After I had completely written out this book, the angel who had handed me over to this shepherd came to the house where I was. He sat down on the couch, and the shepherd stood at his right hand. Then he called me and said: “I handed you and your household over to this shepherd so that you might be protected by him.” “Yes, sir,” I said. “If, therefore,” he said, “you want to be protected from every affliction and every cruelty, and to have success in every good work and word and every power of righteousness, walk in the commandments of his that I have given you, and you will be able to master every wickedness. For if you keep his commandments, every desire and pleasure of this world will be subject to you, and success will follow you in every good undertaking. Take his seriousness and moderation into yourself, and tell everyone that he is held in great honor and dignity before the Lord, that he is a ruler of great authority and powerful in his office. To him alone throughout the whole world has authority over repentance been entrusted. Does he seem powerful to you? Yet you despise his seriousness and the restraint he shows toward you.”
I said to him, “Ask him himself, sir, whether from the time he has been in my house I have done anything disorderly by which I offended him.” “I myself know,” he said, “that you have done nothing disorderly and that you are not going to. I am telling you these things so that you may persevere, for he has spoken well of you to me. You, in turn, will tell these words to the others, so that those who have repented or are going to repent may think as you do, and so that he may speak well of them to me, and I to the Lord.” I said, “I too, sir, proclaim to every person the mighty works of the Lord. I hope that all who sinned in the past, if they hear these things, will gladly repent and recover life.” “Continue, then,” he said, “in this ministry and bring it to completion. Whoever carries out his commandments will have life, and this shepherd will have great honor before the Lord. But whoever does not keep his commandments flees from his own life and opposes him. They do not follow his commandments but hand themselves over to death, and each one becomes guilty of his own blood. But I tell you to obey these commandments, and you will have a remedy for your sins.”
“Moreover, I have sent you these virgins so that they may live with you, for I saw that they were friendly toward you. You therefore have them as helpers, so that you may be better able to keep his commandments, for these commandments cannot be kept without these virgins. I also see that they are glad to be with you, but I will command them not to leave your house at all. Only cleanse your house, for they will gladly live in a clean house. They are clean, chaste, diligent, and all have favor before the Lord. Therefore, if they find your house pure, they will remain with you. But if even the slightest pollution occurs, they will immediately leave your house, for these virgins do not love any pollution at all.” I said to him, “I hope, sir, that I will please them, so that they may always live gladly in my house. And just as this shepherd, to whom you handed me over, does not blame me, neither will they blame me.” He said to the shepherd, “I know that the servant of God wants to live, that he will keep these commandments, and that he will keep the virgins in purity.” After saying this, he handed me over to the shepherd again, and after calling the virgins … he said to them, “Since I see that you are glad to live in this man’s house, I entrust him and his house to you, so that you do not leave his house at all.” They gladly heard these words.
Then he said to me, “Be courageous in this ministry. Declare the mighty works of the Lord to every person, and you will have favor in this ministry. Whoever walks in these commandments will live and will be blessed in his life, but whoever neglects them will not live and will be unhappy in his life. Tell all who are able to do what is right not to stop; practicing good works is beneficial to them. I also say that every person ought to be rescued from hardship. For one who is in need and suffers hardship in daily life is in great torment and distress. Whoever, therefore, rescues a soul like this from need gains great joy for himself. A person who is afflicted by such hardship is tormented and tortures himself no less than someone who is in chains. Many, because of calamities like these, when they can no longer endure them, bring death upon themselves. Therefore, anyone who knows the calamity of such a person and does not rescue him commits a great sin and becomes guilty of his blood. Therefore, all of you who have received from the Lord, do good works, lest while you delay doing them the building of the tower be completed. For it is because of you that the work of building it has been interrupted. Unless you hurry to do what is right, the tower will be completed and you will be shut out.” After he had spoken with me, he rose from the couch and departed, taking the shepherd and the virgins with him. He told me, however, that he would send the shepherd and the virgins back to my house.