Epistle of Barnabas
Lightfoot's Translation
Lake's Translation
Roberts-Donaldson Translation
THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS
Translated by J.B. Lightfoot.
Barnabas 1:1
I Bid you greeting, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord that
loved us, in peace.
Barnabas 1:2
Seeing that the ordinances of God are great and rich unto you, I
rejoice with an exceeding great and overflowing joy at your blessed
and glorious spirits; so innate is the grace of the spiritual gift
that you have received.
Barnabas 1:3
Wherefore also I the more congratulate myself hoping to be saved, for
that I truly see the Spirit poured out among you from the riches of
the fount of the Lord. So greatly did the much-desired sight of you
astonish me respecting you.
Barnabas 1:4
Being therefore persuaded of this, and being conscious with myself
that having said much among you I know that the Lord journeyed with
me on the way of righteousness, and am wholly constrained also myself
to this, to love you more than my own soul (for great faith and love
dwells in you through the hope of the life which is
His)--considering this therefore, that,
Barnabas 1:5
if it shall be my care to communicate to you some portion of that
which I received, it shall turn to my reward for having ministered to
such spirits, I was eager to send you a trifle, that along with your
faith you might have your knowledge also perfect.
Barnabas 1:6
Well then, there are three ordinances of the Lord; *the hope of life,
which is the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness, which
is the beginning and end of judgment; love shown in gladness and
exultation, the testimony of works of righteousness.*
Barnabas 1:7
For the Lord made known to us by His prophets things past and
present, giving us likewise the firstfruits of the taste of things
future. And seeing each of these things severally coming to pass,
according as He spoke, we ought to offer a richer and higher offering
to the fear of Him. But I, not as though I were a teacher, but as
one of yourselves, will show forth a few things, whereby you shall be
gladdened in the present circumstances.
Barnabas 2:1
Seeing then that the days are evil, and that the Active One himself
has the authority, we ought to give heed to ourselves and to seek out
the ordinances of the Lord.
Barnabas 2:2
The aids of our faith then are fear and patience, and our allies are
long-suffering and self-restraint.
Barnabas 2:3
While these abide in a pure spirit in matters relating to the Lord,
wisdom, understanding, science, knowledge rejoice with them.
Barnabas 2:4
For He has made manifest to us by all the prophets that He wants
neither sacrifices nor whole burnt offerings nor oblations, saying at
one time;
Barnabas 2:5
What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord I am
full of whole burnt-offerings, and the fat of lambs and the blood
of bulls and of goats desire not, not though you should come to be
seen of Me. or who required these things at your hands? you shall
continue no more to tread My court. If you bring fine flour, it is
in vain; incense is an abomination to Me; your new moons and your
Sabbaths I cannot away with.
Barnabas 2:6
These things therefore He annulled, that the new law of our Lord
Jesus Christ, being free from the yoke of constraint, might have its
oblation not made by human hands.
Barnabas 2:7
And He says again unto them; Did command your fathers when they
went forth from the land of Egypt to bring Me whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices?
Barnabas 2:8
Nay, this was My command unto them, Let none of you bear a grudge
of evil against his neighbor in his heart, and love you not a false
oath.
Barnabas 2:9
So we ought to perceive, unless we are without understanding, the
mind of the goodness of our Father; for He speaks to us, desiring
us not to go astray like them but to seek how we may approach Him.
Barnabas 2:10
Thus then speaks He to us; The sacrifice unto God is a broken
heart, the smell of a sweet savor unto the Lord is a heart that
glorifies its Maker. We ought therefore, brethren, to learn
accurately concerning our salvation, lest the Evil One having
effected an entrance of error in us should fling us away from our
life.
Barnabas 3:1
He speaks again therefore to them concerning these things;
Wherefore fast you for Me, says the Lord, so that your voice is
heard this day crying aloud? This is not the fast which have chosen,
says the Lord; not a man abasing his soul;
Barnabas 3:2
not though you should bend your neck as a hoop, and put on sackcloth
and make your bed of ashes, not even so shall you call a fast that is
acceptable.
Barnabas 3:3
But unto us He says; Behold, this is the fast which I have chosen,
says the Lord; loosen every band of wickedness, untie the
tightened cords of forcible contracts, send away the broken ones
released and tear in pieces every unjust bond. Break your bread to
the hungry, and if you see one naked clothe him; bring the
shelterless into your house, and if you see a humble man, thou
shall not despise him, neither shall any one of your household and
of your own seed.
Barnabas 3:4
Then shall your light break forth in the morning, and your healing
shall arise quickly, and righteousness shall go forth before thy
face, and the glory of God shall environ you.
Barnabas 3:5
Then shall you cry out and God shall hear thee; while you art
still speaking, He shall say 'Lo, I am here'; if you shall take
away from you the yoke and the stretching forth of the finger and
the word of murmuring, and shall give your bread to the hungry
heartily, and shall pity the abased soul.
Barnabas 3:6
To this end therefore, my brethren, He that is long-suffering,
foreseeing that the people whom He had prepared in His well-beloved
would believe in simplicity, manifested to us beforehand concerning
all things, that we might not as novices shipwreck ourselves upon
their law.
Barnabas 4:1
It behooves us therefore to investigate deeply concerning the
present, and to search out the things which have power to save us.
Let us therefore flee altogether from all the works of lawlessness,
lest the works of lawlessness overpower us; and let us loathe the
error of the present time, that we may be loved for that which is to
come.
Barnabas 4:2
Let us give no relaxation to our soul that it should have liberty to
consort with sinners and wicked men, lest haply we be made like unto
them.
Barnabas 4:3
The last offence is at hand, concerning which the scripture speaks,
as Enoch says. For to this end the Master has cut the seasons and
the days short, that His beloved might hasten and come to His
inheritance.
Barnabas 4:4
And the prophet also speaks on this wise; Ten reigns shall reign
upon the earth, and after them shall arise another king, who shall
bring low three of the kings under one.
Barnabas 4:5
In like manner Daniel speaks concerning the same; And I saw the
forth beast to be wicked and strong and more intractable than all
the beasts of the earth, and how there arose from him ten horns,
and from these a little horn and excrescence, and how that it
abased under one three of the great horns.
Barnabas 4:6
Ye ought therefore to understand. Moreover I ask you this one thing
besides, as being one of yourselves and loving you all in particular
more than my own soul, to give heed to yourselves now, and not to
liken yourselves to certain persons who pile up sin upon sin, saying
that our covenant remains to them also.
Barnabas 4:7
Ours it is; but they lost it in this way for ever, when Moses had
just received it. For the scripture says; And Moses was in the
mountain fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the
covenant from the Lord, even tablets of stone written with the
finger of the hand of the Lord.
Barnabas 4:8
But they lost it by turning unto idols. For thus says the Lord;
Moses, Moses, come down quickly; for your people whom you
brought out of the land of Egypt has done unlawfully. And
Moses understood, and threw the two tables from his hands; and their
covenant was broken in pieces, that the covenant of the beloved Jesus
might be sealed unto our hearts in the hope which springs from
faith in Him.
Barnabas 4:9
But though I would fain write many things, not as a teacher, but as
becomes one who loves you not to fall short of that which we
possess, I was anxious to write to you, being your devoted slave.
Wherefore let us take heed in these last days. For the whole time of
our faith shall profit us nothing, unless we now, in the season of
lawlessness and in the offenses that shall be, as becomes sons of
God, offer resistance, that the Black One may not effect an entrance.
Barnabas 4:10
Let us flee from all vanity, let us entirely hate the works of the
evil way. Do not entering in privately stand apart by yourselves, as
if you were already justified, but assemble yourselves together and
consult concerning the common welfare.
Barnabas 4:11
For the scripture says; Woe unto them that are wise for
themselves, and understanding in their own sight. Let us become
spiritual, let us become a temple perfect unto God. As far as in us
lies, let us exercise ourselves in the fear of God, [and] let us
strive to keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His
ordinances.
Barnabas 4:12
The Lord judges the world without respect of persons; each man shall
receive according to his deeds. If he be good, his righteousness
shall go before him in the way; if he be evil, the recompense of his
evil-doing is before him; lest perchance,
Barnabas 4:13
if we relax as men that are called, we should slumber over our sins,
and the prince of evil receive power against us and thrust us out
from the kingdom of the Lord.
Barnabas 4:14
Moreover understand this also, my brothers. When you see that after
so many signs and wonders wrought in Israel, even then they were
abandoned, let us give heed, lest haply we be found, as the scripture
says, many are called but few are chosen.
Barnabas 5:1
For to this end the Lord endured to deliver His flesh unto
corruption, that by the remission of sins we might be cleansed, which
cleansing is through the blood of His sprinkling.
Barnabas 5:2
For the scripture concerning Him contains some things relating to
Israel, and some things relating to us. And it speaks thus; He
was wounded for your transgressions, and He has been bruised for
our sins; by His stripes we were healed. As a sheep He was led to
slaughter, as a lamb is dumb before his shearer.
Barnabas 5:3
We ought therefore to be very thankful unto the Lord, for that He
both revealed unto us the past, and made us wise in the present, and
as regards the future we are not without understanding.
Barnabas 5:4
Now the scripture says; Not unjustly is the net spread for the
birds. He means this that a man shall justly perish, who having
the knowledge of the way of righteousness forces himself into the
way of darkness.
Barnabas 5:5
There is yet this also, my brethren; if the Lord endured to suffer
for our souls, though He was Lord of the whole world, unto whom God
said from the foundation of the world, Let us make man after our
image and likeness, how then did He endure to suffer at the hand
of men?
Barnabas 5:6
Understand you. The prophets, receiving grace from Him, prophesied
concerning Him. But He Himself endured that He might destroy death
and show forth the resurrection of the dead, for that He must needs
be manifested in the flesh;
Barnabas 5:7
that at the same time He might redeem the promise made to the
fathers, and by preparing the new people for Himself might show,
while He was on earth, that having brought about the resurrection He
will Himself exercise judgment.
Barnabas 5:8
Yea and further, He preached teaching Israel and performing so many
wonders and miracles, and He loved him exceedingly.
Barnabas 5:9
And when He chose His own apostles who were to proclaim His Gospel,
who that He might show that He came not to call the righteous but
sinners were sinners above every sin, then He manifested Himself
to be the Son of God.
Barnabas 5:10
For if He had not come in the flesh neither would men have looked
upon Him and been saved, forasmuch as when they look upon the sun
that shall cease to be, which is the work of His own hands, they
cannot face its rays.
Barnabas 5:11
Therefore the Son of God came in the flesh to this end, that He might
sum up the complete tale of their sins against those who persecuted
and slew His prophets.
Barnabas 5:12
To this end therefore He endured. For God says of the wounds of His
flesh that they came from them; When they shall smite their own
shepherd, then shall the sheep of the flock be lost.
Barnabas 5:13
But He Himself desired so to suffer; for it was necessary for Him to
suffer on a tree. For he that prophesied said concerning Him, Spare
My soul form the sword; and, Pierce My flesh with nails, for the
congregations of evil-doers have risen up against Me.
Barnabas 5:14
And again He says; Behold I have given My back to stripes, and My
cheeks to smitings, and My face did I set as a hard rock.
Barnabas 6:1
When then He gave the commandment, what says He? Who is he that
disputes with Me? Let him oppose Me. Or who is he that goes to
law with Me? Let him draw nigh unto the servant of the Lord,
Barnabas 6:2
Woe unto you, for you all shall wax old as a garment, and the moth
shall consume you. And again the prophet says, seeing that as a
hard stone He was ordained for crushing; Behold I will put into the
fountains of Zion a stone very precious, elect, a chief
corner-stone, honorable.
Barnabas 6:3
Then again what says He; And whoever shall set his hope on Him,
shall live forever. Is our hope then set upon a stone? Far be it.
But it is because the Lord has set His flesh in strength. For He
says; And He set Me as a hard rock.
Barnabas 6:4
And the prophet says again; The stone which the builders rejected,
this became the head and the corner. And again He says; This is
the great and wonderful day, which the Lord made.
Barnabas 6:5
I write to you the more simply, that you may understand, I who am the
offscouring of your love.
Barnabas 6:6
What then says the prophet again? The assembly of evildoers
gathered around Me, they surrounded Me as bees surround a comb;
and; For My garment they cast a lot.
Barnabas 6:7
Forasmuch then as He was about to be manifested in the flesh and to
suffer, His suffering was manifested beforehand. For the prophet
says concerning Israel; Woe unto their soul, for they have
counseled evil counsel against themselves saying, Let us bind the
righteous one, for he is unprofitable for us.
Barnabas 6:8
What says the other prophet Moses unto them? Behold, these things
says the Lord God; enter into the good land which the Lord swear
unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with
milk and honey.
Barnabas 6:9
But what says knowledge? Understand you. Set your hope on Him who
is about to be manifested to you in the flesh, even Jesus. For man
is earth suffering; for from the face of the earth came the creation
of Adam.
Barnabas 6:10
What then says He? Into the good land, a land flowing with milk
and honey. Blessed is our Lord, brethren, who established among us
wisdom and understanding of His secret things. For the prophet
speaks a parable concerning the Lord. Who shall comprehend, save
he that is wise and prudent and that loves his Lord?
Barnabas 6:11
Forasmuch then as He renewed us in the remission of sins, He made us
to be a new type, so that we should have the soul of children, as if
He were recreating us.
Barnabas 6:12
For the scripture says concerning us, how He says to the Son; Let
us make man after our image and after our likeness, and let them
rule over the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the heaven and
the fishes of the sea. And the Lord said when He saw the fair
creation of us men; Increase and multiply and fill the earth.
These words refer to the Son.
Barnabas 6:13
Again I will show you how the Lord speaks concerning us. He made
a second creation at the last; and the Lord says; Behold I make
the last things as the first. In reference to this then the
prophet preached; Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey,
and be lords over it.
Barnabas 6:14
Behold then we have been created anew, as He says again in another
prophet; Behold, says the Lord, I will take out from these, that
is to say, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their
stony hearts, and will put into them hearts of flesh; for He
Himself was to be manifested in the flesh and to dwell in us.
Barnabas 6:15
For a holy temple unto the Lord, my brethren, is the abode of our
heart.
Barnabas 6:16
For the Lord says again; For wherein shall I appear unto the Lord
my God and be glorified? I will make confession unto you in the
assembly of my brethren, and I will sing unto you in the midst of
the assembly of the saints. We therefore are they whom He brought
into the good land.
