7 Then let your mother rest in peace. Just let her noble life be strength and inspiration unto you.
8 A crisis in your life has come, and you must have a clear conception of the work that you are called to do.
9 The sages of the ages call you harbinger. The prophets look to you and say, He is Elijah come again.
10 Your mission here is that of harbinger; for you will go before Messiah’s face to pave his way, and make the people ready to receive their king.
11 This readiness is purity of heart; none but the pure in heart can recognize the king.
12 To teach men to be pure in heart you must yourself be pure in heart, and word, and deed.
13 In infancy the vow for you was made and you became a Nazarite. The razor shall not touch your face nor head, and you shall taste not wine nor fiery drinks.
14 Men need a pattern for their lives; they love to follow, not to lead.
15 The man who stands upon the corners of the paths and points the way, but does not go, is just a pointer; and a block of wood can do the same.
16 The teacher treads the way; on every span of ground he leaves his footprints clearly cut, which all can see and be assured that he, their master, went that way.
17 Men comprehend the inner life by what they see and do. They come to God through ceremonies and forms.
18 And so when you would make men know that sins are washed away by purity in life, a rite symbolic may be introduced.
19 In water wash the bodies of the people who would turn away from sin and strive for purity in life.
20 This rite of cleansing is a preparation rite and they who thus are cleansed comprise the Church of Purity.
21 And you shall say, You men of Israel, hear; Reform and wash; become the sons of purity, and you shall be forgiven.
22 This rite of cleansing and this church are but symbolic of the cleansing of the soul by purity in life, and of the kingdom of the soul, which does not come with outward show, but is the church within.
23 Now, you may never point the way and tell the multitudes to do what you have never done; but you must go before and show the way.
24 You are to teach that men must wash; so you must lead the way, your body must be washed, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul.
25 John said, Why need I wait? May I not go at once and wash?