2 Esdras 4:13-21

Revised Standard Version

Parable of the Forest and the Sea

¹³ He answered me and said, “I went into a forest of trees of the plain, and they made a plan ¹⁴ and said, ‘Come, let us go and make war against the sea, that it may recede before us, and that we may make for ourselves more forests.’ ¹⁵ And in like manner the waves of the sea also made a plan and said, ‘Come, let us go up and subdue the forest of the plain so that there also we may gain more territory for ourselves.’ ¹⁶ But the plan of the forest was in vain, for the fire came and consumed it; ¹⁷ likewise also the plan of the waves of the sea, for the sand stood firm and stopped them. ¹⁸ If now you were a judge between them, which would you undertake to justify, and which to condemn?”

¹⁹ I answered and said, “Each has made a foolish plan, for the land is assigned to the forest, and to the sea is assigned a place to carry its waves.”

²⁰ He answered me and said, “You have judged rightly, but why have you not judged so in your own case? ²¹ For as the land is assigned to the forest and the sea to its waves, so also those who dwell upon earth can understand only what is on the earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the height of the heavens.”