2 Esdras 2:7-17

7 Let them be scattered among the nations; let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.
8 "Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous within you! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomorrah,
9 whose 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."
10 Thus 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.
11 Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had prepared for Israel.
12 The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they shall neither toil nor become weary.
13 Go 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!
14 Call, 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.
16 And I will raise up the dead from their places, and bring them out from their tombs, because I recognize my name in them.
17 Do not fear, mother of children, for I have chosen you, says the Lord.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Other ancient authorities read [Gomorrah, whose land descends to hell]
  • [b]. Lat [for those]
  • [c]. Other ancient authorities read [Seek]
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.