CHAP. XIII.
A vision of a winde (as it first semed, but) in dede, v. 3. of a man: 5. strong against the enimies: 21. with the interpretation.
AND it came to passe after seuen dayse, and I dreamed a dreame in the night. 2 And behold there rose a winde from the sea, that trubled al the waues therof. 3 And 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: 4 and 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. 5 And 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. 6 And I saw, and behold he had grauen to himself a great mountaine, & he flew vpon it. 7 And I sought to see the countrie, or the place whence the mountaine was grauen, & I could not. 8 And after these thinges I saw, and behold al that were gathered to him, to ouerthrowe him, feared exceedingly, yet they were bold to fieght. 9 And 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, 10 that 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. 11 And 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. 12 And after these thinges I saw the man himself descending from the mountaine, and calling to him an other peaceable multitude, 13 and 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. 14 Thou from the beginning hast shewed thy seruant these meruelous thinges, and hast counted me worthie that thou wouldest receiue my petition. 15 And now shew me yet the interpretation of this dreame. 16 For as I thinke in my iudgement, woe to them that were leaft in those dayes: & much more woe to them that were not leaft. 17 For they that were not leaft, were sorrowful. 18 I vnderstand now what thinges are layde vp in the later dayes, and they shal happen to them, yea and to them that are leaft. 19 For therefore they came into great dangers, and manie necessities, as these dreames do shew. 20 But 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: 21 Both the interpretation of the vision I wil tel thee: and also concerning the thinges that thou hast spoken I wil open to thee. 22 Wheras thou speakest of them that were leaft, this is the interpretation. 23 He 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. 24 Know therefore that they are more blessed which are leaft, then they that are dead. 25 These are the interpretations of the vision, wheras thou sawest a man coming from the hart of the sea, 26 the same is he whom the Highest preserueth much time, which by himself shal deliuer his creature: and he shal dispose them that are leaft. 27 And wheras thou sawest proceede out of his mouth, as it were winde, and fire, and tempest: 28 and wheras he held no sworde, nor warlike instrument: for his violence destroyed the multitude that came to ouerthrow him: this is the interpretation. 29 Behold the dayes come, when the Highest shal begin to deliuer them, that are vpon the earth: 30 and he shal come in excesse of minde vpon them that inhabit the earth. 31 And 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) 32 And 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. 33 And 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: 34 and an innumerable multitude shal be gathered in one, as willing to come to ouerthrow him. 35 But he shal stand vpon the top of mount Sion. 36 And Sion shal come, and it shal be shewed to al prepared and builded, as thou sawest the mountaine to be grauen without handes. 37 And 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. 38 Which were likened to the flame, and he shal destroy them without labour by the law that was likened to the fyre. 39 And wheras thou sawest him gathering vnto him an other peaceable multitude. 40 These 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) 41 But they gaue themselues this counsel, to forsake the multitude of nations, and to goe forth into a farther countrie, where mankind neuer inhabited. 42 Or there to obserue their ordinances, which they had not kept in their countrie. 43 And they entred in by the narrow entrances of the riuer Euphrates. 44 For the Highest then wrought them signes, and stayed the vaines of the riuer til they passed. (Ex 14 / Jos 3) 45 For by that countie was a great way to goe, of one yeare and a half: for the countrie is called Arsareth. 46 Then did they inhabite there til in the later time: and now againe when they beginne to come, 47 againe the Highest shal stay the vaines of the riuer, that they may passe: for these thou sawest a multitiude with peace. 48 But they also that were leaft of the people, these are they that be within my border. 49 In 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: 50 and then shal he shew them very manie wonders. 51 And 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: 52 As 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. 53 This is the interpretation of the dreame which thou sawest, and for the which thou only art here illuminated. 54 For thou hast leaft thyne owne law, and hast bene occupied about my law, and hast sought it. 55 For thou hast disposed thy lyfe in wisdom, and thyne vnderstanding thou hast called mother: 56 and 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. 57 And I went forth, and passed into the fielde, much glorifying & praising the Highest for the meruelous thinges that he did by time. 58 And because he gouerneth it, and the thinges that are brought in times, & I sate there three dayes.
