2 Esdras 16:70-78
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
70 And those who consent to eat shall be held in derision and contempt and shall be trampled under foot. 71 For in many places[a] and in neighboring cities there shall be a great uprising against those who fear the Lord. 72 They shall[b] be like maniacs, sparing no one, but plundering and destroying those who continue to fear the Lord.[c] 73 For they shall destroy and plunder their goods and drive them out of house and home. 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[d] 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[e] overwhelmed with thorns, so that no one can pass through. It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire.(E)
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