4 Esdras 15

²and see that they be written in paper, because they be faithful and true.

³Be not afraid of the cogitations against thee, neither let the incredulities trouble thee of them that speak.

⁴Because every incredulous person shall die in his incredulity.

⁵Behold I bring in, saith our Lord, upon the whole earth evils, sword, and famine, and death, and destruction.

⁶Because iniquity hath fully polluted over all the earth, and their hurtful works are accomplished.

⁷Therefore saith our Lord:

⁸I will not now keep silence of their impieties which they do irreligiously, neither will I bear with those things, which they practise unjustly. Behold the innocent and just blood cryeth to me, & the souls of the just cry continually.

⁹Revenging I will revenge them, saith our Lord, and I will take all innocent blood out of them unto me. Apoc. 6. v. 10.

¹⁰Behold my people is led to slaughter as a flock, I will no more suffer it to dwell in the land of Ægypt.

¹¹But I will bring them forth in a mighty hand and valiant arm, and will strike with plague as before, & will corrupt all the land thereof.

¹²Ægypt shall mourn, & the foundations thereof beaten with plague, and with the chastisement which God will bring upon it.

¹³The husbandmen that till the ground shall mourn, because their seeds shall perish by blasting, and hail, and by a terrible star.

¹⁴Woe to the world and them that dwell therein. . Luc. 21.

¹⁵Because the sword is at hand and the destruction of them, and nation shall rise up against nation to fight, and sword in their hands.

¹⁶For there shall be instability to men, and growing one against another they shall not care for their king, & the Princes of the way of their doings, in their might.

¹⁷For a man shall desire to go into the city and cannot.

¹⁸Because of their prides the cities shall be troubled, the houses raised, the men shall fear.

¹⁹Man shall not pity his neighbour, to make their houses nothing worth in the sword, to spoil their goods for famine of bread, & much tribulation.

²⁰Behold, I call together, saith God, all the kings of the earth to fear me, that are from the Orient, and from the South, from the East, and from

²¹As they do until this day to mine elect, so will I do, and render in their bosom. Thus saith our Lord God:

²²My right hand shall not spare sinners, neither shall the sword cease upon them that shed innocent blood upon the earth.

²³Fire came forth from his wrath, and hath devoured the foundations of the earth, and sinners as it were straw set on fire.

²⁴Woe to them that sin, and observe not my commandments, saith our Lord.

²⁵I will not spare them: depart o children from the power. Defile not my sanctification:

²⁶because the Lord knoweth all that sin against him; therefore hath he delivered them into death and into slaughter.

²⁷For now are evils come upon the world, and you shall tarry in them. For God will not deliver you, because you have sinned against him.

²⁸Behold an horrible vision, and the face of it from the east.

²⁹And the nations of dragons of Arabians shall come forth in many chariots, and as a wind the number of them is carried upon the earth, so that now all do fear and tremble, that shall hear them.

³⁰The Carmonians mad for anger, and they shall go forth as wild boars out of the wood, and they shall come with great power, and shall stand in fight with them, and they shall waste the portion of the land of the Assyrians.

³¹And after these things the dragons shall prevail mindful of their nativity, & conspiring shall turn themselves in great force to pursue them.

³²These shall be troubled and hold their peace at their force, and shall turn their feet into flight.

³³And from the territory of the Assyrians the besiegers shall besiege them, and shall consume one of them, and there shall be fear and trembling in their army, and contention against their kings.

³⁴Behold clouds from the east, and from the north unto the south, and their face very horrible, full of wrath and storm.

³⁵And they shall beat one against another, & they shall beat down many stars, and their star upon the earth, and blood shall be from the sword unto the belly.

³⁶And man's dung unto the camel's litter, and there shall be much fear, and trembling upon the earth.

³⁷And they shall shake that shall see that wrath, & tremble shall take them: and after these things there shall many showers be moved:

³⁸from the south, and the north: and another portion from the west.

³⁹And the winds from the east shall prevail upon it, and shall shut it up, and the clouds which he raised in wrath, and the star to make terror to the east wind, and the west shall be destroyed.

⁴⁰And there shall be exalted great and mighty clouds full of wrath, and a star to terrify all the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and they shall pour in upon every high and eminent place a terrible star,

⁴¹fire, and hail, & flying swords, and many waters, so that all fields also shall be filled, and all rivers with the fullness of many waters.

⁴²And they shall throw down cities, and walls, and mountains, and hills, and the trees of the woods, and the grass of the meadows, and their corn.

⁴³And they shall pass constant unto Babylon, and shall raise her.

⁴⁴They shall come together against her, and shall compass her, and shall pour out the star, and all wrath upon her, and the dust and smoke shall go up even into heaven, and round about shall lament her. Apoc. 18.

⁴⁵And they that shall remain under her, shall serve them that terrified her.

⁴⁶And thou Asia agreeing into the hope of Babylon, and the glory of her person,

⁴⁷woe be to thee thou wretch, because thou art like to her, and hast adorned thy daughters in fornication, to please & glory in thy lovers, which have desired always to fornicate with thee.

⁴⁸Thou hast imitated the odious in all her works, and in her inventions: therefore saith God:

⁴⁹I will send in evils upon thee, widowhood, poverty, and famine, and sword, and pestilence, to destroy thy houses by violation, and death, and glory of thy virtue.

⁵⁰As a flower shall be withered, when the heat shall rise that is sent forth upon thee,

⁵¹thou shalt be weakened as a little poor soul plagued and chastised of women, that the mighty and the lovers may not receive thee.

⁵²Will I be zealous against thee saith our Lord,

⁵³unless thou hadst slain mine elect at all times, exalting the slaughter of the hands, and saying upon their death, when thou was drunken.

⁵⁴Adorn the beauty of thy countenance.

⁵⁵The reward of thy fornication is in thy bosom, therefore thou shalt receive recompence.

⁵⁷And thy children shall die for famine: and thou shalt fall by the sword, and thy cities shall be destroyed, and all thine shall fall in the field by the sword.

⁵⁸And they that are in the mountains shall perish with famine, and shall eat their own flesh, and drink blood, for the famine of bread and thirst of waters.

⁵⁹Unhappy by the seas shalt thou come, and again thou shalt receive evils.

⁶⁰And in the passage they shall beat against the idle city, and shall destroy some portion of thy land, and shall deface part of thy glory, again returning to Babylon overthrown.

⁶¹And being thrown down thou shalt be to them for stubble, and they shall be to thee fire:

⁶²and devour thee, and thy cities, thy land, and thy mountains, all thy woods and fruitful trees they will burn with fire.

⁶³Thy children they shall lead captive, and shall have thy goods for a prey, and the glory of thy face they shall destroy.