2 Esdras 14:16-26

16 For evils worse than those that you have now seen happen shall take place hereafter.
17 For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more shall evils be increased upon its inhabitants.
18 Truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come near. For the eagle that you saw in the vision is already hurrying to come."
19 Then I answered and said, "Let me speak in your presence, Lord.
20 For I will go, as you have commanded me, and I will reprove the people who are now living; but who will warn those who will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants are without light.
21 For your law has been burned, and so no one knows the things which have been done or will be done by you.
22 If then I have found favor with you, send the holy spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things that were written in your law, so that people may be able to find the path, and that those who want to live in the last days may do so."
23 He answered me and said, "Go and gather the people, and tell them not to seek you for forty days.
24 But prepare for yourself many writing tablets, and take with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel—these five, who are trained to write rapidly;
25 and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are about to write is finished.
26 And when you have finished, some things you shall make public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this hour you shall begin to write."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain
  • [b]. Most Lat Mss lack [Let me speak]
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.