2 Esdras 4:22-24

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The New Age Will Make All Things Clear

²² Then I answered and said, “I implore you, my lord, why^[a] have I been endowed with the power of understanding? ²³ For I did not wish to inquire about the ways above but about those things that we daily experience: why Israel has been given over to the nations in disgrace; why the people whom you loved has been given over to godless tribes and the law of our ancestors has been brought to destruction and the written covenants no longer exist.^{(A) 24} We pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist,^[b] and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.^(B)