2Esdr 16:1 

Woe be unto thee, Babylon, and Asia! woe be unto thee, Egypt 

and Syria! 

2Esdr 16:2 

Gird up yourselves with cloths of sack and hair, bewail your 

children, and be sorry; for your destruction is at hand. 

2Esdr 16:3 

A sword is sent upon you, and who may turn it back? 

2Esdr 16:4 

A fire is sent among you, and who may quench it? 

2Esdr 16:5 

Plagues are sent unto you, and what is he that may drive them 

away? 

2Esdr 16:6 

May any man drive away an hungry lion in the wood? or may any 

one quench the fire in stubble, when it hath begun to burn? 

2Esdr 16:7 

May one turn again the arrow that is shot of a strong archer? 

2Esdr 16:8 

The mighty Lord sendeth the plagues and who is he that can 

drive them away? 

2Esdr 16:9 

A fire shall go forth from his wrath, and who is he that may 

quench it? 

2Esdr 16:10 

He shall cast lightnings, and who shall not fear? he shall 

thunder, and who shall not be afraid? 

2Esdr 16:11 

The Lord shall threaten, and who shall not be utterly beaten 

to powder at his presence? 

2Esdr 16:12 

The earth quaketh, and the foundations thereof; the sea 

ariseth up with waves from the deep, and the waves of it are 

troubled, and the fishes thereof also, before the Lord, and 

before the glory of his power: 

2Esdr 16:13 

For strong is his right hand that bendeth the bow, his arrows 

that he shooteth are sharp, and shall not miss, when they begin 

to be shot into the ends of the world. 

2Esdr 16:14 

Behold, the plagues are sent, and shall not return again, 

until they come upon the earth. 

2Esdr 16:15 

The fire is kindled, and shall not be put out, till it 

consume the foundation of the earth. 

2Esdr 16:16 

Like as an arrow which is shot of a mighty archer returneth 

not backward: even so the plagues that shall be sent upon earth 

shall not return again. 

2Esdr 16:17 

Woe is me! woe is me! who will deliver me in those days? 

2Esdr 16:18 

The beginning of sorrows and great mournings; the beginning 

of famine and great death; the beginning of wars, and the powers 

shall stand in fear; the beginning of evils! what shall I do 

when these evils shall come? 

2Esdr 16:19 

Behold, famine and plague, tribulation and anguish, are sent 

as scourges for amendment. 

2Esdr 16:20 

But for all these things they shall not turn from their 

wickedness, nor be always mindful of the scourges. 

2Esdr 16:21 

Behold, victuals shall be so good cheap upon earth, that they 

shall think themselves to be in good case, and even then shall 

evils grow upon earth, sword, famine, and great confusion. 

2Esdr 16:22 

For many of them that dwell upon earth shall perish of 

famine; and the other, that escape the hunger, shall the sword 

destroy. 

2Esdr 16:23 

And the dead shall be cast out as dung, and there shall be no 

man to comfort them: for the earth shall be wasted, and the 

cities shall be cast down. 

2Esdr 16:24 

There shall be no man left to till the earth, and to sow it 

2Esdr 16:25 

The trees shall give fruit, and who shall gather them? 

2Esdr 16:26 

The grapes shall ripen, and who shall tread them? for all 

places shall be desolate of men: 

2Esdr 16:27 

So that one man shall desire to see another, and to hear his 

voice. 

2Esdr 16:28 

For of a city there shall be ten left, and two of the field, 

which shall hide themselves in the thick groves, and in the 

clefts of the rocks. 

2Esdr 16:29 

As in an orchard of Olives upon every tree there are left 

three or four olives; 

2Esdr 16:30 

Or as when a vineyard is gathered, there are left some 

clusters of them that diligently seek through the vineyard: 

2Esdr 16:31 

Even so in those days there shall be three or four left by 

them that search their houses with the sword. 

2Esdr 16:32 

And the earth shall be laid waste, and the fields thereof 

shall wax old, and her ways and all her paths shall grow full of 

thorns, because no man shall travel therethrough. 

2Esdr 16:33 

The virgins shall mourn, having no bridegrooms; the women 

shall mourn, having no husbands; their daughters shall mourn, 

having no helpers. 

2Esdr 16:34 

In the wars shall their bridegrooms be destroyed, and their 

husbands shall perish of famine. 

2Esdr 16:35 

Hear now these things and understand them, ye servants of the 

Lord. 

2Esdr 16:36 

Behold, the word of the Lord, receive it: believe not the 

gods of whom the Lord spake. 

2Esdr 16:37 

Behold, the plagues draw nigh, and are not slack. 

2Esdr 16:38 

As when a woman with child in the ninth month bringeth forth 

her son, with two or three hours of her birth great pains 

compass her womb, which pains, when the child cometh forth, they 

slack not a moment: 

2Esdr 16:39 

Even so shall not the plagues be slack to come upon the 

earth, and the world shall mourn, and sorrows shall come upon it 

on every side. 

