AND the Angel answered me, that was sent to me, whose name was Vriel, 2 and sayd to me: Thy hart exceding hath exceded in this world, & thou thinkest to comprehend the way of the Highest. 3 And 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. 4 Of 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. 5 And 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. 6 And I answered, and sayd: what man borne can doe it, that thou askest me of these thinges? 7 And 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: 8 thou 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. 9 But 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. 10 And he sayd to me: Thou canst not know the thinges that are thine which grow together with thee: 11 and how can thy vessel comprehend the way of the Highest, and now the world being outwardly corrupted, vnderstand the corruption euident in my sight: 12 I 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. 13 And 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) 14 and 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. 15 And 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. 16 And the woodes deuise was made vaine, for fire came, and consumed it. 17 Likewise also the deuise of the waues of the sea. For the sand stood, & stayed them. 18 For if thou wert iudge of these, whom wouldest thou begin to iustifie, or whom to condemne? 19 And 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. 20 And he answered me, and sayed: Thou hast iudged wel, and why hast thou not iudged for thy self? 21 For 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. 22 And I answered, and sayd: I besech thee Lord, that sense may be geuen me to vnderstand. 23 For 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: 24 and we haue passed out of the world, as locustes, and our life is astonishment and dreade, and we are not worthie to obtaine mercie. 25 But what wil he doe to his name that is inuocated vpon vs? and of these thinges I did aske. 26 And he answered me, and sayd: If thou search very much, thou shalt often meruail: because the world hastening hasteneth to passe, 27 and can not comprehend the thinges which in times to come are promised to the iust: because this world is ful of iniustice and infirmities. 28 But conerning the thinges that thou demandest I wil tel thee: for the euil is sowed, and the destruction therof is not yet come. 29 If 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. 30 Because 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? 31 And esteme with thy self the graine of the il seede, how much fruite of impietie it hath ingendred: 32 When the eares shal be cut, which are innumerable, what a great floore wil they begin to make? 33 And I answered, and sayd: How, and when shal these things be? why are our yeares few and euil? 34 And 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. 35 Did 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? 36 And 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, 37 and 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. 38 And I answered, and sayd: O Lord Dominatour, we also are al ful of impietie. 39 And left perhaps for vs the floores of the iust be not filled, for the sinnes of the inhabitantes vpon the earth. 40 And 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? 41 And I sayd it can not Lord. And he sayd to me, in hel the cellars of the soules are like to the matrice. 42 For 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. 43 From the beginning it shal be shewed thee touching those thinges, which thou doest couet to see. 44 And I answered, and sayd: If I haue found grace before thine eyes, & if it be possible, and if I by fitte, 45 shew mee if there be more to come then is passed, or more things haue passed, then are to come. 46 What passed, I know: but what is to come, I know not. 47 And he sayd to me: Stand vpon the right side, and I wil shew thee the interpretation of the similitude. 48 And 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. 49 And 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. 50 And 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: 51 and I prayed, & sayd, shal I liue thinkest thou vntil these dayes? or what shal be in those dayes? 52 He 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.
CHAP. V.
Diuers signes of thinges to come are shewed to Esdras by an Angel: 16. for the comforth of the people in captiuitie.
