Parable 9 (Continued)
10[87]:1 And I, as I walked with him, was glad to see so brave a sight. And the shepherd saith to me; "Go and bring plaster and fine clay, that I may fill up the shapes of the stones that have been taken up and put into the building; for all the circuit of the tower must be made smooth."
10[87]:2 And I did as he bade, and brought them to him. "Assist me," saith he, "and the work will speedily be accomplished." So he filled in the shapes of the stones which had gone to the building, and ordered the circuit of the tower to be swept and made clean.
10[87]:3 And the virgins took brooms and swept, and they removed all the rubbish from the tower, and sprinkled water, and the site of the tower was made cheerful and very seemly.
10[87]:4 The shepherd saith unto me, "All," saith he, "hath now been cleaned. If the lord come to inspect the tower, he hath nothing for which to blame us." Saying this, he desired to go away.
10[87]:5 But I caught hold of his wallet, and began to adjure him by the Lord that he would explain to me [all] what he had showed me. He saith to me; "I am busy for a little while, and then I will explain everything to thee. Await me here till I come."
10[87]:6 I say to him; "Sir, when I am here alone what shall I do?" "Thou art not alone," saith he; "for these virgins are here with thee." "Commend me then to them," say I. The shepherd calleth them to him and saith to them; "I commend this man to you till I come," and he departed.
10[87]:7 So I was alone with the virgins; and they were most cheerful, and kindly disposed to Me especially the four of them that were the more glorious in appearance.
11[88]:1 The virgins say to me; "Today the shepherd cometh not here." "What then shall I do?" say I. "Stay for him," say they, "till eventide; and if he come, he will speak with thee; but if he come not, thou shalt stay here with us till he cometh."
11[88]:2 I say to them; "I will await him till evening, and if he come not, I will depart home and return early in the morning." But they answered and said unto me; "To us thou wast entrusted; thou canst not depart from us."
11[88]:3 "Where then," say I, "shall I remain?" "Thou shalt pass the night with us," say they as a brother, not as a husband; for thou art our brother, and henceforward we will dwell with thee; for we love thee dearly." But I was ashamed to abide with them.
11[88]:4 And she that seemed to be the chief of them began to kiss and to embrace me; and the others seeing her embrace me, they too began to kiss me, and to lead me round the tower, and to sport with me.
11[88]:5 And I had become as it were a younger man, and I commenced myself likewise to sport with them. For some of them began to dance, [others to skip,] others to sing. But I kept silence and walked with them round the tower, and was glad with them.
11[88]:6 But when evening came I wished to go away home; but they would not let me go, but detained me. And I stayed the night with them, and I slept by the side of the tower.
11[88]:7 For the virgins spread their linen tunics on the ground, and made me lie down in the midst of them, and they did nothing else but pray; and I prayed with them without ceasing, and not less than they. And the virgins rejoiced that I so prayed. And I stayed there with the virgins until the morning till the second hour.
11[88]:8 Then came the shepherd, and saith to the virgins; "Have ye done him any injury?" "Ask him," say they. I say to him, "Sir, I was rejoiced to stay with them." "On what didst thou sup?" saith he "I supped, Sir," say I, "on the words of the Lord the whole night through." "Did they treat thee well?" saith he. "Yes, Sir," say I.
11[88]:9 "Now," saith he, "what wouldest thou hear first?" "In the order as thou showedst to me, Sir, from the beginning," say I; "I request thee, Sir, to explain to me exactly in the order that I shall enquire of thee." According as thou desirest," saith he, "even so will I interpret to thee, and I will conceal nothing whatever from thee."
12[89]:1 "First of all, Sir," say I, "explain this to me. The rock and the gate, what is it?" "This rock," saith he, "and gate is the Son of God." "How, Sir," say I, "is the rock ancient, but the gate recent?" "Listen," saith he, "and understand, foolish man.
12[89]:2 The Son of God is older than all His creation, so that He became the Father's adviser in His creation. Therefore also He is ancient." "But the gate, why is it recent, Sir?" say I.
12[89]:3 "Because," saith he, "He was made manifest in the last days of the consummation; therefore the gate was made recent, that they which are to be saved may enter through it into the kingdom of God.
12[89]:4 Didst thou see," saith he, "that the stones which came through the gate have gone to the building of the tower, but those which came not through it were cast away again to their own place?" "I saw, Sir," say I. "Thus," saith he, "no one shall enter into the kingdom of God, except he receive the name of His Son.
12[89]:5 For if thou wishest to enter into any city, and that city is walled all round and has one gate only, canst thou enter into that city except through the gate which it hath?" "Why, how, Sir," say I, "is it possible otherwise?" "If then thou canst not enter into the city except through the gate itself, even so," saith he, "a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God except by the name of His Son that is beloved by Him.
12[89]:6 Didst thou see," saith he, "the multitude that is building the tower?" "I saw it, Sir," say I. "They," saith he, are all glorious angels. With these then the Lord is walled around. But the gate is the Son of God; there is this one entrance only to the Lord. No one then shall enter in unto Him otherwise than through His Son.
12[89]:7 Didst thou see," saith he, "the six men, and the glorious and mighty man in the midst of them, him that walked about the tower and rejected the stones from the building?" "I saw him, Sir," say I.
12[89]:8 "The glorious man," saith he, "is the Son of God, and those six are the glorious angels who guard Him on the right hand and on the left. Of these glorious angels not one," saith he, "shall enter in unto God without Him; whosoever shall not receive His name, shall not enter into the kingdom of God."