King James Version · Under Rome
2 Esdras 12
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1And it came to pass, whiles the lion spake these words unto the eagle, I saw, 2And, behold, the head that remained and the four appeared no more, and the two went unto it and set themselves up to reign, and their kingdom was small, and fill of uproar. 3And 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 , and from great fear, and said unto , 4Lo, this hast thou done unto me, in that thou searchest out the ways of the Highest. 5Lo, yet am I weary in my , and very weak in ; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was afflicted this night. 6Therefore will I now beseech the Highest, that he will comfort me unto the end. 7And I said, that bearest rule, if I have found before thy sight, and if I am with thee before many others, and if my indeed be come up before thy ; 8Comfort me then, and shew me thy servant the and plain difference of this fearful , that thou mayest perfectly comfort . 9For thou hast judged me worthy to shew me the last times. 10And he said unto me, This is the of the : 11The eagle, whom thou sawest come up from the sea, is which was seen in the of thy brother Daniel. 12But it was not expounded unto him, therefore now I declare it unto thee. 13Behold, 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. 14In the same shall twelve kings reign, one after another: 15Whereof the second shall begin to reign, and shall have more time than any of the twelve. 16And this do the twelve signify, which thou sawest. 17As 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 : 18That 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. 19And whereas thou sawest the eight small under feathers sticking to her , this is the : 20That in him there shall arise eight kings, whose times shall be but small, and their years swift. 21And two of them shall , the middle time approaching: four shall be kept until their end begin to approach: but two shall be kept unto the end. 22And whereas thou sawest three heads resting, this is the : 23In his shall raise up three kingdoms, and renew many things therein, and they shall have the of the earth, 24And of those that therein, with much , above all those that were before them: therefore are they called the heads of the eagle. 25For these are they that shall accomplish his wickedness, and that shall finish his last end. 26And whereas thou sawest that the great head appeared no more, it signifieth that one of them shall upon his bed, and yet with pain. 27For the two that shall be slain with . 28For of the one shall devour the other: but at the last shall he fall through himself. 29And whereas thou sawest two feathers under the passing over the head that is on the right side; 30It 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. 31And 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; 32This is , which the Highest hath kept for them and for their wickedness unto the end: he shall reprove them, and shall upbraid them with their . 33For he shall set them before him alive in , and shall rebuke them, and correct them. 34For the rest of my people shall he with mercy, those that have been pressed upon my borders, and he shall make them joyful until the coming of the day of , whereof I have spoken unto thee from the the beginning. 35This is the that thou sawest, and these are the interpretations. 36Thou only hast been meet to know this secret of the Highest. 37Therefore write all these things that thou hast seen in a book, and hide them: 38And teach them to of the people, whose thou knowest may comprehend and keep these secrets. 39But 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. 40And 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, 41What have we offended thee? and what evil have we done against thee, that thou forsakest us, and sittest here in this place? 42For of all 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. 43Are not the evils which are come to us sufficient? 44If thou shalt forsake us, how much better had it been for us, if we also had been burned in the midst of ? 45For we are not better than they that there. And they wept with a loud voice. Then answered I them, and said, 46Be of good comfort, O Israel; and be not heavy, thou house of : 47For the Highest hath you in remembrance, and the Mighty hath not forgotten you in . 48As for me, I have not forsaken you, neither am I departed from you: but am come into this place, to for the desolation of , and that I might seek mercy for the low estate of your sanctuary. 49And now go your way home every man, and after these days will I come unto you. 50So the people went their way into the city, like as I commanded them: 51But I remained still in the field seven days, as commanded me; and did eat only in those days of the flowers of the field, and had my meat of the herbs
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.