1   The angel answered: ‘Keep a careful count yourself; when you see that some of the signs predicted have already happened, 2   then you will understand that the time has come when the Most High will judge the world he has created. 3   When the world becomes the scene of earthquakes, insurrections, plots among the nations, unstable

The mystery of human destiny government, 4   and panic among rulers, then you will recognize these as the events which the Most High has foretold since first the world began. 5   Just as everything that is done on earth has its beginning and end clearly marked, ^note 6   so it is with the times which the Most High has determined: their beginning is marked by portents and miracles, their end by manifestations of power.

7   ‘Whoever comes safely through and escapes destruction, thanks to his good deeds or the faith he has shown, 8   will survive all the dangers I have foretold and witness the salvation that I shall bring to my land, the country I have marked out from all eternity as my own. 9   Then those who have misused my law will be taken by surprise; their contempt for it will bring them continual torment. 10   All who in their lifetime failed to acknowledge me in spite of all the good things I had given them, 11   all who disdained my law while freedom still was theirs, who scornfully dismissed the thought of penitence while the 12   way was still open—all these will have to learn the truth through torments after death. 13   Do not be curious any more, Ezra, to know how the godless will be tormented, but only how and when the just will be saved; the world is theirs and it exists for their sake.’

14    15   I answered, ‘I repeat what I have said again and again: the lost 16   outnumber the saved as a wave exceeds a drop of water.’

17   The angel replied: ‘The seed to be sown depends on the soil, the colour on the flower, the product on the workman, and the harvest on the farmer. 18   There was once a time before the world had been created for men to dwell in; at that time I was planning it for the sake of those who now exist. 19   No one then disputed my plan, for no one existed. I supplied this world with unfailing food and a mysterious law; but those whom I created turned to a life of corruption. 20   I looked at my world, and there it lay spoilt, at my earth in danger from men's wicked thoughts; 21   and at the sight I could scarcely bring myself to spare them. One grape I saved out of a cluster, one tree out of a forest. ^note 22   So then let it be: destruction for the many who were born in vain, and salvation for my grape and my tree, which have cost me such labour to bring to perfection.

23    24   ‘You, Ezra, must wait one more week. Do not fast this time, but go to a flowery field where no house stands, and eat only what grows 25   there—no meat or wine—and pray unceasingly to the Most High. Then I will come and talk to you again.’

Visions of the last days

26   So I went out, as the angel told me, to a field called Ardat. There I sat among the flowers; my food was what grew in the field, and I ate to my heart's content. 27   The week ended, and I was lying on the grass, troubled again in mind with all the same perplexities. 28    29   I broke my silence and addressed the Most High. ‘O Lord,’ I said, ‘you showed yourself to our fathers in the desert at the time of the exodus from Egypt, when they were travelling through the barren and untrodden waste. 30   You said, “Hear me, Israel; listen to my words, race of Jacob. 31   This is my law, which I sow among you to bear fruit and bring you glory for ever.” 32   But our fathers who received your law did not keep it; they did not observe your commandments. Not that the fruit of the law perished; that was impossible, for it was yours. 33   Those who received it perished, because they failed to keep safe the good seed that had been sown in them. 34   Now the usual way of things is that when seed is put into the earth, or a ship on the sea, or food or drink into a jar, then if the seed, or the ship, 35   or the contents of the jar should be destroyed, what held or contained them does not perish with them. But with us sinners it is different. 36   Destruction will come upon us, the recipients of the law, and upon our hearts, the vessel that held the law. 37   The law itself is not destroyed, but survives in all its glory.’

38   While these thoughts were in my mind, I looked round, and on my right I saw a woman in great distress, mourning and loudly lamenting; her dress was torn, and she had ashes on her head. 39   Abandoning my meditations, I turned to her, and said: 40   ‘Why are you weeping? 41   What is troubling you?’ ‘Sir,’ she replied, ‘please leave me to my tears and my grief; great is my bitterness of heart, great my distress.’ 42    43   ‘Tell me,’ I asked, ‘what has happened to you?’ ‘Sir,’ she replied, ‘I was barren and childless through thirty years of marriage. 44   Every hour of every day during those thirty years, day and night alike, I prayed to the Most High. 45   Then after thirty years, my God answered my prayer and had mercy on my distress; he took note of my sorrow and granted me a son. What happiness he brought to my husband and myself and to all our neighbours! What praise we gave to the Mighty God! 46   I took great pains over his upbringing.

Visions of the last days 47   When he came of age, I chose a wife for him, and fixed the date of the wedding.

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