2 Esdras 5:46-50 Good News Bible Anglicised (GNBDC)

46. He answered, “That would be like asking a woman who has given birth to ten children why she didn't have them all at once, instead of one at a time.”

47. “That would be impossible,” I answered. “She can't have them all at once.”

48. “In the same way,” he continued, “I have made the world like a womb so that it produces human beings at regular intervals.

49. The rule that neither a young child nor an old woman can give birth to a baby also applies to the world that I have created.”

50. Then I said, “Since you have brought up the subject, may I ask if the world you have been talking about is still young or is it approaching old age?”

2 Esdras 5