2 Esdras 4:24-26

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

²⁴ We pass from the world like locusts, and our life is like a mist,^[a] and we are not worthy to obtain mercy. ²⁵ But what will he do for his^[b] name that is invoked over us? It is about these things that I have asked.’

²⁶ He answered me and said, ‘If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long,^[c] you will often marvel, because the age is hurrying swiftly to its end.