After the taking up of our Lord Jesus Christ, I John was alone upon
Mount Tabor, where also He showed us His undefiled Godhead; and as I
was not able to stand, I fell upon the ground, and prayed to the Lord,
and said: O Lord my God, who hast deemed me worthy to be Your servant,
hear my voice, and teach me about Your coming. When You shall come to
the earth, what will happen? The heaven and the earth, and the sun and
the moon, what will happen to them in those times? Reveal to me all;
for I am emboldened, because Thou listenest to Your servant.

And I spent seven days praying; and after this a cloud of light caught
me up from the mountain, and set me before the face of the heaven. And
I heard a voice saying to me: Look up, John, servant of God, and know.
And having looked up, I saw the heaven opened, and there came forth
from within the heaven a smell of perfumes of much sweet odour; and I
saw an exceeding great flood of light, more resplendent than the sun.
And again I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, righteous John. And I
directed my sight, and saw a book lying, of the thickness, methought,
of seven mountains; and the length of it the mind of man cannot
comprehend, having seven seals. And I said: O Lord my God, reveal to
me what is written in this book. And I heard a voice saying to me:
Hear, righteous John. In this book which you see there have been
written the things in the heaven, and the things in the earth, and the
things in the abyss, and the judgments and righteousness of all the
human race. And I said: Lord, when shall these things come to pass?
and what do those times bring? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear,
righteous John. There shall be in that time abundance of corn and
wine, such as there has never been upon the earth, nor shall ever be
until those times come. Then the ear of corn shall produce a half
chœnix, and the bend of the branch shall produce a thousand clusters,
and the cluster shall produce a half jar of wine; and in the following
year there shall not be found upon the face of all the earth a half
chœnix of corn or a half jar of wine.

And again I said: Lord, thereafter what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall appear the
denier, and he who is set apart in the darkness, who is called
Antichrist. And again I said: Lord, reveal to me what he is like. And
I heard a voice saying to me: The appearance of his face is dusky; the
hairs of his head are sharp, like darts; his eyebrows like a wild
beast's; his right eye like the star which rises in the morning, and
the other like a lion's; his mouth about one cubit; his teeth span
long; his fingers like scythes; the print of his feet of two spans;
and on his face an inscription, Antichrist; he shall be exalted even
to heaven, and shall be cast down even to Hades, making false
displays. And then will I make the heaven brazen, so that it shall not
give moisture upon the earth; and I will hide the clouds in secret
places, so that they shall not bring moisture upon the earth; and I
will command the horns of the wind, so that the wind shall not blow
upon the earth.

And again I said: Lord, and how many years will he do this upon the
earth? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Three
years shall those times be; and I will make the three years like three
months, and the three months like three weeks, and the three weeks
like three days, and the three days like three hours, and the three
hours like three seconds, as said the prophet David, His throne have
You broken down to the ground; You have shortened the days of his
time; You have poured shame upon him. And then I shall send forth
Enoch and Elias to convict him; and they shall show him to be a liar
and a deceiver; and he shall kill them at the altar, as said the
prophet, Then shall they offer calves upon Your altar.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will come to pass? And I
heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then all the human
race shall die, and there shall not be a living man upon all the
earth. And again I said: Lord, after that what will You do? And I
heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then will I send
forth mine angels, and they shall take the ram's horns that lie upon
the cloud; and Michael and Gabriel shall go forth out of the heaven
and sound with those horns, as the prophet David foretold, With the
voice of a trumpet of horn. And the voice of the trumpet shall be
heard from the one quarter of the world to the other; and from the
voice of that trumpet all the earth shall be shaken, as the prophet
foretold, And at the voice of the bird every plant shall arise; that
is, at the voice of the archangel all the human race shall arise.

And again I said: Lord, those who are dead from Adam even to this day,
and who dwell in Hades from the beginning of the world, and who die at
the last ages, what like shall they arise? And I heard a voice saying
to me: Hear, righteous John. All the human race shall arise thirty
years old.

And again I said: Lord, they die male and female, and some old, and
some young, and some infants. In the resurrection what like shall they
arise? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Just as
the bees are, and differ not one from another, but are all of one
appearance and one size, so also shall every man be in the
resurrection. There is neither fair, nor ruddy, nor black, neither
Ethiopian nor different countenances; but they shall all arise of one
appearance and one stature. All the human race shall arise without
bodies, as I told you that in the resurrection they neither marry nor
are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God.