Barnabas 6:17
What then is the milk and the honey Because the child is first kept
alive by honey, and then by milk. So in like manner we also, being
kept alive by our faith in the promise and by the word, shall live
and be lords of the earth.
Barnabas 6:18
Now we have already said above; And let them increase and multiply
and rule over the fishes. But who is he that is able [now] to rule
over beasts and fishes and fowls of the heaven; for we ought to
perceive that to rule implies power, so that one should give orders
and have dominion.
Barnabas 6:19
If then this cometh not to pass now, assuredly He spoke to us for the
hereafter, when we ourselves shall be made perfect so that we may
become heirs of the covenant of the Lord.
Barnabas 7:1
Understand therefore, children of gladness, that the good Lord
manifested all things to us beforehand, that we might know to whom we
ought in all things to render thanksgiving and praise.
Barnabas 7:2
If then the Son of God, being Lord and future Judge of quick and
dead, suffered that His wound might give us life, let us believe that
the Son of God could not suffer except for our sakes.
Barnabas 7:3
But moreover when crucified He had vinegar and gall given Him to
drink. Hear how on this matter the priests of the temple have
revealed. Seeing that there is a commandment in scripture,
Whatever shall not observe the fast shall surely die, the Lord
commanded, because He was in His own person about to offer the vessel
of His Spirit a sacrifice for our sins, that the type also which was
given in Isaac who was offered upon the alter should be fulfilled.
Barnabas 7:4
What then says He in the prophet? And let them eat of the goat
that is offered at the fast for all their sins. Attend carefully;
And let all the priests alone eat the entrails unwashed with
vinegar.
Barnabas 7:5
Wherefore? Since you are to give Me, who am to offer My flesh for the
sins of My new people, gall with vinegar to drink, eat you alone,
while the people fasts and wails in sackcloth and ashes; that He
might show that He must suffer at their hands.
Barnabas 7:6
Attend you to the commandments which He gave. Take two goats, fair
and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take the one for a
whole burnt offering for sins.
Barnabas 7:7
But the other one--what must they do with it? Accursed, says He,
is the one. Give heed how the type of Jesus is revealed.
Barnabas 7:8
And do you all spit upon it and goad it, and place scarlet wool
about its head, and so let it be cast into the wilderness. And
when it is so done, he that takes the goat into the wilderness
leads it, and takes off the wool, and puts it upon the branch
which is called Rachia, the same whereof we are wont to eat the
shoots when we find them in the country. Of this briar alone is the
fruit thus sweet.
Barnabas 7:9
What then means this? Give heed. The one at the alter, and the
other accursed. And moreover the accursed one crowned. For they
shall see Him in that day wearing the long scarlet robe about His
flesh, and shall say, Is not this He, Whom once we crucified and set
at nothing and spat upon; verily this was He, Who then said that He
was the Son of God.
Barnabas 7:10
For how is He like the goat? For this reason it says the goats
shall be fair and alike, that, when they shall see Him coming
then, they may be astonished at the likeness of the goat. Therefore
behold the type of Jesus that was to suffer.
Barnabas 7:11
But what means it, that they place the wool in the midst of the
thorns? It is a type of Jesus set forth for the Church, since
whoever should desire to take away the scarlet wool it behoved him
to suffer many things owing to the terrible nature of the thorn, and
through affliction to win the mastery over it. Thus, He says, they
that desire to see Me, and to attain unto My kingdom, must lay hold
on Me through tribulation and affliction.
Barnabas 8:1
But what think you means the type, where the commandment is given
to Israel that those men, whose sins are full grown, offer an heifer
and slaughter and burn it, and then that the children take up the
ashes, and cast them into vessels, and twist the scarlet wool on a
tree (see here again is the type of the cross and the scarlet wool),
and the hyssop, and that this done the children should sprinkle the
people one by one, that they may be purified from their sins?
Barnabas 8:2
Understand you how in all plainness it is spoken unto you; the calf is
Jesus, the men that offer it, being sinners, are they that offered
Him for the slaughter. After this it is no more men (who offer); the
glory is no more for sinners.
Barnabas 8:3
The children who sprinkle are they that preached unto us the
forgiveness of sins and the purification of our heart, they to whom,
being twelve in number for a testimony unto the tribes (for there are
twelve tribes of Israel), He gave authority over the Gospel, that
they should preach it.
Barnabas 8:4
But wherefore are the children that sprinkle three in number? For a
testimony unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because these are mighty
before God.
Barnabas 8:5
Then there is the placing the wool on the tree. This means that the
kingdom of Jesus is on the cross, and that they who set their hope on
Him shall live for ever.
Barnabas 8:6
And why is there the wool and the hyssop at the same time? Because
in His kingdom there shall be evil and foul days, in which we shall
be saved; for he who suffers pain in the flesh is healed through the
foulness of the hyssop.
Barnabas 8:7
Now to us indeed it is manifest that these things so befell for this
reason, but to them they were dark, because they heard not the voice
of the Lord.
Barnabas 9:1
Furthermore He says concerning the ears, how that it is our heart
which He circumcised. The Lord says in the prophet; With the
hearing of the ears they listened to Me. And again He says;
They that are afar off shall hear with their ears, and shall
perceive what I have done. And; Be you circumcised in your
hearts, says the Lord.
Barnabas 9:2
And again He says; Hear, O Israel, for thus says the Lord your
God. Who is he that desires to live forever, let him hear with his
ears the voice of My servant.
~y
And again He says; Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the
Lord has spoken these things for a testimony. And again He says;
Hear the words of the Lord, you rulers of this people. And again He
says; Hear, O my children, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness. Therefore He circumcised our ears, that hearing the
word we might believe.
Barnabas 9:3
But moreover the circumcision, in which they have confidence, is
abolished; for He has said that a circumcision not of the flesh
should be practiced. But they transgressed, for an evil angel taught
them cleverness.
Barnabas 9:4
He says unto them; Thus says the Lord your God (so I find the
commandment); sow not upon thorns, be you circumcised in to your
Lord. And what says He? Be you circumcised in the hardness of
your heart; and then you will not harden your neck. Take this
again; Behold, says the Lord, all the Gentiles are uncircumcised
in their foreskin, but this people is uncircumcised in their
hearts.
Barnabas 9:5
But you wilt say; In truth the people has been circumcised for a
seal. Nay, but so likewise is every Syrian and Arabian and all the
priests of the idols. Do all those then too belong to their
covenant? Moreover the Egyptians also are included among the
circumcised.
Barnabas 9:6
Learn therefore, children of love, concerning all things abundantly,
that Abraham, who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in the
spirit unto Jesus, when he circumcised having received the ordinances
of three letters.
Barnabas 9:7
For the scripture says; And Abraham circumcised of his household
eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge
given unto him? Understand you that He says the eighteen first,
and then after an interval three hundred In the eighteen 'I'
stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here you have JESUS (IHSOYS). And
because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He says also three
hundred. So He reveals Jesus in the two letters, and in the
remaining one the cross.
Barnabas 9:8
He who placed within us the innate gift of His covenant knows; no
man has ever learnt from me a more genuine word; but I know that ye
are worthy.
Barnabas 10:1
But forasmuch as Moses said; you shall not eat seine nor eagle
nor
falcon nor crow nor any fish which has no scale upon it, he
received in his understanding three ordinances.
Barnabas 10:2
Yea and further He says unto them in Deuteronomy; And I will lay
as a covenant upon this people My ordinances. So then it is not a
commandment of God that they should not bite with their teeth, but
Moses spoke it in spirit.
Barnabas 10:3
Accordingly he mentioned the swine with this intent. you shall not
cleave, says he, to such men who are like unto swine; that is, when
they are in luxury they forget the Lord, but when they are in want
they recognize the Lord, just as the swine when it eats knows not
his lord, but when it is hungry it cries out, and when it has
received food again it is silent.
Barnabas 10:4
Neither shall you eat eagle nor falcon nor kite nor crow. Thou
shall not, He says, cleave unto, or be likened to, such men who now
not how to provide food for themselves by toil and sweat, but in
their lawlessness seize what belongs to others, and as if they were
walking in guilelessness watch and search about for some one to rob
in their rapacity, just as these birds alone do not provide food for
themselves, but sit idle and seek how they may eat the meat that
belongs to others, being pestilent in their evil-doings.
Barnabas 10:5
And you shall not eat, says He, lamprey nor polypus nor cuttle
fish . you shall not, He means, become like unto such men, who
are desperately wicked, and are already condemned to death, just as
these fishes alone are accursed and swim in the depths, not swimming
on the surface like the rest, but dwell on the ground beneath the
deep sea.
Barnabas 10:6
Moreover you shall not eat the hare. Why so? you shall not be
found a corrupter of boys, nor shall you become like such persons;
for the hare gains one passage in the body every year; for
according to the number of years it lives it has just so many
orifices.
Barnabas 10:7
Again, neither shall you eat the hyena; you shall not, says He,
become an adulterer or a fornicator, neither shall you resemble such
persons. Why so? Because this animal changes its nature year by
year, and becomes at one time male and at another female.
Barnabas 10:8
Moreover He has hated the weasel also and with good reason. Thou
shall not, says He, become such as those men of whom we hear as
working iniquity with their mouth for uncleanness, neither shall thou
cleave unto impure women who work iniquity with their mouth. For
this animal conceives with its mouth.
Barnabas 10:9
Concerning meats then Moses received three decrees to this effect and
uttered them in a spiritual sense; but they accepted them according
to the lust of the flesh, as though they referred to eating.
Barnabas 10:10
And David also receives knowledge of the same three decrees, and
says; Blessed is the man who has not gone in the council of the
ungodly--even as the fishes go in darkness into the depths; and
hath not stood in the path of sinners--just as they who pretend to
fear the Lord sin like swine; and has not sat on the seat of the
destroyers--as the birds that are seated for prey. you have now the
complete lesson concerning eating.
Barnabas 10:11
Again Moses says; you shall everything that divides the hoof and
chews the cud. What means he? He that receives the food
knows Him that gives him the food, and being refreshed appears
to rejoice in him. Well said he, having regard to the commandment.
What then means he? Cleave unto those that fear the Lord, with
those who meditate in their heart on the distinction of the word
which they have received, with those who tell of the ordinances of
the Lord and keep them, with those who know that meditation is a work
of gladness and who chew the cud of the word of the Lord. But why
that which divides the hoof? Because the righteous man both walks
in this world, and at the same time looks for the holy world to
come. you see how wise a lawgiver Moses was.
Barnabas 10:12
But whence should they perceive or understand these things? Howbeit
we having justly perceived the commandments tell them as the Lord
willed. To this end He circumcised our ears and hearts, that we
might understand these things.
Barnabas 11:1
But let us enquire whether the Lord took care to signify before
hand
concerning the water and the cross. Now concerning the water it is
written in reference to Israel, how that they would not receive the
baptism which brings remission of sins, but would build for
themselves.
Barnabas 11:2
For the prophet says; Be astonished, O heaven, and let the earth
shudder the more at this, for this people has done two evil
things; they abandoned Me the fountain of life, and they dug for
themselves a pit of death.
Barnabas 11:3
Is My holy mountain of Sinai a desert rock? for you shall be as the
fledglings of a bird, which flutter aloft when deprived of their
nest.
Barnabas 11:4
And again the prophet says; I will go before you, and level
mountains and crush gates of brass and break in pieces bolts of
iron, and I will give you treasures dark, concealed, unseen, that
they may know that I am the Lord God.
Barnabas 11:5
And; you shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock. And; His
water shall be sure; you shall see the King in glory, and your soul
shall meditate on the fear of the Lord.
Barnabas 11:6
And again He says in another prophet; And He that does these
things shall be as the tree that is planted by the parting streams
of waters, which shall yield his fruit at his proper season, and
his leaf shall not fall off, and all things whatever he does
shall prosper.
Barnabas 11:7
Not so are the ungodly, not so, but are as the dust which the wind
scatters from the face of the earth. Therefore ungodly men shall
not stand in judgment, neither sinners in the council of the
righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the
way of the ungodly shall perish.
Barnabas 11:8
Ye perceive how He pointed out the water and the cross at the same
time. For this is the meaning; Blessed are they that set their hope
on the cross, and go down into the water; for He speaks of the
reward at his proper season; then, says He, I will repay. But now
what says He? His leaves shall not fall off; He means by this
that every word, which shall come forth from you through your mouth
in faith and love, shall be for the conversion and hope of many.
Barnabas 11:9
And again another prophet says; And the land of Jacob was praised
above the whole earth. He means this; He glorifies the vessel
of His Spirit.
Barnabas 11:10
Next what says He? And there was a river streaming from the right
hand, and beautiful trees rose up from it; and whoever shall eat
of them shall live forever.
Barnabas 11:11
This He says, because we go down into the water laden with sins and
filth, and rise up from it bearing fruit in the heart, resting our
fear and hope on Jesus in the spirit. And whoever shall eat of
these shall live forever; He means this; whoever, says He,
shall hear these things spoken and shall believe, shall live forever.
Barnabas 12:1
In like manner again He defines concerning the cross in another
prophet, who says; And when shall these things be accomplished?
says the Lord. Whenever a tree shall be bended and stand upright,
and whenever blood shall drop from a tree. Again you are taught
concerning the cross, and Him that was to be crucified.
Barnabas 12:2
And He says again in Moses, when war was waged against Israel by men
of another nation, and that He might remind them when the war was
waged against them that for their sins they were delivered unto
death; the Spirit says to the heart of Moses, that he should make a
type of the cross and of Him that was to suffer, that unless, says
He, they shall set their hope on Him, war shall be waged against them
for ever. Moses therefore piles arms one upon another in the midst
of the encounter, and standing on higher ground than any he stretched
out his hands, and so Israel was again victorious. Then, whenever he
lowered them, they were slain with the sword.
Barnabas 12:3
Wherefore was this? That they might learn that they cannot be saved,
unless they should set their hope on Him.
Barnabas 12:4
And again in another prophet He says; The whole day long have I
stretched out My hands to a disobedient people that did gainsay My
righteous way.
Barnabas 12:5
Again Moses makes a type of Jesus, how that He must suffer, and that
He Himself whom they shall think to have destroyed shall make alive
in an emblem when Israel was falling. For the Lord caused all manner
of serpents to bite them, and they died (forasmuch as the
transgression was wrought in Eve through the serpent), that He might
convince them that by reason of their transgression they should be
delivered over to the affliction of death.
