Iacob thou didst seuer to thy selfe, but Esau thou didst separate. And Iacob grewe to a great multitude.17And it came to passe when thou didst bring forth his sede out of AEgypt, thou broughst it vpon mount Sinai. (Ex. 19)18And thou didst bowe the heauens, and fasten the earth, and didst shake the world, and madest the depthes to tremble, and trubledst the world,19and thy glorie passed foure gates of fire, and of earthquake, and winde, and frost, that thou mightst geue a law to the seede of Iacob, and to the generation of Israel diligence.20And thou didst not take away from them a malignant hart, that thy law might bring forth fruite in them.21For Adam the first bearing a vicious hart transgressed and was ouercome, yea and al that were borne of him.22And it was made a permanent infirmitie, and the law with the hart of the people, with the wickednes of the roote, and that which is good departed, and the wicked remayned.23And the times passed, & the yeares were ended: and thou didst raise vp vnto thee a seruant named Dauid,24and spakest vnto him to build a citie of thy name, and to offer vnto thee in it frankencense, and oblations.25And this was done manie yeares, and they that inhabited the citie forsooke thee,26in al things as Adam and al his generations. For they also vsed a wicked hart.27And thou didst deliuer thy citie into the hands of thyne enimies.28Why, doe they better thinges, that inhabite Babylon? And for this shal she rule ouer Sion? (Jer. 12)29It came to passe when I was come hither, and had sene the impieties that can not be numbred: and my soul saw manie offending this thirteth yeare, & my hart was astonied:30because I saw how thou bearest with their sinne, and didst spare them that did impiously, and didst destroy thine owne people, and preserue thine enimies, and didst not signifie it.31I nothing remember how this way should be forsaken: doth Babylon better thinges then Sion?32Or hath anie nation knowen thee beside Israel: or what tribes haue beleued thy testamentes as Iacob?33Whose reward hath not appeared, nor their labour fructified. For passing through I passed among the nations, and I saw them abound, and not mindeful of thy commandmentes.34Now therfore wey our iniquities in a ballance, and theirs that dwel in the world: & thy name shal not be found, but in Israel.35Or when haue not they sinned in thy sight, that inhabite the earth? or what nation hath so obserued thy commandmentes?36These certes by their names thou shalt finde to haue kept thy commandments, but the nations thou shalt not finde.

1¤ AND the Angel answered me, that was sent to me, whose name was Vriel,2and sayd to me: Thy hart exceding hath exceded in this world, & thou thinkest to comprehend the way of the Highest.3And I sayd: It is so my Lord. And he answered me, & sayd: I am sent to shew thee three wayes, & to propose to thee three similitudes.4Of the which if thou shalt declare to me one of them, I also wil shew thee the way which thou desirest to see, and wil teach thee whence a wicked hart is.5And I sayd, Speak my Lord. And he sayd to me: Goe, wey me the weight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the winde, or cal me backe the day that is past.6And I answered, and sayd: what man borne can doe it, that thou askest me of these thinges?7And he sayd to me: If I should aske thee, saying: How great habitations are there in the hart of the sea, or how great vaines be there in the beginning of the depth, or how great vaines be there aboue the firmament, and what are the issues of paradise:8thou wouldest perhaps say to me: I haue not descended into the depth, nor into hel as yet, neither haue I ascended at anie time into heauen.9But now I haue not asked thee, sauing of the fire, and the winde, and the day by the which thou hast passed, and from the which thou canst not be separated: and thou hast not answered me of them.10And he sayd to me: Thou canst not know the thinges that are thine which grow together with thee:11and how can thy vessel comprehend the way of the Highest, and now the world being outwardly corrupted, vnderstand the corruption euident in my sight:12I sayd to him: Better were it for vs not to be, then yet liuing to liue in impieties, and to suffer, and not to vnderstand for what thing.13And he answered me, & said: Going forth I went forward to a wood of trees in the filde, and they deuised a deuise, (Judges 9/ 2 Par. 25)14and said: Come and let vs goe, and make warre against the sea, that it may retyre backe before vs, and we may make vs other woodes.15And in like maner the waues of the sea they also deuised a deuise, and sayd: Come let vs goe vp, let vs ouerthrow the woodes of the filde, that there also we may consummate an other countrie for our selues.16And the woodes deuise was made vaine, for fire came, and consumed it.17Likewise also the deuise of the waues of the sea. For the sand stood, & stayed them.18For if thou wert iudge of these, whom wouldest thou begin to iustifie, or whom to condemne?19And I answered, and sayd: Verely they deuised a vayne deuise. For the earth is geuen to the wood, and a place to the sea to carie her waues.20And he answered me, and sayed: Thou hast iudged wel, and why hast thou not iudged for thy self?21For as the earth is geuen to the wood, and the sea for the waues therof: so they that inhabite vpon the earth, can vnderstand onlie the thinges that are vpon the earth: and they vpon the heauens, the thinges that are aboue the height of the heauens.22And I answered, and sayd: I besech thee Lord, that sense may be geuen me to vnderstand.23For I meant not to aske of thy superiour thinges, but of those that passe by vs dayly. For what cause Israel is geuen into reproche to the gentiles, the people whom thou hast loued, is geuen to impious tribes, & the law of our fathers is brought to destruction, & the written ordinances are no where:24and we haue passed out of the world, as locustes, and our life is astonishment and dreade, and we are not worthie to obtaine mercie.25But what wil he doe to his name that is inuocated vpon vs? and of these thinges I did aske.26And he answered me, and sayd: If thou search very much, thou shalt often meruail: because the world hastening hasteneth to passe,27and can not comprehend the thinges which in times to come are promised to the iust: because this world is ful of iniustice and infirmities.28But conerning the thinges that thou demandest I wil tel thee: for the euil is sowed, and the destruction therof is not yet come.29If then that which is sowen be not turned vp, and the place depart where the euil is sowen, that shal not come where the good is sowen.30Because the grayne of il seede hath bene sowen in the hart of Adam from the beginning: and how much impietie hath it ingendered vntil now, and doth ingender vntil the floore come?31And esteme with thy self the graine of the il seede, how much fruite of impietie it hath ingendred:32When the eares shal be cut, which are innumerable, what a great floore wil they begin to make?33And I answered, and sayd: How, and when shal these things be? why are our yeares few and euil?34And he answered me, and sayd to me, Hasten not aboue the Highest. For thou doest hasten in vaine to be aboue him, for thy excesse is much.35Did not the soules of the iust in the cellars, aske of these things, saying: How hope I so, and when shal the fruite come of the floore of our reward?36And Ieremiel the Archangel answered to those things, and sayd: When the number of the sedes in you shal be filled, because he hath weyed the world in a balance,37and with a measure hath he measured the times, and in number he hath numbered the times, and hath not moued, nor stirred them, vntil the foresayd measure be filled.38And I answered, and sayd: O Lord Dominatour, we also are al ful of impietie.39And left perhaps for vs the floores of the iust be not filled, for the sinnes of the inhabitantes vpon the earth.40And he answered me, and sayd: Goe, and aske a woman with childe, if when she hath accomplished her nine monethes, her wombe can yet hold the infant within it?41And I sayd it can not Lord. And he sayd to me, in hel the cellars of the soules are like to the matrice.42For as she that is: In trauail maketh hast, to escape the necessitie of trauailing: so this also hasteneth to render those thinges which are commended to it.43From the beginning it shal be shewed thee touching those thinges, which thou doest couet to see.44And I answered, and sayd: If I haue found grace before thine eyes, & if it be possible, and if I by fitte,45shew mee if there be more to come then is passed, or more things haue passed, then are to come.46What passed, I know: but what is to come, I know not.47And he sayd to me: Stand vpon the right side, and I wil shew thee the interpretation of the similitude.48And I stood, and saw: and behold a burning fornace passed before me, & it came to passe when the flame passed, I saw: and behold the smoke ouercame.49And these thinges there passed before me a clowd ful of water, and with violence casting in much raine: and when the violence of raine was cast, the droppes therin ouercame.50And he sayd to me: Thinke with thyself, as the raine increaseth more then the droppes, and the fire then the smoke: so did the measure that passed, more a bound. But the droppes, and the smoke ouercame:51and I prayed, & sayd, shal I liue thinkest thou vntil these dayes? or what shal be in those dayes?52He answered me, and sayd: Of the signes wherof thou askest me, in part I can tel thee, howbeit of thy life I was not sent to tel thee, neither doe I know.