And again I said: Lord, is it possible in that world to recognise each
other, a brother his brother, or a friend his friend, or a father his
own children, or the children their own parents? And I heard a voice
saying to me: Hear, John. To the righteous there is recognition, but
to the sinners not at all; they cannot in the resurrection recognise
each other. And again I John said: Lord, is there there recollection
of the things that are here, either fields or vineyards, or other
things here? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John.
The prophet David speaks, saying, I remembered that we are dust: as
for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he shall
flourish: for a wind has passed over it, and it shall be no more, and
it shall not any longer know its place. And again the same said: His
spirit shall go forth, and he returns to his earth; in that day all
his thoughts shall perish.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then will I send forth mine
angels over the face of all the earth, and they shall lift off the
earth everything honourable, and everything precious, and the
venerable and holy images, and the glorious and precious crosses, and
the sacred vessels of the churches, and the divine and sacred books;
and all the precious and holy things shall be lifted up by clouds into
the air. And then will I order to be lifted up the great and venerable
sceptre, on which I stretched forth my hands, and all the orders of my
angels shall do reverence to it. And then shall be lifted up all the
race of men upon clouds, as the Apostle Paul foretold. Along with them
we shall be snatched up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And
then shall come forth every evil spirit, both in the earth and in the
abyss, wherever they are on the face of all the earth, from the rising
of the sun even to the setting, and they shall be united to him that
is served by the devil, that is, Antichrist, and they shall be lifted
up upon the clouds.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall I send forth mine
angels over the face of all the earth, and they shall burn up the
earth eight thousand five hundred cubits, and the great mountains
shall be burnt up, and all the rocks shall be melted and shall become
as dust, and every tree shall be burnt up, and every beast, and every
creeping thing creeping upon the earth, and every thing moving upon
the face of the earth, and every flying thing flying in the air; and
there shall no longer be upon the face of all the earth anything
moving, and the earth shall be without motion.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall I uncover the
four parts of the east, and there shall come forth four great winds,
and they shall sweep all the face of the earth from the one end of the
earth to the other; and the Lord shall sweep sin from off the earth,
and the earth shall be made white like snow, and it shall become as a
leaf of paper, without cave, or mountain, or hill, or rock; but the
face of the earth from the rising even to the setting of the sun shall
be like a table, and white as snow; and the reins of the earth shall
be consumed by fire, and it shall cry unto me, saying, I am a virgin
before you, O Lord, and there is no sin in me; as the prophet David
said aforetime, You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made
pure; You shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. And
again he said: Every chasm shall be filled up, and every mountain and
hill brought low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and
the rough ways into smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of
God. Isaiah 40:4

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then shall the earth be
cleansed from sin, and all the earth shall be filled with a sweet
smell, because I am about to come down upon the earth; and then shall
come forth the great and venerable sceptre, with thousands of angels
worshipping it, as I said before; and then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man from the heaven with power and great glory. Matthew
24:30 And then the worker of iniquity with his servants shall behold
it, and gnash his teeth exceedingly, and all the unclean spirits shall
be turned to flight. And then, seized by invisible power, having no
means of flight, they shall gnash their teeth against him, saying to
him: Where is your power? How have you led us astray? and we have fled
away, and have fallen away from the glory which we had beside Him who
is coming to judge us, and the whole human race. Woe to us! because He
banishes us into outer darkness.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? And I heard a
voice saying to me: Then will I send an angel out of heaven, and he
shall cry with a loud voice, saying, Hear, O earth, and be strong,
says the Lord; for I am coming down to you. And the voice of the angel
shall be heard from the one end of the world even to the other, and
even to the remotest part of the abyss. And then shall be shaken all
the power of the angels and of the many-eyed ones, and there shall be
a great noise in the heavens, and the nine regions of the heaven shall
be shaken, and there shall be fear and astonishment upon all the
angels. And then the heavens shall be rent from the rising of the sun
even to the setting, and an innumerable multitude of angels shall come
down to the earth; and then the treasures of the heavens shall be
opened, and they shall bring down every precious thing, and the
perfume of incense, and they shall bring down to the earth Jerusalem
robed like a bride. Revelation 21:2 And then there shall go before me
myriads of angels and archangels, bearing my throne, crying out, Holy,
holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
Isaiah 6:3 And then will I come forth with power and great glory, and
every eye in the clouds shall see me; and then every knee shall bend,
of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth.
Philippians 2:10 And then the heaven shall remain empty; and I will
come down upon the earth, and all that is in the air shall be brought
down upon the earth, and all the human race and every evil spirit
along with Antichrist, and they shall all be set before me naked, and
chained by the neck.

