This is a rearrangement and versification of parts of the Fourth Book of Ezra—so designated in the appendix to the Vulgate—or 2 Esdras of the Protestant Apocrypha. I have based this rearrangement and versification upon a translation of the apocalyptic Ezra from the Syriac by Dr. Joshua Bloch, chief of the Jewish Division of the New York Public Library, a translation he is preparing for his edition of Ezra in the series of Jewish Apocrypha sponsored by The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning; and I have done so with Dr. Bloch’s very kind permission and that of the sponsors. I have also used the “Common” version and a translation from the Arabic by Simon Ockley, as published by William Whiston in 1711, referred to by G. H. Box in R. H. Charles’s edition of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.

The Apocalyptic part of this Ezra, to be distinguished from the Ezra of the Old Testament, was written by several persons during the miseries and persecutions of the struggle against Rome in the 1st century of the Christian Era. It is Dr. Box’s opinion that the book as we have it—without the Christian additions—was edited and first published about 120 CE, and the chief part written by one man about 100 CE. Neither a Hebrew, Aramaic, nor Greek original or version exists. At one time, some scholars believed that the original was in Greek. Dr. Box argues that it was in Hebrew. Dr. Bloch, however, does not believe that there ever was a Greek or Hebrew original or version, but only an Aramaic original.—Charles Reznikoff

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Because I saw the desolation of Zion
and the wealth of the dwellings of Babylon,
I said to myself:
Have the inhabitants of Babylon behaved so well?

And the angel, Uriel, came to cry: “Is your heart troubled
because of this world, Ezra,
and would you understand the Most High?
Then weigh for me the weight of fire,
measure the blast of the wind,
or call back a day that is past.”
And I answered: “My lord, what man can do these things?”

And the angel cried: “If I asked you how many springs in the sea?
what are the paths of Heaven? or the gates of Hell?
you would say, I have never gone down into the depths of the sea
or to the gates of Hell,
nor have I ever climbed up into the sky.
But I asked you about fire and wind and the day—
which you know well—

and yet you could not answer;
how then are you to understand the way of the Most High?”

And I answered: “It would have been better for me
not to have been born
than to live and suffer without knowing why;
else, why have I been given a mind?
Why has Israel been abandoned to the heathen,
and the people God loved to godless tribes?
If the world was designed
for the righteous,
why do they not have it,
and are ruled by a people that are like spittle?
Why?”

The angel, his face as bright as lightning, cried:
“Do you think that you love Israel more than his Maker does?
The days come when the evil men do
will be greater than whatever you see
and whatever you heard as of long ago;
and those of one city will ask in the neighboring cities:
Has any good man passed through?
and in the neighboring cities they will answer: No.
Chasms will open in many places
and out of them fire will not cease to blaze;
and even the birds will leave the land.
The sweet waters will turn salt,
and friend will suddenly turn upon friend;
women will be in labor and unable to give birth.
Just as a fanner sows many seeds and plants much
but the seeds do not all take root nor do all the seeds sprout;
so of those who have come upon the earth:
out of a cluster a grape shall be saved,
and out of a great forest a fern.
Mourn not for the multitudes that perish;
for they are like a breath and like smoke and like a flame that burns
        until it goes out.”

And I, Ezra, prayed: “God at Whose word
the hosts of Heaven change into winds and fire—
and it was so when all was dark and silent
before the sun and moon were shining
and the voice of man was heard—
what is man that You are angry at him?

“Though seed and ship and food are lost
earth and sea and dish remain;
but the story of Israel is not so:
we who received the Law perish,
and Your Law remains—in all its glory.

“If the farmer’s seed does not receive God’s rain
will it live?
Forgive the sins of Your people and remember those who served You:
do not regard the foolishness of the ungodly,
but rather those who in spite of tortures kept Your covenant;
do not think of those who have done evil,
but rather of those who acknowledged their awe of You;
and do not will to destroy those who were like cattle,
but look at those who stood in the splendor of Your Law;
and be not angry at those who behaved like beasts,
but love those who have always had faith in Your righteousness.
Give us
the flowering of a new heart and the fruit of it
light a candle of understanding
in our hearts, Lord—
that every one who is corruptible and whoever is made in the
        image of man
may live.”

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