| 4 | LIBER QUARTUS ESDRAE - Vulgate | 2 (4) EZRA - Revised Standard Version | Reference |
| 1 |
et respondit ad me angelus qui missus est ad me, cui nomen Urihel, |
Then the angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered | Three riddles. 2(4)Ezr.4.1-21
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| 2 |
et dixit mihi: excedens excessit cor tuum in saeculo hoc, et conprehendere cogitas viam Altissimi? |
and said to me, "Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?" |
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| 3 |
et dixi: ita, domine meus, et respondit mihi et dixit: tres vias missus sum ostendere tibi et tres similitudines proponere coram te. |
Then I said, "Yes, my lord." And he replied to me, "I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. |
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| 4 |
de quibus si mihi renuntiaveris unam ex his, et ego tibi demonstrabo viam quam desideras videre, et doceam te quare cor malignum. |
If you can solve one of them for me, I also will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil." |
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| 5 |
et dixi: loquere, domine meus. et dixit ad me: vade, pondera mihi ignis pondus, aut mensura mihi flatum venti, aut revoca mihi diem quae praeteriit. |
I said, "Speak on, my lord." And he said to me, "Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a measure of wind, or call back for me the day that is past." |
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| 6 |
et respondi et dixi: quis natorum poterit facere, ut me interroges de his? |
I answered and said, "Who of those that have been born can do this, that you ask me concerning these things?" |
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| 7 |
et dixit ad me: si eram interrogans te dicens: quantae habitationes sunt in corde maris, aut quantae venae sunt in principio abyssi, aut quantae venae sunt super firma |
And he said to me, "If I had asked you, `How many dwellings are in the heart of the sea, or how many streams are at the source of the deep, or how many streams are above the firmament, or which are the exits of hell, or which are the entrances of paradise?' |
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| 8 |
dicebas fortassis mihi: in abyssum non descendi neque in infernum adhuc, neque in caelis umquam ascendi. |
Perhaps you would have said to me, `I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever ascend into heaven.' |
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| 9 |
nunc autem non interrogavi te nisi de igne et vento et diem per quem transisti, et sine quibus separari non potes, et non respondisti mihi de eis. |
But now I have asked you only about fire and wind and the day, things through which you have passed and without which you cannot exist, and you have given me no answer about them!" |
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| 10 |
et dixit mihi: tu quae tua sunt tecum coadulescentia non potes cognoscere, |
And he said to me, "You cannot understand the things with which you have grown up; |
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| 11 |
et quomodo poterit vas tuum capere Altissimi viam?... et iam exterritus corrupto saeculo intellegere incorruptionem? et cum haec audissem, cecidi in faciem meam |
how then can your mind comprehend the way of the Most High? And how can one who is already worn out by the corrupt world understand incorruption?" When I heard this, I fell on my face |
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| 12 |
et dixi illi: melius erat nos non adesse, quam advenientes vivere in impietatibus et pati et non intellegere de qua re. |
and said to him, "It would be better for us not to be here than to come here and live in ungodliness, and to suffer and not understand why." |
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| 13 |
et respondit ad me et dixit: proficiscens profectus sum ad silvam lignorum campi, et cogitaverunt cogitationem |
He answered me and said, "I went into a forest of trees of the plain, and they made a plan |
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| 14 |
et dixerunt: venite et eamus et faciamus ad mare bellum, ut recedat coram nos, et faciamus nobis alias silvas, |
and said, `Come, let us go and make war against the sea, that it may recede before us, and that we may make for ourselves more forests.' |
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| 15 |
et similiter fluctus maris et ipsi cogitaverunt cogitationem et dixerunt: venite ascendentes debellemus silvam campi, ut et ibi consummemus nobismet ipsis aliam regio |
And in like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, `Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.' |
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| 16 |
et factus est cogitatus silvae in vano, venit enim ignis et consumpsit eam. |
But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it; |
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| 17 |
similiter et cogitatus fluctuum maris, stetit enim harena et prohibuit eam. |
likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea, for the sand stood firm and stopped them. |
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| 18 |
si enim eras iudex horum, quem incipiebas iustificare aut quem condemnare? |