And again I said: Lord, what will become of the heavens, and the sun,
and the moon, along with the stars? And I heard a voice saying to me:
Behold, righteous John. And I looked, and saw a Lamb having seven eyes
and seven horns. Revelation 5:6 And again I heard a voice saying to
me: I will bid the Lamb come before me, and will say, Who will open
this book? And all the multitudes of the angels will answer, Give this
book to the Lamb to open it. And then will I order the book to be
opened. And when He shall open the first seal, the stars of the heaven
shall fall, from the one end of it to the other. And when He shall
open the second seal, the moon shall be hidden, and there shall be no
light in her. And when He shall open the third seal, the light of the
sun shall be withheld, and there shall not be light upon the earth.
And when He shall open the fourth seal, the heavens shall be
dissolved, and the air shall be thrown into utter confusion, as says
the prophet: And the heavens are the works of Your hands; they shall
perish, but You endure, and they shall all wax old as a garment. And
when He shall open the fifth seal, the earth shall be rent, and all
the tribunals upon the face of all the earth shall be revealed. And
when He shall open the sixth seal, the half of the sea shall
disappear. And when He shall open the seventh seal, Hades shall be
uncovered.

And I said: Lord, who will be the first to be questioned, and to
receive judgment? And I heard a voice saying to me, The unclean
spirits, along with the adversary. I bid them go into outer darkness,
where the depths are. And I said: Lord, and in what place does it lie?
And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. As big a stone
as a man of thirty years old can roll, and let go down into the depth,
even falling down for twenty years will not arrive at the bottom of
Hades; as the prophet David said before, And He made darkness His
secret place.

And I said: Lord, and after them what nation will be questioned? And I
heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. There will be
questioned of Adam's race those nations, both the Greek and those who
have believed in idols, and in the sun, and in the stars, and those
who have defiled the faith by heresy, and who have not believed the
holy resurrection, and who have not confessed the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Ghost: then will I send them away into Hades, as the
prophet David foretold, Let the sinners be turned into Hades, and all
the nations that forget God. And again he said: They were put in Hades
like sheep; death shall be their shepherd.

And again I said: Lord, and after them whom will You judge? And I
heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John. Then the race of the
Hebrews shall be examined, who nailed me to the tree like a
malefactor. And I said: And what punishment will these get, and in
what place, seeing that they did such things to You? And I heard a
voice saying to me: They shall go away into Tartarus, as the prophet
David foretold, They cried out, and there was none to save; to the
Lord, and He did not hearken to them. And again the Apostle Paul said:
As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law, and
as many as have sinned in law shall be judged by means of law. Romans 2:12

And again I said: Lord, and what of those who have received baptism?
And I heard a voice saying to me: Then the race of the Christians
shall be examined, who have received baptism; and then the righteous
shall come at my command, and the angels shall go and collect them
from among the sinners, as the prophet David foretold: The Lord will
not suffer the rod of the sinners in the lot of the righteous; and all
the righteous shall be placed on my right hand, Matthew 25:33 and
shall shine like the sun. Matthew 13:43 As you see, John, the stars of
heaven, that they were all made together, but differ in light, 1
Corinthians 15:41 so shall it be with the righteous and the sinners;
for the righteous shall shine as lights and as the sun, but the
sinners shall stand in darkness.

And again I said: Lord, and do all the Christians go into one
punishment?—kings, high priests, priests, patriarchs, rich and poor,
bond and free? And I heard a voice saying to me: Hear, righteous John.
As the prophet David foretold, The expectation of the poor shall not
perish for ever. Now about kings: they shall be driven like slaves,
and shall weep like infants; and about patriarchs, and priests, and
Levites, of those that have sinned, they shall be separated in their
punishments, according to the nature of the peculiar transgression of
each,—some in the river of fire, and some to the worm that dies not,
and others in the seven-mouthed pit of punishment. To these
punishments the sinners will be apportioned.

