Revelation of Simeon Kepha: 1
Revelation of James the Apostle: 1
Revelation of John the Little: 1
Written in Syriac, the Gospel of the Twelve Holy Apostles survives in the incomplete codex Harvard Syriac 93, and by palaeography, J. Rendel Harris dates it to the middle of the 8th century. It is followed by three brief apocalypses that are connected in the narrative. It begins with widely-known details from the canonical gospels, leading up to Christ’s resurrection and ascension, and is followed by an apostolic prayer, requesting that the Lord reveal the end of time.
The Gospel of the Twelve Holy Apostles Together with the Revelations of Each One of Them; Done from Hebrew Into Greek and from Greek Into Syriac.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, according as it is said by the Holy Spirit: “I send a messenger before His face, who will prepare His way.” It came to pass in the three hundred and ninth year of Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, in the government of Herod the ruler of the Jews, that the messenger Gabriel, the chief of the messengers, by the command of God went down to Nazareth, to a virgin called Mary, of the tribe of Judah, the son of Israel, her who was betrothed to Joseph the Just, and he appeared to her and said, “Behold, there arises from you the One that spoke with our fathers, and He will be a Savior to Israel; and they who do not confess Him will perish, for His authority is in the lofty heights, and His kingdom does not pass away.” Then Mary was disturbed at this word, and was exceedingly terrified, and Mary answered and said, “And how is it possible that this thing should be as you have said, since a man is not known to me, and you announce a Son to me?” And the messenger said to her, “Truly, for thus the God of greatness wills it, there comes immediately the Holy Spirit, and the Lord dwells in you.” And Mary knelt and worshiped God, and said, “My Lord, may it be to me according to Your word.” And Mary bore a Son in Beth-Lehem of Judah, and His Name was called Jesus the Savior, and the Ruler, and the God who is over all: according as the Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David the prophet: “And He has put all things under His feet: all sheep and oxen, also the beast of the field, and the birds that are in the sky, and the fish of the sea, which pass through the paths of the seas”: and there has been made subject to Him, to this Jesus, all that is in Heaven and all that is in the earth. And after a short time, eight months, He fled from Herod into Egypt, in order that all things that were written might be fulfilled; and after the death of Herod, there appeared a messenger to Joseph, and he brought the Boy back to the land of Israel; and He grew and attained to full stature, according as it is written by the four truthful evangelists; and this is the preaching of the Holy Gospel.
And He worked in the world great works of power, and abundant marvels without number; a multitude of which the scribes of the Holy Gospel have left [on record]. He healed the sick; He cleansed the lepers; He raised the dead; He opened [the eyes of] the blind; He strengthened the paralytics; He satisfied the hungry; and He worked miracles. And He chose for Himself true disciples and twelve apostles, that they might be with Him, whose names are as follows: Simeon, who is called Kepha, is from the tribe of Reuben; James and John, the sons of Zebedee, are from the tribe of Issachar; and Andrew from the tribe of Zebulon; and Philip from the tribe of Joseph; and Bartholomew from the tribe of Simeon; and Matthew from the tribe of Naphtali; and Thomas from the tribe of Benjamin; and James the son of Alphaeus from the tribe of Levi; and Thaddaeus from the tribe of Judah; and Simeon the Canaanite from the tribe of Asher; and Judas (he that betrayed Him) from the tribe of Gad. These twelve are His disciples to whom He promised twelve thrones that they may judge Israel. And it came to pass that when our Lord did all these wonders, and taught the word of God in the synagogues, and in the cities, and in the streets, it was evil in the eyes of the elders and the scribes of the people; and they stirred up against Him the judges and those that were possessed of authority, until they brought against Him accusations and testimonies through their envy, in order that they might destroy Him, according as all [His] life is written in the Holy Gospel of the four truthful evangelists. And our Lord commanded them and said to them that they should go out and evangelize in the four quarters of the world; and we carried out the preaching, behold, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the same.
