Chapter III

¹And I said, O Lord, my lord, have I come into the world for no other purpose than to see the evils of my mother? Surely not, my lord. ²If I have won thy favour, take my life away first, so that I may join my fathers and not witness my mother's destruction. ³I am caught in a dilemma: I cannot resist thee; and yet I cannot bear to watch the ruin ¹ Lit. ‘to see the evils’. of my mother. ⁴But one thing I will ask of thee, ² Lit. ‘I will say before thee’. O Lord. ⁵What is to happen after this? For if thou destroyest thy city and dost deliver up thy land to those that hate us, how will the name of Israel again be remembered? ⁶How will anyone proclaim thy praises? ⁷To whom will what is in thy law be explained? Is the universe ³ Text ‘ornament’, doubtless through a misunderstanding of the Gk. κόσμος. to return to its original state and the world to revert to primeval silence? ⁸Is the human race ⁴ Lit. ‘the multitude of souls’. to be destroyed and mankind to be blotted out? ⁵ Lit. ‘and the nature of man not again be named’. ⁹And what is to become of all thou didst say to Moses about us?