1
My son and the elders of the people answered and said to me: Has the Mighty One humbled us so greatly that He takes you from us quickly?
2
Truly we shall be in darkness, and no light shall remain for the people left behind.
3
Where shall we again seek the Torah? Who shall distinguish for us between death and life?
4
I said to them: I cannot stand against the throne of the Mighty One. Yet Yisra’el shall not lack a wise one, nor the generations of Yaaqov a son of the Torah.
5
Only prepare your hearts to hear the Torah and submit to those who are wise and understanding in reverence. Prepare your beings not to withdraw from them.
6
If you do these things, the messages I spoke beforehand shall come to you, and you shall not fall into the torment of which I warned you.
7
But I did not make known to them, not even to my son, the Word that I was to be taken.