2 Esdras 5:40-42

Common English Bible

⁴⁰ He said to me: “As you can’t do one of these things that were mentioned, so you can’t comprehend my judgment or the goal^[a] of the love I have promised to my people.”

⁴¹ I said: “Look, Lord, you’ve made promises concerning these who are alive at the end, but what will those who are before us do, or we, or those who come after us?”

⁴² He said to me, “I will compare my judgment to a crown.^[b] Just as there is no delay for those who come last, so there is no rushing for those who come before.”