2 Esdras 4:15-25

15 And in like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, `Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.'
16 But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it;
17 likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea, for the sand stood firm and stopped them.
18 If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?"
19 I answered and said, "Each has made a foolish plan, for the land is assigned to the forest, and to the sea is assigned a place to carry its waves."
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 is assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who dwell upon 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 beseech 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 which we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles as a reproach; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our fathers has been made of no effect and the written covenants no longer exist;
24 and why we pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.
25 But what will he do for his name, by which we are called? It is about these things that I have asked."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.