2 Esdras 5:32-34

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

³² He said to me, ‘Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more.’

³³ Then I said, ‘Speak, my lord.’ And he said to me, ‘Are you greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his Maker does?’

³⁴ I said, ‘No, my lord, but because of my grief I have spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand the way of the Most High and to search out some part of his judgement.’