Common English Bible

2 Esdras 7:100-104 Common English Bible (CEB)

100. I answered: "Will time, therefore, be given to souls after they are separated from the bodies to see what you told me?"

101. He said to me: "They will be free for seven days so that they may see in those seven days the things that have been foretold. After this, they will be gathered in their dwelling places."

102. I answered: "If you look on me with favor, show your servant further whether on the Judgment Day the just will be able to seek mercy for the wicked or intercede for them with the Most High.

103. Will parents be allowed to intercede for children, children for parents, siblings for each other, relatives for those close to them, faithful ones for those most dear to them?"

104. He replied to me: "Because I do indeed favor you, I will also show you this. The Judgment Day is decisive. It reveals the seal of truth to all. Even in the here and now a parent doesn’t send a child, or a child the parent, or a master his servant, or a faithful friend a dear confidant, so that the one should understand or sleep or eat or be taken care of in the other person’s place.