2 Esdras

1And when I had made an end of speaking these words, there was sent to me the malak which had been sent to me the former nights:

2And he said to me, Rise up, Ezra, and hear the Words that I am come to tell you.

3And I said, Speak on, Oh YAHWEH. Then said HE to me, There is a sea set in a wide expanse so that it is broad and vast,

4But it has an entrance set in a narrow place so that it is like a river.

5If anyone, then, wishes to reach the sea, to look at it, to navigate it, and to rule it, how can he come to the broad part unless he passes through the narrow part?

6There is also another thing; A city is built, and set upon a broad plain, and is full of all tov things:

7The entrance thereof is narrow, and is set in a dangerous and precipitous place, so that there is fire on the right hand and deep water on the left:

8And there is only one path between them both, that is, between the fire and the water, so small that there can only be one man walk thereon at a time.

9If this city now were given to a man for an inheritance, how shall he receive this inheritance, unless he shall pass through the danger set before him?

10And I said, He cannot, Oh YAHWEH. Then said HE to me, so also is Yisrael's portion.

11Because for their sakes I made the world: and when Adam transgressed MY statutes, then was decreed that now is done.

12And so the entrances of this world were made narrow, full of sorrow, toilsome and travail: they are but few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships and very painful.

13But the entrances of the future world are broad and safe, and really yield the fruit of immortality.

14Therefore unless the living labor not to enter this strait and narrow way to pass through the difficult and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been laid up for them.

15Now therefore why disquiet you yourself, seeing you are but a corruptible man? And why are you moved, seeing that you are mortal?

16Why have you not considered in your mind what thing is to come, rather than that which is now present?

17Then answered I and said, Oh YAHWEH that bears rule, behold, YOU have ordained in YOUR Torah, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the checedless wicked shall perish.

18Nevertheless the righteous shall endure difficult circumstances while hoping for easier ones; but they that have done wickedly have suffered the strait things, and yet shall not see the easier ones.

19And HE said to me. There is no judge above YAHWEH, and none that is wiser and has understanding above the Most High!

20For there be many that perish in this life, because they despise the Torah of YAHWEH that is set before them.

21For YAHWEH has given strict commandment to those who came into the world, what they should do to live, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.

22Nevertheless they were not obedient to HIM; but spoke against HIM, and imagined vain thoughts;

23And deceived themselves by their wicked fraudulent deeds; they even declared that the Most High YAHWEH does not exist; and they ignored HIS ways!

24But HIS Torah they have scorned and despised, and denied HIS Covenants, and in HIS statutes they have been unfaithful, and have not performed HIS works.

25Therefore, Ezra, empty things are for the empty, and full things for the full.

26For behold, the time shall come, when the signs which I have foretold to you will come to pass, that the bride shall appear, even the city which now is not seen shall be seen, and the earth which now is hidden shall be disclosed.

27And whosoever is delivered from the foresaid evils that I have foretold shall see MY wonders.

28For MY Son the MessiYah shall be revealed with those that be with Him, and they that remain shall rejoice within four hundred years.

29After these years shall MY son MessiYah die, and all men that have life.

30And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence the seventh day, as it was at the first beginnings: so that no one shall remain.

31And after seventh day the world, that is not awake, shall be raised up, and that which is corruptible shall perish and die.

32And the earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and the chambers shall give up the souls which have been committed to them.

33And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgment, and then comes the end, and misery shall pass away, and the long suffering shall have an end:

34But judgment only shall remain, Truth shall stand, and faith shall grow strong:

35And the work shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested, and the righteous deeds shall be of force, and unrighteous wicked deeds shall bear no rule.

36Then the pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of Hell shall be disclosed, and opposite it the Paradise of delight.

37Then the Most High YAHWEH will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised!

38Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments!

39Thus HE will speak to them on the day of judgment, a day that has no sun or moon or stars,

40Or cloud or thunder or lightning or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning,

41Or summer or spring or heat or winter or storm or frost or cold or hail or rain or dew,

42Or noon or midnight, or dawn or shining or brightness or light, but only the splendor of the splendor of the Most High YAHWEH, by which all shall see what has been determined for them.

43For it will last for about a week of years.

44This is MY judgment and its prescribed order; and to you alone have I shown these things.

45I answered and said, "Oh Sovereign YAHWEH, I said then and I say now: Blessed are those who are alive and keep YOUR commandments!