But after this, the Jews made a plot against Him—the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes of the people—with one of His disciples, him that is called Iscariot, and he took money for His price, and delivered Him up to them, and they delivered Him to the judges, and they judged Him and crucified Him, and He died and was buried, and the third day He rose, according as it is written, and [as] He said to His disciples when He was with them, before He was betrayed. But Judas, after the death of the Righteous One, was separated and inherited bitter death by miserable strangling, according to the mystery which our Lord revealed to Simeon Kepha, and to those holy women who were ministering to them before His death. They, when He rose, announced it to the apostles, and the disciples went according to the message which they had received from our Lord, when He was with them, and there they saw Him. And there was among them one who doubted concerning the resurrection. And the eleven apostles brought in, instead of Judas, Matthias; and he stands in his place, and he was with them, and like to them, an apostle. And He appeared to the eleven when they were reclining to eat, while full of anxieties about stumbling; and He reproached them for their unbelief and reproved them for their hardness of heart; and He immediately commanded the preachers of the truth, and the proclaimers of the veracity, that they should go out into the four quarters [of the world], and preach the good news, and immerse, and say: “The Kingdom of Heaven has come near to you.” And whosoever believes and hears will live forever. And he said to them, “In My Name they will cast out devils, they will speak with new tongues, which they have not known, nor understood, and in My Name if they will drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.” But Jesus, after these words which His disciples heard from Him, they say to Him, “Behold, You go away from us and ascend to Him that sent You, and there is given to You all power, both in Heaven and on earth, and You have commanded us that we should preach with new tongues.” And after this, [they prayed] the following prayer. And they said, “We implore You, our Lord and God, not to deprive us of Your grace, but establish us in Your grace and enrich us in knowledge that comes from You, and cause Your Holy Spirit to dwell in us; and give us the mercies and compassion that come from Yourself; and perfect with us the gift that is from Yourself; and with those that call truly on Your Name, let no error come near us; and do not let the Devil strike us with his destroying arrows; and do not let us taste of the poison of the cruel serpent, for this was the cause of the fall of our father Adam. But be to us the Head and the Overseer, and the Lord and the Director, and the Liberator and the Savior; and in all that is given to us from You, in gratitude to You let it be made perfect with us until the end of the world. Yes, our Lord, enrich us according to Your promises, so that we may speak with new tongues, by the Spirit that is from You; and let us know what is the end of the world: because we stand in the midst of offenses and scandals of the world; reveal and interpret to us, our Lord, what is the manner of Your coming, and what is the end, and what offenses exist in the world; for behold, You are taken up from us, and what we will say we do not know.” And Jesus rebuked them and said, “Why is all this little faith yours? Behold, I have given you My promises, and have fulfilled to you your petitions: and you will speak with various tongues, and nothing will be hidden from you: and I have put the Holy Spirit in you, and I have fixed My truth in your hearts for profit, and for salvation, and for the invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven of such as read, and hear, and do your words. It is not as with other evangelists who talk of what they have seen and repeat what they have heard, but you will speak by the Spirit of My Father, of those things that are and of those that are to come. And those who believe and do will see new life in the kingdom of My Father in Heaven.”
And our Lord was immediately taken up from His twelve [apostles], and their minds were fervent [and were inflamed] like a fire that burns; and there was given to each one of them a tongue and grace, and Simeon spoke with them in Hebrew, and James in Latin, and John in Greek, and Andrew in Palestinian, and Philip in Egyptian, and Bartholomew in Elamite, and Matthew in Parthian, and Thomas in Indian, and James the son of Alpheus in the tongue of Mesopotamia, which is beyond the river, and Thaddaeus in African, and Simeon the Canaanite in Median, and Matthias in the Persian tongue. And they understood what they were saying, each man [understanding] the tongue of his fellow. And all those who heard them, were astonished and perplexed, and they said, “How have these barbarous and contemptible people suddenly become wise, and speakers of intricate things, and revealers of secrets? Who has given them this, and how have they been instructed? For behold, we hear them speaking with new tongues in which they were not born, and preaching conversion, and inviting men to the Kingdom of God! Were they not born among us, and did they not grow up with us? And they were feeble of understanding, and now we hear from them secret things and revelations such as the tongues of men cannot tell. This cannot be without the finger of God, which has enriched them!” And after they had taught and admonished the people according as they were commanded by our Lord, [they gathered] in the upper room where they had been with Jesus, and they bowed down and worshiped God: and all of them requested as with one soul that they might be made perfect—each one in the tongue of his fellow and of his discourse; and that after this, with one accord and agreement, they might ask from God this gift which was promised to them; and that there might be a revelation