1¤ BVT concerning signes: behold the dayes shal come, wherin they that inhabite the earth shal be taken in a great number: and the way of truth shal be hid: and the countrie shal be barren from fayth.2And iniustice shal be multiplied aboue that which thy self seest, & aboue that which thou hast heard in time past. (Matt. 24)3And they shal put their foote into the countrie which now thou seest to reigne, and they shal see it desolate.4And if the Highest geue thee life, thou shalt see after the third trumpet, and the sunne shal sodenly shine agayne in the night, and the moone thrise in a day,5and out of wood bloud shal distil, and the stone shal geue his voice, and the peoples shal be moued:6and he reigne, whom they hope not that inhabite vpon the earth, and soules shal make their flight away.7& the sea of Sodom shal cast the fishes, and shal make a noise in the night, which manie knew not, and al shal heare the voice therof,8and there shal be made a confusion in manie places, and the fire shal often be sent backe, and the sauage beastes shal goe to other places, and wemen in their monethlie flowers shal bring forth monsters,9and in swete waters shal salt waters be found, and al frendes shal ouerthrow one an other: and then shal witte be hid, and vnderstanding shal be separated into his cellar:10and it shal be sought of manie, and shal not be found: and iniustice shal be multiplied, and incontinencie vpon the earth.11And one countrie shal aske her neighbour, and shal say: Hath iustice doing iust passed throught thee? and she shal denie it.12And it shal be in that time, men shal hope, and shal not obtaine: they shal labour, and their wayes shal not haue successe.13These signes I am permitted to tel thee: and if thou pray againe and weepe, as also now, and fast seuen dayes, thou shalt heare againe greater thinges then these.14And I awaked, and my bodie did shiuer excedingly: and my soule laboured, that it fainted:15and the Angel that came, that spake in me, held me, and strengthened me, and sette me vpon my feete.16And it came to passe in the second night, and Salathiel the prince of the people came to me, and sayd to me: Where wast thou? and why is thy countenance heauie?17Knowest thou not that Isreal is committed to thee in the countrie of their transmigration?18Rise vp therfore, and taste bread, and forsake vs not, as the pastour his flocke in the hand of wicked wolues.19And I sayd to him: Goe from me, & approch not vnto me. And he heard, as I sayd: and he departed from me.20And I fasted seuen dayes howling & weeping, as Vriel the Angel commanded me.21And it came to passe after seuen dayes, and againe cogitations of my hart molested me very much,22and my soule resumed the spirit of vnderstanding: & agayne I began to speake wordes before the Highest:23and I sayd: Lord Dominatour of euerie wood of the earth, & al the trees therof, thou hast chosen one vineyard:24& of euerie land of the world thou hast chosen thee one ditch: & of al the flowers of the world thou hast chosen thee one lilie:25and of al depthes of the sea, thou hast filled thee one riuer: and of al the builded cities, thou hast sanctified vnto thyself Sion:26and of al created soules, thou hast named thee one doue: and of al beastes that were made, thou hast prouided thee one shepe:27and of al multiplied peoples, thou host purchased thee one people: and a law approued of al thou hast geuen to this people, whom thou didst desire.28And now Lord, why hast thou deliuered one vnto manie? And thou hast perpared vpon one roote others, and hast dispersed thy onlie one in manie:29and they haue troden vpon it, which gainesayd thy couenants, and which beleued not thy testamentes.30And if hating thou hatest thy people, it ought to be chastised with thy handes.31And it came to passe, when I had spoken the wordes, and the Angel was sent to me, that came to me before the night past,32and he sayd to me: Heare me, and I wil instruct thee: and harken to me, and I wil adde before thee.33And I sayd: Speake my Lord. And he sayd to me: Thou art become excedingly in excesse of minde for Israel: hast thou loued it more then him that made it?34And I sayd to him: No Lord, but for sorow I haue spoken, for my veynes torment me euerie houre, to apprehend the pathe of the Highest, and to search part of his iudgement.35And he sayd to me: Thou canst not. And I sayd: Why Lord? To what was I borne, or why was not my mothers wombe my graue, that I might not see the labour of Iacob, & the wearines of the stocke of Israel?36And he sayd to me: Number me the thinges that are not yet come, and gather me the dispersed droppes, and make me the withered flowers grene againe,37and open me the shut cellars, & bring me forth the blastes inclosed in them, shew me the image of a voice: and then wil I shew thee the labour that thou desirest to see.38And I sayd: Lord Dominatour, for who is there that can know these thinges, but he that hath not his habitation with men?39And I am vnwise, and how can I speake of these thinges, which thou hast asked me?40And he sayd to me: As thou canst not doe one of these thiges, which haue bene sayd: so canst thou not finde my iudgement, or in the end the charitie, which I haue promised to the people.41And I sayd: But behold Lord thou art nigh to them that are nere the end: and what shal they doe that haue bene before me, or we, or they after vs?42And he sayd to me: I wil resemble my iudgement to a crowne. As there shal not be slacknes of the last, so neither swiftnes of the former.43And I answered, and sayd: Couldst thou not make them that haue bene, and that are, and that shal be, at once, that thou mayst shew thy iudgement the quicker?44And he answered me, and sayd: The creature can not hasten aboue the Creatour, nor the world sustayne them that are to be created in it, at once.45And I sayd: As thou didst say to thy seruant, that quickening thou didst quicken the creature created by thee at once, and the creature susteined it: it may now also beare them present at once.46And he sayd to me: Aske the matrice of a woman, & thou shalt say to it: And if thou bring forth children, why by times? Aske it therfore, that it geue ten at once.47And I sayd, it can not verily: but according to time.48And he sayd to me: And I haue geuen a matrice to the earth for them, that are sowen vpon it by time.49For as the infant bringeth not forth the thinges that perteyne to the aged, so haue I disposed the world created of me.50And I asked, and sayd: Wheras thou hast now geuen me a way, I wil speake before thee: for our mother, of whom thou toldest me, yet she is yong: now draweth nigh to old age.51And he answered me, and sayd: Aske her that beareth children, and she wil tel thee.52For thou shalt say to her: Why are not they whom thou hast brought forth, now like to them that were before thee, but lesse of stature?53And she also wil say vnto thee: They that are borne in the youth of streingth are of one sort, and they of an other, that are borne about the time of old age, when the matrice fayleth.54Consider therfore thou also, that you are of lesse stature, then they that were before you:55and they that are after you, of lesser then you, as it were creatures now waxing old, and past the strength of youth.56And I sayd: I besech thee Lord, if I haue found grace before thine eyes, shew vnto thy seruant, by whom thou doest visite thy creature.

1¤ AND he sayd to me: In the beginning of the earthlie world, and before the endes of the world stood, and before the congregation of the windes did blow, (Prov. 8)2and before the voyces of thunders sounded, & before the flashinges of lightenings shined, and before the fundations of paradise were confirmed,3and before beautiful flowers were sene, and before the moued powers were established, and before the innumerable hostes of Angels were gathered,4and before the heightes of the ayre were aduanced, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the chymneies were hote in Sion,5and before the present yeares were searched out, and before their inuentions that now sinne, were put away, and they signed that made fayth their treasure:6then I thought, and they were made by me only, and not by any other: and the end by me, and not by any other.7And I answered, and sayd: What separation of times shal there be? and when shal the end of the former be, and the begynning of that which foloweth?8And he sayd to me, from Abraham vnto Isaac, when Iacob and Esau were borne of him, the hand of Iacob held from the begynning the heele of Esau,9for the end of this world is Esau, and the begynning of the next Iacob.10The hand of a man betwen the heele and the hand. Aske no other thing Esdras.11And I answered, and sayd: O Lord dominatour, if I haue found grace before thyne eyes,12I pray thee shew thy seruant the end of thy signes, wherof thou didst shew me part the night before.13And he answered, and sayd to me: Arise vpon thy feete, and heare a voice most ful of sound.14And it shal be as it were a commotion, neither shal the place be moued wherin thou standest.15Therfore when it speaketh be not thou afrayd, because of the end is the word, and the fundation of the earth vnderstood,16for concerning them the word trembleth and is moued, for it knoweth that their end must be changed.17And it came to passe, when I had heard, I rose vpon my feete, and I heard: and behold a voice speaking, and the sound therof as the sound of manie waters:18and it sayd: Behold the dayes come, and the time shal be when I wil begyne to approch, that I may visite the inhabitantes vpon the earth.19And when I wil begin to enquire of them that vniustly haue hurt with their iniustice, and when the humilitie of Sion shal be accomplished.20And when the world shal be ouersigned that shal beginne to passe, I wil doe these signes: Bookes shal be opened before the face of the firmament, and al shal see together,21and infantes of one yeare shal speake with their voices, & wemen with child shal bring forth vntimely infantes not ripe of three or foure monethes, and shal liue, and shal be raysed vp.22And sodenly shal appeare sowen places not sowen, & ful cellers shal sodenly be found emptie:23and a trumpet shal sound; which when al shal heare, they wil sodenly be afrayd.24And it shal be in that time, freindes as enimies shal ouerthrow freindes, and the earth shal be afrayd with them: & the vaynes of fountaynes shal stand, and shal not runne in three howres:25and it shal be, euerie one that shal be leaft of al these, of whom I haue foretold thee, he shal be saued, and shal see my saluation, & the end of your world.26And the men that are receiued, shal see, they that tasted not death from their natiuitie, and the hart of the inhabitantes shal be turned into an other sense.27For euil shal be put out, and deceite shal be extinguished,28but fayth shal florish, and corruption shal be ouercome, and truth shal be shewed, which was without fruite so manie dayes.29And it came to passe, when he spake to me, & I loe by litle & litle looked on him before whom I stood,30and he sayd to me these wordes: I am come to shew thee the time of the night to come.31If therfore thou pray agayne, and fast agayne seuen dayes, agayne I wil tel thee greater thinges by the day which I haue heard.32For thy voice is heard before the Highest. For the strong hath sene thy direction, and hath fore sene the chastitie which thou hast had from thy youth:33and for this cause he hath sent me to shew thee al these thinges, and to say to thee, haue confidence, and feare not,34and hasten not with the former times to thinke vayne thinges, that thou hasten not from the last times.35And it came to passe after these thinges, and I wept againe, and in like maner I fasted seuen dayes, to accomplish the three weekes, that were told me.36And it came to passe in the eight night, and my hart was trubled againe in me, and I began to speake before the Highest.37For my spirit was inflamed excedingly, and my soul was distressed.38And I sayd: O Lord, speaking thou didst speake from the beginning of creature from the first day, saying: Let heauen be made and earth: and thy word was a perfect worke.39And then there was spirit, and darknesse was caried about, and silence, the sound of the voyce of man was not yet from thee.40Then thou didst command the lighsome light to be brought forth of thy treasures, wherby thy worke might appeare.41And in the second day thou didst create the spirit of the firmament, and commandest it to diuide, and to make a diuision betwen the waters, that a certayn part should depart vpward, and part should remaine beneth.42And in the third day thou didst command the waters to be gathered together in the seuenth part of the earth: but sixe partes thou didst drie and preserue, that of them might be seruing before thee thinges sowen of God, and tilled.43For thy word proceded, and the worke forth with was made.44For sodenly came forth fruite of multitude infinite, and diurse tastes of concupiscence, and flowers of vnchangeable colour, and odours of vnsearcheable smel, and in the third day these thinges were made.45And in the fourth day thou didst command to be made the brightnesse of the sunne, the light of the moone, the disposition of the starres:46and didst command them that they should serue man, that should be made.47And in the fifth day: thou saydst to the seuenth part, where the water was gathered together, that it should bring forth beastes, and foules, and fishes: and so was it done,48the dumme water and without life, the thinges that by Gods appointement were commanded, made beastes, that therby the nations may declare thy meruelous workes.49And then thou didst preserue two soules: the name of one thou didst cal Henoch, and the name of the second thou didst cal Leuiathan,50and thou didst separate them from eche other. For the seuenth part, where the water was gathered together, could not hold them.51And thou gauest to Henoch one part, which was dried the third day, to dwelt therin, where are a thousand mountaynes.52But to Leuiathan thou gauest the seuenth part being moyst, and kepst it, that it might be to deuoure whom thou wilt, and when thou wilt.53And in the sixt day thou didst command the earth, to create before thee cattel, and beastes, and creeping creatures:54and ouer these Adam, whom thou madest ruler ouer al the workes, which thou didst make, & out of him are al we brought forth, and the people whom thou hast chosen.55And al these thinges I haue sayd before thee o Lord, because thou didst create the world for vs.56But the residue of the nations borne of Adam thou saydst that they were nothing, and that they were like to spittle, and as it were the droping out of a vessel thou didst liken the abundance of them.57And now Lord, behold these nations which are reputed for nothing, haue begune to rule ouer vs, and to deuoure vs:58but we thy people whom thou didst cal thy first onlie begotten emulatour, are deliuered into their handes:59and if the world was created for vs, why doe not we possesse inheritance with the world? how long these thinges?

