The Second Book of Esdras

⭑ King James Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 12 -

And it came to pass, whiles the lion spake these words unto the eagle, I saw,

And, behold, the head that remained and the four wings appeared no more, and the two went unto it and set themselves up to reign, and their kingdom was small, and fill of uproar.

And I saw, and, behold, they appeared no more, and the whole body of the eagle was burnt so that the earth was in great fear: then awaked I out of the trouble and trance of my mind, and from great fear, and said unto my spirit,

Lo, this hast thou done unto me, in that thou searchest out the ways of the Highest.

Lo, yet am I weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was afflicted this night.

Therefore will I now beseech the Highest, that he will comfort me unto the end.

And I said, Lord that bearest rule, if I have found grace before thy sight, and if I am justified with thee before many others, and if my prayer indeed be come up before thy face;

Comfort me then, and shew me thy servant the interpretation and plain difference of this fearful vision, that thou mayest perfectly comfort my soul.

For thou hast judged me worthy to shew me the last times.

And he said unto me, This is the interpretation of the vision:

The eagle, whom thou sawest come up from the sea, is the kingdom which was seen in the vision of thy brother Daniel.

But it was not expounded unto him, therefore now I declare it unto thee.

Behold, the days will come, that there shall rise up a kingdom upon earth, and it shall be feared above all the kingdoms that were before it.

In the same shall twelve kings reign, one after another:

Whereof the second shall begin to reign, and shall have more time than any of the twelve.

And this do the twelve wings signify, which thou sawest.

As for the voice which thou heardest speak, and that thou sawest not to go out from the heads but from the midst of the body thereof, this is the interpretation:

That after the time of that kingdom there shall arise great strivings, and it shall stand in peril of failing: nevertheless it shall not then fall, but shall be restored again to his beginning.

And whereas thou sawest the eight small under feathers sticking to her wings, this is the interpretation:

That in him there shall arise eight kings, whose times shall be but small, and their years swift.

And two of them shall perish, the middle time approaching: four shall be kept until their end begin to approach: but two shall be kept unto the end.

And whereas thou sawest three heads resting, this is the interpretation:

In his last days shall the most High raise up three kingdoms, and renew many things therein, and they shall have the dominion of the earth,

And of those that dwell therein, with much oppression, above all those that were before them: therefore are they called the heads of the eagle.

For these are they that shall accomplish his wickedness, and that shall finish his last end.

And whereas thou sawest that the great head appeared no more, it signifieth that one of them shall die upon his bed, and yet with pain.

For the two that remain shall be slain with the sword.

For the sword of the one shall devour the other: but at the last shall he fall through the sword himself.

And whereas thou sawest two feathers under the wings passing over the head that is on the right side;

It signifieth that these are they, whom the Highest hath kept unto their end: this is the small kingdom and full of trouble, as thou sawest.

And the lion, whom thou sawest rising up out of the wood, and roaring, and speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her for her unrighteousness with all the words which thou hast heard;

This is the anointed, which the Highest hath kept for them and for their wickedness unto the end: he shall reprove them, and shall upbraid them with their cruelty.

For he shall set them before him alive in judgment, and shall rebuke them, and correct them.

For the rest of my people shall he deliver with mercy, those that have been pressed upon my borders, and he shall make them joyful until the coming of the day of judgment, whereof I have spoken unto thee from the the beginning.

This is the dream that thou sawest, and these are the interpretations.

Thou only hast been meet to know this secret of the Highest.

Therefore write all these things that thou hast seen in a book, and hide them:

And teach them to the wise of the people, whose hearts thou knowest may comprehend and keep these secrets.

But wait thou here thyself yet seven days more, that it may be shewed thee, whatsoever it pleaseth the Highest to declare unto thee. And with that he went his way.

And it came to pass, when all the people saw that the seven days were past, and I not come again into the city, they gathered them all together, from the least unto the greatest, and came unto me, and said,

What have we offended thee? and what evil have we done against thee, that thou forsakest us, and sittest here in this place?

For of all the prophets thou only art left us, as a cluster of the vintage, and as a candle in a dark place, and as a haven or ship preserved from the tempest.

Are not the evils which are come to us sufficient?

If thou shalt forsake us, how much better had it been for us, if we also had been burned in the midst of Sion?

For we are not better than they that died there. And they wept with a loud voice. Then answered I them, and said,

Be of good comfort, O Israel; and be not heavy, thou house of Jacob:

For the Highest hath you in remembrance, and the Mighty hath not forgotten you in temptation.

As for me, I have not forsaken you, neither am I departed from you: but am come into this place, to pray for the desolation of Sion, and that I might seek mercy for the low estate of your sanctuary.

And now go your way home every man, and after these days will I come unto you.

So the people went their way into the city, like as I commanded them:

But I remained still in the field seven days, as the angel commanded me; and did eat only in those days of the flowers of the field, and had my meat of the herbs

It came to pass, while the lion spoke these words to the eagle, I saw,

and behold, the head that remained disappeared, and (a)the two wings which went over to it arose and set themselves up to reign; and their kingdom was brief and full of uproar.

