# Epistle of Barnabas 2.10

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:344–346; Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 340–407 (Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/2/10/

Summary: The true sacrifice is a broken heart; guard against the evil one.

## Greek text

ἡμῖν οὖν οὕτως λέγει· Θυσία τῷ κυρίῳ καρδία συντετριμμένη, ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας τῷ κυρίῳ καρδία δοξάζουσα τὸν πεπλακότα αὐτήν. ἀκριβεύεσθαι οὖν ὀφείλομεν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν, ἵνα μὴ ὁ πονηρὸς παρείσδυσιν πλάνης ποιήσας ἐν ἡμῖν ἐκσφενδονήσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν.

## English translation (Claude)

To us, then, he speaks thus: “A sacrifice to the Lord is a broken heart; a sweet fragrance to the Lord is a heart that glorifies the one who formed it.” We ought, then, brothers, to be very careful about our salvation, so that the evil one may not slip error into us and hurl us out of our life.

## Scripture references

- Ps 51:17 (50:19 LXX): quotation, high confidence

## Translation notes

- The first line is from Ps 51:17; the second is not in the Old Testament (a similar line appears in the Apocalypse of Adam).

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 2.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/2/10/).