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. 2 And iniustice shal be multiplied aboue that which thy self seest, & aboue that which thou hast heard in time past. (Matt 24) 3 And they shal put their foote into the countrie which now thou seest to reigne, and they shal see it desolate. 4 And 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, 5 and out of wood bloud shal distil, and the stone shal geue his voice, and the peoples shal be moued: 6 and 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, 8 and 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, 9 and 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: 10 and it shal be sought of manie, and shal not be found: and iniustice shal be multiplied, and incontinencie vpon the earth. 11 And one countrie shal aske her neighbour, and shal say: Hath iustice doing iust passed throught thee? and she shal denie it. 12 And it shal be in that time, men shal hope, and shal not obtaine: they shal labour, and their wayes shal not haue successe. 13 These 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. 14 And I awaked, and my bodie did shiuer excedingly: and my soule laboured, that it fainted: 15 and the Angel that came, that spake in me, held me, and strengthened me, and sette me vpon my feete. 16 And 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? 17 Knowest thou not that Isreal is committed to thee in the countrie of their transmigration? 18 Rise vp therfore, and taste bread, and forsake vs not, as the pastour his flocke in the hand of wicked wolues. 19 And I sayd to him: Goe from me, & approch not vnto me. And he heard, as I sayd: and he departed from me. 20 And I fasted seuen dayes howling & weeping, as Vriel the Angel commanded me. 21 And it came to passe after seuen dayes, and againe cogitations of my hart molested me very much, 22 and my soule resumed the spirit of vnderstanding: & agayne I began to speake wordes before the Highest: 23 and 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: 25 and of al depthes of the sea, thou hast filled thee one riuer: and of al the builded cities, thou hast sanctified vnto thyself Sion: 26 and of al created soules, thou hast named thee one doue: and of al beastes that were made, thou hast prouided thee one shepe: 27 and 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. 28 And 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: 29 and they haue troden vpon it, which gainesayd thy couenants, and which beleued not thy testamentes. 30 And if hating thou hatest thy people, it ought to be chastised with thy handes. 31 And 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, 32 and he sayd to me: Heare me, and I wil instruct thee: and harken to me, and I wil adde before thee. 33 And 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? 34 And 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. 35 And 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? 36 And 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, 37 and 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. 38 And I sayd: Lord Dominatour, for who is there that can know these thinges, but he that hath not his habitation with men? 39 And I am vnwise, and how can I speake of these thinges, which thou hast asked me? 40 And 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. 41 And 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? 42 And 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. 43 And 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? 44 And 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. 45 And 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. 46 And 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. 47 And I sayd, it can not verily: but according to time. 48 And he sayd to me: And I haue geuen a matrice to the earth for them, that are sowen vpon it by time. 49 For as the infant bringeth not forth the thinges that perteyne to the aged, so haue I disposed the world created of me. 50 And 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. 51 And he answered me, and sayd: Aske her that beareth children, and she wil tel thee. 52 For 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? 53 And 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. 54 Consider therfore thou also, that you are of lesse stature, then they that were before you: 55 and they that are after you, of lesser then you, as it were creatures now waxing old, and past the strength of youth. 56 And 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.
CHAP. VI.
God knowing al thinges before they were made, created them 54. for man: and considerth the endes of al.
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) 2 and before the voyces of thunders sounded, & before the flashinges of lightenings shined, and before the fundations of paradise were confirmed, 3 and before beautiful flowers were sene, and before the moued powers were established, and before the innumerable hostes of Angels were gathered, 4 and 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, 5 and 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: 6 then I thought, and they were made by me only, and not by any other: and the end by me, and not by any other. 7 And 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? 8 And 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, 9 for the end of this world is Esau, and the begynning of the next Iacob. 10 The hand of a man betwen the heele and the hand. Aske no other thing Esdras. 11 And I answered, and sayd: O Lord dominatour, if I haue found grace before thyne eyes, 12 I pray thee shew thy seruant the end of thy signes, wherof thou didst shew me part the night before. 