2 Esdras 14:32-42

32 And since he is a righteous judge, in due time he took from you what he had given.
33 And now you are here, and your people are farther in the interior.
34 If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy.
35 For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live again; and then the names of the righteous shall become manifest, and the deeds of the ungodly shall be disclosed.
36 But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty days."
37 So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we proceeded to the field, and remained there.
38 And on the next day a voice called me, saying, "Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink."
39 So I opened my mouth, and a full cup was offered to me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire.
40 I took it and drank; and when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory,
41 and my mouth was opened and was no longer closed.
42 Moreover, the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and by turns they wrote what was dictated, using characters that they did not know. They sat forty days; they wrote during the daytime, and ate their bread at night.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Lat [brothers]
  • [b]. Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat [are among you]
  • [c]. Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain
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.