2 There, I saw the dwellings of the chosen and the holy, and my eyes beheld all the sinners being expelled, those who deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, dragged away, unable to endure the punishment from the Lord of Spirits. 3 My eyes also saw the mysteries of lightning and thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are distributed to blow across the earth, and the mysteries of the clouds and dew, observing where they originate and how they moisten the dusty earth. 4 I saw hidden chambers from which the winds are dispersed, the chamber for hail and winds, the chamber for mist, and of the clouds, with the cloud above floating over the earth since the beginning of time.

35 He said to me, ‘You cannot.’ ‘Why not, my lord?’ I asked. ‘Why then was I born? Why could not my mother’s womb have been my grave? Then I should never have seen Jacob’s trials and the weariness of the race of Israel.’ 36 He said to me, ‘Count me those who are not yet born, collect the scattered drops of rain, and make the withered flowers bloom again; 37 unlock me the storehouses and let loose the winds shut up there; or make visible the shape of a voice. Then I will answer your question about Israel’s trials.’ 38 ‘My lord, my master,’ I said, ‘how can there be anyone with such knowledge except the One whose home is not among men? 39 I am only a fool; how then can I answer your questions?’