GEJ 1.52

But the high priest rose and asked Me, saying, ‘Lord, since You are still showing us the great grace of remaining with us throughout this day as well, what if You, with Your disciples and all the others who believe in You, were to visit the nearby places at my side? We count only three of them. Perhaps there too some people might be found who would believe in You if they saw and heard You!’

I say, ‘Not for their sake, but for yours, yes! It gives you joy, and I gladly wish to give you that joy. But you also have a wife and children; would you not like to introduce them to Me as well? Where are they, and how many are there?’

The high priest says, somewhat embarrassed, ‘Lord, I have a dear wife who, like me, is already somewhat advanced in years, and I also have seven children—but, sadly, all girls, from twelve to twenty-one years old. But You know that it brings no particular honor to an Israelite to have no male descendants, and so—O Lord, have patience with my weakness!—I did not dare appear with my entirely female household.

‘But if it were nevertheless agreeable to You, O Lord, I would ask You to pass by my house on this occasion as well, where I would then present my womenfolk to You. But bringing them here would scarcely be fitting, for look, I do have a little of everything and can live modestly here with my family, but their clothing is rather poor. They are sufficiently clothed for the house and its tasks; but to appear in a company like this, they would be far too poorly dressed as the family of a high priest! And so I think it is nevertheless better in every respect for them to stay quietly at home, where they are not exposed to the world’s mockery or to the feeding of their inborn vanity. It is also good for them to have as little contact with the world as possible, for the world is and always remains bad!’

I say, ‘I shall do as you wish, but then let all of them go with us. Somewhat better clothing for their bodies will be provided, so that they will look quite good enough in our circle. It is very good and wise of you to withdraw them from the world as far as possible, but they would also have been entirely suitable for our company, which is surely not worldly.

‘Look at Mary, the mother of My flesh: she is clothed in clean white linen and wears a quite ordinary blue apron over it, and she is well enough dressed! On her head she usually wears a square sunshade, as do all the other women who have followed Me from Galilee and Judea, and so they are precisely the best suited to our company! But that does not matter now; your wife and your seven daughters are also to be in our company today!’

One of the Samaritans says, ‘All would be well and good! I myself have no testimony; I am only saying what I have heard from various people of this region, but you may nevertheless do as you wish. The rumor is that the four older daughters are seen in the street at night whenever the high priest is not at home, and, since they are very beautiful, they take money from lustful servants and let them sleep with them. That is the talk going around in secret. For my own part, however, I have no testimony for it! I only think that if this new teaching is to gain general acceptance here among the still very numerous unbelievers, it would be more advisable, because of the senseless rabble, at least not to receive the four older ones into the company. For you, brother Jonael, know how barbed in speech, wickedly senseless, and hard to convince in matters of faith our people are! If something like this comes to their eyes and ears, then Jehovah Himself can achieve nothing more with such a people! But let this be merely my nonbinding advice, given only because of the manifest wickedness of our people, so that the good cause may suffer no harm.’

The high priest becomes very sad at this and says, ‘Lord, if I had been only a little more lukewarm and negligent in bringing up my daughters, it would scarcely sadden me to hear such a thing. But as it is, I know that nothing needed for the cultivation of their understanding and hearts was neglected, and I dare swear the holiest oath that each of my daughters is surely still as pure as a flower on Jehovah’s mountain! Where, then, does such most shameful slander come from?’

I say, ‘My dear brother Jonael, do not let it trouble you at all. If your daughters are pure before Me, let that be entirely enough for you! For the world is wholly the devil’s and therefore bad through and through! Have you ever heard of grapes being harvested from thorns and figs from thistles? I have known this for a long time, and that is why on the mountain I made it very noticeable through the image of the speck in one’s neighbor’s eye. And look, this image drove many from the mountain, for they noticed that I had them in view.

‘But I tell you: now all the more, your daughters will certainly go with us, and I shall walk in their midst! For what is once the devil’s is also to remain the devil’s if it will never let itself be converted. But now let us set out at once; I have already made everything known to your wife and daughters! They will already be waiting for us.’