Barnabas 12:6
Yea and further though Moses gave the commandment; you shall not
have a molten or a carved image for your God, yet he himself made
one that he might show them a type of Jesus. So Moses makes a brazen
serpent, and sets it up conspicuously, and summons the people by
proclamation.
Barnabas 12:7
When therefore they were assembled together they entreated Moses that
he should offer up intercession for them that they might be healed.
And Moses said unto them; Whenever, said he, one of you shall be
bitten, let him come to the serpent which is placed on the tree, and
let him believe and hope that the serpent being himself dead can make
alive; and forthwith he shall be saved. And so they did. Here again
thou have in these things also the glory of Jesus, how that in Him
and unto Him are all things.
Barnabas 12:8
What again says Moses unto Jesus (Joshua) the son of Nun, when he
gives him this name, as being a prophet, that all the people might
give ear to him alone, because the Father reveals all things
concerning His Son Jesus?
Barnabas 12:9
Moses therefore says to Jesus the son of Nun, giving him this name,
when he sent him as a spy on the land; Take a book in your hands,
and write what the Lord says, how the Son of God shall cut up by
the roots all the house of Amalek in the last days.
Barnabas 12:10
Behold again it is Jesus, not a son of man, but the Son of God, and
He was revealed in the flesh in a figure. Since then men will say
that Christ is the son of David, David himself prophesies being
afraid and understanding the error of sinners; The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit you on My right hand until I set your enemies for a
footstool under your feet.
Barnabas 12:11
And again thus says Isaiah; The Lord said unto my Christ the
Lord, of whose right hand I laid hold, that the nations should give
ear before Him, and I will break down the strength of kings. See
how David calls Him Lord, and calls Him not Son.
Barnabas 13:1
Now let us see whether this people or the first people has the
inheritance, and whether the covenant had reference to us or to them.
Barnabas 13:2
Hear then what the scripture says concerning the people; And Isaac
prayed concerning Rebecca his wife, for she was barren. And she
conceived. Then Rebecca went out to enquire of the Lord. And the
Lord said unto her; Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in
thy belly, and one people shall vanquish another people, and the
greater shall serve the less.
Barnabas 13:3
Ye ought to understand who Isaac is, and who Rebecca is, and in whose
case He has shown that the one people is greater than the other.
Barnabas 13:4
And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more plainly to Joseph his
son, saying; Behold, the Lord has not bereft me of your face; bring
me your sons, that I may bless them.
Barnabas 13:5
And he brought Ephraim and Manasseh, desiring that Manasseh should be
blessed, because he was the elder; for Joseph led him by the right
hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in the spirit a type of the
people that should come afterwards. And what says He? And Jacob
crossed his hands, and placed his right hand on the head of
Ephraim, the second and younger, and blessed him. And Joseph said
unto Jacob, Transfer your right hand to the head of Manasseh, for he
is my first born son. And Jacob said to Joseph, I know it, my son,
I know it; but the greater shall serve the less. Yet this one also
shall be blessed.
Barnabas 13:6
Mark in whose cases He ordained that this people should be first and
heir of the covenant.
Barnabas 13:7
If then besides this He also recorded it through Abraham, we attain
the completion of our knowledge. What then says he to Abraham when
he alone believed, and was ascribed for righteousness? Behold I
have made you, Abraham, a father of nations that believe in God in
uncircumcision.
Barnabas 14:1
Yea verily, but as regards the covenant which He swear to the
fathers to give it to the people let us see whether He has actually
given it. He has given it, but they themselves were not found worthy
to receive it by reason of their sins.
Barnabas 14:2
For the prophet says; And Moses was fasting in Mount Sinai forty
days and forty nights, that he might receive the covenant of the
Lord to give to the people. And [Moses] received from the Lord the
two tables which were written by the finger of the hand of the Lord
in the spirit. And Moses took them, and brought them down to give
them to the people.
Barnabas 14:3
And the Lord said unto Moses; Moses, Moses, come down quickly; for
your people, whom you led forth from the land of Egypt, has
done wickedly. And Moses perceived that they had made for
themselves again molten images, and he cast them out of his hands
and the tables of the covenant of the Lord were broken in pieces.
Barnabas 14:4
Moses received them, but they themselves were not found worthy. But
how did we receive them? Mark this. Moses received them being a
servant, but the Lord himself gave them to us to be the people of His
inheritance, having endured patiently for our sakes.
Barnabas 14:5
But He was made manifest, in order that at the same time they might
be perfected in their sins, and we might receive the covenant through
Him who inherited it, even the Lord Jesus, who was prepared
beforehand hereunto, that appearing in person He might redeem out of
darkness our hearts which had already been paid over unto death and
delivered up to the iniquity of error, and thus establish the
covenant in us through the word.
Barnabas 14:6
For it is written how the Father charges Him to deliver us from
darkness, and to prepare a holy people for Himself.
Barnabas 14:7
Therefore says the prophet; I the Lord your God called you in
righteousness, and I will lay hold of your hand and will strengthen
you, and I have given you to be a covenant of the race, a light
to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth
them that are bound from their fetters, and them that sit in
darkness from their prison house. We perceive then whence we were
ransomed.
Barnabas 14:8
Again the prophet says; Behold I have set you to be a light unto
the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation unto the ends of
the earth; thus says the Lord that ransomed you, even God.
Barnabas 14:9
Again the prophet says; The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
wherefore He anointed Me to preach good tidings to the humble; He
hath sent Me to heal them that are broken-hearted, to preach
release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense,
to comfort all that mourn.
Barnabas 15:1
Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the Ten
Words, in which He spoke to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; And
ye shall hallow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a
pure heart.
Barnabas 15:2
And in another place He says; If my sons observe the Sabbath then
I will bestow My mercy upon them.
Barnabas 15:3
Of the Sabbath He speaks in the beginning of the creation; And
God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the
seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.
Barnabas 15:4
Give heed, children, what this means; He ended in six days. He
means this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all
things to an end; for the day with Him signifies a thousand years;
and this He himself bears me witness, saying; Behold, the day of
the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six
days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.
Barnabas 15:5
And He rested on the seventh day. this He means; when His Son
shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall
judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the
stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day.
Barnabas 15:6
Yea and furthermore He says; you shall hallow it with pure hands
and with a pure heart. If therefore a man is able now to hallow
the day which God hallowed, though he be pure in heart, we have gone
utterly astray.
Barnabas 15:7
But if after all then and not till then shall we truly rest and
hallow it, when we shall ourselves be able to do so after being
justified and receiving the promise, when iniquity is no more and all
things have been made new by the Lord, we shall be able to hallow it
then, because we ourselves shall have been hallowed first.
Barnabas 15:8
Finally He says to them; Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot
away with. you see what is His meaning ; it is not your present
Sabbaths that are acceptable [unto Me], but the Sabbath which I have
made, in the which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make
the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another
world.
Barnabas 15:9
Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which
also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended
into the heavens.
Barnabas 16:1
Moreover I will tell you likewise concerning the temple, how these
wretched men being led astray set their hope on the building, and not
on their God that made them, as being a house of God.
Barnabas 16:2
For like the Gentiles almost they consecrated Him in the temple. But
what says the Lord abolishing the temple? Learn you. Who hath
measured the heaven with a span, or has measured the earth with
his hand? Have not I, says the Lord? The heaven is My throne and
the earth the footstool of My feet. What manner of house will you
build for Me? Or what shall be my resting place? you perceive that
their hope is vain.
Barnabas 16:3
Furthermore He says again; Behold they that pulled down this
temple themselves shall build it.
Barnabas 16:4
So it cometh to pass; for because they went to war it was pulled down
by their enemies. Now also the very servants of their enemies shall
build it up.
Barnabas 16:5
Again, it was revealed how the city and the temple and the people of
Israel should be betrayed. For the scripture says; And it shall be
in the last days, that the Lord shall deliver up the sheep of the
pasture and the fold and the tower thereof to destruction. And it
came to pass as the Lord spoke.
Barnabas 16:6
But let us enquire whether there be any temple of God. There is; in
the place where he himself undertakes to make and finish it. For it
is written And it shall come to pass, when the week is being
accomplished, the temple of God shall be built gloriously in the
name of the Lord.
Barnabas 16:7
I find then that there is a temple, How then shall it be built in
the name of the Lord? Understand you. Before we believed on God, the
abode of our heart was corrupt and weak, a temple truly built by
hands; for it was full of idolatry and was a house of demons, because
we did whatever was contrary to God.
Barnabas 16:8
But it shall be built in the name of the Lord. Give heed then that
the temple of the Lord may be built gloriously.
Barnabas 16:9
How? Understand you. By receiving the remission of our sins and
hoping on the Name we became new, created afresh from the beginning.
Wherefore God dwells truly in our habitation within us. How? The
word of his faith, the calling of his promise, the wisdom of the
ordinances, the commandments of the teaching, He Himself prophesying
in us, He Himself dwelling in us, opening for us who had been in
bondage unto death the door of the temple, which is the mouth, and
giving us repentance leads us to the incorruptible temple.
Barnabas 16:10
For he that desires to be saved looks not to the man, but to Him
that dwells and speaks in him, being amazed at this that he has
never at any time heard these words from the mouth of the speaker,
nor himself ever desired to hear them. This is the spiritual temple
built up to the Lord.
Barnabas 17:1
So far as it was possible with all simplicity to declare it unto
you, my soul hopes that I have not omitted anything [of the matters
pertaining unto salvation and so failed in my desire].
Barnabas 17:2
For if I should write to you concerning things immediate or future,
you would not understand them, because they are put in parables. So
much then for this.
Barnabas 18:1
But let us pass on to another lesson and teaching. There are two
ways of teaching and of power, the one of light and the other of
darkness; and there is a great difference between the two ways. For
on the one are stationed the light giving angels of God, on the other
the angels of Satan.
Barnabas 18:2
And the one is the Lord from all eternity and unto all eternity,
whereas the other is Lord of the season of iniquity that now is.
Barnabas 19:1
This then is the way of light, if anyone desiring to travel on the
way to his appointed place would be zealous in his works. The
knowledge then which is given to us whereby we may walk therein is as
follows.
Barnabas 19:2
Thou shall love Him that made you, you shall fear Him that created
you, you shall glorify Him that redeemed you from death; thou
shall be simple in heart and rich in spirit; you shall not cleave to
those who walk the way of death; you shall hate everything that is
not pleasing to God; you shall hate all hypocrisy; you shall never
forsake the commandments of the Lord.
Barnabas 19:3
Thou shall not exalt yourself, but shall be lowly minded in all
things. you shall not assume glory to yourself. you shall not
entertain a wicked design against your neighbor; you shall not admit
boldness into your soul.
Barnabas 19:4
Thou shall not commit fornication, you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not corrupt boys. The word of God shall not
come forth from you where any are unclean. you shall not make a
difference in a person to reprove him for a transgression. you shall
be meek, you shall be quiet, you shall be fearing the words
which you have heard. you shall not bear a grudge against thy
brother.
Barnabas 19:5
Thou shall not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be. you shall
not take the name of the Lord in vain. you shall love thy
neighbor more than your own soul. you shall not murder a child by
abortion, nor again shall you kill it when it is born. you shall
not withhold your hand from your son or daughter, but from their youth
thou shall teach them the fear of God.
Barnabas 19:6
Thou shall not be found coveting your neighbors goods; you shall not
be found greedy of gain. Neither shall you cleave with your soul to
the lofty, but shall walk with the humble and righteous. The
accidents that befall you you shall receive as good, knowing that
nothing is done without God. you shall not be double minded nor
double tongued.
Barnabas 19:7
Thou shall be subject unto your masters as to a type of God in shame
and fear. you shall not command in bitterness your bondservant or
your handmaid who set their hope on the same God, lest haply, they
should cease to fear the God who is over both of you; for He came not
to call with respect of persons, but to call those whom the Spirit
hath prepared.
Barnabas 19:8
Thou shall make your neighbor partake in all things, and shall not say
that anything is your own. For if you are fellow partakers in that
which is imperishable, how much rather shall you be in the things
which are perishable. you shall not be hasty with your own tongue,
for the mouth is the snare of death. So far as you are able, thou
shall be pure for your soul's sake.
Barnabas 19:9
Be not you found holding out your hands to receive, and drawing
them in to give. you shall love as the apple of your eye every
one that speaks unto you the word of the Lord.
Barnabas 19:10
Thou shall remember the day of judgment night and day, and thou
shall seek out day by day the persons of the saints, either laboring
by word and going to exhort them and meditating how you may save
souls by your word, or you shall work with your hands for a ransom for
thy sins.
Barnabas 19:11
Thou shall not hesitate to give, neither shall you murmur when
giving, but you shall know who is the good paymaster of your reward.
Thou shall keep those things which you have received, neither adding
to them nor taking away from them. you shall utterly hate the Evil
One. you shall judge righteously.
Barnabas 19:12
Thou shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify them that contend
by bringing them together. you shall confess your sins. you shall
not betake yourself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the
way of light.
Barnabas 20:1
But the way of the Black One is crooked and full of a curse. For it
is a way of eternal death with punishment wherein are the things that
destroy men's souls--idolatry, boldness, exhalation of power,
hypocrisy, doubleness of heart, adultery, murder, plundering, pride,
transgression, treachery, malice, stubbornness, witchcraft, magic,
covetousness, absence of the fear of God;
Barnabas 20:2
persecutors of good men, hating the truth, loving lies, not
perceiving the reward of righteousness, not cleaving to the good
nor to the righteous judgment, paying no heed to the widow and the
orphan, wakeful not for the fear of God but for that which is evil;
men from whom gentleness and forbearance stand aloof and far off;
loving vain things, pursuing a recompense, not pitying the poor man,
not toiling for him that is oppressed with toil, ready to slander,
not recognizing Him that made them murderers of children, corrupters
of the creatures of God, turning away from him that is in want,
oppressing him that is afflicted, advocates of the wealthy, unjust
judges of the poor, sinful in all things.
Barnabas 21:1
It is good therefore to learn the ordinances of the Lord, as many
as
have been written above, and to walk in them. For he that does these
things shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; whereas he that
chooses their opposites shall perish together with his works. For
this cause is the resurrection, for this the recompense.
Barnabas 21:2
I entreat those of you who are in a higher station, if you will
receive any counsel of good advice from me, keep among you those to
whom you may do good. Fail not.
