Agony and Comfort

Chapter 3

¹In the thirtieth year after the destruction of the city, I was in Babylon—I, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra. I was troubled as I lay on my bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart, ²because I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those who lived in Babylon. ³My spirit was greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious words to the Most High. [ . . . ]

²⁸“Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better? Is that why it has gained dominion over Zion? ²⁹For when I came here I saw ungodly deeds without number, and my soul has seen many sinners during these thirty years. And my heart failed me, ³⁰because I have seen how you endure those who sin, and have spared those who act wickedly, and have destroyed your people, and protected your enemies, ³¹and have not shown to anyone how your way may be comprehended. Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion? ³²Or has another nation known you besides Israel? Or what tribes have so believed the covenants as these tribes of Jacob? ³³Yet their reward has not appeared and their labor has borne no fruit. For I have traveled widely among the nations and have seen that they abound in wealth, though they are unmindful of your commandments. ³⁴Now therefore weigh in a balance our iniquities and those of the inhabitants of the world; and it will be found which way the turn of the scale will incline. ³⁵When have the inhabitants of the earth not sinned in your sight? Or what nation has kept your commandments so well? ³⁶You may indeed find individuals who have kept your commandments, but nations you will not find.”

Chapter 4

¹Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered ²and said to me, “Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?” ³Then I said, “Yes, my lord.” And he replied to me, “I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. ⁴If you can solve one of them for me, then I will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil.”

⁵I said, “Speak, my lord.”

And he said to me, “Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a blast of wind, or call back for me the day that is past.”

⁶I answered and said, “Who of those that have been born can do that, that you should ask me about such things?” [ . . . ]

²²Then I answered and said, “I implore you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding?” [ . . . ]

Chapter 5

²¹After seven days the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me again. ²²Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High. ²³I said, “O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees you have chosen one vine, ²⁴and from all the lands of the world you have chosen for yourself one region, and from all the flowers of the world you have chosen for yourself one lily, ²⁵and from all the depths of the sea you have filled for yourself one river, and from all the cities that have been built you have consecrated Zion for yourself, ²⁶and from all the birds that have been created you have named for yourself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made you have provided for yourself one sheep, ²⁷and from all the multitude of peoples you have gotten for yourself one people; and to this people, whom you have loved, you have given the law that is approved by all. ²⁸And now, O Lord, why have you handed the one over to the many, and dishonored the one root beyond the others, and scattered your only one among the many? ²⁹And those who opposed your promises have trampled on those who believed your covenants. ³⁰If you really hate your people, they should be punished at your own hands.” [ . . . ]

Chapter 9

³⁸When I said these things in my heart, I looked around, and on my right I saw a woman; she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart; her clothes were torn, and there were ashes on her head. ³⁹Then I dismissed the thoughts with which I had been engaged, and turned to her ⁴⁰and said to her, “Why are you weeping, and why are you grieved at heart?”

⁴¹She said to me, “Let me alone, my lord, so that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply distressed.”

⁴²I said to her, “What has happened to you? Tell me.”

⁴³And she said to me, “Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband for thirty years. ⁴⁴Every hour and every day during those thirty years I prayed to the Most High, night and day. ⁴⁵And after thirty years God heard your servant, and looked upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbors; and we gave great glory to the Mighty One. ⁴⁶And I brought him up with much care. ⁴⁷So when he grew up and I came to take a wife for him, I set a day for the marriage feast.

Chapter 10

¹“But it happened that when my son entered his wedding chamber, he fell down and died. ²So all of us put out our lamps, and all my neighbors attempted to console me; I remained quiet until the evening of the second day. ³But when all of them had stopped consoling me, encouraging me to be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and I came to this field, as you see. ⁴And now I intend not to return to the town, but to stay here; I will neither eat nor drink, but will mourn and fast continually until I die.”

⁵Then I broke off the reflections with which I was still engaged, and answered her in anger and said, ⁶“You most foolish of women, do you not see our mourning, and what has happened to us? ⁷For Zion, the mother of us all, is in deep grief and great distress. ⁸It is most appropriate to mourn now, because we are all mourning, and to be sorrowful, because we are all sorrowing; you are sorrowing for one son, but we, the whole world, for our mother. ⁹Now ask the earth, and she will tell you that it is she who ought to mourn over so many who have come into being upon her. ¹⁰From the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come; and, lo, almost all go to perdition, and a multitude of them will come to doom. ¹¹Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great a multitude, or you who are grieving for one alone? ¹²But if you say to me, ‘My lamentation is not like the earth’s, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth in pain and bore in sorrow; ¹³but it is with the earth according to the way of the earth—the multitude that is now in it goes as it came’; ¹⁴then I say to you, ‘Just as you brought forth in sorrow, so the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, humankind, to him who made her.’ ¹⁵Now, therefore, keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear bravely the troubles that have come upon you. ¹⁶For if you acknowledge the decree of God to be just, you will receive your son back in due time, and will be praised among women. ¹⁷Therefore go into the town to your husband.”