1¤ AND it came to passe when I had ended to speake these wordes, the Angel was sent to me, which had bene sent to me the first nights,2and he sayd to me: Arise Esdras, and heare the wordes which I am come to speake to thee.3And I sayd: Speake my God. And he sayd to me: The sea is set in a large place, that it might be deepe and wide:4but the entrance to it shal be set in a straict place, that it might be like to riuers.5For who witting wil enter into the sea, and see it, or rule ouer it: if he passe not the streite, how shal he come into the bredth?6Also an other thing: A citie is built, and set in a plaine place, and it is ful of al goodes.7The entrance therof narrow, and set in a stepe place, so that on the right hand there was fire, & on the left depe water:8and there is one onlie pathe set betwen them, that is, betwen the fire and the water, so that the pathe can not conteyne, but onlie a mans steppe.9And if the citie shal be geuen a man for inheritance, if he neuer passe through the peril set before it, how shal he receiue his inhertance?10And I sayd: So Lord. And he sayd to me, So it is: Israel also a part.11For I made the world for them: and when Adam transgressed my constitution, that was iudged which was done.12And the entrance of this world were made streite, and sorowful, & paynful, and few and euil, and ful of dangers, & stuffed very much with labour.13For the entrances of the greater world are large andsecure, and making fruite of immortalitie.14If then they that liue entring in enter into these streite and vayne thinges: they can not receiue the thinges that are layd vp.15Now therfore why art thou trubled, wheras thou art corruptible? and why art thou moued, wheras thou art mortal?16And why hast thou not taken in thy hart that which is to come, but that which is present?17I answered, and sayd: Lord dominatour: behold thou hast disposed by thy law that the iust shal inherite these thinges, and the impious shal perish. (Deut. 8)18But the iust shal suffer the streites, hoping for the wyde places, for they that haue done impiously, haue both suffered the streites, and shal not see the wide places.19And he sayd to me: There is no iudge aboue God, nor that vnderstandeth aboue the Highest.20For manie present doe perish, because the law of God which was set before, is neglected.21For God commanding commanded them that came, when they came, what doing they should liue, and what obseruing they should not be punished.22But they were not perswaded, and gaynesayd him, and made to them selues a cogitation of vanitie,23and proposed to them selues deceites of sinnes, & they sayd to the Highest that he was not, and they knew not his wayes,24and dispised his law, and denyed his couenaunces, and had not fidelitie in his ordinances, and did not accomplish his workes.25For this cause Esdras, the emptie to the emptie, and the ful to the ful.26Behold the time shal come, and it shal be when the signes shal come, which I haue foretold thee, and the bride shal appeare, and appearing she shal be shewed that now is hid with the earth:27and euerie one that is deliuered from the foresaid euils, he shal see my meruelous thinges.28For my sonne IESVS shal be reueled with them that are with him, and they shal be merie that are leaft in the foure hundred yeares.29And it shal be after these yeares, and my sonne CHRIST shal dye: and al men that haue breath,30and the world shal be turned into the old silence seuen dayes, as in the former iudgementes, so that none shal be leaft.31And it shal be after seuen dayes, and the world shal be raysed vp that yet waketh not, and shal dye corrupted:32and the earth shal render the thinges that sleepe in it, & the dust them that dwel in it with silence, and the cellars shal render the soules that are commended to them.33And the Highest shal be reueled vpon the seate of iudgement, and miseries shal passe, and long sufferance shal be gathered together.34And iudgement onlie shal remayne, truth shal stand, and fayth shal waxe strong,35and the worke shal folow, and the reward shal be shewed, and iustice shal awake, and iniustice shal not haue dominion. [See note below.]36And the pit of torment shall appear, and over against it shall be the place of rest: and the furnace of hell shall be shewed, and over against it the paradise of delight.37And then shall the Most High say to the nations that are raised from the dead, See ye and understand whom ye have denied, or whom ye have not served, or whose commandments ye have despised.38Look on this side and on that: here is delight and rest, and there fire and torments. Thus shall he speak unto them in the day of judgement:39This is a day that hath neither sun, nor moon, nor stars,40neither cloud, nor thunder, nor lightning, neither wind, nor water, nor air, neither darkness, nor evening, nor morning,41neither summer, nor spring, nor heat, nor winter, neither frost, nor cold, nor hail, nor rain, nor dew,42neither noon, nor night, nor dawn, neither shining, nor brightness, nor light, save only the splendour of the glory of the Most High, whereby all shall see the things that are set before them:43for it shall endure as it were a week of years.44This is my judgement and the ordinance thereof; but to thee only have I shewed these things.45And I answered, I said even then, O Lord, and I say now: Blessed are they that be now alive and keep the statutes ordained of thee.46But as touching them for whom my prayer was made, what shall I say? for who is there of them that be alive that hath not sinned, and who of the sons of men that hath not transgressed thy covenant?47And now I see, that the world to come shall bring delight to few, but torments unto many.48For an evil heart hath grown up in us, which hath led us astray from these statutes, and hath brought us into corruption and into the ways of death, hath shewed us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life; and that, not a few only, but well nigh all that have been created.49And he answered me, and said, Hearken unto me, and I will instruct thee; and I will admonish thee yet again:50for this cause the Most High hath not made one world, but two.51For whereas thou hast said that the just are not many, but few, and the ungodly abound, hear the answer thereunto.52If thou have choice stones exceeding few, wilt thou set for thee over against them according to their number things of lead and clay?53And I say, Lord, how shall this be?54And he said unto me, Not only this, but ask the earth, and she shall tell thee; intreat her, and she shall declare unto thee.55For thou shalt say unto her, Thou bringest forth gold and silver and brass, and iron also and lead and clay:56but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than brass, lead than iron, and clay than lead.57Judge thou therefore which things are precious and to be desired, whatso is abundant or what is rare.58And I said, O Lord that bearest rule, that which is plentiful is of less worth, for that which is more rare is more precious.59And he answered me, and said, Weigh within thyself the things that thou hast thought, for he that hath what is hard to get rejoiceth over him that hath what is plentiful.60So also is the judgement which I have promised: for I will rejoice over the few that shall be saved, inasmuch as these are they that have made my glory now to prevail, and of whom my name is now named.61And I will not grieve over the multitude of them that perish; for these are they that are now like unto vapour, and are become as flame and smoke; they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are quenched.62And I answered and said, O thou earth, wherefore hast thou brought forth, if the mind is made out of dust, like as all other created things?63For it were better that the dust itself had been unborn, so that the mind might not have been made therefrom.64But now the mind groweth with us, and by reason of this we are tormented, because we perish and know it.65Let the race of men lament and the beasts of the field be glad; let all that are born lament, but let the fourfooted beasts and the cattle rejoice.66For it is far better with them than with us; for they look not for judgement, neither do they know of torments or of salvation promised unto them after death.67For what doth it profit us, that we shall be preserved alive, but yet be afflicted with torment?68For all that are born are defiled with iniquities, and are full of sins and laden with offences:69and if after death we were not to come into judgement, peradventure it had been better for us.70And he answered me, and said, When the Most High made the world, and Adam and all them that came of him, he first prepared the judgement and the things that pertain unto the judgement.71And now understand from thine own words, for thou hast said that the mind groweth with us.72They therefore that dwell upon the earth shall be tormented for this reason, that having understanding they have wrought iniquity, and receiving commandments have not kept them, and having obtained a law they dealt unfaithfully with that which they received.73What then will they have to say in the judgement, or how will they answer in the last times?74For how great a time hath the Most High been longsuffering with them that inhabit the world, and not for their sakes, but because of the times which he hath foreordained!75And I answered and said, If I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, shew this also unto thy servant, whether after death, even now when every one of us giveth up his soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come, in which thou shalt renew the creation, of whether we shall be tormented forthwith.76And he answered me, and said, I will shew thee this also; but join not thyself with them that are scorners, nor number thyself with them that are tormented.77For thou hast a treasure of good works laid up with the Most High, but it shall not be shewed thee until the last times.78For concerning death the teaching is: When the determinate sentence hath gone forth from the Most High that a man should die, as the spirit leaveth the body to return again to him who gave it, it adoreth the glory of the Most High first of all.79And if it be one of those that have been scorners and have not kept the way of the Most High, and that have despised his law, and that hate them that fear God,80these spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall wander and be in torments forthwith, ever grieving and sad, in seven ways.81The first way, because they have despised the law of the Most High.82The second way, because they cannot now make a good returning that they may live.83The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for them that have believed the covenants of the Most High.84The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days.85The fifth way, they shall see the dwelling places of the others guarded by angels, with great quietness.86The sixth way, they shall see how forthwith some of them shall pass into torment.87The seventh way, which is more grievous than all the aforesaid ways, because they shall pine away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall be withered up by fears, seeing the glory of the Most High before whom they have sinned whilst living, and before whom they shall be judged in the last times.88Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from the corruptible vessel.89In the time that they dwelt therin they painfully served the Most High, and were in jeopardy every hour, that they might keep the law of the lawgiver perfectly.90Wherefore this is the teaching concerning them:91First of all they shall see with great joy the glory of him who taketh them up, for they shall have rest in seven orders.92The first order, because they have striven with great labour to overcome the evil thought which was fashioned together with them, that it might not lead them astray from life into death.93The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander, and the punishment that awaiteth them.94The third order, they see the witness which he that fashioned them beareth concerning them, that while they lived they kept the law which was given them in trust.95The fourth order, they understand the rest which, being gathered in their chambers, they now enjoy with great quietness, guarded by angels, and the glory that awaiteth them in the last days.96The fifth order, they rejoice, seeing how they have now escaped from that which is corruptible, and how they shall inherit that which is to come, while they see moreover the straitness and the painfulness from which they have been delivered, and the large room which they shall receive with joy and immortality.97The sixth order, when it is shewed unto them how their face shall shine as the sun, and how they shall be made like unto the light of the stars, being henceforth incorruptible.98The seventh order, which is greater than all the aforesaid orders, because they shall rejoice with confidence, and because they shall be bold without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of him whom in their lifetime they served, and from whom they shall receive their reward in glory.99This is the order of the souls of the just, as from henceforth is announced unto them, and aforesaid are the ways of torture which they that would not give heed shall suffer from henceforth.100And I answered and said, Shall time therefore be given unto the souls after they are separated from the bodies, that they may see that whereof thou hast spoken unto me?101And he said, Their freedom shall be for seven days, that for seven days they may see the things whereof thou hast been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered together in their habitations.102And I answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, shew further unto me thy servant whether in the day of judgement the just will be able to intercede for the ungodly or to intreat the Most High for them,103whether fathers for children, or children for parents, or brethren for brethren, or kinsfolk for their next of kin, or friends for them that are most dear.104And he answered me, and said, Since thou hast found favour in my sight, I will shew thee this also: The day of judgement is a day of decision, and displayeth unto all the seal of truth; even as now a father sendeth not his son, or a son his father, or a master his slave, or a friend him that is most dear, that in his stead he may be sick, or sleep, or eat, or be healed:105so never shall any one pray for another in that day, neither shall one lay a burden on another, for then shall all bear every one his own righteousness or unrighteousness.106And I sayd: First Abraham prayed for the Sodomites, and Moyses for the fathers that sinned in the desert. (Gen. 18/ Ex. 32)107And they that were after him for Isreal in the dayes of Achaz, and of Samuel,108and Dauid for the destruction, and Salomon for them that came vnto the sanctification. (2 Kings 24:17/ 2 Par. 6:13)109And Elias for them that receiued raine, and for the dead that he might liue, (3 Kings 17 & 18)110and Ezechias for the people in the dayes of Sennacherib, and manie for manie. (4 Kings 19:15)111If therfore now when corruptible did increase, and iniustice was multiplied, and the iust prayed for the impious: why now also shal it not be so?112And he answered me and sayd: This present world is not the end, much glorie remaineth in it: for this cause they prayed for the impotent.113For the day of iudgement shal be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortalitie to come, wherein corruption is past:114intemperance is dissolued, incredulitie is cut of: and iustice hath increased, truth is strong.115For then no man can saue him that hath perished, nor drowne him that hath ouercome. And I answered,116and sayd: This is my word the first and the last, that it had bene better not to geue the earth to Adam, or when he had now geuen it, to restraine him that he should not sinne.117For what doth it profit men presently to liue in sorow, and being dead to hope for punishment?118O what hast thou done Adam? For if thou didst sinne, it was not made thy fal only, but ours also which came of thee. (Rom. 5:12)119For what doth it profit vs if immortal time be promised to vs: but we haue done mortal workes?120And that euerlasting hope is foretold vs: but we most wicked are become vayne?121And that habitations of health and securitie are reserued for vs, but we haue conuerst naughtely?122And that the glorie of the Highest is reserued to protect them that haue slowly conuerst: but we haue walked in most wicked wayes.123And that paradise shal be shewed, whose fruite continueth incorrupted, wherin is securitie and remedie:124but we shal not enter in: for we haue conuerst in vnlawful places.125And their faces which haue had abstinence, shal shyne aboue the starres: but our faces blacke aboue darkenes.126For we did not thinke liuing when we did iniquitie, that we shal beginne after death to suffer.127And he answered, and sayd: This is the cogitation of the battel which man shal fight, who is borne vpon the earth,128that if he shal be ouercome, he suffer that which thou hast sayd: but if he ouercome he shal receiue that which I say:129for this is the life which Moyses spake of when he liued, to the people, saying: Choose vnto thee life, that thou mayst liue. (Deut. 30:19)130But they beleued him not, no nor the Prophetes after him, no nor me which haue spoken to them.131Because there should not be sorow vnto their perdition, as there shal be ioy vpon them, to whom saluation is perswaded.132And I answered, and sayd: I know Lord, that the Highest is called merciful in that, that he hath mercie on them which are not yet come into the world,133and that he hath mercie on them which conuerse in his law:134and he is long suffering, because he sheweth long sufferance to them that haue sinned, as it were with their owne workes:135and he is bountiful, because he wil geue according to exigentes:136and of freat mercie, because he multiplieth more mercies to them that are present, and that are past, and that are to come.137For if he shal not multiplie his mercies, the world shal not be made aliue with them that did inherite it.138And he geueth: for if he shal not geue of his bountie, that they may be releeued which haue done iniquitie, the tenth thousand part of men can not be quickned from their iniquities.139And the iudge if he shal not forgeue them that are cured with his word, and wype away a multitude of contentions: there should not perhaps be leaft in an innumerable multitiude, but very few.