13 And he answered, and sayd to me: Arise vpon thy feete, and heare a voice most ful of sound. 14 And it shal be as it were a commotion, neither shal the place be moued wherin thou standest. 15 Therfore when it speaketh be not thou afrayd, because of the end is the word, and the fundation of the earth vnderstood, 16 for concerning them the word trembleth and is moued, for it knoweth that their end must be changed. 17 And 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: 18 and 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. 19 And when I wil begin to enquire of them that vniustly haue hurt with their iniustice, and when the humilitie of Sion shal be accomplished. 20 And 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, 21 and 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. 22 And sodenly shal appeare sowen places not sowen, & ful cellers shal sodenly be found emptie: 23 and a trumpet shal sound; which when al shal heare, they wil sodenly be afrayd. 24 And 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: 25 and 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. 26 And 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. 27 For euil shal be put out, and deceite shal be extinguished, 28 but fayth shal florish, and corruption shal be ouercome, and truth shal be shewed, which was without fruite so manie dayes. 29 And it came to passe, when he spake to me, & I loe by litle & litle looked on him before whom I stood, 30 and he sayd to me these wordes: I am come to shew thee the time of the night to come. 31 If therfore thou pray agayne, and fast agayne seuen dayes, agayne I wil tel thee greater thinges by the day which I haue heard. 32 For 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: 33 and for this cause he hath sent me to shew thee al these thinges, and to say to thee, haue confidence, and feare not, 34 and hasten not with the former times to thinke vayne thinges, that thou hasten not from the last times. 35 And 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. 36 And it came to passe in the eight night, and my hart was trubled againe in me, and I began to speake before the Highest. 37 For my spirit was inflamed excedingly, and my soul was distressed. 38 And 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. 39 And then there was spirit, and darknesse was caried about, and silence, the sound of the voyce of man was not yet from thee. 40 Then thou didst command the lighsome light to be brought forth of thy treasures, wherby thy worke might appeare. 41 And 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. 42 And 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. 43 For thy word proceded, and the worke forth with was made. 44 For 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. 45 And 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: 46 and didst command them that they should serue man, that should be made. 47 And 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, 48 the dumme water and without life, the thinges that by Gods appointement were commanded, made beastes, that therby the nations may declare thy meruelous workes. 49 And then thou didst preserue two soules: the name of one thou didst cal Henoch, and the name of the second thou didst cal Leuiathan, 50 and thou didst separate them from eche other. For the seuenth part, where the water was gathered together, could not hold them. 51 And thou gauest to Henoch one part, which was dried the third day, to dwelt therin, where are a thousand mountaynes. 52 But 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. 53 And in the sixt day thou didst command the earth, to create before thee cattel, and beastes, and creeping creatures: 54 and 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. 55 And al these thinges I haue sayd before thee o Lord, because thou didst create the world for vs. 56 But 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. 57 And now Lord, behold these nations which are reputed for nothing, haue begune to rule ouer vs, and to deuoure vs: 58 but we thy people whom thou didst cal thy first onlie begotten emulatour, are deliuered into their handes: 59 and if the world was created for vs, why doe not we possesse inheritance with the world? how long these thinges?
CHAP. VII.
Without tribulations no man can attayne immortal life: 17. which the iust shal inherite: and the wicked shal perish. 28. Christ wil come, and dye for mankind. 36. Prayers of the iust shal profite til the end of this world, but not after the general iudgement. 48. Al sinned in Adam. 52. and haue added more sinnes, 57. but it is in mans powre, 62. by Gods grace, to liue eternally.
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, 2 and he sayd to me: Arise Esdras, and heare the wordes which I am come to speake to thee. 3 And 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: 4 but the entrance to it shal be set in a straict place, that it might be like to riuers. 5 For 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? 6 Also an other thing: A citie is built, and set in a plaine place, and it is ful of al goodes. 7 The entrance therof narrow, and set in a stepe place, so that on the right hand there was fire, & on the left depe water: 8 and 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. 9 And 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? 10 And I sayd: So Lord. And he sayd to me, So it is: Israel also a part. 11 For I made the world for them: and when Adam transgressed my constitution, that was iudged which was done. 12 And the entrance of this world were made streite, and sorowful, & paynful, and few and euil, and ful of dangers, & stuffed very much with labour. 