"For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will see His face." Rabbi Judah bar Simon said, "Everyone hates his profession, but the Holy One, blessed be He, does not hate His profession, for the Lord is righteous, and He loves the righteous." And who are those who will see His face? Seven classes who are destined to stand in the future before the Holy One, blessed be He.
And what is the excellent class among them who receive the divine presence? It is the class of the upright, as it is said, "The upright will see His face." And it is written elsewhere, "The upright shall sit before Your face." It should have said, "The upright will see Your face."
What is the meaning of "The upright will see His face"? Before the world was created, the upright saw the divine presence. Another interpretation: "The upright will see His face" - these are the seven classes of the righteous, as it is written, "And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament," like the sun and moon, like the stars, lightning, roses, and torches. "Like the sun," as it is said, "And His lovers are as the sun when it goes forth in its might."
"Like the moon," as it is said, "And as the moon is established forever." "Like the stars," as it is said, "And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament." "Like lightning," as it is said, "They shall run like the lightning." "Like roses," as it is said, "To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim."
"Like torches," as it is said, "Their appearance is as torches." And the first class sits before the King and sees the King and His face, as it is said, "The upright shall sit before Your face." And it says, "The upright will see His face." The second class is "Happy are they that dwell in Your house."
The third is "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" The fourth is "Happy is the man whom You choose." The fifth is "Lord, who shall abide in Your tabernacle?" The sixth is "Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?"
The seventh is "And who shall stand in His holy place?" And all... "And opposite them are seven apartments in Gehinnom, and these are: Sheol, Abaddon, the Valley of Similarity, Tzelmoth, the Netherworld, and the Land of Dryness. Behold, there are seven apartments for the wicked and the righteous, each according to their deeds in their own apartments.
They said that Ish Tzrorot, the nephew of Rabbi Yosi ben Yo'ezer, was a man of Tsoridah who rode on a horse and went before the king and went out to execute criminals. He said to his horse, "Some of you, my horse, are ridden by a master who is harsh, and some of you are ridden by a master who is gentle." He said to his provokers, "All the more so for those who do His will." He said to him, "But does not man do His will more than you?"
He said to him, "All the more so for those who do His will." The matter entered him like the straw of an innkeeper, and he went and fulfilled four death sentences of the court by himself. What did he do? He brought a beam, planted it in the ground, tied Nimah to it, set up wood, surrounded it with a stone fence, and made a furnace in front of him.
He stuck the sword in the middle, lit the fire under the stones, hung on the beam, strangled, and Nimah fell into the fire and the sword turned over the stone fence. Rabbi Yosi ben Yo'ezer was surprised and saw his bed floating in the air. He said, "Behold, they have prepared a place for me in the Garden of Eden.