1¤ AND he answered me, & sayd: This world the Highest made for manie, but that to come for few.2And I wil speake a similitude Esdras before thee. For as thou shalt aske the earth, and it wil tel thee, that it wil geue much more earth wherof earthen worke may be made, but a litle dust wherof gold is made: so also is the act of this present world.3Manie in deede are created, but few shal be saued. (Matt. 20:16)4And I answered, and sayd: Then o soul swallow vp the sense, and deuoure that which is wise.5For thou art agred to obey, and willing to prophecie. For there is no space geuen thee but only to liue.6O Lord if thou wilt not permitte thy seruant, that we pray before thee, and thou geue vs seede to the hart, and tillage to the vnderstanding, wherof may the fruite be made, wherby euerie corrupt person may liue, that shal beare the place of a man?7For thou art alone, and we are one workmanshippe of thy handes, as thou hast spoken:8and as now the bodie made in the matrice, and thou doest geue the members, thy creature is preserued in fire & water: and nine monethes thy workemanship doth suffer thy creature that is created in it:9and it self that keepeth, and that which is kept, both shal be preserued: and the matrice being preserued rendreth agayne at some time the thinges that are growen in it.10For thou hast commanded of the members, that is the brestes to geue milke vnto the fruite of the brestes,11that the thing which is made, may be nourished til a certayne time, and afterward thou mayst dispose him to thy mercie.12For thou hast, brought him vp in thy iustice, and hast instructed him in thy law, and hast corrected him in thy vnderstanding:13and thou shalt mortifie him, as thy creature: and shalt geue him life, as thy worke.14If then thou wilt destroy him that is made with so great labours: it is easie by thy commandment to be ordayned, that also which was made, might be preserued.15And now Lord I wil speake, of euerie man thou rather knowest: but concerning thy people, for which I am sorowful:16and concerning thine inheritance, for which I mourne, and for Israel for whom I am pensiue, and concerning Iacob, for whom I am sorowful.17Therfore wil I begin to pray before thee for me, & for them: because I see our defaultes that inhabite the earth.18But I haue heard of the celeritie of the iudge that shal be.19Therfore heare my voyce, and vnderstand my word, and I wil speake before thee.20The beginning of the wordes of Esdras before he was assumpted: and I sayd: Lord which inhabitest the world, whose eyes are eleuated vnto thinges on high and in the ayre:21and whose throne is inestimable, and glorie incomprehensible: by whom standeth an host of Angels with trembling,22whose keping is turned in wynde and fire, thou whose word is true, and sayings premanent:23whose commandment is strong, and disposition terrible: whose looke dryeth vp the depthes, and indignation maketh the mountaynes to melt, and truth doth testifie.24Heare the prayer of thy seruant, & with thine eares receiue the petition of thy creature.25For whiles I liue, I wil speake: and whiles I vnderstand, I wil answere:26Neither doe thou respect the sinnes of thy people, but them that serue thee in truth.27Neither doe thou attend the impious endeuours of the nations, but them that with sorowes haue kept thy testimonies.28Neither thinke thou of them that in thy sight haue conuerst falsly, but remember them that according to thy wil haue knowen thy feare.29Neither be thou willing to destroy them that haue had the maners of beastes: but respect them that haue taught thy law gloriously.30Neither haue indignation towards them, which are iudged worse then beastes: but loue them that alwayes haue confidence in thy iustice, and glorie.31Because we and our fatheres languish with such diseases: but thou for sinners shalt be called merciful.32For if thou shalt be desirous to haue mercie on vs, then thou shalt be called merciful, to vs hauing no workes of iustice.33For the iust which haue manie workes layd vp, of their owne workes shal receiue reward.34For what is man, that thou art angrie with him: or the corruptible kinde, that thou art so bitter touching it?35For in truth there is no man of them that be borne, which hath not done impiously, and of them that confesse, which haue not sinned. (3 Kings 8:46 / 2 Par. 6:36)36For in this shal thy iustice be declared, and thy goodnes, o Lord, when thou shalt haue mercie on them, that haue no substance of good workes.37And he answered me, and sayd: Thou hast spoken somethinges rightly: and according to thy wordes, so also shal it be done,38because I wil not in dede thinke vpon the worke of them that haue sinned before death, before the iudgement, before perdition:39but I wil reioyce vpon the creature of the iust, and I wil remember their pilgrimage also, and saluation, and receiuing of reward.40Therfore as I haue spoken, so also it is.41For as the husbandman soweth vpon the ground manie seedes, and planteth manie plantes, but not al which were sowen in time, are preserued, nor yet al that were planted, shal take roote: so they also that are sowen in the world, shal not al be saued. (Matt. 13 & 20)42And I answered, and sayd: If I haue found grace, let me speake.43As the seede of the husbandman, if it come not vp, or receiue not the rayne in time, if it be corupted with much rayne, perisheth:44so likewise also man who made with thy handes, and thou named his image: because thou art likened to him, for whom thou hast made al thinges, and hast likened him to the seede of the husbandman.45Be not angrie vpon vs, but spare thy people, and haue mercie on thy inheritance. And thou hast mercie on thy creature.46And he answered me, and sayd: The thinges that are present to them that are present, and that shal be, to them that shal be.47For thou lackest much to be able to loue my creature aboue me: and to thee often times, euen to thyselfe I haue approched, but to the vniust neuer.48But in this also thou art meruelous before the Highest,49because thou hast humbled thyself as becometh thee: & hast not iudged thyself, that among the iust thou maist be very much glorified.50For which cause manie miseries, and miserable thinges shal be done to them that inhabite the world in the later dayes: because they haue walked in much pride.51But thou for thyselfe vnderstand, & for them that are like vnto thee seeke glorie.52For to you paradise is open, the tree of life is planted, time to come is prepared, abundance is prepared, a citie is builded, rest is approued, goodnes is perfited, & perfit wisdome.53The roote of euil is signed from you: infirmitie, and mothe is hid from you: & corruption is fled into hel in obliuion.54Sorowes are past, & the treasure of immortalitie is shewed in the end.55Adde not therfore inquiring of the multitude of them that perish.56For they also receiuing libertie, haue despised the Highest, and contemned his lawe, and forsaken his wayes.57Yea and moreouer they haue troden downe his iust ones,58and haue sayd in their hart, that there is no God: and that, knowing that they dye. (Ps. 14 & 53)59For as the thinges aforesayd shal receiue you: so thirst and torment, which are prepared shal take them: for he would not man to be destroyed.60But they them selues also which are created, haue defyled his name which made them: & haue bene vnkind to him that prepared life.61Wherfore my iudgement now approcheth.62Which thinges I haue not shewed to al, but to thee, & to few like vnto thee. And I answered, and sayd:63Behold now Lord thou hast shewed me a multitude of signes, which thou wilt beginne to doe in the latter times: but thou hast not shewed me at what time.

