2 Esdras (4 Ezra) · Revised Version with Apocrypha
2 Esdras (4 Ezra) 2 Revised Version with Apocrypha
2 Esdras (4 Ezra) is not in PT1904.
1 Thus saith the Lord, I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them my commandments by my servants the prophets; whom they would not hear, but set my counsels at nought.
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2 The mother that bare them saith unto them, go your way, O my children; for I am a widow and forsaken.
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3 I brought you up with gladness, and with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned before the Lord God, and done that which is evil before me.
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4 But what shall I now do unto you? for I am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the Lord.
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5 As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of [these ] children, because they would not keep my covenant,
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6 that thou bring them to confusion, and their mother to a spoil, that there may be no offspring of them.
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7 Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen, let their names be blotted out of the earth: for they have despised my covenant.
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8 Woe unto thee, Assur, thou that hidest the unrighteous with thee! O thou wicked nation, remember what I did unto Sodom and Gomorrah;
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9 whose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord Almighty.
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10 Thus saith the Lord unto Esdras, Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given unto Israel.
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11 Their glory also will I take unto me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for them.
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12 They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour; they shall neither labour, nor be weary.
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13 Ask, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.
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14 Take heaven and earth to witness, take them to witness; for I have given up the evil, and created the good: for I live, saith the Lord.
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15 Mother, embrace thy children; I will bring them out with gladness like a dove; stablish their feet; for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.
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16 And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out from their tombs: for I have known my name in them.
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17 Fear not, thou mother of the children: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.
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18 For thy help will I send my servants Esaias and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with divers fruits,
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19 and as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy.
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20 Do right to the widow, judge the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,
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21 heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come unto the sight of my glory.
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22 Keep the old and young within thy walls.
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23 Wheresoever thou findest the dead, set a sign upon them and commit them to the grave, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection.
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24 Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness shall come.
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25 Nourish thy children, O thou good nurse, and stablish their feet.
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26 As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number.
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27 Be not careful overmuch: for when the day of tribulation and anguish cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance.
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28 The nations shall envy thee, but they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the Lord.
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29 My hands shall cover thee, so that thy children see not hell.
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30 Be joyful, O thou mother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the Lord.
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31 Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the secret places of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty.
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32 Embrace thy children until I come, and proclaim mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.
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33 I Esdras received a charge from the Lord upon the mount Horeb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they would none of me, and rejected the commandment of the Lord.
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34 And therefore I say unto you, O ye nations, that hear and understand, look for your shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world.
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35 Be ready to the rewards of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore.
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36 Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I call to witness my saviour openly.
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37 O receive that which is given you of the Lord, and be joyful, giving thanks unto him that hath called you to heavenly kingdoms.
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38 Arise up and stand, and behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;
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39 they that withdrew them from the shadow of the world have received glorious garments of the Lord.
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40 Look upon thy number, O Sion, and make up the reckoning of those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord.
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41 The number of thy children, whom thou longest for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed.
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42 I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great multitude, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.
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43 And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; whereat I marvelled greatly.
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44 So I asked the angel, and said, What are these, my Lord?
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45 He answered and said unto me, These be they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.
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46 Then said I unto the angel, What young man is he that setteth crowns upon them, and giveth them palms in their hands?
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47 So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.
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48 Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord God thou hast seen.
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