2 Esdras 6:1-7

1 He said to me, "At the beginning of the circle of the earth, before the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled winds blew,
2 and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were laid,
3 and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the powers of movements were established, and before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered together,
4 and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of Zion was established,
5 and before the present years were reckoned and before the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who stored up treasures of faith were sealed—
6 then I planned these things, and they were made through me alone and not through another; just as the end shall come through me alone and not through another."
7 I answered and said, "What will be the dividing of the times? Or when will be the end of the first age and the beginning of the age that follows?"

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Meaning of Lat uncertain: Compare Syr [The beginning by the hand of humankind, but the end by my own hands. For as before the land of the world existed there, and before]; Ethiop: [At first by the Son of Man, and afterwards I myself. For before the earth and the lands were created, and before]
  • [b]. Or [earthquakes]
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.