CHAP. XIIII.
God appeareth in a bush, 6. reuealing some thinges to be published, and some thinges to be hid. 10. As the world waxeth old, al thinges become worse. 27. The people of Israel are vngratful. 32. Al shal be iudged in the Resurrection according to their deedes.
AND it came to passe the third day, and I sate vnder an oke. 2 And 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: 3 Reueling I was reueled vpon the bush, and spake to Moyses, when the people serued in AEgypt, (Ex 3) 4 and I sent him, and brought my people out of AEgypt, and brought him vpon mount Sina, & held him with me manie dayes. 5 And I told him manie meruelous thinges, & shewed him the secrets of times, and the end: and I commanded him, saying: 6 These wordes thou shalt publish abroade, and these thou shalt hyde. 7 And now to thee I say: 8 The 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. 9 For 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: 10 Because the world hath lost his youth, and the times draw nere to waxe old. 11 For the world is diuided by twelue partes, & the tenth part, & half of the tenth part are passed: 12 and there remaineth hereafter the half of the tenth part. 13 Now therefore dispose thy house, and correct thy people, & comfort the humble of them, & forsake now corruption, 14 and 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, 15 for the euiles which thou hast sene to haue chanced now, worse then these wil they doe againe: (Matt 24 / 1 John 2) 16 for looke how much the world shal become weake by age, so much shal euiles be multiplied vpon the inhabitants. 17 For truth hath remoued it self farther of, and lying hath approched, for now the vision which thou sawest, hasteneth to come. 18 And I answered, and sayd before thee o Lord: 19 For 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? 20 The world therfore is set in darknes, and they that dwel in it without light. 21 Because thy law is burnt, therefore no man knowth the workes that haue bene done by thee, or that shal begin. 22 For 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. 23 And he answered me, and sayd: Goe gather together the people, and thou shalt say to them, that they seeke thee not for fourtie dayes. 24 And 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. 25 And 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. 26 And 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. 27 And I went as he commanded me, & gathered together al the people, and sayd: 28 Heare Israel these wordes: 29 Our fathers were pilgrimes from the beginning in AEgypt, and were deliuered from thence. (Gen 47) 30 And they receiued the law of life, which they kept not, which you also after them haue transgressed: (Deut 4 / Acts 7) 31 and 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. 32 And whereas he is a iust iudge, he hath taken from you in time that which he had geuen. 33 And now you are here, and your brethren are among you. 34 If then you wil rule ouer your sense, & instruct your hart, you shal be preserued aliue, and after death shal obtaine mercie. 35 For 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. 36 Let no man therfore come to me now, nor aske for me vntil fourtie dayes. 37 And I tooke the fiue men, as he commandede me, and we went forth into the field, and taried there. 38 And 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) 39 And 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. 40 And 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. 41 And my mouth was opened, and was shut no more. 42 The Highest gaue vnderstanding vnto the fiue men, and they wrote excesses of the night which were spoken, which they knewe not. 43 And at night they did eate breade, but I spake by day, & by night held not my peace. 44 And there were written in the fourtie dayes two hundred foure bookes. 45 And it came to passe when they had ended the fourtie daies, the Highest spake, saying: 46 The 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. 47 For in these is the vaine of vnderstanding, and the fountaine of wisdome, and the streame of knowledge. and I did soe.
CHAP. XV.
Esdras is bid to denounce, that assuredly manie euiles wil come to the world. 9. God wil protect his people, the wicked shal be punished, and lament their final miseries, God reuenging for the good.
