2 Esdras 8:3-5

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

³ Many have been created, but only a few shall be saved.’

Ezra Again Appeals to God’s Mercy

⁴ I answered and said, ‘Then drink your fill of understanding,^[a] O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart. ⁵ For not of your own will did you come into the world,^[b] and against your will you depart, for you have been given only a short time to live.