The Lord Commissions Ezra

14 On the third day, while I was sitting under an oak, behold, a voice came out of a bush opposite me and said, “Ezra, Ezra.” ² And I said, “Here I am, Lord,” and I rose to my feet. ³ Then he said to me, “I revealed myself in a bush and spoke to Moses, when my people were in bondage in Egypt; ⁴ and I sent him and led^[a] my people out of Egypt; and I led him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me many days; ⁵ and I told him many wondrous things, and showed him the secrets of the times and declared to him^[b] the end of the times. Then I commanded him, saying, ⁶ ‘These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall keep secret.’ ⁷ And now I say to you: ⁸ Lay up in your heart the signs that I have shown you, the dreams that you have seen, and the interpretations that you have heard; ⁹ for you shall be taken up from among men, and henceforth you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times are ended. ¹⁰ For the age has lost its youth, and the times begin to grow old. ¹¹ For the age is divided into twelve parts, and nine^[c] of its parts have already passed, ¹² as well as half of the tenth part; so two of its parts remain, besides half of the tenth part.^{[d] 13} Now therefore, set your house in order, and reprove your people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those that are wise.^[e] And now renounce the life that is corruptible, ¹⁴ and put away from you mortal thoughts; cast away from you the burdens of man, and divest yourself now of your weak nature, ¹⁵ and lay to one side the thoughts that are most grievous to you, and hasten to escape from these times. ¹⁶ For evils worse than those which you have now seen happen shall be done hereafter. ¹⁷ For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more shall evils be multiplied among^[f] its inhabitants. ¹⁸ For truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come near. For the eagle^[g] which you saw in the vision is already hastening to come.”

Ezra’s Concern to Restore the Scriptures

¹⁹ Then I answered and said, “Let me speak in thy presence, Lord.^{[h] 20} For behold, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and I will reprove the people who are now living; but who will warn those who will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants are without light. ²¹ For thy law has been burned, and so no one knows the things which have been done or will be done by thee. ²² If then I have found favor before thee, send the Holy Spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things which were written in thy law, that men may be able to find the path, and that those who wish to live in the last days may live.”

²⁷ Do not be anxious, for when the day of tribulation and anguish comes, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but you shall rejoice and have abundance. ²⁸ The nations shall envy you but they shall not be able to do anything against you, says the Lord.