Encountering these things and hearing them with diligence, you will know how much God bestows on those who love him rightly—those who become a paradise of delight, raising up within themselves a flourishing tree laden with all manner of fruit, adorned with varied fruits.
For in this garden a tree of knowledge and a tree of life have been planted; yet it is not the tree of knowledge that destroys, but disobedience that destroys.
For the things written are not without significance: how God from the beginning planted a tree of knowledge and a tree of life in the midst of the garden, showing that life is through knowledge; and because the first men did not use it purely, they were stripped bare by the deceit of the serpent.
Perceiving this power, the apostle, finding fault with the knowledge that is exercised toward life apart from the truth of the commandment, says: 'Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.'
For he who thinks he knows something apart from true knowledge that is attested by life, does not know; he is deceived by the serpent, because he did not love life. But he who, with fear, has come to know and seeks after life, plants in hope, expecting fruit.
Bearing the tree of this and gathering its fruit, you will ever reap the things that are desired in God's sight, which the serpent does not touch, nor does deceit come into contact with them, nor is Eve corrupted, but she is trusted as a virgin.
And salvation is shown forth, and the apostles are given understanding, and the Lord's Passover advances, and the seasons are gathered together and brought into harmony with the world; and teaching the saints, the Word rejoices, through whom the Father is glorified—to whom be glory unto the ages. Amen. Thus also in the copy I found a break, the manuscript being very ancient; and here too the copy had a break.