57
Judge therefore which things are precious and desirable, those that are abundant or those that are rare?”
58
I said, “O sovereign Lord, what is plentiful is of less worth, for what is more rare is more precious.”
59
He answered me and said, “Consider within yourself[p] what you have thought, for the person who has what is hard to get rejoices more than the person who has what is plentiful.
60
So also will be the judgment[q] that I have promised; for I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored.
61
I will not grieve over the great number of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke—they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished.”
62
I replied and said, “O earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things?
63
For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it.
64
But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tormented, because we perish and we know it.
65
Let the human race lament, but let the wild animals of the field be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the cattle and the flocks rejoice.
66
It is much better with them than with us; for they do not look for a judgment, and they do not know of any torment or salvation promised to them after death.
67
What does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive but cruelly tormented?