to them concerning the end; and Simeon Kepha and the eleven disciples bowed down before God in the same upper room, and they prayed and requested from God and said the following prayer: “Lord God the Mighty, the Father and Sender of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom You sent as Your only Son, to set us free from evil and from error and to instruct us in the way of life: we call on You, Lord, and we seek from You that we may be found worthy of the gifts which the holy mouth of our Lord promised to us; and let us not be deprived of the grace and the mercies which by His promise have descended on us; but grant us, Lord, and count us worthy that all of us with one soul and with one mind may see Your revelation—that great and marvelous revelation by which You are to reveal to us concerning things created— and that we may understand the times before Your coming again, and how they pass away and are no more, and who are the rulers of those [times], and their lives; and what men are to see the end; and who is he that is to come as Your adversary and to contend with the truth; and whether all men err from You and cleave to error. Yes, our God, we plead: reveal to us in mercies and grace and show us, our Lord, give us our requests, for the knowledge and the advantage of those who read and understand; for behold, according to Your word we have hated the world and all that is therein, and we have left fathers and race and have cleaved to You, who are the Savior of our race, and the Beginning, and the End, and the Guide, and the Governor of our life: Your mercies are over the good and over the evil; and You live and make to live; and You have authority over the exit of all of us. Reveal grace to us, show us good, be propitious to Your servants, Merciful One; and give us in your holy Name to trample on the head of the bitter serpent, Your enemy.” And when they had finished their prayer, suddenly [the Lord] flashed lightning over them from Heaven; and [the earth] was filled with a great light, such as men had never seen before, and like it can never be again, except that light in which our Lord is to be revealed. And the light tarried over them for three hours, that day being the Friday; and a mighty voice was heard from within the light which said, “Blessed and blessing is He that came and that comes in the Name of the Lord; blessed is the mystery of Salvation.” Thus they heard until that light faded from the upper room; and suddenly a voice sounded out to them and they heard it saying, “Go forth to the mountain, to the place in which Moses and Elijah appeared to you, and there it will be spoken to you in spirit concerning the world and the end, and concerning the Kingdom of God, and all of you will speak of it in the tongues of the holy fathers.” And when the voice was silent, they fell on their faces from their fear [for] a great and long span; and with the tears from their eyes, all the upper room was full of water; and Simeon Kepha and his eleven companions rose up, being bound and called by the Holy Spirit, and they went to where Jesus had directed them, and they were there fasting and praying [for] seven days, and suddenly there were set before them [tables] full of all good things—excellent things, from where they came only our Lord knows, things from which He Himself was nourished; and the next day, just as on the first day, He flashed light over them, and made them fervent in spirit and in truth, and a voice came to them and said, “Speak out, speak out!” And they began to glorify God and extol, and praise, and exalt our Lord, asking from Him that the gift might be completed [which He had promised].
And Simeon was moved by the Spirit of God: and his appearance and his body were enlarged, and he glorified [God]; and he wept and said, “How great are Your works, O Lord, and all of them You have worked in wisdom. For behold, I see the hosts of God which are one thousand thousands—yes, tens of thousands without number—standing in Heaven, and glorifying the lofty throne of the Godhead, exalted above all. And there was sent to me the great messenger Michael to be a reminder to me, and I received the Spirit in abundance; and I saw the time that is to be after us, full of offenses, and evils, and sins, and lying: and the men in that [time] will be crafty, perverse and depraved, men that do not know God, and do not understand the truth; but a few of them will understand their God, because of His works which they behold daily, those which are established in Heaven, and those which are brought forth on earth; and they know the Lord, as if they did not discern Him; for this name only is called on them that are believers. And after a time, they will seek to perform miracles in the Name of our Lord Jesus, and they will not be able, because of their little faith; and they call and are not heard, because they do not call on Him with all their hearts. But those who are separated from them, few in number, ask and are heard because their hearts speak the truth, and know God, and understand His beloved Son, and do not deny the Spirit. And in this way, they perform signs and great works of power; and these also in their wealth and in their faith are not allowed to live, for there will rise up against them bribed judges and also bribed deniers [of the faith]; and for the Name of our Lord they will be judged and beaten; and they will kill them by bitter and various deaths: and also, after they are killed, they will perform by their death great works of power; and after these things will have happened, the faith will fail from the earth and orthodoxy will come to an end: and those who are named as being immersed in our Lord, and as confessing His Name, will be more miserable than all men; and they will trample on the faith, and talk perversely, and they will divide our Lord; and in that time there will be reckoned many teachers, as the Spirit of the Father does not speak in them, and they will divide our Lord; and