Barnabas 21:3
The day is at hand, in which everything shall be destroyed together
with the Evil One. The Lord is at hand and his reward.
Barnabas 21:4
Again and again I entreat you; be good lawgivers one to another;
continue faithful councilors to yourselves; take away from you all
hypocrisy.
Barnabas 21:5
And may God, who is Lord of the whole world, give you wisdom,
judgment, learning, knowledge of His ordinances, patience.
Barnabas 21:6
And be you taught of God, seeking diligently what the Lord requires
of you, and act that you may be found in the day of judgment.
Barnabas 21:7
But if you have any remembrance of good, call me to mind when you
practice these things these things, that both my desire and my
watchfulness may lead to some good result. I entreat you asking it
as a favor.
Barnabas 21:8
So long as the good vessel (of the body) is with you, be lacking in
none of these things, but search them out constantly, and fulfill
every commandment; for they deserve it.
Barnabas 21:9
For this reason I was the more eager to write to you so far as I was
able, that I might give you joy. Fare you well, children of love and
peace. The Lord of glory and of every grace be with your spirit.
| Top of Page | Christian Documents | CHU 395 | HOME |
Greeting and introduction -- Three doctrines-- Prophecy
1 Hail, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord who loved us, in peace.
2 Exceedingly and abundantly do I rejoice over your blessed and glorious spirit for the greatness and richness of God's ordinances towards you; so innate a grace of the gift of the spirit have you received.
3 Wherefore I congratulate myself the more in my hope of salvation, because I truly see in you that the Spirit has been poured out upon you from the Lord, who is rich in his bounty; so that the sight of you, for which I longed, amazed me.
4 Being persuaded then of this, and being conscious that since I spoke among you I have much understanding because the Lord has traveled with me in the way of righteousness, I am above all constrained to this, to love you above my own life, because great faith and love dwell in you in the "hope of his life."
5 I have therefore reckoned that, if I make it my care in your behalf to communicate somewhat of that which I received, it shall bring me the reward of having ministered to such spirits, and I hasten to send you a short letter in order that your knowledge may be perfected along with your faith.
6 There are then three doctrines of the Lord: "the hope of life" is the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness is the beginning and end of judgment; love of joy and of gladness is the testimony of the works of righteousness.
7 For the Lord made known to us through the prophets things past and things present and has given us the firstfruits of the taste of things to come; and when we see these things coming to pass one by one, as he said, we ought to make a richer and deeper offering for fear of him.
8 But I will show you a few things, not as a teacher but as one of yourselves, in which you shall rejoice at this present time.
The need of virtue -- The abolition of Jewish sacrifices
1 Seeing then that the days are evil, and that the worker of evil himself is in power, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and seek out the ordinances of the Lord.
2 Fear then, and patience are the helpers of our faith, and long-suffering and continence are our allies.
3 While then these things remain in holiness towards the Lord, wisdom, prudence, understanding, and knowledge rejoice with them.
4 For he has made plain to us through all the Prophets that he needs neither sacrifices nor burnt-offerings nor oblations, saying in one place,
5 "What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings and desire not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats, not even when you come to appear before me. For who has required these things at your hands? Henceforth shall you tread my court no more. If you bring flour, it is vain. Incense is an abomination to me. I cannot away with your new moons and sabbaths."
6 These things then he abolished in order that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have its oblation not made by man.
7 And again he says to them, "Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices?
8 Nay, but rather did I command them this: Let none of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbor, and love not a false oath."
9 We ought then to understand, if we are not foolish, the loving intention of our Father, for he speaks to us, wishing that we should not err like them, but seek how we may make our offering to him.
10 To us then he speaks thus: "Sacrifice for the Lord is a broken heart, a smell of sweet taste to the Lord is a heart that glorifies him that made it." We ought, therefore, brethren, carefully to enquire concerning our salvation, in order that the evil one may not achieve a deceitful entry into us and hurl us away from our life.
Concerning fasting
1 To them he says then again concerning these things, "Why do you fast for me, says the Lord, so that your voice is heard this day with a cry! This is not the fast which I chose, says the Lord, not a man humbling his soul;
2 nor though you bend your neck as a hoop, and put on sackcloth, and make your bed of ashes, not even so shall you call it an acceptable fast."
3 But to us he says, "Behold this is the fast which I chose," says the Lord, "loose every bond of wickedness, set loose the fastenings of harsh agreements, send away the bruised in forgiveness, and tear up every unjust contract, give to the hungry your bread, and if you see a naked man clothe him, bring the homeless into your house, and if you see a humble man, despise him not, neither you nor any of the household of your seed.
4 Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your robes shall rise quickly, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you."
5 "Then you shall cry and God shall hear thee; while you are still speaking He shall say, `Lo I am here'; if you put away from you bondage, and violence, and the word of murmuring, and dost give to the poor your bread with a cheerful heart, and dost pity the soul that is abased."
6 So then, brethren, the long-suffering one foresaw that the people whom He prepared in his beloved should believe in guilelessness, and made all things plain to us beforehand that we should not be shipwrecked by conversion to their law.
Warning that the final trial is at hand -- The covenant. Christian or Jewish? -- Admonition to steadfastness
1 We ought, then, to enquire earnestly into the things which now are, and to seek out those which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the works of lawlessness, lest the works of lawlessness overcome us, and let us hate the error of this present time, that we may be loved in that which is to come.
2 Let us give no freedom to our souls to have power to walk with sinners and wicked men, lest we be made like to them.
3 The final stumbling block is at hand of which it was written, as Enoch says, "For to this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that his beloved should make haste and come to his inheritance."
4 And the Prophet also says thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth and there shall rise up after them a little king, who shall subdue three of the kings under one."
5 Daniel says likewise concerning the same: "And I beheld the fourth Beast, wicked and powerful and fiercer than all the beasts of the sea, and that ten horns sprang from it, and out of them a little excrescent horn, and that it subdued under one three of the great horns."
6 You ought then to understand. And this also I ask you, as being one of yourselves, and especially as loving you all above my own life; take heed to yourselves now, and be not made like unto some, heaping up your sins and saying that the covenant is both theirs and ours.
7 It is ours: but in this way did they finally lose it when Moses had just received it, for the Scripture says: "And Moses was in the mount fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord, tables of stone written with the finger of the hand of the Lord."
8 But they turned to idols and lost it. For thus says the Lord: "Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people, whom you brought forth out of the land of Egypt, have broken the Law." And Moses understood and cast the two tables out of his hands, and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of Jesus the Beloved should be sealed in our hearts in hope of his faith.
9 (And though I wish to write much, I hasten to write in devotion to you, not as a teacher, but as it becomes one who loves to leave out nothing of that which we have.) Wherefore let us pay heed in the last days, for the whole time of our life and faith will profit us nothing, unless we resist, as becomes the sons of God in this present evil time, against the offences which are to come, that the Black One may have no opportunity of entry.
10 Let us flee from all vanity, let us utterly hate the deeds of the path of wickedness. Do not by retiring apart live alone as if you were already made righteous, but come together and seek out the common good.
11 For the Scripture says: "Woe to them who are prudent for themselves and understanding in their own sight." Let us be spiritual, let us be a temple consecrated to God, so far as in us lies let us "exercise ourselves in the fear" of God, and let us strive to keep his commandments in order that we may rejoice in his ordinances.
12 The Lord will "judge" the world "without respect of persons." Each will receive according to his deeds. If he be good his righteousness will lead him; if he be evil the reward of iniquity is before him.
13 Let us never rest as though we were `called' and slumber in our sins, lest the wicked ruler gain power over us and thrust us out from the Kingdom of the Lord.
14 And consider this also, my brethren, when you see that after such great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel they were even then finally abandoned; -- let us take heed lest as it was written we be found "many called but few chosen."
The reason for the Passion of Christ
1 For it was for this reason that the Lord endured to deliver up his flesh to corruption, that we should be sanctified by the remission of sin, that is, by his sprinkled blood.
2 For the scripture concerning him relates partly to Israel, partly to us, and it speaks thus: "He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, by his stripes we were healed. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb dumb before its shearer."
3 Therefore we ought to give great thanks to the Lord that he has given us knowledge of the past, and wisdom for the present, and that we are not without understanding for the future.
4 And the Scripture says, "Not unjustly are the nets spread out for the birds." This means that a man deserves to perish who has a knowledge of the way of righteousness, but turns aside into the way of darkness.
5 Moreover, my brethren, if the Lord endured to suffer for our life, though he is the Lord of all the world, to whom God said before the foundation of the world, "Let us make man in our image and likeness," how, then, did he endure to suffer at the hand of man?
6 Learn: -- The Prophets who received grace from him prophesied of him, and he, in order that he "might destroy death," and show forth the Resurrection from the dead, because he needs must be made "manifest in the flesh," endured
7 in order to fulfill the promise made to the fathers, and himself prepare for himself the new people and show while he was on earth that he himself will raise the dead and judge the risen.
8 Furthermore, while teaching Israel and doing such great signs and wonders he preached to them and loved them greatly;
9 but when he chose out his own Apostles who were to preach his Gospel, he chose those who were iniquitous above all sin to show that "he came not to call the righteous but sinners," -- then he manifested himself as God's Son.
10 For if he had not come in the flesh men could in no way have been saved by beholding him; seeing that they have not the power when they look at the sun to gaze straight at its rays, though it is destined to perish, and is the work of his hands.
11 So then the Son of God came in the flesh for this reason, that he might complete the total of the sins of those who persecuted his prophets to death.
12 For this cause he endured. For God says of the chastisement of his flesh that it is from them: "When they shall smite their shepherd, then the sheep of the flock shall be destroyed."
13 And he was willing to suffer thus, for it was necessary that he should suffer on a tree, for the Prophet says of him, "Spare my soul from the sword" and, "Nail my flesh, for the synagogues of the wicked have risen against me."
14 And again he says: "Lo, I have given my back to scourges, and my cheeks to strokes, and I have set my face as a solid rock."
Proofs from the Prophets
1 When therefore he made the commandment what does he say? "Who is he that comes into court with me? Let him oppose me; or, who is he that seeks justice against me? Let him draw near to the Lord's servant.
2 Woe unto you, for you shall all wax old as a garment and the moth shall eat you up." And again the Prophet says that he was placed as a strong stone for crushing, "Lo, I will place for the foundations of Zion a precious stone, chosen out, a chief corner stone, honorable."
3 Then what does he say? "And he that hopes on it shall live for ever." Is then our hope on a stone? God forbid. But he means that the Lord placed His flesh in strength. For he says, "And he placed me as a solid rock."
4 And again the Prophet says, "The stone which the builders rejected, this is become the head of the corner," and again he says, "This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord made."
5 I write to you more simply that you may understand: I am devoted to your love.
6 What then does the Prophet say again? "The synagogue of the sinners compassed me around, they surrounded me as bees round the honeycomb" and, "They cast lots for my clothing."
7 Since therefore he was destined to be manifest and to suffer in the flesh his Passion was foretold. For the Prophet says concerning Israel, "Woe unto their soul, for they have plotted an evil plot against themselves, saying, `Let us bind the Just one, for he is unprofitable to us.'"
8 What does the other Prophet, Moses, say to them? "Lo, thus says the Lord God, enter into the good land which the Lord swore that he would give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey."
9 But learn what knowledge says. Hope, it says, on that Jesus who will be manifested to you in the flesh. For man is earth which suffers, for the creation of Adam was from the face of the earth.
10 What then is the meaning of "into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey"? Blessed be our Lord, brethren, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of his secrets. For the prophet speaks a parable of the Lord: "Who shall understand save he who is wise, and learned, and a lover of his Lord?"
11 Since then he made us new by the remission of sins he made us another type, that we should have the soul of children, as though he were creating us afresh.
12 For it is concerning us that the scripture says that he says to the Son, "Let us make man after our image and likeness, and let them rule the beasts of the earth, and the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea." And the Lord said, when he saw our fair creation, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth"; these things were spoken to the Son.
13 Again I will show you how he speaks to us. In the last days he made a second creation; and the Lord says, "See, I make the last things as the first." To this then the Prophet referred when he proclaimed, "Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it."
14 See then, we have been created afresh, as he says again in another Prophet, "See," says the Lord, "I will take out from them" (that is those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw) "the hearts of stone and I will put in hearts of flesh." Because he himself was going to be manifest in the flesh and to dwell among us.
15 For, my brethren, the habitation of our hearts is a shrine holy to the Lord.
16 For the Lord says again, "And wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God and be glorified?" He says, "I will confess to you in the assembly of my brethren, and will sing to you in the midst of the assembly of saints." We then are they whom he brought into the good land.
17 What then is the milk and the honey? Because a child is first nourished with honey, and afterwards with milk. Thus therefore we also, being nourished on the faith of the promise and by the word, shall live and possess the earth.
18 And we have said above, "And let them increase and multiply and rule over the fishes." Who then is it who is now able to rule over beasts or fishes or the birds of heaven? For we ought to understand that to rule implies authority, so that one may give commandments and have domination.
19 If then this does not happen at present he has told us the time when it will; -- when we ourselves also have been made perfect as heirs of the covenant of the Lord.
Fasting and the scapegoat
1 Understand therefore, children of gladness, that the good Lord made all things plain beforehand to us, that we should know him to whom we ought to give thanks and praise for everything.
2 If then the Son of God, though he was the Lord and was "destined to judge the living and the dead" suffered in order that his wounding might make us alive, let us believe that the Son of God could not suffer except for our sakes.
3 But moreover when he was crucified "he was given to drink vinegar and gall." Listen how the priests of the Temple foretold this. The commandment was written, "Whoever does not keep the fast shall die the death," and the Lord commanded this because he himself was going to offer the vessel of the spirit as a sacrifice for our sins, in order that the type established in Isaac, who was offered upon the altar, might be fulfilled.
4 What then does he say in the Prophet? "And let them eat of the goat which is offered in the fast for all their sins." Attend carefully, -- "and let all the priests alone eat the entrails unwashed with vinegar."
5 Why? Because you are going "to give to me gall and vinegar to drink" when I am on the point of offering my flesh for my new people, therefore you alone shall eat, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes, to show that he must suffer for them.
6 Note what was commanded: "Take two goats, goodly and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take the one as a burnt offering for sins."