I saw, and behold, they disappeared, and the whole body of the eagle was burned, so that the earth was in great fear. Then I woke up because of great perplexity of mind and great fear, and said to my spirit,

“Behold, you have done this to me, because you search out the ways of the Most High.

Behold, I am still weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit. There isn’t even a little strength in me, because of the great fear with which I was frightened tonight.

Therefore I will now ask the Most High that he would strengthen me to the end.”

Then I said, “O sovereign Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, and if I am justified with you more than many others, and if my prayer has indeed come up before your face,

strengthen me then, and show me, your servant, the interpretation and plain meaning of this fearful vision, that you may fully comfort my soul.

For you have judged me worthy to show me the end of time and the last events of the times.”

He said to me, “This is the interpretation of this vision which you saw:

The eagle, whom you saw come up from the sea, is the fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel.

But it was not explained to him, as I now explain it to you or have explained it.

Behold, the days come that a kingdom will rise up on earth, and it will be feared more than all the kingdoms that were before it.

Twelve kings will reign in it, one after another.

Of those, the second will begin to reign, and will reign a longer time than others of the twelve.

This is the interpretation of the twelve wings which you saw.

As for when you heard a voice which spoke, not going out from the heads, but from the midst of its body, this is the interpretation:

That (b)after the time of that kingdom, there will arise no small contentions, and it will stand in peril of falling. Nevertheless, it won’t fall then, but will be restored again to its former power.

You saw the eight under wings sticking to her wings. This is the interpretation:

That in it eight kings will arise, whose times will be short and their years swift.

Two of them will perish when the middle time approaches. Four will be kept for a while until the time of the ending of it will approach; but two will be kept to the end.

You saw three heads resting. This is the interpretation:

In its last days, the Most High will raise up three (c)kingdoms and renew many things in them. They will rule over the earth,

and over those who dwell in it, with much oppression, more than all those who were before them. Therefore they are called the heads of the eagle.

For these are those who will accomplish her wickedness, and who will finish her last actions.

You saw that the great head disappeared. It signifies that one of them will die on his bed, and yet with pain.

But for the two that remained, the sword will devour them.

For the sword of the one will devour him that was with him, but he will also fall by the sword in the last days.

You saw two under wings passing (d)over to the head that is on the right side.

This is the interpretation: These are they whom the Most High has kept to his end. This is the brief reign that was full of trouble, as you saw.

“The lion, whom you saw rising up out of the forest, roaring, speaking to the eagle, and rebuking her for her unrighteousness, and all her words which you have heard,

this is the anointed one, whom the Most High has kept to the end (e)[of days, who will spring up out of the seed of David, and he will come and speak] to them and reprove them for their wickedness and unrighteousness, and will(f) heap up before them their contemptuous dealings.

For at first he will set them alive in his judgment, and when he has reproved them, he will destroy them.

For he will deliver the rest of my people with mercy, those who have been preserved throughout my borders, and he will make them joyful until the coming of the end, even the day of judgment, about which I have spoken to you from the beginning.

This is the dream that you saw, and this is its interpretation.

Only you have been worthy to know the secret of the Most High.

Therefore write all these things that you have seen in a book, and put it in a secret place.

You shall teach them to the wise of your people, whose hearts you know are able to comprehend and keep these secrets.

But wait here yourself seven more days, that you may be shown whatever it pleases the Most High to show you.” Then he departed from me.

It came to pass, when all the people (g)saw that the seven days were past, and I had not come again into the city, they all gathered together, from the least to the greatest, and came to me, and spoke to me, saying,

“How have we offended you? What evil have we done against you, that you have utterly forsaken us, and sit in this place?

For of all the prophets, only you are left to us, like a cluster of the vintage, and like a lamp in a dark place, and like a harbor for a ship saved from the tempest.

Aren’t the evils which have come to us sufficient?

If you will forsake us, how much better had it been for us if we also had been consumed in the burning of Zion!

For we are not better than those who died there.” Then they wept with a loud voice. I answered them,

“Take courage, O Israel! Don’t be sorrowful, you house of Jacob;

for the Most High remembers you. The Mighty has not forgotten you (h)forever.

As for me, I have not forsaken you. I haven’t departed from you; but I have come into this place to pray for the desolation of Zion, and that I might seek mercy for the humiliation of your sanctuary.

Now go your way, every man to his own house, and after these days I will come to you.”

So the people went their way into the city, as I told them to do.

But I sat in the field seven days, as the angel commanded me. In those days, I ate only of the flowers of the field, and my food was from plants.

Footnotes

(a)12:2 So the chief Oriental versions.

(b)12:18 The Oriental versions havein the midst of.

(d)12:29 So the Syriac. The Latin has over the head.

(e)12:32 The words in brackets are added from the Syriac.

(f)12:32 The Syriac has set in order.

(g)12:40 So the Syriac. The Latin has heard.

(h)12:47 So the Syriac.