And again I said: Lord, and where will the righteous dwell? And I
heard a voice saying to me: Then shall paradise be revealed; and the
whole world and paradise shall be made one, and the righteous shall be
on the face of all the earth with my angels, as the Holy Spirit
foretold through the prophet David: The righteous shall inherit the
earth, and dwell therein for ever and ever.

And again I said: Lord, how great is the multitude of the angels? and
which is the greater, that of angels or of men? And I heard a voice
saying to me: As great as is the multitude of the angels, so great is
the race of men, as the prophet has said, He set bounds to the nations
according to the number of the angels of God.

And again I said: Lord, and after that what will You do? and what is
to become of the world? Reveal to me all. And I heard a voice saying
to me: Hear, righteous John. After that there is no pain, there is no
grief, there is no groaning; there is no recollection of evils, there
are no tears, there is no envy, there is no hatred of brethren, there
is no unrighteousness, there is no arrogance, there is no slander,
there is no bitterness, there are none of the cares of life, there is
no pain from parents or children, there is no pain from gold, there
are no wicked thoughts, there is no devil, there is no death, there is
no night, but all is day. As I said before, And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold, that is, men who have been made like the
angels through their excellent course of life; them also must I bring,
and they will hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, one shepherd.

And again I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, you have heard all
these things, righteous John; deliver them to faithful men, that they
also may teach others, and not think lightly of them, nor cast our
pearls before swine, lest perchance they should trample them with
their feet. Matthew 7:6

And while I was still hearing this voice, the cloud brought me down,
and put me on Mount Thabor. And there came a voice to me, saying:
Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness in all time.
And blessed is the house where this description lies, as the Lord
said, He that loves me keeps my sayings John 14:23 in Christ Jesus our
Lord; to Him be glory for ever. Amen.