¹⁸She said to me, “I will not do so; I will not go into the city, but I will die here.”

¹⁹So I spoke again to her, and said, ²⁰“Do not do that, but let yourself be persuaded—for how many are the adversities of Zion?—and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem. ²¹For you see how our sanctuary has been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple destroyed; ²²our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered, our holy things have been polluted, and the name by which we are called has been almost profaned; our children have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into exile, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished; our righteous men have been carried off, our little ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong men made powerless. ²³And, worst of all, the seal of Zion has been deprived of its glory, and given over into the hands of those that hate us. ²⁴Therefore shake off your great sadness and lay aside your many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may be merciful to you again, and the Most High may give you rest, a respite from your troubles.”

²⁵While I was talking to her, her face suddenly began to shine exceedingly; her countenance flashed like lightning, so that I was too frightened to approach her, and my heart was terrified. While I was wondering what this meant, ²⁶she suddenly uttered a loud and fearful cry, so that the earth shook at the sound. ²⁷When I looked up, the woman was no longer visible to me, but a city was being built, and a place of huge foundations showed itself. I was afraid, and cried with a loud voice and said, ²⁸“Where is the angel Uriel, who came to me at first? For it was he who brought me into this overpowering bewilderment; my end has become corruption, and my prayer a reproach.”

²⁹While I was speaking these words, the angel who had come to me at first came to me, and when he saw me ³⁰lying there like a corpse, deprived of my understanding, he grasped my right hand and strengthened me and set me on my feet, and said to me, ³¹“What is the matter with you? And why are you troubled? And why are your understanding and the thoughts of your mind troubled?”

³²I said, “It was because you abandoned me. I did as you directed, and went out into the field, and lo, what I have seen and can still see, I am unable to explain.”

³³He said to me, “Stand up like a man, and I will instruct you.”

³⁴I said, “Speak, my lord; only do not forsake me, so that I may not die before my time. ³⁵For I have seen what I did not know, and I hear what I do not understand ³⁶—or is my mind deceived, and my soul dreaming? ³⁷Now therefore I beg you to give your servant an explanation of this bewildering vision.”

³⁸He answered me and said, “Listen to me, and I will teach you, and tell you about the things that you fear; for the Most High has revealed many secrets to you. ³⁹He has seen your righteous conduct, and that you have sorrowed continually for your people and mourned greatly over Zion. ⁴⁰This therefore is the meaning of the vision. ⁴¹The woman who appeared to you a little while ago, whom you saw mourning and whom you began to console ⁴²(you do not now see the form of a woman, but there appeared to you a city being built) ⁴³and who told you about the misfortune of her son—this is the interpretation: ⁴⁴The woman whom you saw is Zion, which you now behold as a city being built. ⁴⁵And as for her telling you that she was barren for thirty years, the reason is that there were three thousand years in the world before any offering was offered in it. ⁴⁶And after three thousand years Solomon built the city, and offered offerings; then it was that the barren woman bore a son. ⁴⁷And as for her telling you that she brought him up with much care, that was the period of residence in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸And as for her saying to you, ‘My son died as he entered his wedding chamber,’ and that misfortune had overtaken her, this was the destruction that befell Jerusalem. ⁴⁹So you saw her likeness, how she mourned for her son, and you began to console her for what had happened. ⁵⁰For now the Most High, seeing that you are sincerely grieved and profoundly distressed for her, has shown you the brilliance of her glory, and the loveliness of her beauty. ⁵¹Therefore I told you to remain in the field where no house had been built, ⁵²for I knew that the Most High would reveal these things to you. ⁵³Therefore I told you to go into the field where there was no foundation of any building, ⁵⁴because no work of human construction could endure in a place where the city of the Most High was to be revealed.

⁵⁵“Therefore do not be afraid, and do not let your heart be terrified; but go in and see the splendor or the vastness of the building, as far as it is possible for your eyes to see it, ⁵⁶and afterward you will hear as much as your ears can hear. ⁵⁷For you are more blessed than many, and you have been called to be with the Most High as few have been.”

Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.