had recited the Psalms of the spirit altogether, and had made an end of the service, they said, “O holy God, O holy mighty One, O immortal holy One, have mercy upon us”; and they all knelt down in prayer. And as they were praying they heard the voices of the devils in the air, and the sounds of armour and of horses, and of many horsemen, and they also heard the voices of the devils who were saying to one another, “Ye shall not have mercy upon them.” And again they said, “O luckless monks, why do ye stand up against us?” If we were to do [what we could do] to you not one of you would be found on the face of the earth! We will never be absent from you, and we will never cease from you.
And after the filthy legion had been driven away by the secret power, and the wicked devils rested from their wickednesses, all the fathers rose up from the earth whereon they had been poured out in prayer, the earth having been adorned by their tears, and they all offered repentance unto Abbâ Joseph, saying, “Forgive thou us, and pray for us that the Lord may forgive us, for we have sinned and have provoked Him to wrath.” Then Abbâ Joseph said unto them: “Rouse ye yourselves, O my brethren, and take good heed unto your souls, for, behold, ye have heard with your ears the sound of the chariots of the Adversary, who threateneth us and seeketh to destroy us. Let every man be reconciled to his neighbour, and forgive ye every man from his heart the offence [which he hath committed]. And bind ye yourselves with the love of our Lord, with an urgent mind, and a pure heart, to the Lord and to each other. And draw nigh unto God that He may draw nigh unto you, and stand up against the Adversary, who is Satan. If ye wilt observe the commandments of the fathers, I will become a surety (or pledge) for you that Satan shall not be able to injure you, and that the Barbarians shall not come hither; but if ye will not observe them, believe me, O my beloved, this place shall be laid waste.”
And they offered repentance each to the other, and they became reconciled to each other, and lived in love and in great peace; and they laid down ordinances among themselves on that day to the effect that no man should henceforth conduct himself with negligence and without absence of fear; and that they should neither do nor say anything at the table which was alien [to their mode of life]; and that if any man be found hereafter despising and holding lightly the commandments of the fathers in such a way that he become an occasion of offence and a cause of loss, first to himself, and next to those who dwell with him, and then also to the strangers who come to us, he shall know that he is bringing a punishment upon him
