2 Esdras 16:1-17

Common English Bible

Oracles of doom against the nations

16 How terrible it will be for you, Babylon and Asia! How terrible for you, Egypt and Syria! ²Dress yourselves in mourning clothes. Howl over your children and grieve for them, because distress has drawn near to you. ³The sword has been sent against you, and who can turn it away? ⁴Fire has been sent against you, and who can extinguish it? ⁵Disasters are sent against you, and who can ward them off? ⁶Can anyone ward off a hungry lion in the woods? Or put out a fire in dried hay, once it has begun to burn? ⁷Or repel an arrow shot by a strong archer? ⁸The Lord God sends disasters; who can ward them off? ⁹His anger blazes like fire; who can extinguish it? ¹⁰When lightning flashes, who isn’t afraid? When it thunders, who doesn’t feel fear? ¹¹The Lord threatens, and who isn’t shaken to the core in his presence? ¹²The earth and its foundations shake. The sea heaves from the deep; its waves and fish are sent into turmoil when the Lord shows his face and reveals the glory of his power. ¹³The one who shoots the arrow is mighty in glory; the tip of the arrow he releases is sharp and won’t miss when it’s shot to the ends of the earth. ¹⁴Look, disasters are sent forth, and they don’t turn back until they fall upon the earth. ¹⁵Fire is lit and not extinguished until it consumes the foundations of the earth. ¹⁶As an arrow that is shot by a powerful archer doesn’t turn back, so the disasters that will be unleashed upon the earth won’t turn back.