2 Esdras 8:9
King James VersionSource notes
“But that which keepeth and is kept shall both be preserved: and when the time cometh, the womb preserved delivereth up the things that grew in it.”
Context
6O Lord, if thou suffer not thy servant, that we may pray before thee, and thou give us seed unto our heart, and culture to our understanding, that there may come fruit of it; how shall each man live that is corrupt, who beareth the place of a man?
7For thou art alone, and we all one workmanship of thine hands, like as thou hast said.
8For when the body is fashioned now in the mother’s womb, and thou givest it members, thy creature is preserved in fire and water, and nine months doth thy workmanship endure thy creature which is created in her.
9But that which keepeth and is kept shall both be preserved: and when the time cometh, the womb preserved delivereth up the things that grew in it.
10For thou hast commanded out of the parts of the body, that is to say, out of the breasts, milk to be given, which is the fruit of the breasts,
11That the thing which is fashioned may be nourished for a time, till thou disposest it to thy mercy.
12Thou broughtest it up with thy righteousness, and nurturedst it in thy law, and reformedst it with thy judgment.