13 For the entrances of the greater world are large andsecure, and making fruite of immortalitie. 14 If then they that liue entring in enter into these streite and vayne thinges: they can not receiue the thinges that are layd vp. 15 Now therfore why art thou trubled, wheras thou art corruptible? and why art thou moued, wheras thou art mortal? 16 And why hast thou not taken in thy hart that which is to come, but that which is present? 17 I 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) 18 But 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. 19 And he sayd to me: There is no iudge aboue God, nor that vnderstandeth aboue the Highest. 20 For manie present doe perish, because the law of God which was set before, is neglected. 21 For God commanding commanded them that came, when they came, what doing they should liue, and what obseruing they should not be punished. 22 But they were not perswaded, and gaynesayd him, and made to them selues a cogitation of vanitie, 23 and proposed to them selues deceites of sinnes, & they sayd to the Highest that he was not, and they knew not his wayes, 24 and dispised his law, and denyed his couenaunces, and had not fidelitie in his ordinances, and did not accomplish his workes. 25 For this cause Esdras, the emptie to the emptie, and the ful to the ful. 26 Behold 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: 27 and euerie one that is deliuered from the foresaid euils, he shal see my meruelous thinges. 28 For 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. 29 And it shal be after these yeares, and my sonne CHRIST shal dye: and al men that haue breath, 30 and the world shal be turned into the old silence seuen dayes, as in the former iudgementes, so that none shal be leaft. 31 And it shal be after seuen dayes, and the world shal be raysed vp that yet waketh not, and shal dye corrupted: 32 and 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. 33 And the Highest shal be reueled vpon the seate of iudgement, and miseries shal passe, and long sufferance shal be gathered together. 34 And iudgement onlie shal remayne, truth shal stand, and fayth shal waxe strong, 35 and the worke shal folow, and the reward shal be shewed, and iustice shal awake, and iniustice shal not haue dominion. [See note below.] 36 And I sayd: First Abraham prayed for the Sodomites, and Moyses for the fathers that sinned in the desert. (Gen 18 / Ex 32) 37 And they that were after him for Isreal in the dayes of Achaz, and of Samuel, 38 and Dauid for the destruction, and Salomon for them that came vnto the sanctification. (2 Kings 24:17 / 2 Par 6:13) 39 And Elias for them that receiued raine, and for the dead that he might liue, (3 Kings 17 & 18) 40 and Ezechias for the people in the dayes of Sennacherib, and manie for manie. (4 Kings 19:15) 41 If 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? 42 And 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. 43 For the day of iudgement shal be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortalitie to come, wherein corruption is past: 44 intemperance is dissolued, incredulitie is cut of: and iustice hath increased, truth is strong. 45 For then no man can saue him that hath perished, nor drowne him that hath ouercome. And I answered, 46 and 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. 47 For what doth it profit men presently to liue in sorow, and being dead to hope for punishment? 48 O 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) 49 For what doth it profit vs if immortal time be promised to vs: but we haue done mortal workes? 50 And that euerlasting hope is foretold vs: but we most wicked are become vayne? 51 And that habitations of health and securitie are reserued for vs, but we haue conuerst naughtely? 52 And that the glorie of the Highest is reserued to protect them that haue slowly conuerst: but we haue walked in most wicked wayes. 53 And that paradise shal be shewed, whose fruite continueth incorrupted, wherin is securitie and remedie: 54 but we shal not enter in: for we haue conuerst in vnlawful places. 55 And their faces which haue had abstinence, shal shyne aboue the starres: but our faces blacke aboue darkenes. 56 For we did not thinke liuing when we did iniquitie, that we shal beginne after death to suffer. 57 And he answered, and sayd: This is the cogitation of the battel which man shal fight, who is borne vpon the earth, 58 that if he shal be ouercome, he suffer that which thou hast sayd: but if he ouercome he shal receiue that which I say: 59 for 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) 60 But they beleued him not, no nor the Prophetes after him, no nor me which haue spoken to them. 61 Because there should not be sorow vnto their perdition, as there shal be ioy vpon them, to whom saluation is perswaded. 62 And 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, 63 and that he hath mercie on them which conuerse in his law: 64 and he is long suffering, because he sheweth long sufferance to them that haue sinned, as it were with their owne workes: 65 and he is bountiful, because he wil geue according to exigentes: 66 and of freat mercie, because he multiplieth more mercies to them that are present, and that are past, and that are to come. 67 For if he shal not multiplie his mercies, the world shal not be made aliue with them that did inherite it. 68 And 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. 69 And 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.