2 Esdras 6:1-6

Revised Standard Version

6 And he said to me, “At the beginning of the circle of the earth,^[a] before the portals of the world were in place, and before the assembled winds blew, ² and before the rumblings of thunder sounded, and before the flashes of lightning shone, and before the foundations of paradise were laid, ³ and before the beautiful flowers were seen, and before the powers of movement^[b] were established, and before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered together, ⁴ and before the heights of the air were lifted up, and before the measures of the firmaments were named, and before the footstool of Zion was established, ⁵ and before the present years were reckoned; and before the imaginations of those who now sin were estranged, and before those who stored up treasures of faith were sealed— ⁶ then I planned these things, and they were made through me and not through another, just as the end shall come through me and not through another.”