2Esdr 16:40 

O my people, hear my word: make you ready to thy battle, and 

in those evils be even as pilgrims upon the earth. 

2Esdr 16:41 

He that selleth, let him be as he that fleeth away: and he 

that buyeth, as one that will lose: 

2Esdr 16:42 

He that occupieth merchandise, as he that hath no profit by 

it: and he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell therein: 

2Esdr 16:43 

He that soweth, as if he should not reap: so also he that 

planteth the vineyard, as he that shall not gather the grapes: 

2Esdr 16:44 

They that marry, as they that shall get no children; and they 

that marry not, as the widowers. 

2Esdr 16:45 

And therefore they that labour labour in vain: 

2Esdr 16:46 

For strangers shall reap their fruits, and spoil their goods, 

overthrow their houses, and take their children captives, for in 

captivity and famine shall they get children. 

2Esdr 16:47 

And they that occupy their merchandise with robbery, the more 

they deck their cities, their houses, their possessions, and 

their own persons: 

2Esdr 16:48 

The more will I be angry with them for their sin, saith the 

Lord. 

2Esdr 16:49 

Like as a whore envieth a right honest and virtuous woman: 

2Esdr 16:50 

So shall righteousness hate iniquity, when she decketh 

herself, and shall accuse her to her face, when he cometh that 

shall defend him that diligently searcheth out every sin upon 

earth. 

2Esdr 16:51 

And therefore be ye not like thereunto, nor to the works 

thereof. 

2Esdr 16:52 

For yet a little, and iniquity shall be taken away out of the 

earth, and righteousness shall reign among you. 

2Esdr 16:53 

Let not the sinner say that he hath not sinned: for God shall 

burn coals of fire upon his head, which saith before the Lord 

God and his glory, I have not sinned. 

2Esdr 16:54 

Behold, the Lord knoweth all the works of men, their 

imaginations, their thoughts, and their hearts: 

2Esdr 16:55 

Which spake but the word, Let the earth be made; and it was 

made: Let the heaven be made; and it was created. 

2Esdr 16:56 

In his word were the stars made, and he knoweth the number of 

them. 

2Esdr 16:57 

He searcheth the deep, and the treasures thereof; he hath 

measured the sea, and what it containeth. 

2Esdr 16:58 

He hath shut the sea in the midst of the waters, and with his 

word hath he hanged the earth upon the waters. 

2Esdr 16:59 

He spreadeth out the heavens like a vault; upon the waters 

hath he founded it. 

2Esdr 16:60 

In the desert hath he made springs of water, and pools upon 

the tops of the mountains, that the floods might pour down from 

the high rocks to water the earth. 

2Esdr 16:61 

He made man, and put his heart in the midst of the body, and 

gave him breath, life, and understanding. 

2Esdr 16:62 

Yea and the Spirit of Almighty God, which made all things, 

and searcheth out all hidden things in the secrets of the earth, 

2Esdr 16:63 

Surely he knoweth your inventions, and what ye think in your 

hearts, even them that sin, and would hide their sin. 

2Esdr 16:64 

Therefore hath the Lord exactly searched out all your works, 

and he will put you all to shame. 

2Esdr 16:65 

And when your sins are brought forth, ye shall be ashamed 

before men, and your own sins shall be your accusers in that 

day. 

2Esdr 16:66 

What will ye do? or how will ye hide your sins before God and 

his angels? 

2Esdr 16:67 

Behold, God himself is the judge, fear him: leave off from 

your sins, and forget your iniquities, to meddle no more with 

them for ever: so shall God lead you forth, and deliver you from 

all trouble. 

2Esdr 16:68 

For, behold, the burning wrath of a great multitude is 

kindled over you, and they shall take away certain of you, and 

feed you, being idle, with things offered unto idols. 

2Esdr 16:69 

And they that consent unto them shall be had in derision and 

in reproach, and trodden under foot. 

2Esdr 16:70 

For there shall be in every place, and in the next cities, a 

great insurrection upon those that fear the Lord. 

2Esdr 16:71 

They shall be like mad men, sparing none, but still spoiling 

and destroying those that fear the Lord. 

2Esdr 16:72 

For they shall waste and take away their goods, and cast them 

out of their houses. 

2Esdr 16:73 

Then shall they be known, who are my chosen; and they shall 

be tried as the gold in the fire. 

2Esdr 16:74 

Hear, O ye my beloved, saith the Lord: behold, the days of 

trouble are at hand, but I will deliver you from the same. 

2Esdr 16:75 

Be ye not afraid neither doubt; for God is your guide, 

2Esdr 16:76 

And the guide of them who keep my commandments and precepts, 

saith the Lord God: let not your sins weigh you down, and let 

not your iniquities lift up themselves. 

2Esdr 16:77 

Woe be unto them that are bound with their sins, and covered 

with their iniquities like as a field is covered over with 

bushes, and the path thereof covered with thorns, that no man 

may travel through! 

2Esdr 16:78 

It is left undressed, and is cast into the fire to be 

consumed therewith.