2 Esdras 7:58-60

Revised Standard Version

⁵⁸ I said, “O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare is more precious.”

⁵⁹ He answered me and said, “Weigh within yourself^[a] what you have thought, for he who has what is hard to get rejoices more than he who has what is plentiful. ⁶⁰ So also will be the judgment^[b] which I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored.