2 Esdras 16:74-78

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁷⁴ Then the tested quality of my elect shall be manifest, like gold that is tested by fire.^(A)

Promise of Divine Deliverance

⁷⁵ Listen, my elect ones, says the Lord; the days of tribulation are at hand, but I will deliver you from them.^{(B) 76} Do not fear or doubt, for God^[a] is your guide.^{(C) 77} You who keep my commandments and precepts, says the Lord God, must not let your sins weigh you down or your iniquities prevail over you.^{(D) 78} Woe to those who are choked by their sins and overwhelmed by their iniquities! They are like a field choked with underbrush and its path^[b] overwhelmed with thorns, so that no one can pass through. It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire.^(E)