2 Esdras 2

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1Thus saith the Lord, I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them my commandments by menservants the prophets; whom they would not hear, but despised my counsels.

Thus saith the indwelling LORD: I brought this people out of bondage, and I gave them my commandments — articulations of the law — by menservants the prophets, the forth-telling faculties; whom they would not hear, but despised my counsels.

2The mother that bare them saith unto them, Go your way, ye children; for I am a widow and forsaken.

The mother that bare them saith unto them, Go your way, ye children; for I am a widow and forsaken: the mother-state that bore the faculties, bereaved of its ruling union, dismisses what it can no longer hold.

3I brought you up with gladness; but with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned before the Lord your God, and done that thing that is evil before him.

I brought you up with gladness; but with sorrow and heaviness have I lost you: for ye have sinned — erred, missed the mark — before the Lord your God, the indwelling LORD, and done that thing that is evil before him.

4But what shall I now do unto you? I am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the Lord.

But what shall I now do unto you? I am a widow and forsaken: go your way, O my children, and ask mercy of the indwelling LORD.

5As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of these children, which would not keep my covenant,

As for me, O father, I call upon thee for a witness over the mother of these children, which would not keep my covenant — the law of relationship between God and the soul,

6That thou bring them to confusion, and their mother to a spoil, that there may be no offspring of them.

That thou bring them to confusion, and their mother to a spoil, that there may be no offspring of them: the rebellious line brought to Babel-confusion, that its state produce no further fruit.

7Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen, let their names be put out of the earth: for they have despised my covenant.

Let them be scattered abroad among the heathen — the outer nations — let their names be put out of the earth, the outer life: for they have despised my covenant.

8Woe be unto thee, Assur, thou that hidest the unrighteous in thee! O thou wicked people, remember what I did unto Sodom and Gomorrha;

Woe be unto thee, Assur, thou that hidest the unrighteous in thee! O thou wicked people — states twisted away from the order — remember what I did unto Sodom and Gomorrha: consciousness given wholly to appetite, and the submerged rebellious sense-state,

9Whose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that hear me not, saith the Almighty Lord.

Whose land lieth in clods of pitch and heaps of ashes: even so also will I do unto them that hear me not, saith the Almighty Lord: the same consuming consequence falls on every state that refuses to hear.

10Thus saith the Lord unto Esdras, Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I would have given unto Israel.

Thus saith the indwelling LORD unto Esdras: Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem — the established centre of spiritual consciousness, the foundation of peace — which I would have given unto Israel, Jacob transformed, the spiritual man.

11Their glory also will I take unto me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for them.

Their glory also — the radiance of a state filled with God — will I take unto me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles — the structured dwelling of the Presence — which I had prepared for them: duration of the ordered state, not a tent that ends.

12They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savour; they shall neither labour, nor be weary.

They shall have the Tree of Life — the Life-principle at the centre of the soul — for an ointment of sweet savour; they shall neither labour, nor be weary: rest in the order, where toil ceases.

13Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.

Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom — the reign of the divine order within — is already prepared for you: watch.

14Take heaven and earth to witness; for I have broken the evil in pieces, and created the good: for I live, saith the Lord.

Take heaven — the inner realm — and earth — the outer realm — to witness; for I have broken the evil in pieces, and created the good: for I live, saith the indwelling LORD.

15Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.

Mother, embrace thy children, and bring them up with gladness, make their feet as fast as a pillar — a hard truth made memorial, set firm: for I have chosen thee, saith the indwelling LORD.

16And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out of the graves: for I have known my name in Israel.

And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out of the graves: for I have known my name in Israel: resurrection — the rising of the buried divine state out of the tomb of sense — promised to the faculties asleep in death.

17Fear not, thou mother of the children: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.

Fear not, thou mother of the children: for I have chosen thee, saith the indwelling LORD.

18For thy help will I send my servants Esau and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with divers fruits,

For thy help will I send my servants Esau — the outer bodily man, here named as printed — and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with divers fruits — established beliefs bearing their results, twelve, the full order of the tribes of states,

19And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy.

And as many fountains flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains — exalted states, seven being completeness — whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill thy children with joy.

20Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,

Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked: care in the outer life for every bereaved and uncovered faculty — righteousness lived, not merely professed.

21Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness.

Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness: the impaired faculties defended, and the unseeing faculty brought into clear understanding.

22Keep the old and young within thy walls.

Keep the old and young within thy walls: every degree of the state guarded within the city of peace.

23Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection.

Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection: honour shown to the fallen state is honoured in the rising of the buried divine state.

24Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness still come.

Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness still come: Sabbath-rest in God held fast while the order completes itself.

25Nourish thy children, O thou good nurse; stablish their feet.

Nourish thy children, O thou good nurse; stablish their feet: feed the young faculties with truth-substance and set them firm.

26As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number.

As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number: no faculty entrusted to the state is lost from the Source's reckoning.

27Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance.

Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance: the day of the LORD comes as heaviness to error and as plenty to the state under the order.

28The heathen shall envy thee, but they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the Lord.

The heathen — the outer nations — shall envy thee, but they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the indwelling LORD: states outside the order cannot undo a state kept within it.

29My hands shall cover thee, so that thy children shall not see hell.

My hands shall cover thee, so that thy children shall not see hell — Hades, the shadow-state of faculties asleep in death.

30Be joyful, O thou mother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the Lord.

Be joyful, O thou mother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the indwelling LORD.

31Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the sides of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty.

Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the sides of the earth — the outer life — and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty: even the sleeping faculties are remembered for the rising.

32Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.

Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells — dug sources of truth — run over, and my grace — the unmerited inflow of divine life — shall not fail.

33I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount Oreb, that I should go unto Israel; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord.

I Esdras received a charge of the Lord upon the mount Oreb — the exalted state, as Sinai — that I should go unto Israel — the spiritual man; but when I came unto them, they set me at nought, and despised the commandment of the Lord.

34And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for your Shepherd, he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world.

And therefore I say unto you, O ye heathen, that hear and understand, look for your Shepherd — the guiding care-faculty — he shall give you everlasting rest; for he is nigh at hand, that shall come in the end of the world, the end of the present order of states.

35Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon you for evermore.

Be ready to the reward of the kingdom, for the everlasting light — divine understanding without end — shall shine upon you for evermore.

36Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I testify my Saviour openly.

Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I testify my Saviour openly — the Saviour-state, the divine pattern embodied, witnessed without hiding.

37O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath led you to the heavenly kingdom.

O receive the gift that is given you, and be glad, giving thanks unto him that hath led you to the heavenly kingdom — the realm of the completed divine order, the inner realm under its rule.

38Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;

Arise up and stand, behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord: the faculties marked as wholly of the divine order, gathered at the indwelling LORD's table.

39Which are departed from the shadow of the world, and have received glorious garments of the Lord.

Which are departed from the shadow of the world, and have received glorious garments of the Lord: states that have left the shadow-state and are clothed in the radiance of the Presence.

40Take thy number, O Sion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord.

Take thy number, O Sion — Zion, the love-height of consciousness where God is enthroned — and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord, the written order of the divine life.

41The number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning, may be hallowed.

The number of thy children, whom thou longedst for, is fulfilled: beseech the power of the Lord, that thy people, which have been called from the beginning — the first principle — may be hallowed, set apart wholly to the divine order.

42I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.

I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion — Zion, the love-height — a great people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs: a vision, truth seen by the inner eye, of the gathered states in praise.

43And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.

And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns — ruling states perfected and acknowledged — and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.

44So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what are these?

So I asked the angel — the divine idea ministering between higher and lower consciousness — and said, Sir, what are these?

45He answered and said unto me, These be they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.

He answered and said unto me, These be they that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms — the victor's sign of the perfected ruling state.

46Then said I unto the angel, What young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands?

Then said I unto the angel, What young person is it that crowneth them, and giveth them palms in their hands?

47So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.

So he answered and said unto me, It is the Son of God — the offspring of the Divine Mind in consciousness — whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend them that stood so stiffly for the name of the indwelling LORD.

48Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen.

Then the angel said unto me, Go thy way, and tell my people what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen: the vision is to be forth-told, not kept silent.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.