1
When I had finished speaking these words, the angel who had been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again,
2
and he said to me, "Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that I have come to speak to you."
3
I said, "Speak, my lord." And he said to me, "There is a sea set in a wide expanse so that it is broad and vast,
4
but it has an entrance set in a narrow place, so that it is like a river.
5
If any one, then, wishes to reach the sea, to look at it or to navigate it, how can he come to the broad part unless he passes through the narrow part?
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.