2 Esdras 7:35

In 2 translations

KJV

And the work shall follow, and the reward shall be shewed, and the good deeds shall be of force, and wicked deeds shall bear no rule.

WEB7:36

Recompense will follow. The reward will be shown. Good deeds will awake, and wicked deeds won’t sleep. The pit of torment will appear, and near it will be the place of rest. The furnace of hellwill be shown, and near it the paradise of delight. Then the Most High will say to the nations that are raised from the dead, ‘Look and understand whom you have denied, whom you haven’t served, whose commandments you have despised. Look on this side and on that. Here is delight and rest, and there fire and torments.’ Thus he will speak to them in the day of judgment. This is a day that has neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, neither cloud, nor thunder, nor lightning, neither wind, nor water, nor air, neither darkness, nor evening, nor morning, neither summer, nor spring, nor heat, nor winter, neither frost, nor cold, nor hail, nor rain, nor dew, neither noon, nor night, nor dawn, neither shining, nor brightness, nor light, except only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, by which all will see the things that are set before them. It will endure as though it were a week of years. This is my judgment and its prescribed order; but I have only shown these things to you.” I answered, “I said then, O Lord, and I say now: Blessed are those who are now alive and keep your commandments! But what about those for whom I prayed? For who is there of those who are alive who has not sinned, and who of the children of men hasn’t transgressed your covenant? Now I see that the world to come will bring delight to few, but torments to many. For an evil heart has grown up in us, which has led us astray from these commandments and has brought us into corruption and into the ways of death. It has shown us the paths of perdition and removed us far from life—and that, not a few only, but nearly all who have been created.” He answered me, “Listen to me, and I will instruct you. I will admonish you yet again. For this reason, the Most High has not made one world, but two. For because you have said that the just are not many, but few, and the ungodly abound, hear the explanation. If you have just a few precious stones, will you add them to lead and clay?” I said, “Lord, how could that be?” He said to me, “Not only that, but ask the earth, and she will tell you. Defer to her, and she will declare it to you. Say to her, ‘You produce gold, silver, and brass, and also iron, lead, and clay; but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than brass, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.’ Judge therefore which things are precious and to be desired, what is abundant or what is rare?” I said, “O sovereign Lord, that which is plentiful is of less worth, for that which is more rare is more precious.” He answered me, “Weigh within yourself the things that you have thought, for he who has what is hard to get rejoices over him who has what is plentiful. So also is the judgment which I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few that will be saved, because these are those who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them, my name is now honored. I won’t grieve over the multitude of those who perish; for these are those who are now like mist, and have become like flame and smoke; they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.” I answered, “O earth, why have you produced, if the mind is made out of dust, like all other created things? For it would have been better that the dust itself had been unborn, so that the mind might not have been made from it. But now the mind grows with us, and because of this we are tormented, because we perish and we know it. Let the race of men lament and the animals of the field be glad. Let all who are born lament, but let the four-footed animals and the livestock rejoice. For it is far better with them than with us; for they don’t look forward to judgment, neither do they know of torments or of salvation promised to them after death. For what does it profit us, that we will be preserved alive, but yet be afflicted with torment? For all who are born are defiled with iniquities, and are full of sins and laden with transgressions. If after death we were not to come into judgment, perhaps it would have been better for us.” He answered me, “When the Most High made the world and Adam and all those who came from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment. Now understand from your own words, for you have said that the mind grows with us. They therefore who dwell on the earth will be tormented for this reason, that having understanding they have committed iniquity, and receiving commandments have not kept them, and having obtained a law they dealt unfaithfully with that which they received. What then will they have to say in the judgment, or how will they answer in the last times? For how long a time has the Most High been patient with those who inhabit the world, and not for their sakes, but because of the times which he has foreordained!” I answered, “If I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, show this also to your servant, whether after death, even now when every one of us gives up his soul, we will be kept in rest until those times come, in which you renew the creation, or whether we will be tormented immediately.” He answered me, “I will show you this also; but don’t join yourself with those who are scorners, nor count yourself with those who are tormented. For you have a treasure of works laid up with the Most High, but it won’t be shown you until the last times. For concerning death the teaching is: When the decisive sentence has gone out from the Most High that a man shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, it adores the glory of the Most High first of all. And if it is one of those who have been scorners and have not kept the way of the Most High, and that have despised his law, and who hate those who fear God, these spirits won’t enter into habitations, but will wander and be in torments immediately, ever grieving and sad, in seven ways. The first way, because they have despised the law of the Most High. The second way, because they can’t now make a good repentance that they may live. The third way, they will see the reward laid up for those who have believed the covenants of the Most High. The fourth way, they will consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days. The fifth way, they will see the dwelling places of the others guarded by angels, with great quietness. The sixth way, they will see how immediately some of them will pass into torment. The seventh way, which is more grievous than all the aforesaid ways, because they will pine away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and will be withered up by fears, seeing the glory of the Most High before whom they have sinned while living, and before whom they will be judged in the last times. “Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they will be separated from their mortal body. In the time that they lived in it, they painfully served the Most High, and were in jeopardy every hour, that they might keep the law of the lawgiver perfectly. Therefore this is the teaching concerning them: First of all they will see with great joy the glory of him who takes them up, for they will have rest in seven orders. The first order, because they have labored with great effort to overcome the evil thought which was fashioned together with them, that it might not lead them astray from life into death. The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander, and the punishment that awaits them. The third order, they see the testimony which he who fashioned them gives concerning them, that while they lived they kept the law which was given them in trust. The fourth order, they understand the rest which, being gathered in their chambers, they now enjoy with great quietness, guarded by angels, and the glory that awaits them in the last days. The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped from that which is corruptible, and that they will inherit that which is to come, while they see in addition the difficulty and the pain from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty which they will receive with joy and immortality. The sixth order, when it is shown to them how their face will shine like the sun, and how they will be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on. The seventh order, which is greater than all the previously mentioned orders, because they will rejoice with confidence, and because they will be bold without confusion, and will be glad without fear, for they hurry to see the face of him whom in their lifetime they served, and from whom they will receive their reward in glory. This is the order of the souls of the just, as from henceforth is announced to them. Previously mentioned are the ways of torture which those who would not give heed will suffer from after this.” I answered, “Will time therefore be given to the souls after they are separated from the bodies, that they may see what you have described to me?” He said, “Their freedom will be for seven days, that for seven days they may see the things you have been told, and afterwards they will be gathered together in their habitations.” I answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, show further to me your servant whether in the day of judgment the just will be able to intercede for the ungodly or to entreat the Most High for them, whether fathers for children, or children for parents, or kindred for kindred, or kinsfolk for their next of kin, or friends for those who are most dear.” He answered me, “Since you have found favor in my sight, I will show you this also. The day of judgment is a day of decision, and displays to all the seal of truth. Even as now a father doesn’t send his son, or a son his father, or a master his slave, or a friend him that is most dear, that in his place he may understand, or sleep, or eat, or be healed, so no one will ever pray for another in that day, neither will one lay a burden on another, for then everyone will each bear his own righteousness or unrighteousness.”The passage from verse [36] to verse [105], formerly missing, has been restored to the text. See Preface, page ix.So the chief Oriental versions. The Latin MSS. have place.Latin Gehenna.So the chief Oriental versions. The Latin has will you speak.Or, stormThe Latin has a bold day