=09
Word and Revelation of Esdras,
The Holy Prophet and Beloved of God

IT came to pass in the thirtieth year, on the twenty- second of the
month, I was in my house. And I cried out and said to the Most High:
Lord, give the glory,(1) in order that I may see Thy mysteries. And
when it was night, there came an angel, Michael the archangel, and
says to me: O Prophet Esdras, refrain from bread for seventy weeks.(2)
And I fasted as he told me. And there came Raphael the commander of
the host, and gave me a storax rod. And I fasted twice sixty(3) weeks.
And I saw the mysteries of God and His angels. And I said to them: I
wish to plead before God about the race of the Christians. It is good
for a man not to be born rather than to come into the world. I was
therefore taken up into heaven, and I saw in the first heaven a great
army of angels; and they took me to the judgments. And I heard a voice
saying to me: Have mercy on us, O thou chosen of God, Esdras. Then
began I to say: Woe to sinners when they see one who is just more than
the angels, and they themselves are in the Gehenna of fire! And Esdras
said: Have mercy on the works of Thine hands, Thou who art
compassionate, and of great mercy. Judge me rather than the souls of
the sinners; for it is better that one soul should he punished, and
that the whole world should not come to destruction. And God said: I
will give rest in paradise to the righteous, and I have become(4)
merciful. And Esdras said: Lord, why dost Thou confer benefits on the
righteous? for just as one who has been hired out, and has served out
his time, goes and again works as a slave when he come to his masters,
so also the righteous has received his reward in the heavens. But have
mercy on the sinners, for we know that Thou art merciful. And God
said: I do not see how I can have mercy upon them. And Esdras said:
They cannot endure Thy wrath. And God said: This is the fate of such.
And God said: I wish to have thee like Paul and John, as thou hast
given me uncorrupted the treasure that cannot be stolen, the treasure
of virginity, the bulwark(5) of men. And Esdras said: It is good for a
man not to be born. It is good not to be in life. The irrational
creatures are better than man, because they have no punishment; but
Thou hast taken us, and given us up to judgment. Woe to the sinners in
the world to come! because their judgment is endless, and the flame
unquenchable. And while I was thus speaking to him, there came Michael
and Gabriel, and all the apostles; and they said: Rejoice, O faithful
man of God! And Esdras said:(6) Arise, and come hither with me, O
Lord, to judgment. And the Lord said: Behold, I give thee my covenant
between me and thee, that you may receive it. And Esdras said: Let us
plead in Thy hearing.(7) And God said: Ask Abraham your father how a
son pleads with his father,(8) and come plead with us. And Esdras
said: As the Lord liveth, I will not cease pleading with Thee in
behalf of the race of the Christians. Where are Thine ancient
compassions, O Lord? Where is Thy long-suffering? And God said: As I
have made night and day, I have made the righteous and the sinner; and
he should have lived like the righteous. And the prophet said: Who
made Adam the first-formed? And God said: My undefiled hands. And I
put him in paradise to guard the food of the tree of life; and
thereafter he became disobedient. and did this in transgression. And
the prophet said: Was he not protected by an angel? and was not his
life guarded by the cherubim to endless ages? and how was he deceived
who was guarded by angels? for Thou didst command all to be present,
and to attend to what was said by Thee.(1) But if Thou hadst not given
him Eve, the serpent would not have deceived her;(2) but whom Thou
wilt Thou savest, and whom Thou wilt Thou destroyest.(3) And the
prophet said: Let us come, my Lord, to a second judgment. And God
said: I cast fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And the prophet said: Lord,
Thou dealest with us according to our deserts. And God said: Your sins
transcend my clemency. And the prophet said: Call to mind the
Scriptures, my Father, who hast measured out Jerusalem, and set her up
again. Have mercy, O Lord, upon sinners; have mercy upon Thine own
creatures;(4) have pity upon Thy works. Then God remembered those whom
He had made, and said to the prophet: How can I have mercy upon them?
Vinegar and gall did they give me to drink,(5) and not even then did
they repent. And the prophet said: Reveal Thy cherubim, and let us go
together to judgment; and show me the day of judgment, what like it
is. And God said: Thou hast been deceived, Esdras; for such is the day
of judgment as that in which there is no rain upon the earth; for it
is a merciful tribunal as compared with that day. And the prophet
said: I will not cease to plead with Thee, unless I see the day of the
consummation. And God said:(6) Number the stars and the sand of the
sea; and if thou shalt be able to number this, thou art also able to
plead with me. And the prophet said: Lord, Thou knowest that I wear
human flesh; and how can I count the stars of the heaven, and the sand
of the sea? And God said: My chosen prophet, no man will know that
great day and the appearing(7) that comes to judge the world. For thy
sake, my prophet, I have told thee the day; but the hour have I not
told thee. And the prophet said: Lord, tell me also the years. And God
said: If I see the righteousness of the world, that it has abounded, I
will have patience with them; but if not, I will stretch forth my
hand, and lay hold of the world by the four quarters, and bring them
all together into the valley of Jehoshaphat,(8) and I will wipe out
the race of men, so that the world shall be no more. And the prophet
said: And how can Thy right hand be glorified? And God said: I shall
be glorified by my angels. And the prophet said: Lord, if Thou hast
resolved to do this, why didst Thou make man? Thou didst say to our
father Abraham,(9) Multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars
of the heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-shore;(10) and where
is Thy promise? And God said: First will I make an earthquake for the
fall of four-footed beasts and of men; and when you see that brother
gives up brother to death, and that children shall rise up against
their parents, and that a woman forsakes her own husband, and when
nation shall rise up against nation in war, then will you know that
the end is near.(11) For then neither brother pities brother, nor man
wife, nor children parents, nor friends friends, nor a slave his
master; for he who is the adversary of men shall come up from
Tartarus, and shall show men many things. What shall I make of thee,
Esdras? and wilt thou yet plead with me? And the prophet said: Lord, I
shall not cease to plead with Thee. And God said: Number the flowers
of the earth. If thou shalt be able to number them, thou art able also