the father of lies and the calumniator, that is, Satan, will enter into them and disturb their minds; and their faith will fail, and it will come to pass that when they rise up and tear it, and when every man in his place will say that, I am superior in the fear of God, and I confess Him more correctly, that they will seek our Lord and will not find Him, and they will call to Him and He will not answer them. And the Lord will deliver them to evils, and to misery, and to wrath, and to plunder, and to tribute, until they will ask death for themselves and will not find a savior, and they will be enraged and blaspheme against God, and they will say, Because we have the superior knowledge of God, on this account the more have evils tracked our steps; [but] the few who will be scattered in the countries, who confess the Son in the way that is right for them to do, of these the Lord will supply their needs; but those who do not believe in Him, and who are called immersed people, will commend the heathen, and they will envy them and will say, Why are these things so, and why has it been given to us in this way? And even those who preach among them, on whom the Name of the Lord was called, in the headship over their brothers and in the offices of the Assembly, will be disturbers, and self-exalting persons, and haters one of another; lovers of money and destroyers of order, and who do not keep the commandments: but they will not love their flocks, and in their days men will appear as sheep who are ravenous wolves, and they will eat up the labor of the orphans, and the sustenance of the widows, and every ruler will pervert justice, and their eyes will be blinded by bribery, and they will love glory, and because of all these evils that are performed by them, they will call on the Lord, and there will be none to answer them, and there will be no Savior for them, because evils are multiplied on the earth, and they have corrupted their ways before the Father in Heaven; and the destroyer will deliver them up to devastation, and to misery, and to necessity, and there will rise up against them wasps in the morning and in the evening, and they will oppress them; and men will see their sons, and their daughters, and their wives, and their revenues made a prey by their enemies; and there will be none that speaks and none that answers, because the Holy One wills it, and the Lofty One talks with them; and from before Him judgment will go forth, and they will bring on them all these evils, and they will descend on them, until they will return and become one true flock and one holy Assembly, and they will confess our Lord according as we received from Him, and according as we believed in the Son, the Life-giver and Savior of the world; and after this will be a flock, and an assembly, and an immersion, true and one: and it will come to pass in that day that everyone that will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and whosoever worships the Paraclete will be delivered.”
And the messenger departed from Simeon and drew near to James; and he was shaken by the Spirit of God, and he wept, and wailed, and said, “Oh, our Lord Jesus! For the desolation that I see in this holy city: for behold, after a certain time the temple will be laid waste, the house of the Lord, the great and renowned; and the city [of] Jerusalem will be laid waste; and it will be disturbed and will become a place of pollution; and it will be delivered up to a people that does not know God and does not understand the truth because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein; in that they have blasphemed the Name of our Lord Jesus, and have crucified and killed Him.” And again the apostle James was astonished and said, “Behold, I see that there comes against her a man renowned in name and fearsome in appearance, and he will devastate, and eradicate, and destroy them that dwell therein; and there will be in it much famine and wrath; and the God of Heaven will be angry with them; and the eyes of their hearts will be darkened, and they will not see the sun; and they will not understand the marvels of the Lord, because they have not known His Son, and because of their lack of intelligence they will perish; and He will banish them that dwell in her, and will kill and will destroy, and there will not be found in her any except them that wail and that weep; and after all these things have happened to the city of the Lord, there will come forth a man who oppresses them by war against his enemies, and in that war he will die; and there will be in authority over her another man, and he will set up his edicts and will settle her, and there will be built in her sanctuaries to the Lord, consecrated and renowned, and they will come from the ends of the earth and from its bounds; and of all them that hear the Name of the Lord and know His praises, men will worship the Lord the Holy One there, and they will offer there vows, and aromas, and sacrifices, and libations, and the Lord will set up therein a sign that overcomes the evil of the wicked, and no man will grudge thereat nor be evil affected: for there will be therein another house of worship, because peace is decreed to her by the Holy One of Israel; and a great and renowned house will be built in her at great cost, with gold of Ophir and beryls of Havilah, and its name will go forth and be renowned, more than all those houses in the earth: and they will say that never before it [was there such], and never after will it be so. And that king who began to build it will die on the completion of his building: and one from his seed will rise up in his place, and will burden the chief men with many ills; and he will have great and vigorous rule, and the earth will be governed in his days in great peace, because from God it has been so spoken concerning him and concerning his people by the mouth of the prophet Daniel: and it will come to pass that whosoever will call on the Name of the Lord He will save.”
