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1“Thus says the Lord: I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them commandments through my servants the prophets, but they would not listen to them and made my counsels void.[#Deut 4.20; Am 2.10; Mic 6.4; 2 Esd 1.7, 32]
2The mother who bore them says to them, ‘Go, my children, because I am a widow and forsaken.[#vv 17, 30; Bar 4.8, 12, 19]
3I brought you up with gladness, but with mourning and sorrow I have lost you, because you have sinned before the Lord God and have done what is evil in my sight.[#2.3 Other ancient authorities read in his sight]
4But now what can I do for you? For I am a widow and forsaken. Go, my children, and ask for mercy from the Lord.’[#Bar 4.17, 19, 21]
5Now I call upon you, father, as a witness in addition to the mother of the children, because they would not keep my covenant,
6so that you may bring confusion on them and bring their mother to ruin, so that they may have no offspring.[#2 Esd 1.34]
7Let them be scattered among the nations; let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.[#Lev 26.33; Deut 4.27; Ezek 12.15]
8“Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous within you! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah,[#Gen 19.24; Jude 7]
9whose land lies in lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes. That is what I will do to those who have not listened to me, says the Lord Almighty.”[#2.9 Other ancient authorities read whose land descends to hell]
10Thus says the Lord to Ezra: “Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel.[#2.10 Other ancient authorities add have prepared for them to eat, and I]
11Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory and will give to them the everlasting habitations, which I had prepared for Israel.
12The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they shall neither toil nor become weary.[#Prov 3.18; 2 Esd 8.52; Rev 22.14]
13Go and you will receive; pray that your days may be few, that they may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you; be on the watch![#Mt 24.22; 25.34; #2.13 Other ancient authorities read Seek]
14Call, O call heaven and earth to witness: I set aside evil and created good, for I am the Living One, says the Lord.
15“Mother, embrace your children; bring them up with gladness, as does a dove; strengthen their feet, because I have chosen you, says the Lord.[#Deut 7.6; Isa 60.8]
16And I will raise up the dead from their places and bring them out from their tombs, because I recognize my name in them.[#Ezek 37.12, 13; Jn 5.28, 29]
17Do not fear, mother of children, for I have chosen you, says the Lord.
18I will send you help: my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to their counsel I have consecrated and prepared for you twelve trees loaded with various fruits[#Mt 16.14; Rev 22.2]
19and the same number of springs flowing with milk and honey and seven mighty mountains on which roses and lilies grow; by these I will fill your children with joy.[#Ex 3.8]
20“Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the ward, give to the needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,[#Isa 1.17; 58.7; Mt 25.36]
21care for the injured and the weak, do not ridicule the lame, protect the maimed, and let the blind have a vision of my splendor.
22Protect the old and the young within your walls.[#2.22 Other ancient authorities add Watch over your infants. Let enslaved and free alike be joyful, and your whole company will be happy]
23When you find any who are dead, commit them to the grave and mark it, and I will give you the first place in my resurrection.[#Tob 1.17, 18; Mt 19.28; #2.23 Other ancient authorities read When I find your dead, I will raise them; I will watch for signs]
24Pause and be quiet, my people, because your rest will come.[#Ex 14.14; Isa 30.15]
25“Good nurse, nourish your children; strengthen their feet.
26Not one of the servants whom I have given you will perish, for I will require them from among your number.
27Do not be anxious, for when the day of tribulation and anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice and have abundance.[#Jn 16.20, 22]
28The nations shall envy you, but they shall not be able to do anything against you, says the Lord.[#Isa 54.17]
29My power will protect you, so that your children may not see Gehenna.[#2.29 Lat hands will cover; #2.29 Other ancient authorities read All tremble because of me; my eyes see Gehenna]
30“Rejoice, O mother, with your children, because I will deliver you, says the Lord.[#vv 2, 15, 17]
31Remember your children who sleep, because I will bring them out of the hiding places of the earth and will show mercy to them, for I am merciful, says the Lord Almighty.
32Embrace your children until I come, and proclaim mercy to them, because my springs run over, and my grace will not fail.”
33I, Ezra, received a command from the Lord on Mount Horeb to go to Israel. When I came to them, they rejected me and refused the Lord’s commandment.[#Ex 3.1; Deut 4.10, 15; Sir 48.7]
34Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, “Wait for your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand.[#Mt 11.2, 9; Jn 10.11; Heb 10.37]
35Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because perpetual light will shine on you forevermore.[#Isa 60.19, 20; Rev 21.23]
36Flee from the shadow of this age; receive the joy of your glory; I publicly call on my savior to witness.[#v 39; 1 Chr 29.15; #2.36 Other ancient authorities read I testify that my savior has been commissioned by the]
37Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful, giving thanks to him who has called you to the celestial kingdoms.[#1 Thess 2.12; 1 Pet 5.10]
38Rise, stand erect, and see the number of those who have been sealed at the feast of the Lord.[#2 Esd 6.5; Rev 7.4]
39Those who have departed from the shadow of this age have received glorious garments from the Lord.[#Isa 61.10]
40Take again your full number, O Zion, and close the list of your people who are clothed in white, who have fulfilled the law of the Lord.[#Isa 61.10; Rev 3.5]
41The number of your children, whom you desired, is now complete; implore the Lord’s authority that your people, who have been called from the beginning, may be made holy.”[#2 Esd 4.36; Eph 1.4; Rev 6.11]
42I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs.[#Rev 7.9]
43In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound.[#v 46; Rev 2.10; 4.4]
44Then I asked an angel, “Who are these, my lord?”[#Rev 7.13, 14]
45He answered and said to me, “These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal and have confessed the name of God. Now they are being crowned and receive palms.”[#1 Cor 15.53, 54; Rev 2.10; 4.4; 7.9]
46Then I said to the angel, “Who is that young man who is placing crowns on them and putting palms in their hands?”
47He answered and said to me, “He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.” So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord.[#Mt 10.32; Lk 12.8; Rev 3.5; #2.47 Other ancient authorities read to praise and glorify the]
48Then the angel said to me, “Go, tell my people how great and how many are the wonders of the Lord God that you have seen.” ———