46But what of those for whom I prayed? For who among the living is there that has not sinned, or who among men that has not transgressed YOUR covenant?

47And now I see that the world to come, will bring delight to few, but torments to many.

48For an evil heart has grown up in us, which has alienated us from YOU YAHWEH, and has brought us into corruption and the ways of death, and has shown us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life, and that not just a few of us but almost all who have been created!

49HE answered me and said, Listen to me, Ezra, and I will instruct you, and will admonish you yet again.

50For this reason the Most High YAHWEH has made not one world but two.

51For whereas you have said that the righteous are not many but a few, while the checedless wicked abound, hear the explanation for this.

52If you have just a few precious stones, will you add to them lead and clay?

53Then said I, Oh YAHWEH, how could that be?

54And HE said to me, "Not only that, but ask the earth and she will tell you; defer to her, and she will declare it to you.

55Say to her, You produce gold and silver and copper, and also iron and lead and clay;

56But silver is more abundant than gold, and copper than silver, and iron than copper, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.

57Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable, those that are abundant or those that are rare?

58I said, Oh Sovereign YAHWEH, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare, is more precious.

59HE answered me and said, Weigh within yourself what you have thought, for he who has what is hard to get rejoices more than he who has what is plentiful.

60So also will be the judgment which I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be delivered, because it is they who have made MY splendor to prevail now, and through them MY NAME has now been honored.

61And I will not grieve over the multitude of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke, they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.

62I replied and said, "Oh earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things!

63For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it,

64But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tormented, because we perish and know it.

65Let the human race lament, but let the beasts of the field be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the four-footed beasts and the flocks rejoice!

66For it is much better with them than with us; for they do not look for a judgment, nor do they know of any torment nor deliverance promised to them after death.

67For what does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive but cruelly tormented?

68For all who have been born are involved in iniquities, and are full of sins and burdened with transgressions.

69And if we were not to come into judgment after death, perhaps it would have been better for us.

70He answered me and said, "When the Most High YAHWEH made the world and Adam and all who have come from him, HE first prepared The Judgment and the things that pertain to The Judgment.

71And now understand from your own words, for you have said that the mind grows with us.

72For this reason, therefore, those who dwell on earth shall be tormented, because though they had understanding, they committed iniquity, and though they received the commandments, they did not keep them, and though they obtained the Torah, they dealt unfaithfully with what they received.

73What then, will they have to say in The Judgment, or how will they answer in the last times?

74For how long the time is that the Most High YAHWEH has been patient with those who inhabit the world, and not for their sake, but because of the times which HE has fore-ordained!"

75I answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, my master, show this also to your servant: whether after death, as soon as every one of us yields up his soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come when you will renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented at once?"

76He answered me and said, "I will show you that also, but do not be associated with those who have shown scorn, nor number yourself among those who are tormented.

77For you have a treasure of works laid up with the Most High YAHWEH; but it will not be shown to you until the last time.

78Now, concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone forth from the Most High YAHWEH that a man shall die, as the ruach leaves the body to return again to HIM who gave it, first of all it adores the splendor of the Most High YAHWEH.

79And if it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High YAHWEH, and who have despised HIS Torah, and who have hated those who fear YAHWEH,

80Such ruachim shall not enter into habitations, but shall immediately wander about in torments, ever grieving and sad, in seven ways.

81The first way, because they have scorned the Torah of the Most High.

82The second way, because they cannot now make a tov repentance that they may live.

83The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the Covenants of the Most High YAHWEH.

84The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last day.

85The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by malakim in profound quiet.

86The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will pass over into torments.

87The seventh way, which is worse than all the ways that have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the splendor of the Most High YAHWEH before whom they sinned while they were alive, and before whom they are to be judged in the last time.

88Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High YAHWEH, when they shall be separated from their corruptible body.

89During the time that they decayed in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour, that they might keep the Torah of the Torah-giver perfectly.

90Therefore this is the teaching concerning them:

91First of all, they shall see with great joy the splendor of HIM who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders.

92The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome evil which was formed 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 checedless wander, and the punishment that waits them.

94The third order, they see the witness which HE who formed them bears concerning them, that while they were alive they kept the Torah which was given them in trust.

95The fourth order, they understand the rest which they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by malakim in profound quiet, and the splendor which awaits them in the last day.

96The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is mortal, and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and the fullness of toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty which they are to receive and enjoy in immortality.

97The sixth order, when it is shown to them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on.

