Page:KJV 1772 Oxford Edition, vol. 2.djvu/28

Apocrypha. shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.

I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount Oreb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord.

And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for your Shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world.

Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore.

Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I testify my Saviour openly.

O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath led you to the heavenly kingdom.

Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;

Which are departed from the shadow of the world, and have received glorious garments of the Lord.

Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord.

The number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed.

I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.

And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.

So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what are these?

He answered and said unto me, These be they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.

Then said I unto the angel, What young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands?

So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.

Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen.

In the thirtieth year after the ruin of the city I was in Babylon, and lay troubled upon my bed, and my thoughts came up over my heart:

For I saw the desolation of Sion, and the wealth of them that dwelt at Babylon.

And my spirit was sore moved, so that I began to speak words full of fear to the most High, and said,

O Lord, who bearest rule, thou spakest at the beginning, when thou didst plant the earth, and that thyself alone, and commandedst the people,

And gavest a body unto Adam without soul, which was the workmanship of thine hands, and didst breathe into him the breath of life, and he was made living before thee.

And thou leadest him into paradise, which thy right hand had planted, before ever the earth came forward.

And unto him thou gavest commandment to love thy way: which he transgressed, and immediately thou appointedst death in him and in his generations, of whom came nations, tribes, people, and kindreds, out of number.

And every people walked after their own will, and did wonderful things before thee, and despised thy commandments.

And again in process of time thou broughtest the flood upon those that dwelt in the world, and destroyedst them.

And it came to pass in every of them, that as death was to Adam, so was the flood to these.

Nevertheless one of them thou leftest, namely, Noah with his household, of whom came all righteous men.

And it happened, that when they that dwelt upon the earth began to multiply, and had gotten them many children, and were a great people, they began again to be more ungodly than the first.

Now when they lived so wickedly before thee, thou didst choose thee a man from among them, whose name was Abraham.

Him thou lovedst, and unto him only thou shewedst thy will:

And madest an everlasting covenant with him, promising him that thou wouldest never forsake his seed.