1¤ AND he answered me, and sayd: Measuring measure thou the time in it selfe: and it shal be when thou seest, after a certaine part of the signes which are spoken of before shal passe,2then shalt thou vnderstand, that the same is the time wherin the Highest wil beginne to visite the world that was made by him.3And when there shal be sene in the world mouing of places, and truble of peoples,4then shalt thou vnderstand, that of these spake the Highest, from the dayes that were before thee, from the beginning.5For as al that is made in the world hath a beginning, and also a consummation, and the consummation is manifest:6so also the times of the Highest haue the beginning manifest in wonders and powers, and the consummations in worke and in signes.7And it shal be, euery one that shal be saued, and that can escape by his workes, and by fayth, in which you haue beleeued,8shal be leaft out of the foresayd dangers, and shal see my saluation in my land, and in my costes, because I haue sancitifed my selfe from the world.9And then shal they be in miserie, that now haue abused my wayes: and they that haue reiected them in contempt, shal abide in torments.10For they that knew not me, hauing obtained benefits when they liued:11and they that loathed my law, when they yet had libertie,12and when as yet place of penance was open to them vnderstoode not, but despised: they must after death in torment know it.13Thou therfore be not yet curious, how the impious shal be tormented: but inquire how the iust shal be saued, and whose the world is, and for whom the world is, and when.14And I answered, and sayd:15I haue spoken hertofore, and now I say, and hereafter wil say: that they are more which perish then that shal be saued: (Matt. 10)16as a floud is multiplied aboue, more then a droppe.17And he ansvvered me, and sayd: Like as the field so also the sedes: and as the flovvers, such also the colours: and as the workeman, such also the worke: and such as the husbandman, such is the husbandrie: because it was the time of the world.18And now when I was preparing for them, for these that now are before the world was made, wherin they should dwel: and no man gaynsayd me.19For then euery man, and now the creator in this world prepared, and haruest not fayling, and law vnsearchable their manners are corrupted.20And I considered the world, and behold there was danger because of the cogitations that came in it.21And I saw, and spared it very much: and I kept vnto my selfe a grape kernel of a cluster, and a plant of a great trybe.22Let the multitude therfore perish, which was borne without cause, and let my kernel be kept, & my plant: because I finished it with much labour.23And thou if thou adde yet seuen other dayes, but thou shalt not fast in them,24thou shalt goe into a field of flowers, where no house is built: & thou shalt eate only of the flowers of the field, and flesh thou shalt not tast, and wine thou shalt not drinke, but only flowers.25Pray to the Highest without intermission, and I wil come, and wil speake with thee.26And I went forth, as he sayd to me, into a field which is called Ardath, and I sate there among the flowers. And I did eate of the herbes of the field, and the meate of them made me ful.27And it came to passe after seuen dayes, and I sate downe vpon the grasse, and my hart was trubled ayayne as before.28And my mouth was opened, and I beganne to speake before the Highest, and sayd:29O Lord thou shewing thy selfe to vs, wast shewed to our fathers in the desert, which is not troden, and vnfruitful, when they came out of AEgypt: and saying thou saydst: (Ex. 19 & 24 / Deut. 4)30Thou Israel heare me, and sede of Iacob attend to my wordes.31For behold, I sow my lawe in you, and it shal bring forth fruite in you, and you shal be glorified in it for euer.32For our fathers receiuing the law obserued it not, and kept not my ordinances, and the fruite of the law did not appeare: for it could not, because it was thine.33For they that receiued it, perished, not keeping that which had bene sowen in them. (Ex. 32)34And behold it is the custome, that when the earth hath receiued sede, or the sea a shippe, or some vessel meate or drinke: when that shal be destroyed wherin it was sowne, or into the which it was cast:35that which was sowne, or cast in, or the thinges that were receiued, are destroyed withal, and the thinges receiued now tarye not with vs: but it is not so done to vs.36We in dede that receiued the law, sinning haue perished, and our hart that receiued it:37For the law hath not perished, but hath remayned in his labour. (Ezech. 48)38And when I spake these thinges in my hart, I looked backe with myne eyes, and saw a woman on the right side, and behold she mourned, and wept with a lowd voice, and was sorrowful in mynde exceedingly, and her garments rent, and ashes vpon her heade.39And I left the cogitations, wherin I was thinking, and I turned to her and sayd to her:40Why weepest thou? and why art thou sorie in mynde. And she sayd to me:41Suffer me my Lord, that I may lament myselfe, & adde sorrow: because I am of a very pensiue mynde, and am humbled exceedingly.42And I sayd to her, What ayleth thee: tel me. And she sayd to me:43I thy seruant haue beene barren, and haue not borne childe, hauing a husband thirty yeares.44For I euery howre, and euerie day, and these thirty yeares do beseche the Highest night and day.45And it came to passe, after thirtie yeares God heard me thy handmayd, and saw my humilitie, and attended to my tribulation, and gaue me a sonne: and I was very ioyful vpon him, and my husband, and al my citizens, and we did glorifie the Strong exceedingly.46And I nourished him with much labour.47And it came to passe when he was growen, and came to take a wife, I made a feast day.

1¤ AND it came to passe, when my sonne was entred into his inner chamber, he fel downe, and dyed:2and we al ouerthrewe the lights, and al my citizens rose vp to comfort me, and I was quiet vntil the other day at night.3And it came to passe, when al were quiet to comfort me, that I might be quiet: and I arose in the night, and fled: and came as thou seest into this field.4And I meane nowe not to returne into the citie, but to stay here: and neither eate, nor drinke, but without intermission to mourne, and to fast vntil I dye.5And I left the talke wherin I was, and with anger answered her, & sayd:6Thou foole aboue al wemen, seest thou not our mourning, & what thinges chance to vs?7Because Sion our mother is sorroweful with al sorrowe, and humbled, and mourneth most bitterly.8And now wheras we al mourne, and are sadde: wheras we are sorrowful, and art thou sorrowful for one sonne?9For aske the earth, and it wil tel thee: that it is she, that ought to lament the fal of so manie thinges that spring vpon it.10And of her were al borne from the beginning, and others shal come: and behold, almost al walke into perdition, and the multitude of them commeth to destruction.11And who then ought to mourne more, but she that hath lost so great a multitude, rather then thou which art sorie for one?12And if thou say vnto me, that my mourning is not lyke the earthes: because I haue lost the fruite of my wombe, which I bare with sorrowes, and brought forth with paynes:13but the earth according to the maner of the earth, and the present multitude in it hath departed as it came: and I saye to thee,14as thou hast brought forth with payne, so the earth also geueth her fruite for man from the beginning to him that made her.15Now therfore kepe in with thy sorrowe, and beare stoutly the chances that haue befallen thee.16For if thou iustifie the end of God, thou shalt in time both receiue his counsel, and also in such thinges thou shalt be praysed.17Goe in therfore into the citie to thy husband. And she sayd to me:18I wil not doe it, neither wil I enter into the citie, but here wil I dye.19And I added yet to speake to her, & sayd:20Doe not this word, but consent to him that counseleth thee. For how manie are the chances of Sion? Take comfort for the sorrowe of Ierusalem.21For thou seest that our sanctification is made desert, and our altar is throwen downe, and our temple is destroyed,22and our psalter is humbled, and hymne is silent, and our exultation is dissolued, and the light of our candelsticke is extinguished, and the arke of our testament is taken for spoyle, & our holie thinges are contaminated, and the name that is inuocated vpon vs, is almost prophaned: and our children haue suffred contumelie, and our Priestes are burnt, & our Leuites are gone into captiuitie, & our virgins are defloured, and our wiues haue suffered rape, and our iust men are violently taken, and our litle ones are lost, and our yong men are in bondage, and our valiants are made impotent:23and that which is greatest of al, the seale of Sion, because she is vnsealed of her glorie: For she is also deliuered into the handes of them that hate vs.24Thou therfore shake of thy great heauines, and lay away from thee the multitude of sorrowes, that the Strong may be propicious to thee agayne, and the Highest wil geue thee rest, rest from thy labours.25And it came to passe, when I spake to her, her face did shine suddenly, and her shape, and her visage was made glistering, so that I was afrayde excedingly at her, & thought what this thing should be.26And Behold, suddenly she put forth a great sound of a voyce ful of feare, that the earth was moued at the womans sound. And I saw:27and behold, the woman did no more appeare vnto me, but a citie was built, & a place was shewed of great fundations: and I was afrayd, & crying with a loude voyce I sayd:28Where is Vriel the Angel, that from the beginning came to me? for he made me come in multitude in excesse of this minde, and my end is made into corruption, & my prayer into reproch.29And when I was speaking these thinges, behold he came to me, and sawe me.30And behold I was layd as dead, & my vnderstanding was alienated, and he held my right hand, and strengthned me, & set me vpon my feete, & sayd to me:31What ayleth thee? and why is thy vnderstanding, and the sense of thy hart trubled, & why art thou trubled? And I sayd:32Because thou hast forsaken me, and I in dede haue done according to thy wordes, & went out into the field: & behold, I haue seene, & doe see that which I cannot vtter. And he sayd to me:33Stand like a man, & I wil moue thee. And I sayd:34Speake thou my Lord in me, forsake me not, that I die not in vaine:35because I haue seene thinges that I knew not, & I doe heare thinges that I know not.36Or is my sense deceiued, & doth my soule dreame?37Now therfore I besech thee, that thou shew vnto thy seruant concerning this trance. And he answered me, & sayd:38Heare me, and I wil teach thee, and wil tel thee of what thinges thou art afrayd: because the Highest hath reuealed vnto thee manie mysteries.39He hath seene thy right way, that without intermission thou was forrowful for thy people, and didst mourne exceedingly for Sion.40This therfore is the vnderstanding of the vision which appeared to thee a litle before.41The woman whom thou sawest mourning, thou beganst to comfort her.42And now thou seest not the forme of the woman, but there appeared to thee a citie to be built.43And because she tolde thee of the fal of her sonne, this is the interpretation.44This woman which thou sawest, she is Sion, and wheras she told thee of her, whom now also thou shalt see, as a citie builded.45And whereas she told thee, that she was barren thirtie yeares: for the which there were thirtie yeares, when there was not yet oblation offered in it.46And it came to passe after thirtie yeares, Salomon built the citie, and offered oblations: then it was, when the barren bare a childe.47And that which she sayd vnto thee, that she nourished him with labour, this was the habitation in Ierusalem.48And wheras she sayd to thee, that my sonne comming into the bryde chamber dyed, and that a fal chanced vnto him, this was the ruine of Ierusalem that is made.49And behold, thou hast seene the similitude of her: and because she lamented her sonne, thou beganst to comfort her: and of these thinges that haue chanced, these were to be opened to thee.50And now the Highest seeth that thou wast sorie from the hart: and because with thy whole hart thou sufferest for her, he hath shewed thee the clearnes of her glorie, and the fayrenes of her beautie.51For therfore did he say to thee, that thou shouldest tarie in a field where house is not built.52For I knew that the Highest beganne to shew thee these thinges:53therfore I sayd vnto thee, that thou shouldest goe into a field, where is no fundation of building.54For the worke of mans building could not be borne in the place, where the citie of the Highest began to be shewed.55Thou therfore feare not, neither let thy hart dread: but goe in, and see the beautie, and greatnes of the building, as much as the sight of thyne eyes is capable to see:56& afterward thou shalt heare as much, as the hearing of thyne eares is capable to heare.57For thou art blessed aboue manie, and art called with the Highest as few.58And to morrow night thou shalt tarie here:59and the Highest wil shew thee those visions of the thinges on high, which the Highest wil doe to them that inhabite vpon the earth in the later dayes.60And I slept that night, and the other next, as he had sayd to me.

