The Narrow Gate

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy,^[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

⁹ If now that city is given to a man for an inheritance, how will the heir receive his inheritance unless he passes through the danger set before him?”

¹⁰ I said, “He cannot, lord.” And he said to me, “So also is Israel’s portion. ¹¹ For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. ¹² And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. ¹³ But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and really yield the fruit of immortality. ¹⁴ Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been reserved for them.