2 Esdras 16:53-67

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁵³ For in a very short time iniquity will be removed from the earth, and righteousness will reign over us.^{(A) 54} Sinners must not say that they have not sinned,^[a] for coals of fire will burn on the head of everyone who says, “I have not sinned before God and his glory.”^{(B) 55} The Lord^[b] certainly knows everything that people do; he knows their imaginations and their thoughts and their hearts.^{(C) 56} He said, “Let the earth be made,” and it was made, and “Let the heaven be made,” and it was made.^{(D) 57} At his word the stars were fixed in their places, and he knows the number of the stars.^{(E) 58} He searches the abyss and its treasures; he has measured the sea and its contents;^{(F) 59} he has confined the sea in the midst of the waters;^[c] and by his word he has suspended the earth over the water.^{(G) 60} He has spread out the heaven like a dome and made it secure upon the waters;^{(H) 61} he has put springs of water in the desert and pools on the tops of the mountains, so as to send rivers from the heights to water the earth.^{(I) 62} He formed humans and put a heart in the midst of each body and gave each person breath and life and understanding^{(J) 63} and the spirit^[d] of Almighty God,^[e] who surely made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places. ⁶⁴ He knows your imaginations and what you think in your hearts! Woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins!^{(K) 65} The Lord will strictly examine all their works and will make a public spectacle of all of you. ⁶⁶ You shall be put to shame when your sins come out before others, and your own iniquities shall stand as your accusers on that day.^{(L) 67} What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before the Lord and his glory?^(M)