1¤ AND I sawe a dreame, & behold an eagle came vp out of the sea: which had twelue winges of fethers, and three heades.2And I saw, and behold she spred her winges into al the earth, and al the windes of heauen blew vpon her, and were gathered together.3And I saw, and of her fethers sprang contrarie feathers, and they became litle winges, and smale.4For her heades were at rest, and the midle head was greater then the other heades, but she rested with them.5And I saw, and behold the eagle flew with her winges, and reigned ouer the earth, and ouer them that dwel in it.6And I saw, that al thinges vnder heauen were subiect to her, and no man gaynesayd her, no not one of the creature that is vpon the earth.7And I saw, and behold the eagle rose vp vpon her talons, and made a voice with her winges, saying:8Watch not al together, sleepe euerie one in his place, & watch according to time.9But let the heades be preserued to the last.10And I saw, and behold the voice came not out of her heades, but from the middes of her bodie.11And I numbered her contrarie winges, and behold they were eight.12And I saw, and behold on the right side rose one wing, and reighned ouer al the earth.13And it came to passe, when it reigned, an end came to it, and the place therof appeared not: and the next rose vp, & reigned, that held much time.14And it came to passe, when it reigned, & the end of it also came, that it appeared not as the former.15And behold, a voice was sent forth to it, saying:16Heare thou that hast held the earth of long time. Thus I tel thee before thou beginne not to appeare.17None after thee shal hold thy time, no nor the halfe therof.18And the third lifted vp it selfe, and held the principalitie as also the former: and that also appeared not.19And so it chanced to al the other by one & by one to haue the principalitie, & agayne to appeare nowhere.20And I saw, and behold in time the rest of the winges were sent vp on the right side, that they also might hold the principalitie: and of them there were that held it, but yet forthwith they appeared not.21For some also of them stoode vp, but they held not the principalitie.22And I saw after these thinges, and behold the twelue winges, and two litle winges appeared not:23and nothing remayned in the bodie of the eagle but two heades resting, and six litle winges.24And I saw, and behold from the six litle winges two were diuided, and they remayned vnder the head, that is on the right side. For foure taried in their place.25And I saw, and behold the vnderwinges thought to set vp them selues, and to hold the principalities.26And I saw, and behold one was set vp, but forthwith it appeared not.27And they that were second did sooner vanish away then the former.28And I saw, and behold the two that remayned, thought with them selues that they also would reigne:29and when they were thincking thereon, behold one of the resting heades, which was the midde one awaked, for this was greater then the other two heades.30And I saw that the two heades were complete with themselues.31And behold the head with them that were with him turned, and did eate the two vnderwinges that thought to reigne.32And this head terrified al the earth, & ruled in it ouer them that inhabite the earth with much labour, and he that held the dominion of the whole world aboue al the winges that were.33And I saw after these thinges, and behold the midle head sodenly appeared not, as did the winges.34And there remained two heads, which reigned also themselues ouer the earth, and ouer them that dwelt therein.35And I saw, and behold the head on the right side deuoured that which was on the left.36And I heard a voice saying to me, Looke against thee, and consider what thou seest.37And I saw, & behold as a lion raysed out of the wood roaring: and I saw that he sent out a mans voyce to the eagle. And he spake saying.38Heare thou, and I wil speake to thee, and the Highest wil say to thee:39Is it not thou that hast ouercome of the foure beastes, which I made to reigne in my world, and that by them the end of their times might come?40And the fourth coming ouercame al the beastes that were past, and by might held the world with much feare, and al the world with most wicked laboure, and he inhabitied the whole earth so long time with deceipte.41And thou hast iudged the earth not with truth.42For thou hast afflicted the meeke, and hast trubled them that were quiet, and hast loued lyers, & hast destroyed their habitations that did fructifie, and hast ouerthrowen their walles that did not hurt thee.43And thy contumelie is ascended euen to the Highest, and thy pride to the Strong.44And the Highest hath looked vpon the proud times: and behold they are ended, and the abominations therof are accomplished.45Therfore thou eagle appeare no more, and thy horrible winges, & thy litle winges most wicked, and thy heades malignant, and thy talons most wicked, and al thy bodie vayne,46that al the earth may be refreshed, and may returne deliuered from thy violence, and may hope for his iudgement, and mercie that made it.

1¤ AND it came to passe, whiles the lyon spake these wordes to the eagle: I saw,2and behold the head that had ouercome, and those foure winges appeared not which passed to him, and were set vp to reigne: and their reigne was smal, and ful of tumult.3And I saw, and behold they appeared not, and al the bodie of the eagle was burnt, & the earth was afrayd excedingly, and I by the tumult and traunce of minde, and for great feare awaked, and sayd to my spirit:4Behold thou hast geuen me this, in that, that thou searchest the wayes of the Highest.5Behold yet I am wearie in minde, and in my spirit I am very feeble, and there is not so much as a litle strength in me for the great feare, that I was afrayd of this night.6Now therfore I wil pray the Highest, that he strengthen me euen to the end.7And I sayd: Lord Dominatour, if I haue found grace before thine eyes, and if I am iustified before thee aboue manie, and if in deede my prayer be ascended before thy face,8strengthen me, and shew vnto me thy seruant the interpretation, and distinction of this horrible vision, that thou mayst comfort my soule most fully.9For thou hast counted me worthie to shew vnto me the later times. And he sayd to me:10This is the interpretation of this vision.11The eagle which thou sawest coming vp from the sea, this is the kingdom which was sene in a vision to Daniel thy brother. (Dan. 7:7)12But it was not interpreted to him, therfore I do now interprete it to thee.13Behold the dayes come, and there shal rise a kingdon vpon the earth, and the feare shal be more terrible then of al the kingdomes that were before it.14And there shal twelue kinges reigne in it, one after an other.15For the second shal beginne to reigne, and he shal continew more time then the rest of the twelue.16This is the interpretation of the twelue winges which thou sawest.17And the voice that spake which thou heardst, not coming forth of her heads, but from the middes of her bodie,18this is the interpretation, that after the time of that kingdom shal rise no smal contentions, and it shal be in danger to fal: and it shal not fal then, but shal be constituted againe according to the beginning therof.19And wheras thou sawest eight vnderwings cleauing to the wings therof,20this is the interpretation, eight kinges shal arise in it, whose times shal be light, and yeares swift, and two of them shal perish.21But when the middest time approcheth, foure shal be kept til a time, when the time therof shal beginne to approch to be ended, yet two shal be kept to the end.22And wheras thou sawest three heads resting,23this is the interpretation: in her last dayes the Highest wil rayse vp three kingdoms, and wil cal backe manie thinges into them, and they shal rule ouer the earth,24and them that dwel in it, with much labour aboue al them that vvere before them. For this cause they are called the heads of the eagle.25For these shal be they that shal recapitulate her impieties, and that shal accomplish her last thinges.26And wheras thou sawest a greater head not appearing, this is the interpretation therof: that one of them shal dye vpon his bed, and yet with torments.27For the two that shal remayne, the sword shal eate them.28For the sword of one shal deuoure him that is with him: but yet this also at the last shal fal by the sword.29And wheras thou sawest two vnderwings passing ouer the head that is on the right side,30this is the interpretation: these are they whom the Highest hath kept to their end, this is a smal kingdom, and ful of truble.31As thou sawest the lyon also, whom thou sawest awaking out of the wood, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her, and her iniustices by al his wordes as thou hast heard:32this is the wynde which the Highest hath kept vnto the end for them, and their impieties: and he shal rebuke them, and shal cast in their spoyles before them.33For he shal sette them in iudgment aliue: and it shal be, when he hath reproued them, then shal he chastise them.34For the rest of my people he shal deliuer with miserie, them that are saued vpon my borders, and he shal make them ioyful til the end shal come, the day of iudgment, wherof I haue spoken to thee from the beginning.35This is the dreame which thou sawest, and these be the interpretations.36Thou therfore only hast bene worthie to know this secrete of the Highest.37Write therfore in a booke al these thinges which thou hast sene, and put them in a hidden place:38and thou shalt teach them the wise men of thy people, whose harts thou knowest able to take, and to kepe these secretes.39But doe thou stay here yet other seuen dayes, that there may be shewed thee whatsoeuer shal seme good to the Highest to shew thee.40And he departed from me. And it came to passe, when al the people had heard that the seuen dayes were past, and I had not returned into the citie, and al gathered them selues together from the least vnto the greatest: & came to me, & spake to me saying:41What haue we sinned to thee, or what haue we done vniustly against thee, that leauing vs thou hast sitten in this place?42For thou alone art remayning to vs of al peoples, as a cluster of grapes of the vineyard, and as a candle in a darke place, and as an hauen and shippe saued from the tempest.43Or are not the euiles that chance, sufficient for vs?44If then thou shalt forsake vs, how much better had it bene to vs, if we also had bene burnt with the burning of Sion?45For we are not better then they that dyed there. And they wept with a lowd voice. And I answered them, and sayd:46Be of good chere Israel, and be not sorowful thou house of Iacob.47For there is remebrance of you before the Highest, and the Strong hath not forgotten you in tentation.48For I haue not forsaken you, neither did I depart form you: but I came into this place, to pray for the desolation of Sion, and to seeke mercie for the low estate of your sanctification.49And now goe euery one of you into his house, and I wil come to you after these dayes.50And the people departed, as I sayd to them, into the citie:51but I sate in the fielde seuen dayes, as he commanded me: and I did eate of the flowers of the field only, of the herbes was my meate made in those dayes.

