2 Esdras 14:41-48

41 I began to speak and went on talking without stopping.
42 God Most High also gave wisdom to the five men with me, and they took turns writing down what I said. They used an alphabet that they had not known before, and worked for forty days, writing in the daytime and eating at night.
43 I spoke all day long, and I was not silent even at night.
44 During the forty days, ninety-four books were written.
45 At the end of the forty days, God Most High said to me, "You are now to make public the first twenty-four books that you wrote, so that everyone, whether they are worthy or not, may read them.
46 But the last seventy books that you wrote are to be held back and to be given only to those who are wise among your people,
47 because these books contain a flood of understanding, a fountain of wisdom, and a river of knowledge."
48 Then I did as I was told.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. [Some ancient translations] an alphabet; [Latin unclear.]
  • [b]. [Some ancient translations] ninety-four; [Latin unclear.]
  • [c]. [Some ancient translations] twenty-four; [Latin does not have this word.]
  • [d]. twenty-four books: [The Hebrew Bible contains twenty-four books, corresponding to the thirty-nine books of the Christian Old Testament.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.