to plead with me. And the prophet said: Lord, I cannot number them. I
wear human flesh; but I shall not cease to plead with Thee. I wish,
Lord, to see also the under parts of Tartarus. And God said: Come down
and see. And He gave me Michael, and Gabriel, and other thirty-four
angels; and I went down eighty-five steps, and they brought me down
five hundred steps, and I saw a fiery throne, and an old man sitting
upon it; and his judgment was merciless. And I said to the angels: Who
is this? and what is his sin? And they said to me: This is Herod, who
for a time was a king, and ordered to put to death the children from
two years old and under.(12) And I said: Woe to his soul! And again
they took me down thirty steps, and I there saw boilings up of fire,
and in them there was a multitude of sinners; and I heard their voice,
but saw not their forms. And they took me down lower many steps, which
I could not measure. And I there saw old men, and fiery pivots turning
in their ears. And I said: Who are these? and what is their sin? And
they said to me: These are they who would not listen.(13) And they
took me down again other five hundred steps, and I there saw the worm
that sleeps not, and fire burning up the sinners. And they took me
down to the lowest part of destruction, and I saw there the twelve
plagues of the abyss. And they took me away to the south, and I saw
there a man hanging by the eyelids; and the angels kept scourging him.
And I asked: Who is this? and what is his sin? And Michael the
commander said to me: This is one who lay with his mother; for having
put into practice a small wish, he has been ordered to be hanged. And
they took me away to the north, and I saw there a man bound with iron
chains. And I asked: Who is this? And he said to me: This is he who
said, I am the Son of God, that made stones bread, and water wine. And
the prophet said: My lord, let me know what is his form, and I shall
tell the race of men, that they may not believe in him. And he said to
me: The form of his countenance is like that of a wild beast; his
right eye like the star that rises in the morning, and the other
without motion; his mouth one cubit; his teeth span long; his fingers
like scythes; the track of his feet of two spans; and in his face an
inscription, Antichrist. He has been exalted to heaven; he shall go
down to Hades.(1) At one time he shall become a child; at another, an
old man. And the prophet said: Lord, and how dost Thou permit him, and
he deceives the race of men? And God said: Listen, my prophet. He
becomes both child and old man, and no one believes him that he is my
beloved Son. And after this a trumpet, and the tombs shall be opened,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.(2) Then the adversary,
hearing the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden in outer darkness.
Then the heaven, and the earth, and the sea shall be destroyed. Then
shall I burn the heaven eighty cubits, and the earth eight hundred
cubits. And the prophet said: And how has the heaven sinned? And God
said: Since(3) ... there is evil. And the prophet said: Lord, and the
earth, how has it sinned? And God said: Since the adversary, having
heard the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden, even on account of
this will I melt the earth, and with it the opponent of the race of
men. And the prophet said: Have mercy, Lord, upon the race of the
Christians. And I saw a woman hanging, and four wild beasts sucking
her breasts. And the angels said to me: She grudged to give her milk,
but even threw her infants into the rivers. And I saw a dreadful
darkness, and a night that had no stars nor moon; nor is there there
young or old, nor brother with brother, nor mother with child, nor
wife with husband. And I wept, and said: O Lord God, have mercy upon
the sinners. And as I said this, there came a cloud and snatched me
up, and carried me away again into the heavens. And I saw there many
judgments; and I wept bitterly, and said: It is good for a man not to
have come out of his mother's womb. And those who were in torment
cried out, saying: Since thou hast come hither, O holy one of God, we
have found a little remission. And the prophet said: Blessed are they
that weep for their sins. And God said: Hear, O beloved Esdras. As a
husbandman casts the seed of the corn into the ground, so also the man
casts his seed into the parts of the woman. The first month it is all
together; the second it increases in size; the third it gets hair; the
fourth it gets nails; the fifth it is turned into milk;(4) and the
sixth it is made ready, and receives life;(5) the seventh it is
completely furnished; the ninth the barriers of the gate of the woman
are opened; and it is born safe and sound into the earth. And the
prophet said: Lord, it is good for man not to have been born. Woe to
the human race then, when Thou shall come to judgment! And I said to
the Lord: Lord, why hast Thou created man, and delivered him up to
judgment? And God said, with a lofty proclamation: I will not by any
means have mercy on those who transgress my covenant. And the prophet
said Lord, where is Thy goodness? And God said: I have prepared all
things for man's sake, and man does not keep my commandments. And the
prophet said: Lord, reveal to me the judgments and paradise. And the
angels took me away towards the east, and I saw the tree of life. And
I saw there Enoch, and Elias, and Moses, and Peter, and Paul, and
Luke, and Matthias, and all the righteous, and the patriarchs. And I
saw there the keeping of the air within bounds, and the blowing of the
winds, and the storehouses of the ice, and the eternal judgments. And
I saw there a man hanging by the skull. And they said to me: This man
removed landmarks. And I saw there great judgments.(6) And I said to
the Lord: O Lord God, and what man, then, who has been born has not
sinned? And they took me lower down into Tartarus, and I saw all the
sinners lamenting and weeping and mourning bitterly. And I also wept,
seeing the race of men thus tormented. Then God says to me: Knowest
thou, Esdras, the names of the angels at the end of the world?
Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Aker, Arphugitonos,
Beburos, Zebuleon. Then there came a voice to me: Come hither and die,
Esdras, my beloved; give that which hath been entrusted to thee.(7)
And the prophet said: And whence can you bring forth my soul? And the
angels said: We can put it forth through the mouth. And the prophet
said: Mouth to mouth have I spoken with God,(8) and it comes not forth
thence. And the angels said: Let us bring it out through thy nostrils.
And the prophet said: My nostrils have smelled the sweet savour of the
glory of God. And the angels said: We can bring it out through thine
eyes. And the prophet said: Mine eyes have seen the back parts of
God.(9) And the angels said: We can bring it out through the crown of
thy head.