If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?" |
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| 19 |
et respondi et dixi: utrique vanam cogitationem cogitaverunt, terra enim data est silvae, et maris locus portare fluctus suos. |
I answered and said, "Each has made a foolish plan, for the land is assigned to the forest, and to the sea is assigned a place to carry its waves." |
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| 20 |
et respondit ad me et dixit: bene tu iudicasti, et quare non iudicasti tibimet ipso? |
He answered me and said, "You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case? |
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| 21 |
quemadmodum enim terra silvae data est et mare fluctibus suis, et qui super terram inhabitant quae sunt super terram intellegere solummodo possunt, et qui super caelo |
For as the land is assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who dwell upon earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens." |
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| 22 |
et respondi et dixi: deprecor te, domine, ut mihi datus est sensus intellegendi. |
Then I answered and said, "I beseech you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding? | The end of the Age. 2(4)Ezr.4.22-50
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| 23 |
non enim volui interrogare de superioribus viis, sed de his quae pertranseunt per nos cotidie, propter quod Israhel datus est in obprobrium gentibus, quem dilexisti p |
For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above, but about those things which we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the Gentiles as a reproach; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes, and the law of our fathers has been made of no effect and the written covenants no longer exist; |
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| 24 |
et pertransivimus de saeculo ut lucustae, et vita nostra ut vapor, et nec digni sumus misericordiam consequi. |
and why we pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy. |
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| 25 |
sed quid faciet nomini suo quod invocatum est super nos? et his interrogavi. |
But what will he do for his name, by which we are called? It is about these things that I have asked." |
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| 26 |
et respondit ad me et dixit: si fueris videbis, et si vixeris, frequenter miraberis, quoniam festinans festinat saeculum pertransire. |
He answered me and said, "If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long, you will often marvel, because the age is hastening swiftly to its end. |
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| 27 |
non capiet portare quae in temporibus iustis repromissa sunt, quoniam plenum maestitia est saeculum hoc et infirmitatibus. |
For it will not be able to bring the things that have been promised to the righteous in their appointed times, because this age is full of sadness and infirmities. |
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| 28 |
seminatum est enim malum, quibus me interrogas de ea, et necdum venit destrictio ipsius. |
For the evil about which you ask me has been sown, but the harvest of it has not yet come. |
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| 29 |
si ergo non messum fuerit quod seminatum est, et discesserit locus ubi seminatum est malum, non veniet ager ubi seminatum est bonum. |
If therefore that which has been sown is not reaped, and if the place where the evil has been sown does not pass away, the field where the good has been sown will not come. |
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| 30 |
quoniam granum seminis mali seminatum est in corde Adam ab initio, et quantum impietatis generavit usque nunc et generabit usque cum veniat area. |
For a grain of evil seed was sown in Adam's heart from the beginning, and how much ungodliness it has produced until now, and will produce until the time of threshing comes! |
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| 31 |
aestima autem apud te, granum mali seminis quantum fructum impietatis generaverit. |
Consider now for yourself how much fruit of ungodliness a grain of evil seed has produced. |
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| 32 |
quando seminatae fuerint spicae quarum non est numerus, quam magnam aream incipient facere. |
When heads of grain without number are sown, how great a threshing floor they will fill!" |
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| 33 |
et respondi et dixi: quo et quando haec? quare modici et mali anni nostri? |
Then I answered and said, "How long and when will these things be? Why are our years few and evil?" |
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| 34 |
et respondit ad me et dixit: non festina spiritu super Altissimum; tu enim festinas propter temet ipsum spiritum, nam Excelsus pro multis. |
He answered me and said, "You do not hasten faster than the Most High, for your haste is for yourself, but the Highest hastens on behalf of many. |
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| 35 |
nonne de his interrogaverunt animae iustorum in promptuariis suis dicentes: usquequo spero sic? et quando venit fructus areae mercedis nostrae? |
Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask about these matters, saying, `How long are we to remain here? And when will come the harvest of our reward? |
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| 36 |
et respondit ad ea Hieremihel archangelus et dixit: quando impletus fuerit numerus similium vobis, quoniam in statera ponderavit saeculum |
And Jeremiel the archangel answered them and said, `When the number of those like yourselves is completed; for he has weighed the age in the balance, |
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| 37 |
et mensura mensuravit tempora et numero numeravit tempora, et non commovet nec excitabit usque dum impleatur praedicta mensura. |
and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.'" |
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| 38 |
et respondi et dixi: o dominator domine, sed et nos omnes pleni sumus impietate. |
Then I answered and said, "O sovereign Lord, but all of us also are full of ungodliness. |
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| 39 |
et ne forte propter nos inpediatur iustorum area, propter peccata inhabitantium super terram. |
And it is perhaps on account of us that the time of threshing is delayed for the righteous - on account of the sins of those who dwell on earth." |
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| 40 |
et respondit ad me et dixit: vade et interroga praegnantem, si quando impleverit novem menses suos, adhuc poterit matrix eius retinere fetus in semet ipsa. |
He answered me and said, "Go and ask a woman who is with child if, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the child within her any longer." |
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| 41 |
et dixi: non potest, domine. et dixit ad me: in inferno promptuaria animarum matrici adsimilata sunt. |
And I said, "No, lord, it cannot." And he said to me, "In Hades the chambers of the souls are like the womb. |
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| 42 |
quemadmodum enim festinavit quae parit effugere necessitatem partus, sic et haec festinat reddere ea quae commendata sunt |
For just as a woman who is in travail makes haste to escape the pangs of birth, so also do these places hasten to give back those things that were committed to them from the beginning. |
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| 43 |
ab initio. tunc tibi demonstrabitur de his quae concupiscis videre. |
Then the things that you desire to see will be disclosed to you." |
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| 44 |
et respondi et dixi: si inveni gratiam ante oculos tuos, et si possibile est, et si idoneus sum, |
I answered and said, "If I have found favour in your sight, and if it is possible, and if I am worthy, |
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| 45 |
demonstra mihi et hoc si plus quam praeteriti habet venire aut plura pertransierunt super nos, |
show me this also: whether more time is to come than has passed, or whether for us the greater part has gone by. |
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| 46 |
quoniam quod pertransivit scio, quid autem futuri sit ignoro. |
For I know what has gone by, but I do not know what is to come." |
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| 47 |
et dixit ad me: sta super dexteram partem et demonstrabo tibi interpretationem similitudinis. |
And he said to me, "Stand at my right side, and I will show you the interpretation of a parable." |
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| 48 |
et steti et vidi, et ecce fornax ardens transiit coram me; et factum est cum transiret flamma, et vidi et ecce superavit fumus. |
So I stood and looked, and behold, a flaming furnace passed by before me, and when the flame had gone by I looked, and behold, the smoke remained. |
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| 49 |
et post hoc transiit coram me nubes plena aquae et inmisit pluviam impetu multam; et cum transisset impetus pluviae et superaverunt in ea guttae. |
And after this a cloud full of water passed before me and poured down a heavy and violent rain, and when the rainstorm had passed, drops remained in the cloud. |
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| 50 |
et dixit ad me: cogita tibi. sicut enim crescit pluvia amplius quam guttae, et ignis amplius quam fumus, sic superabundavit quae transivit mensura, superaverunt autem |
And he said to me, "Consider it for yourself; for as the rain is more than the drops, and the fire is greater than the smoke, so the quantity that passed was far greater; but drops and smoke remained." |
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| 51 |
et oravi et dixi: putas vivo usque in diebus illis, vel quis erit in diebus illis? |
Then I prayed and said, "Do you think that I shall live until those days? Or who will be alive in those days?" | Signs of the end. 2(4)Ezr.4.51-5.19
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| 52 |
respondit ad me et dixit: de signis de quibus me perrogas, ex parte possum tibi dicere, de vita autem tua non sum missus dicere tibi, sed nescio. |
He answered me and said, "Concerning the signs about which you ask me, I can tell you in part; but I was not sent to tell you concerning your life, for I do not know. |
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