2 Esdras 2:6-16

6 Now bring confusion on them and ruin on their mother, so that they will have no descendants.
7 They will be scattered among the nations, and no one on earth will remember them any longer, for they have despised my covenant.
8 "How terrible will be your punishment, Assyria. You have let wicked people hide within your borders. Remember, sinful nation, what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah. 1
9 Their land now lies covered with lumps of tar and heaps of ashes. That is what I do to people who do not obey me.
10 "The Lord says to Ezra: Announce to my new people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I had planned to give to Israel.
11 I will take the dazzling light of my presence away from Israel and will give to my new people the eternal Temple that I had prepared for Israel.
12 The tree of life will fill the air around them with its fragrance. They will never have to work; they will never grow tired. 2
13 Ask, and you will receive. Pray that the number of the days you have to wait will be reduced. Even now the kingdom has been prepared for you, so stay alert. 3
14 Call heaven and earth to witness that I, the living God, have abolished evil and created good.
15 "Mother Jerusalem, take your children in your arms. Guide their steps in safe paths; raise them with the same delight that a dove has in raising her young. I, the Lord, have chosen you.
16 I will raise your dead from their graves because I recognize them as my people.

Cross References 3

  • 1. 2.8Genesis 19.24.
  • 2. 2.12Revelation 2.7; 22.2, 14.
  • 3. 2.13Matthew 7.7, 8; 25.34.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.