7 But what are they to do with the other? "The other," he says, "is accursed." Notice how the type of Jesus is manifested:
8 "And do you all spit on it, and goad it, and bind the scarlet wool about its head, and so let it be cast into the desert." And when it is so done, he who takes the goat into the wilderness drives it forth, and takes away the wool, and puts it upon a shrub which is called Rachel, of which we are accustomed to eat the shoots when we find them in the country: thus of Rachel alone is the fruit sweet.
9 What does this mean? Listen: "the first goat is for the altar, but the other is accursed," and note that the one that is accursed is crowned, because then "they will see him" on that day with the long scarlet robe "down to the feet" on his body, and they will say, "Is not this he whom we once crucified and rejected and pierced and spat upon? Of a truth it was he who then said that he was the Son of God."
10 But how is he like to the goat? For this reason: "the goats shall be alike, beautiful, and a pair," in order that when they see him come at that time they may be astonished at the likeness of the goat. See then the type of Jesus destined to suffer.
11 But why is it that they put the wool in the middle of the thorns? It is a type of Jesus placed in the Church, because whoever wishes to take away the scarlet wool must suffer much because the thorns are terrible and he can gain it only through pain. Thus he says, "those who will see me, and attain to my kingdom must lay hold of me through pain and suffering."
The sacrifice of a heifer
1 But what do you think that it typifies, that the commandment has been given to Israel that the men in whom sin is complete offer a heifer and slay it and burn it, and that boys then take the ashes and put them into vessels and bind scarlet wool on sticks (see again the type of the Cross and the scarlet wool) and hyssop, and that the boys all sprinkle the people thus one by one in order that they all be purified from their sins?
2 Observe how plainly he speaks to you. The calf is Jesus; the sinful men offering it are those who brought him to be slain. Then there are no longer men, no longer the glory of sinners.
3 The boys who sprinkle are they who preached to us the forgiveness of sins, and the purification of the heart, to whom he gave the power of the Gospel to preach, and there are twelve as a testimony to the tribes, because there are twelve tribes of Israel.
4 But why are there three boys who sprinkle? As a testimony to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for these are great before God.
5 And why was the wool put on the wood? Because the kingdom of Jesus is on the wood, and because those who hope on him shall live for ever.
6 But why are the wool and the hyssop together? Because in his kingdom there shall be evil and foul days, in which we shall be saved, for he also who has pain in his flesh is cured by the foulness of the hyssop.
7 And for this reason the things which were thus done are plain to us, but obscure to them, because they did not hear the Lord's voice.
The circumcision
1 For he speaks again concerning the ears, how he circumcised our hearts; for the Lord says in the Prophet: "In the hearing of the ear they obey me." And again he says, "They who are afar off shall hear clearly, they shall know the things that I have done," and "Circumcise your hearts, says the Lord."
2 And again he says, "Hear, O Israel, thus says the Lord your God," and again the Spirit of the Lord prophesies, "Who is he that will live for ever? Let him hear the voice of my servant."
3 And again he says, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken these things for a testimony." And again he says, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of this people." And again he says, "Hear, O children, a voice of one crying in the wilderness." So then he circumcised our hearing in order that we should hear the word and believe.
4 But moreover the circumcision in which they trusted has been abolished. For he declared that circumcision was not of the flesh, but they erred because an evil angel was misleading them.
5 He says to them, "Thus says the Lord your God" (here I find a commandment), "Sow not among thorns, be circumcised to your Lord." And what does he say? "Circumcise the hardness of your heart, and stiffen not your neck." Take it again: "Behold, says the Lord, all the heathen are uncircumcised in the foreskin, but this people is uncircumcised in heart."
6 But you will say, surely the people has received circumcision as a seal? Yes, but every Syrian and Arab and all priests of the idols have been circumcised; are then these also within their covenant? -- indeed even the Egyptians belong to the circumcision.
7 Learn fully then, children of love, concerning all things, for Abraham, who first circumcised, did so looking forward in the spirit to Jesus, and had received the doctrines of three letters.
8 For it says, "And Abraham circumcised from his household eighteen men and three hundred." What then was the knowledge that was given to him? Notice that he first mentions the eighteen, and after a pause the three hundred. The eighteen is I (=ten) and H (=8) -- you have Jesus -- and because the cross was destined to have grace in the T he says "and three hundred." So he indicates Jesus in the two letters and the cross in the other.
9 He knows this who placed the gift of his teaching in our hearts. No one has heard a more excellent lesson from me, but I know that you are worthy.
The Food-law of the Jews -- The explanation in the Psalter
1 Now, in that Moses said, "You shall not eat swine, nor an eagle, nor a hawk, nor a crow, nor any fish which has no scales on itself," he included three doctrines in his understanding.
2 Moreover he says to them in Deuteronomy, "And I will make a covenant of my ordinances with this people." So then the ordinance of God is not abstinence from eating, but Moses spoke in the spirit.
3 He mentioned the swine for this reason: you shall not consort, he means, with men who are like swine, that is to say, when they have plenty they forget the Lord, but when they are in want they recognize the Lord, just as the swine when it eats does not know its master, but when it is hungry it cries out, and after receiving food is again silent.
4 "Neither shall you eat the eagle nor the hawk nor the kite nor the crow." you shall not, he means, join yourself or make yourself like to such men, as do not know how to gain their food by their labor and sweat, but plunder other people's property in their iniquity, and lay wait for it, though they seem to walk in innocence, and look round to see whom they may plunder in their covetousness, just as these birds alone provide no food for themselves, but sit idle, and seek how they may devour the flesh of others, and become pestilent in their iniquity.
5 "You shall not eat," he says, "the lamprey nor the polypus nor the cuttlefish." you shall not, he means, consort with or become like such men who are utterly ungodly and who are already condemned to death, just as these fish alone are accursed, and float in the deep water, not swimming like the others but living on the ground at the bottom of the sea.
6 Sed nec "leporem manducabis." Non eris, inquit, corruptor puerorum nec similabis talibus. Quia lepus singulis annis facit ad adsellandum singula foramina; et quotquot annis vivit, totidem foramina facit.
7 Sed "nec beluam, inquit, manducabis"; hoc est non eris moecus aut adulter, nec corruptor, nec similabis talibus. Quia haec bestia alternis annis mutat naturam et fit modo masculus, modo femina.
8 Sed et quod dicit mustelam odibis. Non eris, inquit, talis, qui audit iniquitatem et loquitur immunditiam. Non inquit adhaerebis immundis qui iniquitatem faciunt ore suo.
9 Moses received three doctrines concerning food and thus spoke of them in the Spirit; but they received them as really referring to food, owing to the lust of their flesh.
10 But David received knowledge concerning the same three doctrines, and says: "Blessed is the man who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly" as the fishes go in darkness in the deep waters, "and has not stood in the way of sinners" like those who seem to fear the Lord, but sin like the swine, "and has not sat in the seat of the scorners" like the birds who sit and wait for their prey. Grasp fully the doctrines concerning food.
11 Moses says again, "Eat of every animal that is cloven hoofed and ruminant." What does he mean? That he who receives food knows him who feeds him, and rests on him and seems to rejoice. Well did he speak with regard to the commandment. What then does he mean? Consort with those who fear the Lord, with those who meditate in their heart on the meaning of the word which they have received, with those who speak of and observe the ordinances of the Lord, with those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate on the word of the Lord. But what does "the cloven hoofed" mean? That the righteous both walks in this world and looks forward to the holy age. See how well Moses legislated.
12 But how was it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things? But we having a righteous understanding of them announce the commandments as the Lord wished. For this cause he circumcised our hearing and our hearts that we should comprehend these things.
Baptism -- The Cross
1 But let us enquire if the Lord took pains to foretell the water of baptism and the cross. Concerning the water it has been written with regard to Israel that they will not receive the baptism that brings the remission of sins, but will build for themselves.
2 For the Prophet says, "Be astonished O heaven, and let the earth tremble the more at this, that this people has committed two evils: they have deserted me, the spring of life, and they have dug for themselves a cistern of death.
3 Is my holy mountain Sinai a desert rock? For you shall be as the fledgling birds, fluttering about when they are taken away from the nest."
4 And again the Prophet says, "I will go before you and I will make mountains level, and I will break gates of brass, and I will shatter bars of iron, and I will give you treasures of darkness, secret, invisible, that they may know that I am the Lord God."
5 And, "You shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock." And, "His water is sure, you shall see the King in his glory, and your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord."
6 And again he says in another Prophet, "And he who does these things shall be as the tree, which is planted at the partings of the waters, which shall give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fade, and all things, whatever he does, shall prosper.
7 It is not so with the wicked, it is not so; but they are even as the chaff which the wind drives away from the face of the earth. Therefore the wicked shall not rise up in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish."
8 Mark how he described the water and the cross together. For he means this: blessed are those who hoped on the cross, and descended into the water. For he speaks of their reward "in his season"; at that time, he says, I will repay. But now when he says, "Their leaves shall not fade," he means that every word which shall come forth from your mouth in faith and love, shall be for conversion and hope for many.
9 And again another Prophet says, "And the land of Jacob was praised above every land." He means to say that he is glorifying the vessel of his Spirit.
10 What does he say next? "And there was a river flowing on the right hand, and beautiful trees grew out of it, and whoever shall eat of them shall live for ever."
11 He means to say that we go down into the water full of sins and foulness, and we come up bearing the fruit of fear in our hearts, and having hope on Jesus in the Spirit. "And whoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." He means that whoever hears and believes these things spoken shall live for ever.
The Cross -- Joshua
1 Similarly, again, he describes the cross in another Prophet, who says, "And when shall all these things be accomplished? says the Lord. When the tree shall fall and rise, and when blood shall flow from the tree." Here again you have a reference to the cross, and to him who should he crucified.
2 And he says again to Moses, when Israel was warred upon by strangers, and in order to remind those who were warred upon that they were delivered unto death by reason of their sins -- the Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses to make a representation of the cross, and of him who should suffer, because, he says, unless they put their trust in him, they shall suffer war for ever. Moses therefore placed one shield upon another in the midst of the fight, and standing there raised above them all kept stretching out his hands, and so Israel again began to be victorious: then, whenever he let them drop they began to perish.
3 Why? That they may know that they cannot be saved if they do not hope on him.
4 And again he says in another Prophet, "I stretched out my hands the whole day to a disobedient people and one that refuses my righteous way."
5 Again Moses makes a representation of Jesus, showing that he must suffer, and shall himself give life, though they will believe that he has been put to death, by the sign given when Israel was falling (for the Lord made every serpent bite them, and they were perishing, for the fall took place in Eve through the serpent), in order to convince them that they will be delivered over to the affliction of death because of their transgression.
6 Moreover, though Moses commanded them: -- "You shall have neither graven nor molten image for your God," yet he makes one himself to show a type of Jesus. Moses therefore makes a graven serpent, and places it in honor and calls the people by a proclamation.
7 So they came together and besought Moses that he would offer prayer on their behalf for their healing. But Moses said to them, "Whenever one of you," he said, "be bitten, let him come to the serpent that is placed upon the tree, and let him hope, in faith that it though dead is able to give life, and he shall straightway be saved." And they did so. In this also you have again the glory of Jesus, for all things are in him and for him.
8 Again, why does Moses say to Jesus, the son of Naue, when he gives him, prophet as he is, this name, that the whole people should listen to him alone? Because the Father was revealing everything concerning his Son Jesus.
9 Moses therefore says to Jesus the son of Naue, after giving him this name, when he sent him to spy out the land, "Take a book in your hands and write what the Lord says, that the Son of God shall in the last day tear up by the roots the whole house of Amalek."
10 See again Jesus, not as son of man, but as Son of God, but manifested in a type in the flesh. Since therefore they are going to say that the Christ is David's son, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of the sinners, "The Lord said to my Lord sit you on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
11 And again Isaiah speaks thus, "The Lord said to Christ my Lord, whose right hand I held, that the nations should obey before him, and I will shatter the strength of Kings." See how "David calls him Lord" and does not say Son.
Jews and Christians as heirs of the covenant
1 Now let us see whether this people or the former people is the heir, and whether the covenant is for us or for them.
2 Hear then what the Scripture says concerning the people: "And Isaac prayed concerning Rebecca his wife, because she was barren, and she conceived. Then Rebecca went forth to enquire of the Lord and the Lord said to her: two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in your belly, and one people shall overcome a people, and the greater shall serve the less."
3 You ought to understand who is Isaac and who is Rebecca, and of whom he has shown that this people is greater than that people.
4 And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more plainly to Joseph his son, saying, "Behold the Lord has not deprived me of your presence; bring me your sons, that I may bless them."
5 And he brought Ephraim and Manasses, and wished that Manasses should be blessed, because he was the elder; for Joseph brought him to the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in the spirit a type of the people of the future. And what does he say? "And Jacob crossed his hands, and placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the second and younger son, and blessed him; and Joseph said to Jacob, Change your right hand on to the head of Manasses, for he is my first-born son. And Jacob said to Joseph, I know it, my child, I know it; but the greater shall serve the less, and this one shall indeed be blessed."
6 See who it is of whom he ordained that this people is the first and heir of the covenant.
7 If then besides this he remembered it also in the case of Abraham, we reach the perfection of our knowledge. What then does he say to Abraham, when he alone was faithful, and it was counted him for righteousness? "Behold I have made you, Abraham, the father of the Gentiles who believe in God in uncircumcision."
The fulfillment of the promise to the Jews
1 So it is. But let us see whether the covenant which he swore to the fathers to give to the people -- whether he has given it. He has given it. But they were not worthy to receive it because of their sins.
2 For the Prophet says, "And Moses was fasting on Mount Sinai, to receive the covenant of the Lord for the people, forty days and forty nights. And Moses received from the Lord the two tables, written by the finger of the hand of the Lord in the Spirit"; and Moses took them, and carried them down to give them to the people.
3 And the Lord said to Moses, "Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people whom you didst bring out of the land of Egypt have broken the Law. And Moses perceived that they had made themselves again molten images, and he cast them out of his hands, and the tables of the covenant of the Lord were broken."
4 Moses received it, but they were not worthy. But learn how we received it. Moses received it when he was a servant, but the Lord himself gave it to us, as the people of the inheritance, by suffering for our sakes.
5 And it was made manifest both that the tale of their sins should be completed in their sins, and that we through Jesus, the Lord who inherits the covenant, should receive it, for he was prepared for this purpose, that when he appeared he might redeem from darkness our hearts which were already paid over to death, and given over to the iniquity of error, and by his word might make a covenant with us.