BEHOLD speake into the eares of my people the wordes of prophecie, which I shal put into thy mouth, sayth our Lord: 2 and see that they be written in paper, because they be faithful and true. 3 Be not afrayd of the cogitations against thee, neither let the incredulities truble thee of them that speake. 4 Because euerie incredulous person shal dye in his incredulitie. 5 Behold I bring in, sayth our Lord, vpon the whole earth euils, sword, and famine, and death, and destruction. 6 Because iniquitie hath fully polluted ouer al the earth, and their hurtful workes are accomplished. 7 Therefore sayth our Lord: 8 I 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. 9 Reuenging I wil reuenge them, sayth our Lord, and I wil take al innocent bloud out of them vnto me. (Apoc 6:10 & 19:2) 10 Behold my people is led to slaughter as a flocke, I wil no more suffer it to dwel in the land of AEgypt. 11 But 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. 12 AEgypt shal mourne, and fundations thereof beaten with plague, and with the chastisement which God wil bring vpon it. 13 The husbandmen that til the ground shal mourne, because their seedes shal perish by blasting, and haile, and by a terible starre. 14 Woe to the world and them that dwel therein. 15 Because 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) 16 For 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. 17 For a man shal desire to go into the citie & can not. 18 Because of their prides the cities shal be trubled, the houses raised, the men shal feare. 19 Man shal not pitie his neighbour, to make their houses nothing worth in the sword, to spoyle their goodes for famine of bread, & much tribulation. 20 Behold, 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. 21 As they doe vntil this day to myne elect, so wil I doe, and render in their bosome. Thus sayth our Lord God: 22 My right hand shal not spare sinners, neither shal the sword cease vpon them that shede innocent bloud vpon the earth. 23 Fire came forth from his wrath, and hath deuoured the fundations of the earth, and sinners as it were straw set on fire. 24 Woe to them that sinne, and obserue not my comandmentes, sayth our Lord. 25 I wil not spare them: depart o children from the powre. Defile not my sanctification: 26 because the Lord knoweth al that sinne against him; therefore hath he deliuered them into death and into slaughter. 27 For 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. 28 Behold an horrible vision, and the face of it from the east. 29 And 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. 30 the 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. 31 And after these thinges the dragons shal preuaile mindful of their natiuitie, and conspiring shal turne themselues in great force to pursue them. 32 These shal be trubled and hold their peace at their force, and shal turne their fete into flight. 33 And 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. 34 Behold cloudes from the east, and from the north vnto the south, and their face very horrible, ful of wrath and storme. 35 And 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. 36 And mans dung vnto the camels litter, and there shal be much feare, and trembling vpon the earth. 37 And they shal shake that shal see that wrath, and tremble shal take them: and after these thinges there shal manie showers be moued: 38 from the south, and the north: and an other portion from the weast. 39 And 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. 40 And 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, 41 fire, 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. 42 And 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. 43 And they shal passe constant vnto Babylon, and shal raise her. (Apoc 18) 44 They 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. 45 And they that shal remaine vnder her, shal serue them that terified her. 46 And thou Asia agreeing into the hope of Babylon, and the glorie of her person, 47 woe 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. 48 Thou hast imitated the odious in al her workes, and in her inuentions: therefore sayth God: 49 I 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. 50 As a flower shal be withered, when the heate shal rise that is sent forth vpon thee, 51 thou shalt be weakned as a litle poore soule plaged and chastised of wemen, that the mightie and the louers may not receiue thee. 52 Wil I be zealous against thee sayth our Lord, 53 vnles thou hadst slayne myne elect at al times, exalting the slaughter of the handes, and saying vpon their death, when thou wast drunken. 54 Adorne the beautie of thy countenance. 55 The reward of thy fornication is in thy bosome, therefore thou shalt receiue recompence. 56 As thou shalt doe to my elect, sayth our Lord, so shal God do to thee, and shal deliuer thee vnto euil. 57 And 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. 58 And 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. 59 Vnhappie by the seas shalt thou come, and againe thou shalt receuie euils. 60 And 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. 61 And being throwen downe thou shalt be to them for stubble, and they shal be to thee fire: 62 and deuoure thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountaynes, al thy woodes and fruitful trees they wil burne with fire. 63 Thy children they shal lead captiue, & shal haue thy goodes for a praye, and the glorie of thy face they shal destroy.