2 Esdras 2:2-4

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

² The mother who bore them^[a] says to them, “Go, my children, because I am a widow and forsaken. ³ I brought you up with gladness; but with mourning and sorrow I have lost you, because you have sinned before the Lord God and have done what is evil in my sight.^{[b] 4} But now what can I do for you? For I am a widow and forsaken. Go, my children, and ask for mercy from the Lord.”