The Lord Commissions Ezra

1On the third day, while I was sitting under an oak, suddenly a voice came out of a bush opposite me and said, ‘Ezra, Ezra!’ 2And I answered, ‘Here I am, Lord’, and I rose to my feet. 3Then he said to me, ‘I revealed myself in a bush and spoke to Moses when my people were in bondage in Egypt; 4and I sent him and led14.4 Syr Arab 1 Arab 2 he led my people out of Egypt; and I led him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me for many days. 5I told him many wondrous things, and showed him the secrets of the times and declared to him14.5 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Lat lacks declared to him the end of the times. Then I commanded him, saying, 6“These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall keep secret.” 7And now I say to you: 8Lay up in your heart the signs that I have shown you, the dreams that you have seen, and the interpretations that you have heard; 9for you shall be taken up from among humankind, and henceforth you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times are ended. 10The age has lost its youth, and the times begin to grow old. 11For the age is divided into twelve parts, and nine14.11 Cn: Lat Ethiop ten of its parts have already passed, 12as well as half of the tenth part; so two of its parts remain, besides half of the tenth part.14.12 Syr lacks verses 11, 12: Ethiop For the world is divided into ten parts, and has come to the tenth, and half of the tenth remains. Now… 13Now therefore, set your house in order, and reprove your people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those that are wise.14.13 Lat lacks and…wise And now renounce the life that is corruptible, 14and put away from you mortal thoughts; cast away from you the burdens of humankind, and divest yourself now of your weak nature; 15lay to one side the thoughts that are most grievous to you, and hurry to escape from these times. 16For evils worse than those that you have now seen happen shall take place hereafter. 17For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more shall evils be increased upon its inhabitants. 18Truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come near. For the eagle14.18 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain that you saw in the vision is already hurrying to come.’

Ezra's Concern to Restore the Scriptures

19Then I answered and said, ‘Let me speak14.19 Most Lat Mss lack Let me speak in your presence, Lord. 20For I will go, as you have commanded me, and I will reprove the people who are now living; but who will warn those who will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants are without light. 21For your law has been burned, and so no one knows the things which have been done or will be done by you. 22If then I have found favour with you, send the holy spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things that were written in your law, so that people may be able to find the path, and that those who want to live in the last days may do so.’

23He answered me and said, ‘Go and gather the people, and tell them not to seek you for forty days. 24But prepare for yourself many writing-tablets, and take with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel—these five, who are trained to write rapidly; 25and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are about to write is finished. 26And when you have finished, some things you shall make public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this hour you shall begin to write.’

Ezra's Last Words to the People

27Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the people together, and said, 28‘Hear these words, O Israel. 29At first our ancestors lived as aliens in Egypt, and they were liberated from there 30and received the law of life, which they did not keep, which you also have transgressed after them. 31Then land was given to you for a possession in the land of Zion; but you and your ancestors committed iniquity and did not keep the ways that the Most High commanded you. 32And since he is a righteous judge, in due time he took from you what he had given. 33And now you are here, and your people14.33 Lat brothers are farther in the interior.14.33 Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat are among you 34If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy. 35For after death the judgement will come, when we shall live again; and then the names of the righteous shall become manifest, and the deeds of the ungodly shall be disclosed. 36But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty days.’

The Restoration of the Scriptures

37So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we proceeded to the field, and remained there. 38And on the next day a voice called me, saying, ‘Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink.’ 39So I opened my mouth, and a full cup was offered to me; it was full of something like water, but its colour was like fire. 40I took it and drank; and when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory, 41and my mouth was opened and was no longer closed. 42Moreover, the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and by turns they wrote what was dictated, using characters that they did not know.14.42 Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain They sat for forty days; they wrote during the daytime, and ate their bread at night. 43But as for me, I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at night. 44So during the forty days, ninety-four14.44 Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain books were written. 45And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke to me, saying, ‘Make public the twenty-four14.45 Syr Arab 1: Lat lacks twenty-four books that you wrote first, and let the worthy and the unworthy read them; 46but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people. 47For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.’ 48And I did so.14.48 Syr adds in the seventh year of the sixth week, five thousand years and three months and twelve days after creation. At that time Ezra was caught up, and taken to the place of those who are like him, after he had written all these things. And he was called the scribe of the knowledge of the Most High for ever and ever. Ethiop Arab 1 Arm have a similar ending