1¤ AND it came to passe after seuen dayse, and I dreamed a dreame in the night.2And behold there rose a winde from the sea, that trubled al the waues therof.3And I saw, and behold that man grew strong with thousandes of heauen: and when he turned his countenance to consider, al thinges trembled that were sene vnder him:4and whersoeuer voyce proceded out of his mouth, al that heard his voices begane to burne, as the earth is quiet when it feeleth the fire.5And I saw after these, and behold a multitude of men was gathered together, of whom there was no number, from the foure windes of heauen, to fight against the man that was come vp out of the sea.6And I saw, and behold he had grauen to himself a great mountaine, & he flew vpon it.7And I sought to see the countrie, or the place whence the mountaine was grauen, & I could not.8And after these thinges I saw, and behold al that were gathered to him, to ouerthrowe him, feared exceedingly, yet they were bold to fieght.9And behold as he sawe the violence of the multitude that came, he lifted not vp his hand, nor held sword, nor anie warlyke instrument but only as I saw,10that he sent forth out of his mouth as it were a blaste of fire, and from his lippes a spirit of flame, & from his tongue he sentforth sparkles & tempests, and al thinges were mingled together with this blast of fire, & spirit of flame, & multitude of tempests.11And it fel with violence vpon the multitude, that was prepared to fight, and burned them al, that suddenly there was nothing sene of an innumerable multitude, but only dust, & the sauour of smoke: and I saw, and was afrayd.12And after these thinges I saw the man himself descending from the mountaine, and calling to him an other peaceable multitude,13and there came to him the countenance of manie men some reioycing, and some sorrowing: and some bond, some bringing of them them that were offered. And I was sicke for much feare, and awaked, and sayd.14Thou from the beginning hast shewed thy seruant these meruelous thinges, and hast counted me worthie that thou wouldest receiue my petition.15And now shew me yet the interpretation of this dreame.16For as I thinke in my iudgement, woe to them that were leaft in those dayes: & much more woe to them that were not leaft.17For they that were not leaft, were sorrowful.18I vnderstand now what thinges are layde vp in the later dayes, and they shal happen to them, yea and to them that are leaft.19For therefore they came into great dangers, and manie necessities, as these dreames do shew.20But yet it is easier, aduenturing to come into it, then to passe, as a cloud from the world, and vow to see the thinges that happen in the later time. And he answered me, and sayd:21Both the interpretation of the vision I wil tel thee: and also concerning the thinges that thou hast spoken I wil open to thee.22Wheras thou speakest of them that were leaft, this is the interpretation.23He that taketh away danger at that time, he hath garded himself. They that haue fallen into danger, these are they that haue workes, and fayth in the Strongest.24Know therefore that they are more blessed which are leaft, then they that are dead.25These are the interpretations of the vision, wheras thou sawest a man coming from the hart of the sea,26the same is he whom the Highest preserueth much time, which by himself shal deliuer his creature: and he shal dispose them that are leaft.27And wheras thou sawest proceede out of his mouth, as it were winde, and fire, and tempest:28and wheras he held no sworde, nor warlike instrument: for his violence destroyed the multitude that came to ouerthrow him: this is the interpretation.29Behold the dayes come, when the Highest shal begin to deliuer them, that are vpon the earth:30and he shal come in excesse of minde vpon them that inhabit the earth.31And one shal thinke to ouerthrow an other: one citie an other citie, one place an other place, and nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (Matt. 24/ Luke 21)32And it shal be, when these thinges shal come to passe, and the signes shal happen, which I shewed thee before: and then shal my sonne be reueled, whom thou sawest, as a man coming vp.33And it shal be when al nations shal heare his voice: and euery one in his countrie shal leaue their warre, that they haue toward each other:34and an innumerable multitude shal be gathered in one, as willing to come to ouerthrow him.35But he shal stand vpon the top of mount Sion.36And Sion shal come, and it shal be shewed to al prepared and builded, as thou sawest the mountaine to be grauen without handes.37And the same my sonne shal reproue the thinges that the gentils haue inuented, these their impieties which came nere to the tempest, because of their euil cogitaitons, and torments wherewith they shal begin to be tormented.38Which were likened to the flame, and he shal destroy them without labour by the law that was likened to the fyre.39And wheras thou sawest him gathering vnto him an other peaceable multitude.40These are the ten tribes, which were made captiue out of their land in the dayes of Osee the King, whom Salmanasar the King of the Assyrians led captiue: and he transported them beyond the riuer, and they were transported into an other land. (4 Kings 17)41But they gaue themselues this counsel, to forsake the multitude of nations, and to goe forth into a farther countrie, where mankind neuer inhabited.42Or there to obserue their ordinances, which they had not kept in their countrie.43And they entred in by the narrow entrances of the riuer Euphrates.44For the Highest then wrought them signes, and stayed the vaines of the riuer til they passed. (Ex. 14/ Jos. 3)45For by that countie was a great way to goe, of one yeare and a half: for the countrie is called Arsareth.46Then did they inhabite there til in the later time: and now againe when they beginne to come,47againe the Highest shal stay the vaines of the riuer, that they may passe: for these thou sawest a multitiude with peace.48But they also that were leaft of the people, these are they that be within my border.49In shal come to passe therefore, when he shal begine to destroy the multitude of these nations, that are gathered, he shal protect them that haue ouercome the people:50and then shal he shew them very manie wonders.51And I sayd: Lord dominatour, shew me this, why I saw a man comming vp from the hart of the sea, and he sayd to me:52As thou canst not either search these thinges, or know what thinges are in the depth of the sea: so can not any man vpon the earth see my sonne, or them that are with him, but in the time of a day.53This is the interpretation of the dreame which thou sawest, and for the which thou only art here illuminated.54For thou hast leaft thyne owne law, and hast bene occupied about my law, and hast sought it.55For thou hast disposed thy lyfe in wisdom, and thyne vnderstanding thou hast called mother:56and for this I haue shewed thee riches with the Highest. For it shal be after other three dayes, I wil speake other thinges to thee, and I wil expound to thee weightie and meruelous thinges.57And I went forth, and passed into the fielde, much glorifying & praising the Highest for the meruelous thinges that he did by time.58And because he gouerneth it, and the thinges that are brought in times, & I sate there three dayes.

1¤ AND it came to passe the third day, and I sate vnder an oke.2And behold a voice came forth against me out of a bush, and sayd: Esdras, Esdras: and I sayd: Loe here I am Lord. And I arose vpon my feete. And he sayd to me:3Reueling I was reueled vpon the bush, and spake to Moyses, when the people serued in AEgypt, (Ex. 3)4and I sent him, and brought my people out of AEgypt, and brought him vpon mount Sina, & held him with me manie dayes.5And I told him manie meruelous thinges, & shewed him the secrets of times, and the end: and I commanded him, saying:6These wordes thou shalt publish abroade, and these thou shalt hyde.7And now to thee I say:8The signes which I haue shewed, and the dreames which thou hast sene, and the interpretations which thou hast sene, lay them vp in thy hart.9For thou shalt be receiued of al, thou shalt be conuerted the residue with thy counsel, and with the like to thee, til the times be finished:10Because the world hath lost his youth, and the times draw nere to waxe old.11For the world is diuided by twelue partes, & the tenth part, & half of the tenth part are passed:12and there remaineth hereafter the half of the tenth part.13Now therefore dispose thy house, and correct thy people, & comfort the humble of them, & forsake now corruption,14and put from thee mortal cogitations, and cast from thee humane burdens, and doe from thee now infirme nature, & lay at one side cogitations most trublesome to thee, & make speedie transmigration from these times,15for the euiles which thou hast sene to haue chanced now, worse then these wil they doe againe: (Matt. 24/ 1 John 2)16for looke how much the world shal become weake by age, so much shal euiles be multiplied vpon the inhabitants.17For truth hath remoued it self farther of, and lying hath approched, for now the vision which thou sawest, hasteneth to come.18And I answered, and sayd before thee o Lord:19For behold I wil goe, as thou hast commanded me, & wil rebuke the people that now is. But them that shal yet be born, who shal admonish?20The world therfore is set in darknes, and they that dwel in it without light.21Because thy law is burnt, therefore no man knowth the workes that haue bene done by thee, or that shal begin.22For if I haue found grace with thee, send the Holie Ghost to me, & I wil write al that hath bene done in the world from the beginning, the thinges that were written in thy law, that men may finde the pathe: and they that wil liue in the later times, may liue.23And he answered me, and sayd: Goe gather together the people, and thou shalt say to them, that they seeke thee not for fourtie dayes.24And doe thou prepare thee manie tables of boxe, & take with thee Sarea, Dabria, Salemia, Echanus, and Asiel, these fiue which are readie to write sweeftly.25And come hither, & I wil light in thy hart a candle of vnderstanding, which shal not be put out til the things be finished, which thou shalt begine to write.26And then some thinges thou shalt open to the perfect, some thou shalt deliuer secretly to the wyse. For to morrow this houre thou shalt begine to write.27And I went as he commanded me, & gathered together al the people, and sayd:28Heare Israel these wordes:29Our fathers were pilgrimes from the beginning in AEgypt, and were deliuered from thence. (Gen. 47)30And they receiued the law of life, which they kept not, which you also after them haue transgressed: (Deut. 4/ Acts 7)31and the land was geuen you by lotte, and the land of Sion, and your fathers, and you haue done iniquitie, and haue not kept the wayes which the Highest commanded you.32And whereas he is a iust iudge, he hath taken from you in time that which he had geuen.33And now you are here, and your brethren are among you.34If then you wil rule ouer your sense, & instruct your hart, you shal be preserued aliue, and after death shal obtaine mercie.35For the iudgement shal come after death, when we shal returne to lyfe againe: and then the names of the iust shal appeare, and the dedes of the impious shal be shewed.36Let no man therfore come to me now, nor aske for me vntil fourtie dayes.37And I tooke the fiue men, as he commandede me, and we went forth into the field, and taried there.38And I was come to the morrow, & behold as voice called me, saying: Esdras open thy mouth, and drinke that which I wil geue thee to drinke. (Ezech. 3)39And I opened my mouth, & behold a ful cuppe was brought me, this was ful as it were with water: but the colour therof like as fire.40And I tooke it, and dranke; and when I had drunken of it, my hart was tormented with vnderstanding, and wisdome grewe into my brest. For my spirit was kept by memorie.41And my mouth was opened, and was shut no more.42The Highest gaue vnderstanding vnto the fiue men, and they wrote excesses of the night which were spoken, which they knewe not.43And at night they did eate breade, but I spake by day, & by night held not my peace.44And there were written in the fourtie dayes two hundred foure bookes.45And it came to passe when they had ended the fourtie daies, the Highest spake, saying:46The former thinges which thou hast written, set abrode, and let the worthie and vnworthiereade: but the last seuentie bookes thou shalt keepe, that thou mayest deliuer them to the wyse of thy people.47For in these is the vaine of vnderstanding, and the fountaine of wisdome, and the streame of knowledge, and I did soe.