6 For it is written that the Father enjoins on him that he should redeem us from darkness and prepare a holy people for himself.
7 The Prophet therefore says, "I the Lord your God did call you in righteousness, and I will hold your hands, and I will give you strength, and I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from their fetters those that are bound and those that sit in darkness out of the prison house." We know then whence we have been redeemed.
8 Again the Prophet says, "Lo, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to be for salvation unto the ends of the earth, thus says the Lord the God who did redeem you."
9 And again the Prophet says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the Gospel of grace to the humble, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim delivery to the captives, and sight to the blind, to announce a year acceptable to the Lord, and a day of recompense, to comfort all who mourn."
CHAPTER 15
The Sabbath
1 Furthermore it was written concerning the Sabbath in the ten words which he spoke on Mount Sinai face to face to Moses. "Sanctify also the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart."
2 And in another place he says, "If my sons keep Sabbath, then will I bestow my mercy upon them."
3 He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of the Creation, "And God made in six days the works of his hands and on the seventh day he made an end, and rested in it and sanctified it."
4 Notice, children, what is the meaning of "He made an end in six days"? He means this: that the Lord will make an end of everything in six thousand years, for a day with him means a thousand years. And he himself is my witness when he says, "Lo, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years." So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything will be completed.
5 "And he rested on the seventh day." This means, when his Son comes he will destroy the time of the wicked one, and will judge the godless, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the seventh day.
6 Furthermore he says, "You shall sanctify it with clean hands and a pure heart." If, then, anyone has at present the power to keep holy the day which God made holy, by being pure in heart, we are altogether deceived.
7 See that we shall indeed keep it holy at that time, when we enjoy true rest, when we shall be able to do so because we have been made righteous ourselves and have received the promise, when there is no more sin, but all things have been made new by the Lord: then we shall be able to keep it holy because we ourselves have first been made holy.
8 Furthermore he says to them, "You r new moons and the sabbaths I cannot away with." Do you see what he means? The present sabbaths are not acceptable tome, but that which I have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make the beginning of an eighth day, that is the beginning of another world.
9 Wherefore we also celebrate with gladness the eighth day in which Jesus also rose from the dead, and was made manifest, and ascended into Heaven.
CHAPTER 16
The Temple
1 I will also speak with you concerning the Temple, and show how the wretched men erred by putting their hope on the building, and not on the God who made them, and is the true house of God.
2 For they consecrated him in the Temple almost like the heathen. But learn how the Lord speaks, in bringing it to naught, "Who has measured the heaven with a span, or the earth with his outstretched hand? Have not I? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool, what house will you build for me, or what is the place of my rest?" You know that their hope was vain.
3 Furthermore he says again, "Lo, they who destroyed this temple shall themselves build it."
4 That is happening now. For owing to the war it was destroyed by the enemy; at present even the servants of the enemy will build it up again.
5 Again, it was made manifest that the city and the temple and the people of Israel were to be delivered up. For the Scripture says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Lord shall deliver the sheep of his pasture, and the sheep-fold, and their tower to destruction." And it took place according to what the Lord said.
6 But let us inquire if a temple of God exists. Yes, it exists, where he himself said that he makes and perfects it. For it is written, "And it shall come to pass when the week is ended that a temple of God shall be built gloriously in the name of the Lord."
7 I find then that a temple exists. Learn then how it will be built in the name of the Lord. Before we believed in God the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, like a temple really built with hands, because it was full of idolatry, and was the house of demons through doing things which were contrary to God.
8 "But it shall be built in the name of the Lord." Now give heed, in order that the temple of the Lord may be built gloriously. Learn in what way. When we received the remission of sins, and put our hope on the Name, we became new, being created again from the beginning; wherefore God truly dwells in us, in the habitation which we are.
9 How? His word of faith, the calling of his promise, the wisdom of the ordinances, the commands of the teaching, himself prophesying in us, himself dwelling in us, by opening the door of the temple (that is the mouth) to us, giving repentance to us, and thus he leads us, who have been enslaved to death into the incorruptible temple.
10 For he who desires to be saved looks not at the man, but at him who dwells and speaks in him, and is amazed at him, for he has never either heard him speak such words with his mouth, nor has he himself ever desired to hear them. This is a spiritual temple being built for the Lord.
CHAPTER 17
Summary
1 So far as possibility and simplicity allow an explanation to be given to you my soul hopes that none of the things which are necessary for salvation have been omitted, according to my desire.
2 For if I write to you concerning things present or things to come, you will not understand because they are hid in parables. This then suffices.
The two Ways
1 Now let us pass on to another lesson and teaching. There are two Ways of teaching and power, one of Light and one of Darkness. And there is a great difference between the two Ways. For over the one are set light-bringing angels of God, but over the other angels of Satan.
2 And the one is Lord from eternity and to eternity, and the other is the ruler of the present time of iniquity.
CHAPTER 19
The Way of Light
1 The Way of Light is this: if any man desire to journey to the appointed place, let him be zealous in his works. Therefore the knowledge given to us of this kind that we may walk in it is as follows:
2 -- you shall love your maker, you shall fear your Creator, you shall glorify Him who redeemed you from death, you shall be simple in heart, and rich in spirit; you shall not join yourself to those who walk in the way of death, you shall hate all that is not pleasing to God, you shall hate all hypocrisy; you shall not desert the commandments of the Lord.
3 you shall not exalt yourself, but shall be humble-minded in all things; you shall not take glory to yourself. you shall form no evil plan against your neighbor, you shall not let your soul be forward.
4 you shall not commit fornication, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit sodomy. you shall not let the word of God depart from you among the impurity of any men. you shall not respect persons in the reproving of transgression. you shall be meek, you shall be quiet, you shall fear the words which you have heard. you shall not bear malice against your brother.
5 you shall not be in two minds whether it shall be or not. "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." you shall love your neighbor more than your own life. you shall not procure abortion, you shall not commit infanticide. you shall not withhold your hand from your son or from your daughter, but shall teach them the fear of God from their youth up.
6 you shall not covet your neighbor's goods, you shall not be avaricious. you shall not be joined in soul with the haughty but shall converse with humble and righteous men. you shall receive the trials that befall you as good, knowing that nothing happens without God.
7 you shall not be double-minded or talkative. you shall obey your masters as a type of God in modesty and fear; you shall not command in bitterness your slave or handmaid who hope on the same God, lest they cease to fear the God who is over you both; for he came not to call men with respect of persons, but those whom the Spirit prepared.
8 you shall share all things with your neighbor and shall not say that they are your own property; for if you are sharers in that which is incorruptible, how much more in that which is corruptible? you shall not be forward to speak, for the mouth is a snare of death. So far as you canst, you shall keep your soul pure.
9 Be not one who stretches out the hands to take, and shuts them when it comes to giving. you shall love "as the apple of your eye" all who speak to you the word of the Lord.
10 you shall remember the day of judgment day and night, and you shall seek each day the society of the saints, either laboring by speech, and going out to exhort, and striving to save souls by the word, or working with your hands for the ransom of your sins.
11 you shall not hesitate to give, and when you gives you shall not grumble, but you shall know who is the good paymaster of the reward. "You shall keep the precepts" which you have received, "adding nothing and taking nothing away." you shall utterly hate evil. "You shall give righteous judgment."
12 you shall not cause quarrels, but shall bring together and reconcile those that strive. you shall confess your sins. you shall not betake yourself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the Way of Light.
CHAPTER 20
The Way of Darkness
1 But the Way of the Black One is crooked and full of cursing, for it is the way of death eternal with punishment, and in it are the things that destroy their soul: idolatry, forwardness, arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, robbery, pride, transgression, fraud, malice, self-sufficiency, enchantments, magic, covetousness, the lack of the fear of God;
2 persecutors of the good, haters of the truth, lovers of lies, knowing not the reward of righteousness, who "cleave not to the good," nor to righteous judgment, who attend not to the cause of the widow and orphan, spending wakeful nights not in the fear of God, but in the pursuit of vice, from whom meekness and patience are far and distant, "loving vanity, seeking rewards," without pity for the poor, working not for him who is oppressed with toil, prone to evil speaking, without knowledge of their Maker, murderers of children, corrupters of God's creation, turning away the needy, oppressing the afflicted, advocates of the rich, unjust judges of the poor, altogether sinful.
CHAPTER 21
Final exhortation
1 It is good therefore that he who has learned the ordinances of the Lord as many as have been written should walk in them. For he who does these things shall be glorified in the kingdom of God, and he who chooses the others shall perish with his works. For this reason there is a resurrection, for this reason there is a recompense.
2 I beseech those who are in high positions, if you will receive any counsel of my goodwill, have among yourselves those to whom you may do good; fail not.
3 The day is at hand when all things shall perish with the Evil one; "The Lord and his reward is at hand."
4 I beseech you again and again be good lawgivers to each other, remain faithful counselors of each other, remove from yourselves all hypocrisy.
5 Now may God, who is the Lord over all the world, give you wisdom, understanding, prudence, knowledge of his ordinances, patience.
6 And be taught of God, seeking out what the Lord requires from you, and see that you be found faithful in the day of Judgment.
7 If there is any memory of good, meditate on these things and remember me, that my desire and my watchfulness may find some good end. I beseech you asking it of your favor.
8 While the fair vessel is with you fail not in any of them, but seek these things diligently, and fulfill every commandment; for these things are worthy.
9 Wherefore I was the more zealous to write to you of my ability, to give you gladness. May you gain salvation, children of love and peace. The Lord of glory and of all grace be with your spirit.
| Top of Page | Christian Documents | CHU 395 | HOME |
Roberts-Donaldson Translation
THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS
CHAPTER I.--AFTER THE SALUTATION, THE WRITER DECLARES THAT HE WOULD COMMUNICATE TO HIS BRETHREN SOMETHING OF THAT WHICH HE HAD HIMSELF RECEIVED.
All hail, you sons and daughters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us in peace.
Seeing that the divine fruits of righteousness abound among you, I rejoice exceedingly and above measure in your happy and honored spirits, because you have with such effect received the engrafted spiritual gift. Wherefore also I inwardly rejoice the more, hoping to be saved, because I truly perceive in you the Spirit poured forth from the rich Lord s of love. Your greatly desired appearance has thus filled me with astonishment over you. I am therefore persuaded of this, and fully convinced in my own mind, that since I began to speak among you I understand many things, because the Lord has accompanied me in the way of righteousness. I am also on this account bound by the strictest obligation to love you above my own soul, because great are the faith and love dwelling in you, while you hope for the life which He has promised. Considering this, therefore, that if I should take the trouble to communicate to you some portion of what I have myself received, it will prove to me a sufficient reward that I minister to such spirits, I have hastened briefly to write unto you, in order that, along with your faith, you might have perfect knowledge. The doctrines of the Lord, then, are three: the hope of life, the beginning and the completion of it. For the Lord has made known to us by the prophets both the things which are past and present, giving us also the first-fruits of the knowledge of things to come, which things as we see accomplished, one by one, we ought with the greater richness of faith and elevation of spirit to draw near to Him with reverence. I then, not as your teacher, but as one of yourselves, will set forth a few things by which in present circumstances you may be rendered the more joyful.
CHAPTER II -- THE JEWISH SACRIFICES ARE NOW ABOLISHED.
Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our faith; and long-suffering and continence are things which fight on our side. While these remain pure in what respects the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Science, and Knowledge rejoice along with them. For He has revealed to us by all the prophets that He needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations, saying thus, "What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, says the Lord? I am full of burnt-offerings, and desire not the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, not when you come to appear before Me: for who has required these things at your hands? Tread no more My courts, not though you bring with you fine flour. Incense is a vain abomination unto Me, and your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure." He has therefore abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have a human oblation. And again He says to them, "Did I command your fathers, when they went out from the land of Egypt, to offer unto Me burnt-offerings and sacrifices? But this rather I commanded them, Let no one of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbor, and love not an oath of falsehood." We ought therefore, being possessed of understanding, to perceive the gracious intention of our Father; for He speaks to us, desirous that we, not going astray like them, should ask how we may approach Him. To us, then, He declares, "A sacrifice [pleasing] to God is a broken spirit; a smell of sweet taste to the Lord is a heart that glorifies Him that made it." We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation, lest the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, should huff us forth from our [true] life.
CHAPTER III.--THE FASTS OF THE JEWS ARE NOT TRUE FASTS, NOR ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.
He says then to them again concerning these things, "Why do you fast to Me as on this day, says the Lord, that your voice should be heard with a cry? I have not chosen this fast, says the Lord, that a man should humble his soul. Nor, though you bend your neck like a ring, and put upon you sackcloth and ashes, will you call it an acceptable fast." To us He says, "Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord, not that a man should humble his soul, but that he should loose every band of iniquity, untie the fastenings of harsh agreements, restore to liberty them that are bruised, tear in pieces every unjust engagement, feed the hungry with your bread, clothe the naked when you see him, bring the homeless into your house, not despise the humble if you behold him, and not [turn away] from the members of your own family. Then shall your dawn break forth, and your healing shall quickly spring up, and righteousness shall go forth before you, and the glory of God shall encompass thee; and then you shall call, and God shall hear thee; whilst you are yet speaking, He shall say, Behold, I am with thee; if you take away from you the chain [binding others], and the stretching forth of the hands [to sweat falsely], and words of murmuring, and give cheerfully your bread to the hungry, and show compassion to the soul that has been humbled." To this end, therefore, brethren, He is long-suffering, foreseeing how the people whom He has prepared shall with guilelessness believe in His Beloved. For He revealed all these things to us beforehand, that we should not rush forward as rash acceptors of their laws.
CHAPTER IV.--ANTICHRIST IS AT HAND: LET US THEREFORE AVOID JEWISH ERRORS.
It therefore behoves us, who inquire much concerning events at hand, to search diligently into those things which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to come: let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For for this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings. In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." you ought therefore to understand. And this also I further beg of you, as being one of you, and loving you both individually and collectively more than my own soul, to take heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some, adding largely to your sins, and saying, "The covenant is both theirs and ours." But they thus finally lost it, after Moses had already received it. For the Scripture says, "And Moses was fasting in the mount forty days and forty nights, and received the covenant from the Lord, tables of stone written with the finger of the hand of the Lord;" but turning away to idols, they lost it. For the Lord speaks thus to Moses: "Moses go down quickly; for the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed." And Moses understood [the meaning of God], and cast the two tables out of his hands; and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed upon our heart, in the hope which flows from believing in Him. Now, being desirous to write many things to you, not as your teacher, but as becomes one who loves you, I have taken care not to fail to write to you from what I myself possess, with a view to your purification. We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becomes the sons of God. That the Black One may find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. Do not, by retiring apart, live a solitary life, as if you were already [fully] justified; but coming together in one place, make common inquiry concerning what tends to your general welfare. For the Scripture says, "Woe to them who are wise to themselves, and prudent in their own sight!" Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God. As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His ordinances. The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when you reflect and behold, that after so great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that saying], as it is written, "Many are called, but few are chosen."
