2 Esdras 8:2-4

Revised Standard Version

² But I tell you a parable, Ezra. Just as, when you ask the earth, it will tell you that it provides very much clay from which earthenware is made, but only a little dust from which gold comes; so is the course of the present world. ³ Many have been created, but few shall be saved.”

Ezra Again Appeals to God’s Mercy

⁴ I answered and said, “Then drink your fill of understanding, O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart!^[a]