The brother of James, and these two are the sons of Zebedee.
And there was suddenly a great earthquake, and John the brother of James, and the initiate of our Lord, fell on his face on the earth, and with a great trembling he worshiped God, the Lord of all; and our Lord sent to him a man in white raiment, and mounted on a horse of fire, and his appearance was like the flashing of fire; and he touched him, and set him up, and said to him, “John, behold you have been set by our Lord to preach the good news of salvation, along with the three that perform the truth; but you also will not be deprived of this gift; for there has been given to you the Spirit, that you should receive it in double measure: because more than your first companions you have known the mysteries of our Savior”: and John was moved by the Holy Spirit, and was made fervent, and said, “Behold, I see Heaven opened and holy ones who are in the lofty heights, in appearance like lightning, glorifying God, the maker of all. And I beheld, and a messenger approached me, one of those that are near to Him; and he brought me scrolls written with the finger of truth, and inscribed in them times and generations, and the iniquities and sins of men, and the miseries that are to come on the earth; and I arose as if dazed. And there was an exceedingly dreadful voice which said, Let the mysteries be revealed that are hidden from the beginning, in soul and in spirit. And the messenger of God who was sent to me touched me and said to me, Open your mouth and receive; and I opened my mouth, and I beheld, and he put therein something like beryls and white like snow: and its taste was very sweet, and I ate it. And he said to me, Behold, it is the day of salvation, and the hour of deliverance! Speak, for the Lord has pleasure in you! Speak, man, to whom has been given power over the mysteries of God! Speak without fear, for it is the will of God that the secret things should be expounded to you! And I beheld that there was written on the scrolls what men are to suffer in the last times: and when I saw all these things that are past, I was not willing to speak concerning them, but only that I should expound those things that are to come; and there was a voice which spoke in me, Woe, woe to the sons of men who are left to the generations [and] to the times that are to come! For there will rise up the kings of the north, and they will become strong and will shake the whole world, and there will be among them a man who subdues all the peoples by the marvelous sign which appeared to him in the sky, and he will be prosperous, and it will go well with him; and after him will rise up kings of the Romans—insolent, evil, idol-worshiping, godless; accusers, and plotters, and accepters of persons; and all the people of the Romans will fall into fornication and adultery, and they will love bribery and lasciviousness through the abundance of wine that they drink; and while their power is over all the world, because of their evil sins and blasphemies against God, the Lord will send wrath on them from Heaven, and Persia will become strong against them and will drive away and expel this kingdom from the world, because it has done evil exceedingly, and kings will rise up among them—great and renowned, and lovers of money—and they will take away government from the earth: and there will be one of them who because of his love of money will destroy many men, until commerce and trade will perish from off the whole earth, and by the son of his own body, he will die; and all the silver and gold that he has collected will not save him; and after this, Persia will rule for a short time, and it also will be delivered over to Media; because of their evil sins the God of Heaven will abolish their rule and will destroy their kingdom; and they will perish and cease to be. But there will be deniers of the truth, and men that do not know God, and that do corruptly in their lasciviousness, those who provoke God, and then suddenly will be fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel, the pure and the desired, which he spoke, that God will send forth a mighty wind, the Southern one; and there will come forth from it a people of deformed aspect, and their appearance and manners like those of women; and there will rise up from among them a warrior, and one whom they call a prophet, and they will be brought into his hands those like to whom there has not been any in the world, neither does there exist their like; and each one that hears will shake his head, and will deride him, and say, Why does he speak thus? And God sees it and regards it not. And the South will do prosperously, and by the hoofs of the horses of his armies they will trample down Persia, and subdue it, and devastate Rome; and there will not be found any that stands before them, because it has been ordained for them by the Holy One of Heaven; and it will come to pass that every kingdom, or people, or place that hears the report of them will be afraid, and will tremble, and will be terrified at the report of this people, until it will subdue and bring under its hands the whole earth; and twelve renowned kings will rise up from that people according as it is written in the Law when God talked with Abraham and said to him: Behold! Concerning your son Ishmael, I have heard you, and twelve princes will he beget along with many other princesses; and