1 Esdras

Known as " Greek Ezra" — a reworked narrative of the restoration period, from Josiah's Passover to Ezra's reading of the Law. It preserves a unique story of the three court guards and the supremacy of truth.|||Greek text in Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus. Translated into Latin (Vulgate appendix), Syriac, Ethiopic, and Armenian.|||Composed in the 2nd or 1st century BCE, likely in Egypt or Palestine.|||Canonical in the Eastern Orthodox Church (anagignoskomena). Not canonical in Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish traditions. Appears in the Vulgate appendix as 3 Esdras.|||Witnesses to an alternative textual tradition of Ezra–Nehemiah. Contains the court-contest story of the three guards, glorifying Zerubbabel and the Davidic line.|||Myers, J. M. I and II Esdras. Anchor Bible. Doubleday, 1974.|||Talshir, Z. I Esdras: From Origin to Translation. SBL, 1999.|||Charlesworth, J. H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1. Doubleday, 1983.|||1 Esdras — Early Jewish Writings|https://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/1esdras.html|Full translation and scholarly resources.;; 1 Esdras — Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Esdras|Background and scholarly discussion.|||" Truth is the greatest of all things. All the earth calls upon truth, and heaven blesses it." — 1 Esdras 4:41