CHAPTER V.--THE NEW COVENANT, FOUNDED ON THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, TENDS TO OUR SALVATION, BUT TO THE JEWS' DESTRUCTION.
For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified through the remission of sins, which is effected by His blood of sprinkling. For it is written concerning Him, partly with reference to Israel, and partly to us; and [the Scripture] says thus: "He was wounded for our transgressions, and braised for our iniquities: with His stripes we are healed. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb which is dumb before its shearer." Therefore we ought to be deeply grateful to the Lord, because He has both made known to us things that are past, and has given us wisdom concerning things present, and has not left us without understanding in regard to things which are to come. Now, the Scripture says, "Not unjustly are nets spread out for birds." This means that the man perishes justly, who, having a knowledge of the way of righteousness, rushes off into the way of darkness. And further, my brethren: if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, He being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, "Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness," understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the hand of men. The prophets, having obtained grace from Him, prophesied concerning Him. And He (since it behoved Him to appear in flesh), that He might abolish death, and reveal the resurrection from the dead, endured [what and as He did], in order that He might fulfill the promise made unto the fathers, and by preparing a new people for Himself, might show, while He dwelt on earth, that He, when He has raised mankind, will also judge them. Moreover, teaching Israel, and doing so great miracles and signs, He preached [the truth] to him, and greatly loved him. But when He chose His own apostles who where to preach His Gospel, [He did so from among those] who were sinners above all sin, that He might show He came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Then He manifested Himself to be the Son of God. For if He had not come in the flesh, how could men have been saved by beholding Him? Since looking upon the sun which is to cease to exist, and is the work of His hands, their eyes are not able to bear his rays. The Son of God therefore came in the flesh with this view, that He might bring to a head the sum of their sins who had persecuted His prophets to the death. For this purpose, then, He endured. For God says, "The stroke of his flesh is from them;" and "when I shall smite the Shepherd, then the sheep of the flock shall be scattered." He himself willed thus to suffer, for it was necessary that He should suffer on the tree. For says he Who prophesies regarding Him, "Spare my soul from the sword, fasten my flesh with nails; for the assemblies of the wicked have risen up against me." And again he says, "Behold, I have given my back to scourges, and my cheeks to strokes, and I have set my countenance as a firm rock."
CHAPTER VI.--THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, AND THE NEW COVENANT, WERE ANNOUNCED BY THE PROPHETS.
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what says He? "Who is he that will contend with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the Lord." "Woe unto you, for you shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up." And again the prophet says, "Since as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, a corner-stone, honorable." Next, what says He? "And he who shall trust" in it shall live for ever." Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used] inasmuch as He laid his flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, "And He placed me as a firm rock." And the prophet says again, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner." And again he says, "This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord has made. I write the more simply unto you, that you may understand. I am the off-scouring of your love. What, then, again says the prophet? "The assembly of the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb," and "upon my garment they cast lots." Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering was foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, "Woe to their soul, because they have consulted an evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us." And Moses also says to them, "Behold these things, says the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit you it, a land flowing with milk and honey." What, then, says Knowledge? Learn: "Trust," she says, "in Him who is to be manifested to you in the flesh--that is, Jesus." For man is earth in a suffering state, for the formation of Adam was from the face of the earth. What, then, means this: "into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey?" Blessed be our Lord, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of secret things. For the prophet says, "Who shall understand the parable of the Lord, except him who is wise and prudent, and who loves his Lord?" Since, therefore, having renewed us by the remission of our sins, He has made us after another pattern, [it is His purpose] that we should possess the soul of children, inasmuch as He has created us anew by His Spirit. For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea." And the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man, "Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth." These things [were spoken] to the Son. Again, I will show you how, in respect to us, He has accomplished a second fashioning in these last days. The Lord says, "Behold, I will make the last like the first." In reference to this, then, the prophet proclaimed, "Enter you into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have dominion over it." Behold, therefore, we have been refashioned, as again He says in another prophet, "Behold, says the Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts, and I will put hearts of flesh within them," because He was to be manifested in flesh, and to sojourn among us. For, my brethren, the habitation of our heart is a holy temple to the Lord. For again says the Lord, "And wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God, and be glorified?" He says, "I will confess to you in the Church in the midst of my brethren; and I will praise you in the midst of the assembly of the saints." We, then, are they whom He has led into the good land. What, then, mean milk and honey? This, that as the infant is kept alive first by honey, and then by milk, so also we, being quickened and kept alive by the faith of the promise and by the word, shall live ruling over the earth. But He said above, "Let them increase, and rule over the fishes." Who then is able to govern the beasts, or the fishes, or the fowls of heaven? For we ought to perceive that to govern implies authority, so that one should command and rule. If, therefore, this does not exist at present, yet still He has promised it to us. When? When we ourselves also have been made perfect [so as] to become heirs of the covenant of the Lord."
CHAPTER VII.--FASTING, AND THE GOAT SENT AWAY, WERE TYPES OF CHRIST.
Understand, then, you children of gladness, that the good Lord has foreshown all things to us, that we might know to whom we ought for everything to render thanksgiving and praise. If therefore the Son of God, who is Lord all things], and who will judge the living and the dead, suffered, that His stroke might give us life, let us believe that the Son of God could not have suffered except for our sakes. Moreover, when fixed to the cross, He had given Him to drink vinegar and gall. Hearken how the priests of the people gave previous indications of this. His commandment having been written, the Lord enjoined, that whoever did not keep the fast should be put to death, because He also Himself was to offer in sacrifice for our sins the vessel of the Spirit, in order that the type established in Isaac when he was offered upon the altar might be fully accomplished. What, then, says He in the prophet? "And let them eat of the goat which is offered, with fasting, for all their sins." Attend carefully: "And let all the priests alone eat the inwards, unwashed with vinegar." Wherefore? Because to me, who am to offer my flesh for the sins of my new people, you are to give gall with vinegar to drink: eat you alone, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes. [These things were done] that He might show that it was necessary for Him to suffer for them. How, then, ran the commandment? Give your attention. Take two goats of goodly aspect, and similar to each other, and offer them. And let the priest take one as a burnt-offering for sins. And what should they do with the other? "Accursed," says He, "is the one." Mark how the type of Jesus now comes out. "And all of you spit upon it, and pierce it, and encircle its head with scarlet wool, and thus let it be driven into the wilderness." And when all this has been done, he who bears the goat brings it into the desert, and takes the wool off from it, and places that upon a shrub which is called Rachia, of which also we are accustomed to eat the fruits when we find them in the field. Of this kind of shrub alone the fruits are sweet. Why then, again, is this? Give good heed. [You see] "one upon the altar, and the other accursed;" and why [do you behold] the one that is accursed crowned? Because they shall see Him then in that day having a scarlet robe about his body down to his feet; and they shall say, Is not this He whom we once despised, and pierced, and mocked, and crucified? Truly this is He who then declared Himself to be the Son of God. For how like is He to Him! With a view to this, [He required] the goats to be of goodly aspect, and similar, that, when they see Him then coming, they may be amazed by the likeness of the goat. Behold, then, the type of Jesus who was to suffer. But why is it that they place the wool in the midst of thorns? It is a type of Jesus set before the view of the Church. [They place the wool among thorns], that any one who wishes to bear it away may find it necessary to suffer much, because the thorn is formidable, and thus obtain it only as the result of suffering. Thus also, says He, "Those who wish to behold Me, and lay hold of My kingdom, must through tribulation and suffering obtain Me."
CHAPTER VIII.--THE RED HEIFER A TYPE OF CHRIST.
Now what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command was given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness should offer a heifer, and slay and burn it, and, that then boys should take the ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick purple wool along with hyssop, and that thus the boys should sprinkle the people, one by one, in order that they might be purified from their sins? Consider how He speaks to you with simplicity. The calf is Jesus: the sinful men offering it are those who led Him to the slaughter. But now the men are no longer guilty, are no longer regarded as sinners. And the boys that sprinkle are those that have proclaimed to us the remission of sins and purification of heart. To these He gave authority to preach the Gospel, being twelve in number, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. But why are there three boys that sprinkle? To correspond to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, because these were great with God. And why was the wool [placed] upon the wood? Because by wood Jesus holds His kingdom, so that [through the cross] those believing on Him shall live for ever. But why was hyssop joined with the wool? Because in His kingdom the days will be evil and polluted in which we shall be saved, [and] because he who suffers in body is cured through the cleansing efficacy of hyssop. And on this account the things which stand thus are clear to us, but obscure to them because they did not hear the voice of the Lord.
CHAPTER IX.--THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF CIRCUMCISION.
He speaks moreover concerning our ears, how He has circumcised both them and our heart. The Lord says in the prophet, "In the hearing of the ear they obeyed me." And again He says, "By hearing, those shall hear who are afar off; they shall know what I have done." And, "Be you circumcised in your hearts, says the Lord." And again He says, "Hear, O Israel, for these things says the Lord your God." And once more the Spirit of the Lord proclaims, "Who is he that wishes to live for ever? By hearing let him hear the voice of my servant." And again He says, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for God has spoken." These are in proof. And again He says, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of this people." And again He says, "Hear, you children, the voice of one crying in the wilderness." Therefore He has circumcised our ears, that we might hear His word and believe, for the circumcision in which they trusted is abolished. For He declared that circumcision was not of the flesh, but they transgressed because an evil angel deluded them. He says to them, "These things says the Lord your God"-(here I find a new commandment)--"Sow not among thorns, but circumcise yourselves to the Lord." And why speaks He thus: "Circumcise the stubbornness of your heart, and harden not your neck?" And again: "Behold, says the Lord, all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but this people are uncircumcised in heart." But you wilt say, "Yea, verily the people are circumcised for a seal." But so also is every Syrian and Arab, and all the priests of idols: are these then also within the bond of His covenant? Yea, the Egyptians also practice circumcision. Learn then, my children, concerning all things richly, that Abraham, the first who enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit to Jesus, practiced that rite, having received the mysteries of the three letters. For [the Scripture] says, "And Abraham circumcised ten, and eight, and three hundred men of his household." What, then, was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first, and then the three hundred. The ten and the eight are thus denoted--Ten by I, and Eight by H. You have [the initials of the, name of] Jesus. And because the cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter The says also, "Three Hundred." He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one. He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted gift of His doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that you are worthy.
CHAPTER X.--SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRECEPTS OF MOSES RESPECTING DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD.
Now, wherefore did Moses say, "You shall not eat the swine, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not possessed of scales?" He embraced three doctrines in his mind [in doing so]. Moreover, the Lord says to them in Deuteronomy, "And I will establish my ordinances among this people." Is there then not a command of God they should not eat [these things]? There is, but Moses spoke with a spiritual reference. For this reason he named the swine, as much as to say, "You shall not join yourself to men who resemble swine." For when they live in pleasure, they forget their Lord; but when they come to want, they acknowledge the Lord. And [in like manner] the swine, when it has eaten, does not recognize its master; but when hungry it cries out, and on receiving food is quiet again. "Neither shall you eat," says he "the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor the raven." "You shall not join yourself," he means, "to such men as know not how to procure food for themselves by labor and sweat, but seize on that of others in their iniquity, and although wearing an aspect of simplicity, are on the watch to plunder others." So these birds, while they sit idle, inquire how they may devour the flesh of others, proving themselves pests [to all] by their wickedness. "And you shall not eat," he says, "the lamprey, or the polypus, or the cuttlefish." He means, "You shall not join yourself or be like to such men as are ungodly to the end, and are condemned to death." In like manner as those fishes, above accursed, float in the deep, not swimming [on the surface] like the rest, but make their abode in the mud which lies at the bottom. Moreover, "You shall not," he says, "eat the hare." Wherefore? "You shall not be a corrupter of boys, nor like unto such." Because the hare multiplies, year by year, the places of its conception; for as many years as it lives so many it has. Moreover, "You shall not eat the hyena." He means, "You shall not be an adulterer, nor a corrupter, nor be like to them that are such." Wherefore? Because that animal annually changes its sex, and is at one time male, and at another female. Moreover, he has rightly detested the weasel. For he means, "You shall not be like to those whom we hear of as committing wickedness with the mouth, on account of their uncleanness; nor shall you be joined to those impure women who commit iniquity with the mouth. For this animal conceives by the mouth." Moses then issued three doctrines concerning meats with a spiritual significance; but they received them according to fleshly desire, as if he had merely spoken of [literal] meats. David, however, comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines, and speaks in like manner: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly," even as the fishes [referred to] go in darkness to the depths [of the sea]; "and has not stood in the way of sinners," even as those who profess to fear the Lord, but go astray like swine; "and has not sat in the seat of scorners," even as those birds that lie in wait for prey. Take a full and firm grasp of this spiritual knowledge. But Moses says still further, "You shall eat every animal that is cloven-footed and ruminant." What does he mean? [The ruminant animal denotes him] who, on receiving food, recognizes Him that nourishes him, and being satisfied by Him, is visibly made glad. Well spoke [Moses], having respect to the commandment. What, then, does he mean? That we ought to join ourselves to those that fear the Lord, those who meditate in their heart on the commandment which they have received, those who both utter the judgments of the Lord and observe them, those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate upon the word of the Lord. But what means the cloven-footed? That the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks forward to the holy state [to come]. Behold how well Moses legislated. But how was it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things? We then, rightly understanding his commandments, explain them as the Lord intended. For this purpose He circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we might understand these things.
