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prayer; and his requests have great power with the Lord.
8 Then the rich man ministers all thing to the poor, because he perceives that he is heard by the Lord; and he
the more willingly and without doubting, affords him what he wants, and takes care that nothing be lacking to
him.
9 And the poor man gives thanks unto the Lord for the rich; because they both do their work from the Lord.
10 With men, therefore, the elm is not thought to give any fruit; and they know not, neither understand that
its company being added to the vine, the vine bears a double increase, both for itself and for the elm.
11 Even so the poor praying unto the Lord for the rich, are heard by him; and their riches are increased,
because they minister to the poor of their wealth. They are, therefore, both made partakers of each other's
good works.
12 Whosoever, therefore, shall do these things, he shall not be forsaken by the Lord, but shall be written in
the book of life.
13 Happy are they who are rich, and perceive themselves to be increased: for he that is sensible of this, will
be able to minister somewhat to others.
SIMILITUDE III.
As the greet trees in the winter cannot be
distinguished from the dry; so neither can the
righteous from the wicked in this present world.
AGAIN he showed me many trees whose leaves were shed, and which seemed to me to be withered, for they
were all alike. And he said unto me, Seest thou these trees? I said, Sir, I see that they look like dry trees.
2 He answering, said unto me; These trees are like unto the men who live in the present world. I replied: Sir,
why are they like unto dried trees? Because, said he, neither the righteous, nor unrighteous, are known from
one another; but all are alike in this present world.
3 For this world is as the winter to the righteous men, because they are not known, but dwell among sinners.
4 As in the winter all the trees having lost their leaves, are like dry trees; nor can it be discerned which are
dry and which are green: so in this present world neither the righteous, nor wicked are discerned from each
other; but they are all alike.
SIMILITUDE IV.
As in the summer the living trees are distinguished
from the dry by their fruit and green leaves;
SIMILITUDE III. 33
 Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, v9
so in the world to come the righteous shall be
distinguished from the unrighteous by their happiness.
AGAIN he showed me many other trees, of which some had leaves, and others appeared dry and withered.
And he said unto me, Seest thou these trees I answered, Sir, I see them; some are dry, and others full of
leaves.
2 These trees, saith be, which are green, are the righteous, who shall possess the world to come. For the world
to come, is the summer to the righteous; but to sinners it is the winter.
3 When, therefore, the mercy of the Lord shall shine forth, then they who serve God shall be made manifest,
and plain unto all. For as in the summer the fruit of every tree is shown and made manifest. so also the works
of the righteous shall be declared and made manifest, and they shall all be restored in that world merry and
joyful.
4 For the other kind of men, namely the wicked, like the trees which thou rawest dry, shall, as such, be found
dry and without fruit in that other world; and like dry wood shall be burnt; and it shall be made manifest that
they have done evil all the time of their life;
5 And they shall be burnt because they have sinned and have not repented of their sins. And also all the other
nations shall be burnt, because they have not acknowledged God their Creator.
6 Do then, therefore, bring forth good fruit, that in the summer thy fruit may be known; and keep thyself from
much business, and thou shalt not offend. For they who are involved in much business, sin much; because
they are taken up with their affairs, and serve not God.
7 And how can a man that does not serve God, ask anything of God, and receive it? But they who serve him,
ask and receive what they desire.
8 But if a man has only one thing to follow, he may serve God, because his mind is not taken off from God,
but he serves him with a pure mind.
9 If, therefore, thou shalt do this, thou mayest have fruit in the world to come; and as many as shall do in like
manner, shall bring forth fruit.
SIMILITUDE V.
Of a true fast, and the rewards of it:
also of the cleanliness of the body.
AS I was fasting, and sitting down in a certain mountain, and giving thanks unto God for all the things that he
had done unto me; behold, I saw the Shepherd, who was wont to converse with me, sitting by me, and saying
unto me: What has brought thee hither thus early in the morning? I answered, Sir, to-day I keep a station.
2 He answered, What is a station; I replied, it is a fast. He said, What is that fast? I answered, I fast as I have
been wont to do. Ye know not, said he, what it is to fast unto God; nor is this a fast which ye keep, profiting
nothing with God.
3 Sir, said I, what makes you speak thus? He replied, I speak it, because it is not the true fast which you think [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]