98The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of HIM whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when magnified.

99This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced, and the aforesaid are the ways of torment which those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter."

100I answered and said, Will time therefore be given to the souls after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what you have described to me?

101He said to me, They shall have freedom for seven days, so that during these seven days they may see the things of which you have been told, and afterward they shall be gathered in their habitations.

102I answered and said, If I have found favor in your sight, show further to me, YOUR servant, whether on The Day Of Judgment the righteous will be able to intercede for the checedless or to entreat the Most High YAHWEH for them,

103Fathers for sons or sons for parents, brothers for brothers, relatives for their kinsmen, or friends for those who are most dear.

104He answered me and said, Since you have found favor in MY sight, I will show you this also. The Day of Judgment is decisive and displays to all The Seal Of Truth. Just as now a father does not send his son, or a son his father, or a master his servant, or a friend his dearest friend, to be ill or sleep or eat or be healed in his stead,

105So no one shall be able to pray for another on that day, neither shall anyone lay a burden on another; for then everyone shall bear his own righteousness or unrighteousness.

106I answered and said, How then do we find that first Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom, and Moses for our fathers who sinned in the desert,

107And Yahshua Ben Nun after him for Yisrael in the days of Achan,

108And Samuel in the days of Saul, and David for the plague: and Solomon for those in the sanctuary,

109And Eliyah for those who received the rain, and for the one who was dead, that he might live

110And Hezekiah for the people in the days of Sennacherib, and many others prayed for many?

111Therefore the righteous have prayed for the checedless now, when corruption has increased and unrighteousness has multiplied, why will it not be so then as well?"

112He answered me and said, "This present world is not the end; the full splendor does not abide in it; therefore those who were strong prayed for the weak.

113But The Day Of Judgment will be the end of this age and the beginning of the immortal age to come, in which corruption has passed away,

114Sinful indulgence has come to an end, unbelief has been cut off, and righteousness has increased and Truth has appeared.

115Therefore no one will then be able to have mercy on him who has been condemned in The Day Of Judgment, or to overwhelm him to harm him who is victorious."

116I answered and said, "This is my first and last word: It would have been better if the earth had not produced Adam, or else, when it had produced him, had restrained him from sinning.

117For what tov is it to all that they live in sorrow now and expect punishment after death?

118Oh Adam, what have you done? For though it was you who sinned, the fall was not yours alone, but ours also who are your descendants.

119For what tov is it to us, if an eternal age has been promised to us, but we have done deeds that bring death?

120And what tov is it that an everlasting hope has been promised us, but we have miserably failed?

121Or that safe and healthful habitations have been reserved for us, but we have lived wickedly?

122Or that the splendor of the Most High YAHWEH will defend those who have led a pure life, but we have walked in the most wicked ways?

123Or that a paradise shall be revealed, whose fruit remains unspoiled and in which are abundance and healing, but we shall not enter into it,

124because we have lived in unseemly places?

125Or that the faces of those who practiced self-control shall shine more than the stars but our faces shall be blacker than darkness?

126For while we lived and committed iniquity we did not consider what we should suffer after death.

127He answered and said, This is the meaning of the contest which every man who is born on earth shall wage,

128That if he is defeated he shall suffer what you have said, but if he is victorious he shall receive what I have said."

129For this is the way of which Mosheh, while he was alive, spoke to the people, saying, Choose for yourself life, that you may live!

130But they did not believe him, nor the prophets after him, or even myself who have spoken to them.

131Therefore there shall not be grief at their damnation, and so much joy over those to whom Deliverance is assured.

132I answered and said, I know, my master, that the Most High YAHWEH is now called merciful, because HE has mercy on those who have not yet come into the world;

133And free unmerited favor, because HE is full of free unmerited favor to those who turn in repentance to HIS Torah;

134And patient, because HE shows patience toward those who have sinned, since they are HIS own works;

135And bountiful, because HE would rather give than take away;

136And abundant in compassion, because HE makes HIS compassions abound more and more to those now living and to those who are gone and to those yet to come,

137For if HE did not make them abound, the world with those who inhabit it, would not have life;

138And HE is called Giver, because if HE did not give out of HIS tov so that those who have committed iniquities might be relieved of them, not one ten-thousandth of mankind could have life;

139And judge, because if HE did not pardon those who were created by HIS Word and blot out the multitude of their sins,

140There would probably be left only very few of the innumerable multitude.