Seeing God and Becoming Stars

⁸⁸“Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body. ⁸⁹During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly. ⁹⁰Therefore this is the teaching concerning them: ⁹¹First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders. ⁹²The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought that was formed with them, so that it might not lead them astray from life into death. ⁹³The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander and the punishment that awaits them. ⁹⁴The third order, they see the witness that he who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life they kept the law with which they were entrusted. ⁹⁵The fourth order, they understand the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory waiting for them in the last days. ⁹⁶The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality. ⁹⁷The sixth order, when it is shown them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on. ⁹⁸The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they press forward to see the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified. ⁹⁹This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced; and the previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter.”

Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.