Ezra Sutuel (4 Ezra)
Chapter 1 of 12
1In the thirtieth year after our city fell, I, Sutuel, who am called Ezra, was in Babylon. I lay troubled on my bed with my face uncovered, and my thoughts rose up in my heart. 2For I had seen the ruin of Zion and the joy of those who live in Babylon. 3My spirit was deeply shaken, and I began to speak awe-filled words to the Most High. 4I said, "O Lord, LORD, did you not speak at the beginning, when you formed the earth, and that by yourself alone, and give command to the ground? There were the gates of your glory, of fire and of earthquake, of wind and of hail, so that you might give the law to the seed of Jacob and the commandment to the race of Israel. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 5The ground brought forth Adam, a mortal body, yet he too was the work of your hands. You breathed into him the breath of life, and he became alive before you. 6You brought him into the garden that your right hand planted before the earth was established. 7You gave him a commandment of righteousness, and he broke it. Then you appointed death for him and for his descendants. From him were born nations and peoples, tribes and clans without number. 8All the nations went their own way and sinned before you, yet you did not stop them. 9Then, in time, you brought the flood on the earth and on those who lived in the world, and you destroyed them. 10Their judgment was the same: as you brought death on Adam, so you brought the flood on these. 11But you spared one of them, named Noah, with his household, and from him came all the righteous. 12Then, when those who lived on the earth began to multiply and fill it, and their children increased, and nations and many peoples were born from them, they began to sin again, even more than before. 13When they sinned before you, you chose for yourself one of them, named Abraham. 14You loved him, and to him alone you showed the end of the times, privately, by night. 15You made an everlasting covenant with him, that you would never abandon his descendants. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 16You gave him Isaac, and to Isaac you gave Jacob and Esau. You chose Jacob for yourself and set Esau aside, and Jacob became a great multitude. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 17Those who came out of Egypt you led to Mount Sinai. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 18You bent the heavens and shook the earth. You moved the world, made the deeps tremble and stirred up the sea. 19And your glory passed by. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 20Yet you did not take the evil heart away from them, so that your law might bear fruit in them. 21For the first Adam, clothed with an evil heart, broke the commandment and was overcome. And not he alone, but all who were born from him. 22So the sickness became permanent. Along with your law it stayed in the heart of the people, together with the evil root. The good faded away, and the evil remained. 23The days passed and the years were completed, and you raised up for yourself your servant named David. 24You told him to build a city for your name and to bring your offerings into it. 25Many days and years went by, and those who lived in the land sinned. 26They did nothing better than Adam and all his descendants had done, for they too had put on the evil heart. 27So you handed your city over to your enemies. 28That day I said in my heart, "Do those who live in Babylon act any better, that they should take the city of Zion?" 29When I arrived here, I saw sins beyond number. For thirty years now my soul has seen many who deny you, and my heart is astonished at it. 30I have seen how you bear with sinners and spare the wicked, how you have abandoned your people and protected your enemies. 31You have not told anyone at all how this way will end. Is Babylon any better than Zion in what it does? 32Has any other nation known you besides Israel? Or what people has believed your law like Jacob? 33Yet their reward has not appeared, and their labor has borne no fruit. I have gone among the nations and found them prosperous, though they give no thought to your law and your commandments. 34So now weigh our sins in the scales against the sins of those who live in the world, and see on which side even a little is found, enough to tip the pointer of the scales. 35When have those who live in the world not sinned before you? Or what nation has kept your commandments like this? 36You may find individuals here and there, but a nation that is wholly faithful will not be found." [unclear in the Ge'ez] ‹
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Ezra Sutuel (4 Ezra) · Chapter 1 of 12