Chapter 14 _{18 For the time is fled far away, and leasing is hard at hand: for now hasteth the vision to come, which thou hast seen.19 Then answered I before thee, and said,20 Behold, Lord, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and reprove the people which are present: but they that shall be born afterward, who shall admonish them? thus the world is set in darkness, and they that dwell therein are without light.21 For thy law is burnt, therefore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or the work that shall begin.22 But if I have found grace before thee, send the Holy Ghost into me, and I shall write all that hath been done in the world since the beginning, which were written in thy law, that men may find thy path, and that they which will live in the latter days may live.23 And he answered me, saying, Go thy way, gather the people together, and say unto them, that they seek thee not for forty days.24 But look thou prepare thee many box trees, and take with thee Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ecanus, and Asiel, these five which are ready to write swiftly;25 And come hither, and I shall light a candle of understanding in thine heart, which shall not be put out, till the things be performed which thou shalt begin to write.26 And when thou hast done, some things shalt thou publish, and some things shalt thou shew secretly to the wise: to morrow this hour shalt thou begin to write.27 Then went I forth, as he commanded, and gathered all the people together, and said,28 Hear these words, O Israel.29 Our fathers at the beginning were strangers in Egypt, from whence they were delivered:30 And received the law of life, which they kept not, which ye also have transgressed after them.31 Then was the land, even the land of Sion, parted among you by lot: but your fathers, and ye yourselves, have done unrighteousness, and have not kept the ways which the Highest commanded you.32 And forasmuch as he is a righteous judge, he took from you in time the thing that he had given you.33 And now are ye here, and your brethren among you.34 Therefore if so be that ye will subdue your own understanding, and reform your hearts, ye shall be kept alive and after death ye shall obtain mercy.35 For after death shall the judgment come, when we shall live again: and then shall the names of the righteous be manifest, and the works of the ungodly shall be declared.36 Let no man therefore come unto me now, nor seek after me these forty days.37 So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we went into the field, and remained there.38 And the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thy mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink.39 Then opened I my mouth, and, behold, he reached me a full cup, which was full as it were with water, but the colour of it was like fire.40 And I took it, and drank: and when I had drunk of it, my heart uttered understanding, and wisdom grew in my breast, for my spirit strengthened my memory:}