1¤ BEHOLD speake into the eares of my people the wordes of prophecie, which I shal put into thy mouth, sayth our Lord:2and see that they be written in paper, because they be faithful and true.3Be not afrayd of the cogitations against thee, neither let the incredulities truble thee of them that speake.4Because euerie incredulous person shal dye in his incredulitie.5Behold I bring in, sayth our Lord, vpon the whole earth euils, sword, and famine, and death, and destruction.6Because iniquitie hath fully polluted ouer al the earth, and their hurtful workes are accomplished.7Therefore sayth our Lord:8I wil not now kepe silence of their impieties which they doe irreligiously, neither wil I beare with those thinges, which they practise vniustly. Behold the innocent & iust bloud crieth to me, & the soules of the iust crie continually.9Reuenging I wil reuenge them, sayth our Lord, and I wil take al innocent bloud out of them vnto me. (Apoc. 6:10 & 19:2)10Behold my people is led to slaughter as a flocke, I wil no more suffer it to dwel in the land of AEgypt.11But I wil bring them forth in a mightie hand and valiant arme, and wil strike with plague as before, and wil corrupt al the land thereof.12AEgypt shal mourne, and fundations thereof beaten with plague, and with the chastisement which God wil bring vpon it.13The husbandmen that til the ground shal mourne, because their seedes shal perish by blasting, and haile, and by a terible starre.14Woe to the world and them that dwel therein.15Because the sword is at hand and the destruction of them, and nation shal rise vp against nation to fight, & sword in their handes. (Matt. 24/ Luke 21)16For there shal be instabilitie to men, & growing one against an other they shal not care for their king, & the princes of the way of their doinges, in their might.17For a man shal desire to go into the citie & can not.18Because of their prides the cities shal be trubled, the houses raised, the men shal feare.19Man shal not pitie his neighbour, to make their houses nothing worth in the sword, to spoyle their goodes for famine of bread, & much tribulation.20Behold, I cal together sayth God, al the kinges of the earth to feare me, that are from the Orient, & from the South, from the East, & from Libanus, to be turned vpon themselues, and to render the thinges that they haue geuen them.21As they doe vntil this day to myne elect, so wil I doe, and render in their bosome. Thus sayth our Lord God:22My right hand shal not spare sinners, neither shal the sword cease vpon them that shede innocent bloud vpon the earth.23Fire came forth from his wrath, and hath deuoured the fundations of the earth, and sinners as it were straw set on fire.24Woe to them that sinne, and obserue not my comandmentes, sayth our Lord.25I wil not spare them: depart o children from the powre. Defile not my sanctification:26because the Lord knoweth al that sinne against him; therefore hath he deliuered them into death and into slaughter.27For now are euils come vpon the world, and you shal tarrie in them. For God wil not deliuer you, because you haue sinned against him.28Behold an horrible vision, and the face of it from the east.29And the nations of dragons of Arabians shal come forth in manie chariots, & as a winde the number of them is caried vpon the earth, so that now al doe feare and tremble, that shal heare them.30the Carmonians madde for anger, and they shal goe forth as wild boares out of the wood, & they shal come with great power, and shal stand in fight with them, & they shal waste the portion of the land of the Assirians.31And after these thinges the dragons shal preuaile mindful of their natiuitie, and conspiring shal turne themselues in great force to pursue them.32These shal be trubled and hold their peace at their force, and shal turne their fete into flight.33And from the territorie of the Assirians the besiegers shal beseige them, and shal consume one of them, and there shal be feare and trembling in their armie, and contention against their kinges.34Behold cloudes from the east, and from the north vnto the south, and their face very horrible, ful of wrath and storme.35And they shal beate one against an other, and they shal beate downe manie starres, and their starre vpon the earth, and bloud shal be from the sword vnto the bellie.36And mans dung vnto the camels litter, and there shal be much feare, and trembling vpon the earth.37And they shal shake that shal see that wrath, and tremble shal take them: and after these thinges there shal manie showers be moued:38from the south, and the north: and an other portion from the weast.39And the windes from the east shal reuaile vpon it, and shal shut it vp, and the cloudes which he raised in wrath, and the starre to make terrour to the east winde, and the west shal be destroyed.40And there shal be exalted great and mightie cloudes ful of wrath, and a starre to terrifie al the earth, and the inhabitantes therof, and they shal powre in vpon euerie high, and eminent place a terrible starre,41fire, and haile, and flying swordes, and manie waters, so that al fildes also shal be filled, and al riuers with the fulnes of manie waters.42And they shal throw downe cities, and walles, and mountaines, and hilles, and the trees of the woodes, and the grasse of the medowes, and their corne.43And they shal passe constant vnto Babylon, and shal raise her. (Apoc. 18)44They shal come together against her, and shal compasse her, and shal power out the starre, and al wrath vpon her, and the dust and smoke shal goe vp euen into heauen, and round about shal lament her.45And they that shal remaine vnder her, shal serue them that terified her.46And thou Asia agreeing into the hope of Babylon, and the glorie of her person,47woe be to thee thou wretch, because thou art like to her, and hast adorned thy daughters in fornication, to please & glorie in thy louers, which haue desired alwayes to fornicate with thee.48Thou hast imitated the odious in al her workes, and in her inuentions: therefore sayth God:49I wil send in euils vpon thee, widowhood, pouertie, and famine, and sword, and pestilence, to destroy thy houses by violation, and death, and glorie of thy vertue.50As a flower shal be withered, when the heate shal rise that is sent forth vpon thee,51thou shalt be weakned as a litle poore soule plaged and chastised of wemen, that the mightie and the louers may not receiue thee.52Wil I be zealous against thee sayth our Lord,53vnles thou hadst slayne myne elect at al times, exalting the slaughter of the handes, and saying vpon their death, when thou wast drunken.54Adorne the beautie of thy countenance.55The reward of thy fornication is in thy bosome, therefore thou shalt receiue recompence.56As thou shalt doe to my elect, sayth our Lord, so shal God do to thee, and shal deliuer thee vnto euil.57And thy children shal dye for famine: and thou shalt fal by the sword, and thy cities shal be destroyed, & al thyne shal fal in the filde by the sword.58And they that are in the mountaines, shal perish, with famine, and shal eate their owne flesh, & drinke bloud, for the famine of bread and thirst of waters.59Vnhappie by the seas shalt thou come, and againe thou shalt receuie euils.60And in the passage they shal beate against the idle citie, and shal destroy some portion of thy land, and shal deface part of thy glorie, againe returning to Babylon ourethrowen.61And being throwen downe thou shalt be to them for stubble, and they shal be to thee fire:62and deuoure thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountaynes, al thy woodes and fruitful trees they wil burne with fire.63Thy children they shal lead captiue, & shal haue thy goodes for a praye, and the glorie of thy face they shal destroy.

1¤ VVOE to thee Babylon & Asia, woe to thee AEgypt, and Syria.2Gird yourselues with sackclothes and shirtes of heare, & mourne for your children, & be sorie: because your destruction is at hand.3The sword is sent in vpon you, and who is he that can turne it away?4Fire is sent in vpon you, and who is he that can quench it?5Euiles are sent in vpon you, and who is he that can repel them?6Shal anie man repel the lion being hungrie in the woode, or quench the fire in stubble, forthwith when it beginneth to burne?7Shal anie man repel the arrow shot of a strong archer?8Our strong Lord sendeth in euiles, and who is he that can repel them?9Fire came forth from his wrath, and who is he that can quench it?10He wil lighten, who shal not feare, he wil thunder, and who shal not be afrayed?11Our Lord wil threaten, and who shal not vtterly be destroyed before his face?12The earth hath trembled, and the fundations thereof, the sea tosseth vp waues from the depth, and the floudes of it shal be destroyed, and the fishes thereof at the face of our Lord, and at the glorie of his powre:13because his right hand is strong which bendeth the bow, his arrowes be sharpe that are shot of him, they shal not misse, when they shal begine to be shot into the endes of the earth.14Behold euiles are sent, and they shal not returne til they come vpon the earth.15The fire is kindled and it shal not be quenched, til it consume the fundations of the earth.16For as the arrow shot of a strong archer returneth not, so shal not the euils returne backe, that shal be sent vpon the earth.17Woe is me, woe is me: who shal deliuer me in those dayes?18The beginning of sorrowes and much mourning, the beginning of famine and much destruction. The beginning of warres and the potestates shal feare, the beginning of euiles and al shal tremble.19In these what shal I doe, when the euils shal come?20Behold famine, and plague, and tribulation, and distresse are sent al as scourges for amendment,21and in al these they wil not conuert themselues from their iniquities, neither wil they be alwayes mindful of the scourges.22Behold, there shal be good cheape victuals vpon the earth, so that they may thinke that peace is directly coming toward them, and then shal euiles spring vpon the earth, sword, famine, and great confusion.23For by famine manie that inhabit the earth shal dye, and the sword shal destroy the rest that remained aliue of the famine,24and the dead shal be cast forth as dung, and there shal be none to comfort them. For the earth shal be left desert, and the cities therof shal be throwen downe.25There shal not be left a man to til the ground and to sow it.26The trees shal yeeld fruites, and who shal gather them?27The grape shal become ripe, & who shal tread it? For there shal be great desolation to places.28For a man shal desire to see a man, or to heare his voyce.29For there shal be leaft ten of a citie, and two of the field that haue hid themselues in thicke woodes, and cliffes of rockes.30As there are left in the oliuet, and on euerie tree, three of foure oliues.31Or as in a vinyeard when it is gathered there are grapes left by them, that diligently search the vineyard:32so shal there be left in those dayes three or foure, by them that search their houses in the sword.33And the earth shal be left desolate, and the fildes thereof shal waxe old, & the wayes thereof, and al the pathes thereof shal bringforth thornes, because no man shal passe by it.34Virgins shal mourne hauing no bridegromes, wemen shal mourne hauing no husbandes, their daughters shal mourne hauing no helpe:35their bridegromes shal be consumed in battel, and their husbandes be destroyed in famine.36But heare these thinges, and know them ye seruantes of our Lord.37Behold the word of our Lord, receiue it: beleue not the goddes of whom our Lord speaketh.38Behold the euiles approch, and slacke not.39As a woman with childe when shee bringeth forth her child in the ninth moneth, the houre of her deliuerance approching, two or three howres before, paines come about her wombe, and the infants coming out of her wombe, they wil not tarrie one moment.40So the euiles shal not slacke to come forth vpon the earth, and the world shal lament, and sorowes shal hold it round about.41Heare the word, my people: prepare yourselues vnto the fight, & in the euiles so be ye as strangers of the earth.42He that selleth as if he should flee, and he that byeth as he that should lose it.43He that playeth the marchant, as he that should take no fruite: and he that buildeth as he that should not inhabite.44He that soweth, as he that shal not reape: so he also that pruneth a vinyeard, as if he should not haue the vintage.45They that marie so as if they should not get children, & they that marie not, so as if were widowes.46Wherfore they that labour, labour without cause:47for foreners shal reape their fruites, & shal violently take their goodes, and ouerthrow their houses, and lead theire children captiue, because in captiuitie, and famine they beget their children.48And they that play the marchantes by robrie, the longer they adorne their cities and houses, and their possessions and persons:49so much the more wil I be zealous toward them, vpon their sinnes, sayth our Lord.50As a whore enuieth an honest & very good woman:51so shal iustice hate impietie when she adorneth herselfe, and accuseth her to her face, when he shal come that may defend him that searcheth out al vpon the earth.52Therefore be not made like to her, nor to her workes.53For yet a little whyle & iniquitie shal be taken away from the earth, & iustice shal reigne ouer you.54Let not the sinner say he hath not sinned: because he shal burne coales of fire vpon his head, that sayth I haue not sinned before our Lord God and his glorie.55Behold our Lord shal know al the workes of men, and their inuentions, & their cogitations, and their hartes. (Eccli. 23 / Luke 16)56For he sayd: Let the earth be made, and it was made: let the heauen be made, & it was made. (Gen. 1)57And by his worde the starrs were made, & he noweth the number of the starres. (Ps. 147:4)58Who searcheth the depth and the treasures therof: who hath measured the sea, & capacitie therof. (Job 38)59Who hath shut vp the sea in the midest of waters, & hath hanged the earth vpon the waters with his word.60Who hath spred heauen as it were a vault, ouer the waters he hath founded it.61Who hath put fountaines of waters in the desert, and lakes vpon the toppes of mountaines, to send forth riuers from the high rocke to watter the earth.62Who made man & put his hart in the midds of the bodie, and gaue him spirit, life and vnderstanding.63And the inspiration of God omnipotent that made al thinges, and searcheth al hid thinges, in the secretes of the earth.64He knoweth your inuention, and what you thinke in your hartes sinning, and willing to hide your sinnes.65Wherfore our Lord in searching hath searched al your workes, and he wil put you al to open shame,66and you shal be confounded when your sinnes shal come forth before men, and the iniquities shal be they, that shal stand accusers in that day.67What wil you doe? or how shal you hide your sinnes before God and his Angels?68Behold God is the Iudge, feare him. Cease from your sinnes, and now forget your iniquities to doe them anie more, & God wil bring you out, and deliuer you from al tribulation.69For behold the heate of a great multitude is kindled ouer you, and they shal take certaine of you by violence, & shal make the slaine to be meate for idols.70And they that shal consent vnto them, shal be to them in derision, and in reproch, and in conculcation.71For there shal be place against places, and against the next cities great insurrection vpon them that feare our Lord.72They shal be as it were madde sparing no bodie, to spoyle and waste yet them that feare our Lord.73because they shal waste and spoyle the goodes, and shal cast them out of their houses.74Then shal appeare the probation of mine elect, as gold that is proued by the fire.75Heare be beloued, sayth our Lord: Behold the dayes of tribulation are come: and out of them I wil deliuer you.76Doe not feare, nor stagger, because God is your guide.77And he that kepeth my commandmentes, and precepts, sayth our Lord God: Let not your sinnes ouerway you, nor your inquities be aduanced ouer you.78Woe to them that are entangled with their sinnes, and are couered with their iniquities, as a filde is entangled with the wood, & the path therof couered with thornes, by which no man passeth, & it is closed out, & cast to be deuoured of the fire.