CHAPTER XI.--BAPTISM AND THE CROSS PREFIGURED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Let us further inquire whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the water [of baptism] and the cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it is written, in reference to the Israelites, that they should not receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins, but should procure another for themselves. The prophet therefore declares, "Be astonished, O heaven, and let the earth tremble at this, because this people has committed two great evils: they have forsaken Me, a living fountain, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns. Is my holy hill Zion a desolate rock? For you shall be as the fledglings of a bird, which fly away when the nest is removed." And again says the prophet, "I will go before you and make level the mountains, and will break the brazen gates, and bruise in pieces the iron bars; and I will give you the secrets hidden, invisible treasures, that they may know that I am the Lord God." And "He shall dwell in a lofty cave of the strong rock." Furthermore, what says He in reference to the Son? "His water is sure; you shall see the King in His glory, and your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord." And again He says in another prophet, "The man who does these things shall be like a tree planted by the courses of waters, which shall yield its fruit in due season; and his leaf shall not fade, and all that he does shall prosper. Not so are the ungodly, not so, but even as chaff, which the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Mark how He has described at once both the water and the cross. For these words imply, Blessed are they who, placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water; for, says He, they shall receive their reward in due time: then He declares, I will recompense them. But now He says, "Their leaves shall not fade." This means, that every word which proceeds out of your mouth in faith and love shall tend to bring conversion and hope to many. Again, another prophet says, "And the land of Jacob shall be extolled above every land." This means the vessel of His Spirit, which He shall glorify. Further, what says He? "And there was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and whoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." This means, that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. "And whoever shall eat of these shall live for ever," This means: Whoever, He declares, shall hear you speaking, and believe, shall live for ever.
CHAPTER XII.--THE CROSS OF CHRIST FREQUENTLY ANNOUNCED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
In like manner He points to the cross of Christ in another prophet, who says, "And when shall these things be accomplished? And the Lord says, When a tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of wood." Here again you have an intimation concerning the cross, and Him who should be crucified. Yet again He speaks of this in Moses, when Israel was attacked by strangers. And that He might remind them, when assailed, that it was on account of their sins they were delivered to death, the Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses, that he should make a figure of the cross, and of Him about to suffer thereon; for unless they put their trust in Him, they shall be overcome for ever. Moses therefore placed one weapon above another in the midst of the hill, and standing upon it, so as to be higher than all the people, he stretched forth his hands, and thus again Israel acquired the mastery. But when again he let down his hands, they were again destroyed. For what reason? That they might know that they could not be saved unless they put their trust in Him. And in another prophet He declares, "All day long I have stretched forth My hands to an unbelieving people, and one that gainsays My righteous way." And again Moses makes a type of Jesus, [signifying] that it was necessary for Him to suffer, [and also] that He would be the author of life [to others], whom they believed to have destroyed on the cross when Israel was failing. For since transgression was committed by Eve through means of the serpent, [the Lord] brought it to pass that every [kind of] serpents bit them, and they died, that He might convince them, that on account of their transgression they were given over to the straits of death. Moreover Moses, when he commanded, "You shall not have any graven or molten [image] for your God," did so that he might reveal a type of Jesus. Moses then makes a brazen serpent, and places it upon a beam, and by proclamation assembles the people. When, therefore, they were come together, they besought Moses that he would offer sacrifice in their behalf, and pray for their recovery. And Moses spoke unto them, saying, "When any one of you is bitten, let him come to the serpent placed on the pole; and let him hope and believe, that even though dead, it is able to give him life, and immediately he shall be restored." And they did so. you have in this also [an indication of] the glory of Jesus; for in Him and to Him are all things. What, again, says Moses to Jesus (Joshua) the son of Nave, when he gave him this name, as being a prophet, with this view only, that all the people might hear that the Father would reveal all things concerning His Son Jesus to the son of Nave? This name then being given him when he sent him to spy out the land, he said, "Take a book into your hands, and write what the Lord declares, that the Son of God will in the last days cut off from the roots all the house of Amalek." Behold again: Jesus who was manifested, both by type and in the flesh, is not the Son of man, but the Son of God. Since, therefore, they were to say that Christ was the son of David, fearing and understanding the error of the wicked, he says, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." And again, thus says Isaiah, "The Lord said to Christ, my Lord, whose right hand I have held, that the nations should yield obedience before Him; and I will break in pieces the strength of kings." Behold how David calls Him Lord and the Son of God.
CHAPTER XIII.--CHRISTIANS, AND NOT JEWS, THE HEIRS OF THE COVENANT.
But let us see if this people is the heir, or the former, and if the covenant belongs to us or to them. Hear you now what the Scripture says concerning the people. Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren; and she conceived. Furthermore also, Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in your belly; and the one people shall surpass the other, and the eider shall serve the younger." You ought to understand who was Isaac, who Rebecca, and concerning what persons He declared that this people should be greater than that. And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more clearly to his son Joseph, saying, "Behold, the Lord has not deprived me of your presence; bring your sons to me, that I may bless them." And he brought Manasseh and Ephraim, desiring that Manasseh should be blessed, because he was the eider. With this view Joseph led him to the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in spirit the type of the people to arise afterwards. And what says [the Scripture]? And Jacob changed the direction of his bands, and laid his fight hand upon the head of Ephraim, the second and younger, and blessed him. And Joseph said to Jacob, "Transfer your right hand to the head of Manasseh, for he is my first-born son." And Jacob said, "I know it, my son, I know it; but the eider shall serve the younger: yet he also shall be blessed." you see on whom he laid [his hands], that this people should be first, and heir of the covenant. If then, still further, the same thing was intimated through Abraham, we reach the perfection of our knowledge. What, then, says He to Abraham? "Because you have believed, it is imputed to you for righteousness: behold, I have made you the father of those nations who believe in the Lord while in [a state of] uncircumcision."
CHAPTER XIV.--THE LORD has GIVEN US THE TESTAMENT WHICH MOSES RECEIVED AND BROKE.
Yes [it is even so]; but let us inquire if the Lord has really given that testament which He swore to the fathers that He would give to the people. He did give it; but they were not worthy to receive it, on account of their sins. For the prophet declares, "And Moses was fasting forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, that he might receive the testament of the Lord for the people." And he received from the Lord two tables, written in the spirit by the finger of the hand of the Lord. And Moses having received them, carried them down to give to the people. And the Lord said to Moses, "Moses, Moses, go down quickly; for your people has sinned, whom you didst bring out of the land of Egypt." And Moses understood that they had again made molten images; and he threw the tables out of his hands, and the tables of the testament of the Lord were broken. Moses then received it, but they proved themselves unworthy. Learn now how we have received it. Moses, as a servant, received it; but the Lord himself, having suffered in our behalf, has given it to us, that we should be the people of inheritance. But He was manifested, in order that they might be perfected in their iniquities, and that we, being constituted heirs through Him, might receive the testament of the Lord Jesus, who was prepared for this end, that by His personal manifestation, redeeming our hearts (which were already wasted by death, and given over to the iniquity of error) from darkness, He might by His word enter into a covenant with us. For it is written how the Father, about to redeem us from darkness, commanded Him to prepare a holy people for Himself. The prophet therefore declares, "I, the Lord your God, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will strengthen Thee; and I have given you for a covenant to the people, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from fetters them that are bound, and those that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." you perceive, then, whence we have been redeemed. And again, the prophet says, "Behold, I have appointed you as a light to the nations, that you might be for salvation even to the ends of the earth, says the Lord God that redeems you." And again, the prophet says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the humble: He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense; to comfort all that mourn."
CHAPTER XV.--THE FALSE AND THE TRUE SABBATH.
Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, "And sanctify you the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart." And He says in another place, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them." The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, "Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on the seventh day." This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, "You shall sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart." If, therefore, any one can now sanctify the day which God has sanctified, except he is pure in heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, He says to them, "You r new moons and your Sabbath I cannot endure." you perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens.
CHAPTER XVI.--THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE OF GOD.
Moreover, I will also tell you concerning the temple, how the wretched [Jews], wandering in error, trusted not in God Himself, but in the temple, as being the house of God. For almost after the manner of the Gentiles they worshipped Him in the temple. But learn how the Lord speaks, when abolishing it: "Who has meted out heaven with a span, and the earth with his palm? Have not I?" "Thus says the Lord, Heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool: what kind of house will you build to Me, or what is the place of My rest?" you perceive that their hope is vain. Moreover, He again says, "Behold, they who have cast down this temple, even they shall build it up again." It has so happened. For through their going to war, it was destroyed by their enemies; and now: they, as the servants of their enemies, shall rebuild it. Again, it was revealed that the city and the temple and the people of Israel were to be given up. For the Scripture says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the Lord will deliver up the sheep of His pasture, and their sheep-fold and tower, to destruction." And it so happened as the Lord had spoken. Let us inquire, then, if there still is a temple of God. There is--where He himself declared He would make and finish it. For it is written, "And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord." I find, therefore, that a temple does exist. Learn, then, how it shall be built in the name of the Lord. Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, as being indeed like a temple made with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and was a habitation of demons, through our doing such things as were opposed to [the will of] God. But it shall be built, observe you, in the name of the Lord, in order that the temple of the Lord may be built in glory. How? Learn [as follows]. Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple, that is, the mouth; and by giving us repentance introduced us into the incorruptible temple. He then, who wishes to be saved, looks not to man, but to Him who dwells in him, and speaks in him, amazed at never having either heard him utter such words with his mouth, nor himself having ever desired to hear them. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord.
CHAPTER XVII.--CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST PART OF THE EPISTLE.
As far as was possible, and could be done with perspicuity, I cherish the hope that, according to my desire, I have omitted none of those things at present [demanding consideration], which bear upon your salvation. For if I should write to you about things future, you would not understand, because such knowledge is hid in parables. These things then are so.
CHAPTER XVIII.--SECOND PART OF THE EPISTLE. THE TWO WAYS.
But let us now pass to another sort of knowledge and doctrine. There are two ways of doctrine and authority, the one of light, and the other of darkness. But there is a great difference between these two ways. For over one are stationed the light-bringing angels of God, but over the other the angels' of Satan. And He indeed (i.e., God) is Lord for ever and ever, but he (i.e., Satan) is prince of the time of iniquity.
CHAPTER XIX.--THE WAY OF LIGHT.
The way of light, then, is as follows. If any one desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. you shall love Him that created thee: you shall glorify Him that redeemed you from death. you shall be simple in heart, and rich in spirit. you shall not join yourself to those who walk in the way of death. you shall hate doing what is unpleasing to God: you shall hate all hypocrisy. you shall not forsake the commandments of the Lord. you shall not exalt yourself, but shall be of a lowly mind. you shall not take glory to yourself. you shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor. you shall not allow over-boldness to enter into your soul. you shall not commit fornication: you shall not commit adultery: you shall not be a corrupter of youth. you shall not let the word of God issue from your lips with any kind of impurity. you shall not accept persons when you reprove any one for transgression. you shall be meek: you shall be peaceable. you shall tremble at the words which you hear. you shall not be mindful of evil against your brother. you shall not be of doubtful mind as to whether a thing shall be or not. you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. you shall love your neighbor more than your own soul. you shall not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shall you destroy it after it is born. you shall not withdraw your hand from your son, or from your daughter, but from their infancy you shall teach them the fear of the Lord. you shall not covet what is your neighbor's, nor shall you be avaricious. you shall not be joined in soul with the haughty, but you shall be reckoned With the righteous and lowly. Receive you as good things the trials which come upon you. you shall not be of double mind or of double tongue, for a double tongue is a snare of death. you shall be subject to the Lord, and to [other] masters as the image of God, with modesty and fear. you shall not issue orders with bitterness to your maidservant or your man-servant, who trust in the same [God], lest you should not reverence that God who is above both; for He came to call men not according to their outward appearance, but according as the Spirit had prepared them. you shall communicate in all things with your neighbor; you shall not call things your own; for if you are partakers in common of things which are incorruptible, how much more [should you be] of those things which are corruptible! you shall not be hasty with your tongue, for the mouth is a snare of death. As far as possible, you shall be pure in your soul. Do not be ready to stretch forth your hands to take, whilst you contrast them to give. you shall love, as the apple of your eye, every one that speaks to you the word of the Lord. you shall remember the day of judgment, night and day. you shall seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word, or by your hands you shall labor for the redemption of your sins. you shall not hesitate to give, nor murmur when you gives. "Give to every one that asks you," and you shall know who is the good Recompenser of the reward. you shall preserve what you have received [in charge], neither adding to it nor taking from it. To the last you shall hate the wicked [one]. you shall judge righteously. you shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. you shall confess your sins. you shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light.
CHAPTER XX.--THE WAY OF DARKNESS.
But the way of darkness is crooked, and full of cursing; for it is the way of eternal death with punishment, in which way are the things that destroy the soul, viz., idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, rapine, haughtiness, transgression, deceit, malice, self-sufficiency, poisoning, magic, avarice, want of the fear of God. [In this way, too,] are those who persecute the good, those who hate truth, those who love falsehood, those who know not the reward of righteousness, those who cleave not to that which is good, those who attend not with just judgment to the widow and orphan, those who watch not to the fear of God, [but incline] to wickedness, from whom meekness and patience are far off; persons who love vanity, follow after a reward, pity not the needy, labor not in aid of him who is overcome with toil; who are prone to evil-speaking, who know not Him that made them, who are murderers of children, destroyers of the workmanship of God; who turn away him that is in want, who oppress the afflicted, who are advocates of the rich, who are unjust judges of the poor, and who are in every respect transgressors.
CHAPTER XXI.--CONCLUSION.
It is well, therefore, that he who has learned the judgments of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who keeps these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooses other things shall be destroyed with his works. On this account there will be a resurrection, on this account a retribution. I beseech you who are superiors, if you will receive any counsel of my good-will, have among yourselves those to whom you may show kindness: do not forsake them. For the day is at hand on which all things shall perish with the evil [one]. The Lord is near, and His reward. Again, and yet again, I beseech you: be good lawgivers to one another; continue faithful counselors of one another; take away from among you all hypocrisy. And may God, who rules over all the world, give to you wisdom, intelligence, understanding, knowledge of His judgments, with patience. And be you taught of God, inquiring diligently what the Lord asks from you; and do it that you may be safe in the day of judgment. And if you have any remembrance of what is good, be mindful of me, meditating on these things, in order that both my desire and watchfulness may result in some good. I beseech you, entreating this as a favor. While yet you are in this fair vessel, do not fail in any one of those things, but unceasingly seek after them, and fulfill every commandment; for these things are worthy. Wherefore I have been the more earnest to write to you, as my ability served, that I might cheer you. Farewell, you children of love and peace. The Lord of glory and of all grace be with your spirit. Amen.
| Top of Page | Christian Documents | CHU 395 | HOME |