2 Esdras 4:36-46

36 Then Jeremiel the angel answered them, ‘When the number of those like you is complete, for God has weighed the world in a balance
37 and measured the times by measure and numbered the times by number, and he won't move or arouse himself until the prescribed measure is fulfilled.'"
38 I answered: "Supreme Lord, we all are also full of impiety.
39 Is it perhaps because of us, and because of the sins of those who live on earth, that the harvest of the just is delayed?"
40 He answered me, "Go ask a pregnant woman whether her womb can keep the baby inside her when she has completed her nine months."
41 I said, "It can't, Lord." He said to me: "The underworld and the resting places of the souls are like the womb.
42 As the one who gives birth hastens to escape the distress of giving birth, so these also hasten to give back those things that were entrusted to them from the beginning.
43 Then you will be shown the things you want to see."
44 I answered, "If I have found favor with you, if it is possible, if I am worthy,
45 show me this also, whether there is more time yet to come than has past or whether the greater times have passed over us,
46 for I know what has passed, but I don't know what is to come."

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Syr; Lat when the number of seeds is completed for you
  • [b]. Lat inferno
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