he, even he, is the people of the land of the South. He will lead captive a great captivity among all the peoples of the earth, and they will spoil a great spoil, and all the ends of the earth will do service, and there will be made subject to him many lordships; and his hand will be over all, and also those that are under his hand he will oppress with much tribute: and he will oppress, and kill, and destroy the [rulers of the] ends [of the earth]. And he will impose a tribute on [the earth], such as was never heard of, until a man will come out from his house and will find [there] four collectors who collect tribute; and men will sell their sons and daughters because of their need: and they will hate their lives and will wail and weep, and there is no voice nor discourse except, Woe! Woe! And they will be covetous with a hateful greed; and they will be converted like bridegrooms and like brides, but will dread some retribution from them, because he that has will be reckoned in their days as though he had not, and he that builds and he that sells as one that gets no gain; and there will prosper with them all those who take refuge with them, and they will enslave to them men renowned in race, and there will be hypocrites among them and men who do not know God, and regard not men, except prodigals, fornicators, and men wicked and vengeful. But woe, woe to the children of men in that time; and they will rule in a cave for one great week and the half of a great week; and every king who will arise from among them will strengthen, and be made strong, and will be more vigorous than his fellow; and they will gather together the gold of the earth; and they will descend and lay them up in the earth treasures which came forth from there, because their kingdom and authority is from God; and it will come to pass after the week and the half of a week, the earth will be moved concerning them, and God will require the sins of creation at their hands, and the South wind will subside, and God will bring their covenant with them to nothing; and they will tremble and be frightened at every report that is brought to them; and the hands of all flesh will be on them, according as it was said by the hand of Moses the servant of the Lord; and in the end of their times, they will do evil to all flesh that is under their power, and they will oppress, and enslave, and ravage, and men will see necessity and great affliction: and three and four of them will be associated in pollution. And there is no one that speaks and no one that hears, except only one that says, Woe! Woe! What is come to pass in our generation? And they will commend the dead of antiquity, and will ask for death for themselves, and there is none that redeems and none that replies: but so much the more will they afflict all of those who confess our Lord Christ, because they will hate to the very end the Name of the Lord, and will bring to nothing His covenant; and truth will not be found among them, but only villainy will they love and sin will they have an affection for. And whatever is hateful in the eyes of the Lord—that they will do; and they will be called a corrupt people; and after these things, the Lord will be enraged against them, as he was against Rome, and against Media and Persia; and immediately there will come on them the end, and suddenly the time [comes]; and at last, in the completion of the week and a half, God will stir up desolation against them; and a messenger of wrath will descend and will kindle calamity among them and in their midst; and they will be lifted up against one another, and they will make and become two parties, and each party will seek to call himself king, and there will be war between them, and there will be many murders by them and among them, and much blood will be shed among them at the fountain of waters which is in the place which was spoken of beforehand in the book of the Sibyl. And when the man of the North will hear this report, he will not be frightened, and he will say, By my might and by my arm I have overcome. Then he will associate with him all the peoples of the earth, and he will go forth against him, and they will destroy and devastate his armies and lead captive their sons, and their daughters, and their wives, and there will fall on them a bitter marriage and misery; and the Lord will cause the spirit of the South to return to his place from where he came forth, and will bring to nothing his name and his fame; and it will come to pass that when they will enter again the place from where they came out, the enemy will not pursue them there, and they will not fear hunger, and they will not tremble, and it will come to pass in that day that their reliance [will be] on silver, which they have gotten by wrongdoing, and by plunder, which they have hidden in the place named Diglath, and they will return and settle in the land from where they came out; and God will stir up for them there calamitous times and times of plagues, and without war they will be laid waste, and to all generations of the world there will not be among them any that holds a weapon and stands up in battle which the Father commanded concerning them from Heaven.” [And when] John had spoken these words, and visions, and revelations in truth, the messenger that spoke to him departed from him, and a voice said, “Permit your companions, so that they may talk with you.”