Chapter XV

¹Sedrach said to God, Lord thou alone art sinless and of infinite compassion, and hast mercy and pity upon sinners. ²Yet thy Godhead said, I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. ³And the Lord said to Sedrach, Do you not know, Sedrach that the robber was saved at one critical moment when he repented? ¹ Lit. ‘was saved … to repent’. ⁴Do you not know that my apostle ² Reading ἀπόστολος for ἀπόστολοι. and evangelist was also himself saved at one critical moment? ⁵〈But sinners are not so saved,〉 because their hearts are like a decaying stone – these are those who follow unholy paths and are to be destroyed with Antichrist. ⁶Sedrach said, My Lord, thou didst also say, My divine spirit entered into the Gentiles, who though they have not the law 〈yet〉 fulfil 〈the requirements〉 of the law. ³ Lit ‘〈yet〉 do 〈the things〉 of the law’. ⁷As with the robber, and the apostle and evangelist, and the others who have attained to ⁴ Reading φθάσαντες εἰς for πταίσαντες. ⁸thy kingdom, my Lord, so also, Lord, pardon those who have sinned at the last, for life is full of hardship and offers little opportunity for repentance.