22. Keep both the old and the young safe within your walls.
23. Whenever you find a dead body, bury it and mark the grave, and I will give you a place of honour when I raise the dead.
24. “Be calm, my people; your time to rest will come.
25. Take care of your children like a faithful nursemaid and guide their steps in safe paths,
26. so that none of them will be lost. When the time comes, I will hold you responsible for them.
27. Don't worry; when the day of trouble and distress comes, others will cry and mourn, but you will be happy and rich.
28. The other nations will be jealous of you, but they will not be able to harm you.
29. “I will protect you with my power and save your children from hell.
30. Be happy, Jerusalem, you and your children, because I, the Lord, will rescue you.
31. Remember your children who are asleep in their graves; I, the Lord Almighty, am merciful, and I will bring them out from the place where they lie hidden in the earth.
32. Until I come, hold your children close and tell them about my grace and mercy, which are like a spring that never runs dry.”
33. I, Ezra, was on Mount Sinai when the Lord ordered me to go to the people of Israel. But when I went to them, they rejected me and refused to listen to what the Lord commanded.
34. That is why I am speaking to you Gentiles. You are ready to listen and understand: “Wait for your shepherd who is coming very soon, at the end of the age, to give you eternal rest.
35. Be ready to receive the blessings of the kingdom, for eternal light will shine on you for ever.
36. Flee from the darkness of this present age and accept the joyful splendour prepared for you. I testify publicly for my saviour.