16. Why don't you think about the age to come, rather than the present age?”
17. I answered, “Lord and master, in your Law you said that the righteous would receive all these blessings, but that the wicked would perish.
18. So the righteous can endure all the difficulties of this narrow way because they look forward to the broad and open life of the future, but the wicked must pass through the narrow way without any hope of seeing the broad open life.”
19. The angel replied, “Do you think you are a better judge than God? Do you think you are wiser than God Most High?
20. It is better to let many people of the present age perish than to allow them to neglect the Law that God has given them.
21. God has given clear commandments to everyone coming into this world, telling what they should do to obtain life and to avoid punishment.
22. But the wicked would not listen and refused to obey him. In their foolishness
23. they have made their own wicked and deceitful plans. They denied the existence of God Most High and refused to follow his ways.