The King James Version Bible

2 Esdras 3:12-24

  1. And it happened, that when they that dwelt upon the earth began to multiply, and had gotten them many children, and were a great people, they began again to be more ungodly than the first.

  2. Now when they lived so wickedly before thee, thou didst choose thee a man from among them, whose name was Abraham.

  3. Him thou lovedst, and unto him only thou shewedst thy will:

  4. And madest an everlasting covenant with him, promising him that thou wouldest never forsake his seed.

  5. And unto him thou gavest Isaac, and unto Isaac also thou gavest Jacob and Esau. As for Jacob, thou didst choose him to thee, and put by Esau: and so Jacob became a great multitude.

  6. And it came to pass, that when thou leadest his seed out of Egypt, thou broughtest them up to the mount Sinai.

  7. And bowing the heavens, thou didst set fast the earth, movedst the whole world, and madest the depths to tremble, and troubledst the men of that age.

  8. And thy glory went through four gates, of fire, and of earthquake, and of wind, and of cold; that thou mightest give the law unto the seed of Jacob, and diligence unto the generation of Israel.

  9. And yet tookest thou not away from them a wicked heart, that thy law might bring forth fruit in them.

  10. For the first Adam bearing a wicked heart transgressed, and was overcome; and so be all they that are born of him.

  11. Thus infirmity was made permanent; and the law (also) in the heart of the people with the malignity of the root; so that the good departed away, and the evil abode still.

  12. So the times passed away, and the years were brought to an end: then didst thou raise thee up a servant, called David:

  13. Whom thou commandedst to build a city unto thy name, and to offer incense and oblations unto thee therein.