2 Esdras 9:18

18 There was a time in this world—when I was preparing for those who now are, before the world in which they would dwell was made for them—no one opposed me, because no one existed yet.

2 Esdras 9:18 In-Context

16 just as a wave is greater than a drop."

17 He answered me: "As the field is, so is the seed; and as the flowers, so also the colors; as the labor, so also the product; and as the farmer, so the threshing floor.

18 There was a time in this world—when I was preparing for those who now are, before the world in which they would dwell was made for them—no one opposed me, because no one existed yet.

19 Now, however, those who have been created in this world—a world furnished with both an inexhaustible table and an endless pasture—have become corrupt in their habits.

20 I considered the earth—and, observe, it was ruined. I considered my world, and, observe, it was in danger because of the intrigues of those who had come into it.