2 Esdras 4:22-24

Common English Bible

²² I answered, “I beg you, Lord, why has the sense of understanding been given to me? ²³ It wasn’t my purpose to ask about the ways above but about the things that we see every day. Why has Israel been handed over to the Gentiles to our shame? Why has the people you loved been given over to godless tribes? Why has the Law of our ancestors been invalidated and the written ordinances come to nothing? ²⁴ Why do we pass from the world like locusts and our life like a mist? Why aren’t we worthy to obtain mercy?