1
When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again.
2
He said to me, "Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that I have come to speak to you."
3
I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "There is a sea set in a wide expanse so that it is deep and vast,
4
but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so that it is like a river.
5
If there are those who wish to reach the sea, to look at it or to navigate it, how can they come to the broad part unless they pass through the narrow part?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.