King James Version · Under Rome
2 Esdras 15
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1Behold, speak thou in the ears of my people the words of , which I will put in thy , saith : 2And cause them to be written in paper: for they are and true. 3Fear not the imaginations against thee, let not the incredulity of them trouble thee, that speak against thee. 4For all the shall in their . 5Behold, saith , I will bring plagues upon the world; , , , and . 6For wickedness hath exceedingly polluted the whole earth, and their hurtful works are fulfilled. 7Therefore saith , 8I will hold my no more as touching their wickedness, which they profanely commit, neither will I suffer them in those things, in which they wickedly exercise themselves: behold, the innocent and crieth unto me, and the of the complain continually. 9And therefore, saith , I will surely them, and receive unto me all the innocent from among them. 10Behold, my people is led as a flock to the slaughter: I will not suffer them now to in the land of : 11But I will bring them with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm, and smite with plagues, as before, and will destroy all the land thereof. 12 shall mourn, and the foundation of it shall be smitten with the plague and punishment that shall bring upon it. 13They that till the ground shall mourn: for their seeds shall fail through the blasting and hail, and with a fearful constellation. 14Woe to the world and them that therein! 15For and their draweth nigh, and one people shall stand up and fight against another, and in their hands. 16For there shall be sedition among men, and invading one another; they shall not regard their kings nor princes, and the course of their actions shall stand in their . 17A man shall to go into a city, and shall not be able. 18For because of their pride the cities shall be troubled, the houses shall be destroyed, and men shall be afraid. 19A man shall have no upon his neighbour, but shall destroy their houses with , and spoil their goods, because of the lack of bread, and for great tribulation. 20Behold, saith , I will call together all the kings of the earth to reverence me, which are from the rising of the sun, from the south, from the east, and Libanus; to turn themselves one against another, and repay the things that they have done to them. 21Like as they do yet this day unto my chosen, so will I do also, and in their . Thus saith ; 22My shall not spare the , and my shall not cease over them that upon the earth. 23The is gone forth from his , and hath consumed the foundations of the earth, and the , like the straw that is kindled. 24Woe to them that , and keep not my ! saith . 25I will not spare them: go your way, ye children, from the , defile not my sanctuary. 26For knoweth all them that against him, and therefore delivereth he them unto and . 27For now are the plagues come upon the whole earth and ye shall in them: for shall not you, because ye have against him. 28Behold an horrible , and the appearance thereof from the east: 29Where the nations of the dragons of shall come out with many chariots, and of them shall be carried as the wind upon earth, that all they which hear them may fear and tremble. 30Also the Carmanians raging in shall go forth as the wild boars of the wood, and with great shall they come, and join battle with them, and shall waste a of the land of the . 31And then shall the dragons have the upper hand, remembering their nature; and if they shall turn themselves, conspiring together in great to persecute them, 32Then these shall be troubled bled, and keep silence through their , and shall flee. 33And from the land of the shall besiege them, and consume some of them, and in their host shall be fear and dread, and strife among their kings. 34Behold clouds from the east and from the north unto the south, and they are very horrible to look upon, full of and storm. 35They shall smite one upon another, and they shall smite down a great multitude of stars upon the earth, even their own star; and shall be from unto the belly, 36And dung of men unto the camel’s hough. 37And there shall be great fearfulness and trembling upon earth: and they that see the shall be afraid, and trembling shall come upon them. 38And then shall there come great storms from the south, and from the north, and another part from the west. 39And strong winds shall arise from the east, and shall open it; and the cloud which he up in , and the star stirred to cause fear toward the east and west wind, shall be destroyed. 40The great and mighty clouds shall be puffed up full of , and the star, that they may make all the earth afraid, and them that therein; and they shall pour out over every high and eminent place an horrible star, 41, and hail, and flying , and many waters, that all fields may be full, and all rivers, with the abundance of great waters. 42And they shall break down the cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees of the wood, and grass of the meadows, and their corn. 43And they shall go stedfastly unto , and make her afraid. 44They shall come to her, and besiege her, the star and all shall they pour out upon her: then shall and smoke go up unto the , and all they that be about her shall bewail her. 45And they that under her shall do unto them that have put her in fear. 46And thou, , that art partaker of the of , and art the of her person: 47Woe be unto thee, thou wretch, because thou hast made thyself like unto her; and hast decked thy daughters in whoredom, that they might please and in thy lovers, which have always to commit whoredom with thee. 48Thou hast followed her that is hated in all her works and inventions: therefore saith , 49I will send plagues upon thee; widowhood, , , , and pestilence, to waste thy houses with and . 50And the of thy shall be dried up as a flower, the heat shall arise that is sent over thee. 51Thou shalt be weakened as a woman with stripes, and as one chastised with wounds, so that the mighty and lovers shall not be able to receive thee. 52Would I with have so proceeded against thee, saith , 53If thou hadst not always slain my chosen, exalting the stroke of thine hands, and saying over their , when thou wast drunken, 54Set forth the beauty of thy countenance? 55The reward of thy whoredom shall be in thy , therefore shalt thou receive recompence. 56Like as thou hast done unto my chosen, saith , even so shall do unto thee, and shall thee into mischief 57Thy children shall of , and thou shalt fall through : thy cities shall be broken down, and all thine shall with in the field. 58They that be in the mountains shall of , and eat their own , and drink their own , for very of bread, and thirst of water. 59Thou as unhappy shalt come through the sea, and receive plagues again. 60And in the passage they shall rush on the idle city, and shall destroy some of thy land, and consume part of thy , and shall return to that was destroyed. 61And thou shalt be cast down by them as stubble, and they shall be unto thee as ; 62And shall consume thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountains; all thy woods and thy fruitful trees shall they burn up with . 63Thy children shall they carry away , and, look, what thou hast, they shall spoil it, and mar the beauty of thy .
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.