2 Esdras 7:74-76

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁷⁴ How long the Most High has been patient with those who inhabit the world!—and not for their sake but because of the times that he has foreordained.”^(A)

State of the Dead before Judgment

⁷⁵ I answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, show this also to your servant: whether after death, as soon as everyone of us yields up the soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come when you will renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented at once?”^(B)

⁷⁶ He answered me and said, “I will show you that also, but do not include yourself with those who have shown scorn, or number yourself among those who are tormented.