2 Esdras 8:41-43

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

⁴¹ ‘For just as the farmer sows many seeds in the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all that have been sown will come up^[a] in due season, and not all that were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in the world will not all be saved.’

⁴² I answered and said, ‘If I have found favour in your sight, let me speak. ⁴³ If the farmer’s seed does not come up, because it has not received your rain in due season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.^[b]