2 Esdras 7:59-61

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

⁵⁹ He answered me and said, ‘Consider within yourself^[a] what you have thought, for the person who has what is hard to get rejoices more than the person who has what is plentiful. ⁶⁰ So also will be the judgement^[b] that I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory prevail now, and through them my name has now been honoured. ⁶¹ I will not grieve over the great number of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke—they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.’