2 Esdras 9:17

17 And He answered me, saying, "As the field is, so is also the seed; as the flowers be, such are the colors also; such as the workman is, such also is the work; and as the husbandman is himself, so is his husbandry also. For it was the time of the world.

2 Esdras 9:17 In-Context

15 "I have said before, and now do speak, and will speak it also hereafter: that there be many more of those who perish than of those who shall be saved,

16 as a wave is greater than a drop."

17 And He answered me, saying, "As the field is, so is also the seed; as the flowers be, such are the colors also; such as the workman is, such also is the work; and as the husbandman is himself, so is his husbandry also. For it was the time of the world.

18 And now when I prepared the world, which was not yet made, even for them to dwell in that now live, no man spoke against Me.

19 For then every one obeyed; but now the manners of them that are created in this world that is made are corrupted by a perpetual seed and, by a law which is unsearchable, destroy themselves.