1 Esdras 4

1 And the second began to speak, the one who had spoken about the strength of the king: 2 “Men, do men not prevail, who hold the land and the sea in their grip, and everything in them? 3 But the king prevails over them: he rules them and is master of them, and whatever he says to them, they obey.

4 If he tells them to make war on one another, they do it; and if he sends them out against the enemy, they go, and they break through mountains and walls and towers. 5 They kill and are killed, and they do not step past the king’s word; and if they win, they bring everything to the king — whatever they plunder, and all the rest. 6 And all who do not go out with the army and do not fight, but work the ground — when they have sown and reaped, they bring it in to the king; and forcing one another, they bring in the tribute to the king.

7 And he is one man, alone. If he tells them to kill, they kill; he tells them to let a man go, they let him go; 8 he tells them to strike, they strike; he tells them to lay waste, they lay waste; he tells them to build, they build; 9 he tells them to cut down, they cut down; he tells them to plant, they plant. 10 And all his people and his armies obey him. [a]

11 Besides this, he himself lies back and eats and drinks and sleeps, while they keep watch in a circle around him, and not one of them can go off and do his own work, nor do they disobey him. 12 Men, how is the king not the one who prevails, when he is listened to like this?” And he fell silent.

13 And the third began to speak, the one who had spoken about women and about truth — this is Zerubbabel: 14 “Men, is the king not great, and are men not many, and is wine not strong? Who then is master of them, or who rules them? Is it not women? [b] 15 Women gave birth to the king and to all the people that rules the sea and the land. 16 It was out of women that they came, and it was women who brought up the very men who plant the vineyards that the wine comes from. 17 And it is women who make men’s robes, and women who make men glorious, and men cannot exist apart from women.

18 And if men gather gold and silver and every fine thing, and then see one woman who is good in her looks and in her beauty — 19 letting all of it go, they gape at her, and with their mouths open they stare at her; and every one of them chooses her rather than the gold and the silver and every fine thing. 20 A man leaves his own father, who brought him up, and his own country, and he holds fast to his own wife; 21 and with his wife he lets his life go, and he remembers neither his father nor his mother nor his country. [c] 22 And from this you must know that women rule over you. Do you not toil and wear yourselves out, and give it all and carry it all to women?

23 And a man takes his sword and goes out on the road to rob and to steal, and to sail the sea and the rivers; 24 and he looks the lion in the face, and he walks in the dark; and when he has stolen and snatched and stripped a man bare, he carries it home to the woman he loves. 25 And a man loves his own wife more than his father and his mother. 26 And many have gone out of their own minds because of women, and have become slaves for their sake, 27 and many have perished and stumbled and sinned because of women.

28 And now, do you not believe me? Is the king not great in his authority? Do not all the lands take care not to touch him? 29 I used to watch him, and Apame the daughter of Bartacus the renowned, the king’s concubine, sitting at the king’s right hand [d] 30 and taking the crown off the king’s head and putting it on herself; and she would slap the king with her left hand. [e] 31 And through it all the king would stare at her with his mouth open. If she smiled at him, he laughed; and if she turned bitter against him, he would flatter her until she made it up with him. 32 Men, how are women not strong, when they do things like this?”

33 And then the king and the nobles looked at one another. [f]

34 And he began to speak about truth: “Men, are women not strong? Great is the earth, and high is the heaven, and swift in his course is the sun, for he turns in the circle of the heaven and runs back to his own place in one day. 35 Is he not great who does these things? And truth is great, and stronger than all things. 36 All the earth calls on truth, and the heaven blesses her, and all works shake and tremble; and there is nothing unrighteous with him. [g]

37 Wine is unrighteous, the king is unrighteous, women are unrighteous, all the sons of men are unrighteous, and all their works are unrighteous, and everything of that kind; and there is no truth in them, and in their unrighteousness they will perish. 38 But truth remains and is strong forever, and she lives and holds power forever and ever. 39 And with her there is no taking of sides and no taking of bribes; she does what is righteous, apart from everything unrighteous and evil; and everyone approves her works, and in her judgment there is nothing unrighteous. [h] 40 To her belong the strength and the kingdom and the authority and the majesty of all the ages. Blessed be the God of truth.”

41 And he stopped speaking. And then all the people shouted, and then they said, “Great is truth, and it prevails.”

42 Then the king said to him, “Ask what you wish, beyond what is written, and we will give it to you, since you have been found the wiser man. And you will sit next to me, and you will be called my kinsman.” 43 Then he said to the king, “Remember the vow you vowed to build Jerusalem, on the day you received your kingdom, 44 and to send out all the vessels that were taken from Jerusalem, which Cyrus set apart when he vowed to cut Babylon down, and vowed to send them back there. 45 And you yourself vowed to build the temple, which the Edomites burned down when Judah was laid waste by the Chaldeans. [i] 46 And now this is what I ask of you, my lord the king, and what I request of you, and this is the greatness that comes from you: I beg you to carry out the vow that you vowed with your own mouth to the King of heaven.”

47 Then Darius the king stood up and kissed him, and wrote letters for him to all the stewards and local rulers and generals and satraps, that they should send him on his way, and all those going up with him to build Jerusalem. 48 And to all the local rulers in Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, and to those in Lebanon, he wrote letters to carry cedar timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem, and to build the city together with him. [j]

49 And he wrote for all the Jews going up from the kingdom to Judah, concerning their freedom: that no man of power, and no satrap and no local ruler and no steward, should come against their doors; 50 and that all the country they held should be theirs free of tribute; and that the Edomites should give up the villages of the Jews that they were holding; 51 and that for the building of the temple there should be given fifteen hundred pounds a year, until it was built; 52 and for whole burnt offerings to be offered up on the altar every day — as they have a command to offer seventeen — another seven hundred and fifty pounds a year; [k] 53 and that all who came up from Babylonia to found the city should have their freedom, they and their children, and all the priests who came up.

54 And he wrote as well about the provision, and about the priestly robe in which they serve. 55 And he wrote that the provision should be given to the Levites too, until the day the house should be finished and Jerusalem built; 56 and he wrote that allotments and wages should be given to all who guarded the city. [l] 57 And he sent out all the vessels that Cyrus had set apart from Babylon; and everything Cyrus had said to do, he too gave orders to do and to send to Jerusalem.

58 And when the young man went out, he lifted his face to heaven, facing Jerusalem, and blessed the King of heaven, saying, 59 “From you comes the victory, and from you comes wisdom, and yours is the glory, and I am your servant. 60 Blessed are you, who have given me wisdom; and to you I give thanks, Master of our fathers.”

61 And he took the letters and went out to Babylon and told it all to his brothers. 62 And they blessed the God of their fathers, because he had given them relief and release 63 to go up and build Jerusalem and the temple that is called by his name; and they drank their fill, with music and gladness, for seven days. [m]