2 Esdras 1 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Comprising what are sometimes called 5 Ezra (chapters 1—2), 4 Ezra (chapters 3—14), and 6 Ezra (chapters 15—16)

The Genealogy of Ezra

1 The book^[a] of the prophet Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ² son of Ahijah, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraimoth, son of Arna, son of Uzzi, son of Borith, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, ³ son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, who was a captive in the country of the Medes in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.^[b]

Ezra’s Prophetic Call

⁴ The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵ ‘Go, declare to my people their evil deeds, and to their children the iniquities that they have committed against me, so that they may tell^[c] their children’s children ⁶ that the sins of their parents have increased in them, for they have forgotten me and have offered sacrifices to strange gods. ⁷ Was it not I who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage? But they have angered me and despised my counsels. ⁸ Now you, pull out the hair of your head and hurl^[d] all evils upon them, for they have not obeyed my law—they are a rebellious people. ⁹ How long shall I endure them, on whom I have bestowed such great benefits? ¹⁰ For their sake I have overthrown many kings; I struck down Pharaoh with his servants and all his army. ¹¹ I destroyed all nations before them, and scattered in the east the peoples of two provinces,^[e] Tyre and Sidon; I killed all their enemies.

God’s Mercies to Israel

¹² ‘But speak to them and say, Thus says the Lord: ¹³ Surely it was I who brought you through the sea, and made safe highways for you where there was no road; I gave you Moses as leader and Aaron as priest; ¹⁴ I provided light for you from a pillar of fire, and did great wonders among you. Yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord.

¹⁵ ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty:^[f] The quails were a sign to you; I gave you camps for your protection, and in them you complained. ¹⁶ You have not exulted in my name at the destruction of your enemies, but to this day you still complain.^{[g] 17} Where are the benefits that I bestowed on you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry out to me, ¹⁸ saying, “Why have you led us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.” ¹⁹ I pitied your groanings and gave you manna for food; you ate the bread of angels. ²⁰ When you were thirsty, did I not split the rock so that waters flowed in abundance? Because of the heat I clothed you with the leaves of trees.^{[h] 21} I divided fertile lands among you; I drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Philistines^[i] before you. What more can I do for you? says the Lord. ²² Thus says the Lord Almighty:^[j] When you were in the wilderness, at the bitter stream, thirsty and blaspheming my name, ²³ I did not send fire on you for your blasphemies, but threw a tree into the water and made the stream sweet.

Israel’s Disobedience and Rejection

²⁴ ‘What shall I do to you, O Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will turn to other nations and will give them my name, so that they may keep my statutes. ²⁵ Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you. When you beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy. ²⁶ When you call to me, I will not listen to you; for you have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit murder. ²⁷ It is not as though you had forsaken me; you have forsaken yourselves, says the Lord.

²⁸ ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a mother her daughters or a nurse her children, ²⁹ so that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my children and I should be your father? ³⁰ I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. ³¹ When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have rejected your^[k] festal days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh.^{[l] 32} I sent you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and killed them and torn their bodies^[m] in pieces; I will require their blood of you, says the Lord.^[n]

³³ ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw; ³⁴ and your sons will have no children, because with you^[o] they have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight. ³⁵ I will give your houses to a people that will come, who without having heard me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs will do what I have commanded. ³⁶ They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state.^{[p] 37} I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children rejoice with gladness;^[q] though they do not see me with bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.

³⁸ ‘And now, father,^[r] look with pride and see the people coming from the east; ³⁹ to them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Hosea and Amos and Micah and Joel and Obadiah and Jonah ⁴⁰ and Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who is also called the messenger of the Lord.^[s]

Footnotes

1. 2 Esdras 1:1 Other ancient authorities read The second book
2. 2 Esdras 1:3 Other ancient authorities, which place chapters 1 and 2 after 16.78, lack verses 1–3 and begin the chapter: The word of the Lord that came to Ezra son of Chusi in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar, saying, ‘Go,
3. 2 Esdras 1:5 Other ancient authorities read nourish
4. 2 Esdras 1:8 Other ancient authorities read and shake out
5. 2 Esdras 1:11 Other ancient authorities read Did I not destroy the city of Bethsaida because of you, and to the south burn two cities . . . ?
6. 2 Esdras 1:15 Other ancient authorities lack Almighty
7. 2 Esdras 1:16 Other ancient authorities read verse 16, Your pursuer with his army I sank in the sea, but still the people complain also concerning their own destruction.
8. 2 Esdras 1:20 Other ancient authorities read I made for you trees with leaves
9. 2 Esdras 1:21 Other ancient authorities read Perizzites and their children
10. 2 Esdras 1:22 Other ancient authorities lack Almighty
11. 2 Esdras 1:31 Other ancient authorities read I have not commanded for you
12. 2 Esdras 1:31 Other ancient authorities lack of the flesh
13. 2 Esdras 1:32 Other ancient authorities read the bodies of the apostles
14. 2 Esdras 1:32 Other ancient authorities add Thus says the Lord Almighty: Recently you also laid hands on me, crying out before the judge’s seat for him to deliver me to you. You took me as a sinner, not as a father who freed you from slavery, and you delivered me to death by hanging me on the tree; these are the things you have done. Therefore, says the Lord, let my Father and his angels return and judge between you and me; if I have not kept the commandment of the Father, if I have not nourished you, if I have not done the things my Father commanded, I will contend in judgement with you, says the Lord.
15. 2 Esdras 1:34 Other ancient authorities lack with you
16. 2 Esdras 1:36 Other ancient authorities read their iniquities
17. 2 Esdras 1:37 Other ancient authorities read The apostles bear witness to the coming people with joy
18. 2 Esdras 1:38 Other ancient authorities read brother
19. 2 Esdras 1:40 Other ancient authorities read and Jacob, Elijah and Enoch, Zechariah and Hosea, Amos, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zephaniah, ⁴⁰ Nahum, Jonah, Mattia (or Mattathias), Habakkuk, and twelve angels with flowers