2 Esdras 4:22

22 Then I answered and said, "I implore you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding?

2 Esdras 4:22 In-Context

20 He answered me and said, "You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case?

21 For as the land has been assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who inhabit the earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens."

22 Then I answered and said, "I implore you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding?

23 For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but about those things that we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles in disgrace; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our ancestors has been brought to destruction and the written covenants no longer exist.

24 We pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.

Footnotes

• [a]. Syr Ethiop Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain