2 Esdras 16:53-63

53 Sinners must not say that they have not sinned; for God will burn coals of fire on the head of everyone who says, "I have not sinned before God and his glory."
54 The Lord certainly knows everything that people do; he knows their imaginations and their thoughts and their hearts.
55 He said, "Let the earth be made," and it was made, and "Let the heaven be made," and it was made.
56 At his word the stars were fixed in their places, and he knows the number of the stars.
57 He searches the abyss and its treasures; he has measured the sea and its contents;
58 he has confined the sea in the midst of the waters; and by his word he has suspended the earth over the water.
59 He has spread out the heaven like a dome and made it secure upon the waters;
60 he has put springs of water in the desert, and pools on the tops of the mountains, so as to send rivers from the heights to water the earth.
61 He formed human beings and put a heart in the midst of each body, and gave each person breath and life and understanding
62 and the spirit of Almighty God, who surely made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places.
63 He knows your imaginations and what you think in your hearts! Woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins!

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Other ancient authorities add [or the unjust done injustice]
  • [b]. Lat [for he]
  • [c]. Other ancient authorities read [Lord God]
  • [d]. Other ancient authorities read [confined the world between the waters and the waters]
  • [e]. Or [breath]
  • [f]. Other ancient authorities read [of the Lord Almighty]
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.