And the prophet said: I walked about with Moses also on the mountain,
and it comes not forth thence. And the angels said: We can put it
forth through the points of thy nails. And the prophet said: My feet
also have walked about on the altar. And the angels went away without
having done anything, saying: Lord, we cannot get his soul. Then He
says to His only begotten Son: Go down, my beloved Son, with a great
host of angels, and take the soul of my beloved Esdras. For the Lord,
having taken a great host of angels, says to the prophet: Give me the
trust which I entrusted to thee; the crown has been prepared for
thee.(1) And the prophet said: Lord, if Thou take my soul from me, who
will be left to plead with Thee for the race of men And God said: As
thou art mortal, and of the earth, do not plead with me. And the
prophet said: I will not cease to plead. And God said: Give up just
now the trust; the crown has been prepared for thee. Come and die,
that thou mayst obtain it. Then the prophet began to say with tears: O
Lord, what good have I done pleading with Thee, and I am going to fall
down into the earth? Woe's me, woe's me, that I am going to be eaten
up by worms! Weep, all ye saints and ye righteous, for me, who have
pleaded much, and who am delivered up to death. Weep for me, all ye
saints and ye righteous, because I have gone to the pit of Hades. And
God said to him: Hear, Esdras, my beloved. I, who am immortal, endured
a cross; I tasted vinegar and gall; I was laid in a tomb, and I raised
up my chosen ones; I called Adam up out of Hades, that I might save(2)
the race of men. Do not therefore be afraid of death: for that which
is from me--that is to say, the soul--goes to heaven; and that which
is from the earth--that is to say, the body--goes to the earth, from
which it was taken.(3) And the prophet said: Woe's me! woe's me! what
shall I set about? what shall I do? I know not. And then the blessed
Esdras began to say: O eternal God, the Maker of the whole creation,
who hast measured the heaven with a span, and who holdest the earth as
a handful,(4) who ridest upon the cherubim, who didst take the prophet
Elias to the heavens in a chariot of fire,(5) who givest food to all
flesh, whom all things dread and tremble at from the face of Thy
power,--listen to me, who have pleaded much, and give to all who
transcribe this book, and have it, and remember my name, and honour my
memory, give them a blessing from heaven; and bless him(6) in all
things, as Thou didst bless Joseph at last, and remember not his
former wickedness in the day of his judgment. And as many as have not
believed this book shall be burnt up like Sodom and Gomorrah. And
there came to him a voice, saying: Esdras, my beloved, all things
whatever thou hast asked will I give to each one. And immediately he
gave up his precious soul with much honour, in the month of October,
on the twenty-eighth. And they prepared him for burial with incense
and psalms; and his precious and sacred body dispenses strength of
soul and body perpetually to those who have recourse to him from a
longing desire. To whom is due glory, strength, honour, and
adoration,--to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.

For a footnoted version: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-08/anf08-106.htm