2 Esdras 8:41-43

Revised Standard Version

⁴¹ “For just as the farmer sows many seeds upon the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown will come up^[a] in due season, and not all that were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved.”

⁴² I answered and said, “If I have found favor before thee, let me speak.^{[b] 43} For if the farmer’s seed does not come up, because it has not received thy rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.^[c]