Epistle of Barnabas

Greetings, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord who loved us, in peace.

Since God's righteous decrees toward you are great and rich, I rejoice above all and beyond measure in your blessed and glorious spirits; so implanted is the grace of the spiritual gift that you have received.

Therefore I rejoice all the more with myself in the hope of being saved, because I truly see among you the Spirit poured out upon you from the riches of the Lord's fountain. So greatly did the sight of you, which I had longed for, astonish me concerning you.

Being persuaded of this, then, and conscious that, having spoken much among you, I know that the Lord traveled with me on the way of righteousness, I too am wholly compelled to this: to love you more than my own life, because great faith and love dwell in you in the hope of his life.

Considering this, then, that if I take care to share with you some part of what I have received, it will bring me a reward for having served such spirits, I have hastened to send you a short letter, so that along with your faith you may have perfect knowledge.

There are, then, three teachings of the Lord: the hope of life, the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness, the beginning and end of judgment; love of gladness and exultation, the testimony of works of righteousness.

For the Master has made known to us through the prophets the things that are past and the things that are present, and has given us a foretaste of the things to come. As we see these things coming to pass one by one, just as he spoke, we ought to draw near to the fear of him more richly and more loftily.

But I, not as a teacher but as one of you, will point out a few things by which you will be gladdened in the present circumstances.

Since, then, the days are evil and the one who is at work has the power, we ought to pay attention to ourselves and seek out the righteous decrees of the Lord.

The helpers of our faith, then, are fear and endurance, and our allies are patience and self-control.

While these remain in purity toward the Lord, wisdom, understanding, insight, and knowledge rejoice with them.

For he has made clear to us through all the prophets that he needs neither sacrifices nor burnt offerings nor offerings, saying in one place:

“What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats, not even if you come to appear before me. For who has required these things from your hands? You shall no longer trample my court. If you bring fine flour, it is futile; incense is an abomination to me; your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure.”

These things, then, he abolished, so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of compulsion, might have an offering not made by human hands.

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?

But this is what I commanded them: let none of you bear a grudge in his heart against his neighbor, and do not love a false oath.”

We ought to perceive, then, since we are not without understanding, the gracious purpose of our Father, for he speaks to us, wishing us not to go astray as they did, but to seek how we may draw near to him.

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.

Again, then, he speaks to them about these things: “Why do you fast for me, says the Lord, so that today your voice is heard in a shout? This is not the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord, not a man humbling his soul;

not even if you bend your neck like a ring and put on sackcloth and spread ashes beneath you, not even so will you call it an acceptable fast.”

But to us he says, “Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord: loose every bond of unrighteousness, untie the knots of forced contracts, send away the broken in release, and tear up every unjust agreement. Break your bread for the hungry, and if you see someone naked, clothe him; bring the homeless into your house; and if you see a lowly person, do not despise him, nor anyone of your own family.

Then your light will break forth early, and your healing will spring up quickly, and righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you.

Then you will call out, and God will hear you; while you are still speaking he will say, ‘Behold, here I am’: if you take away from yourself the bond and the pointing of the finger and the word of grumbling, and give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and have mercy on a humbled soul.”

For this reason, then, brothers, the long-suffering one, foreseeing that the people whom he prepared in his Beloved would believe in innocence, revealed everything to us beforehand, so that we might not be shipwrecked as proselytes to their law.

We must, then, search diligently about present things and seek out what is able to save us. Let us flee completely from all the works of lawlessness, lest the works of lawlessness overtake us; and let us hate the error of the present time, so that we may be loved in the time to come.

Let us not give our soul freedom to run with sinners and wicked people, lest we become like them.

The final stumbling block has drawn near, about which it is written, as Enoch says: “For this reason the Master has cut short the times and the days, so that his Beloved may hurry and come to his inheritance.”

And the prophet also speaks thus: “Ten kingdoms will reign upon the earth, and after them a little king will arise, who will subdue three of the kings at once.”

Likewise Daniel says concerning the same: “And I saw the fourth beast, wicked and strong and more fierce than all the beasts of the sea, and how ten horns sprang from it, and from them a little offshoot horn, and how it subdued three of the great horns at once.”

You ought, then, to understand. And I ask you this also, as one who is one of you and who loves you all individually more than my own life: take heed to yourselves now, and do not be like some, heaping up your sins and saying that the covenant is both theirs and ours.

It is ours; but they lost it completely in this way, after Moses had already received it. For the scripture says, “And Moses was on the mountain fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord, stone tablets written with the finger of the hand of the Lord.”

But turning to idols they lost it. For the Lord says thus: “Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have acted lawlessly.” And Moses understood, and threw the two tablets out of his hands; and their covenant was broken, so that the covenant of the Beloved, Jesus, might be sealed in our hearts in the hope of faith in him.

Though I wish to write many things, not as a teacher but as befits one who loves, not to fall short of what we have, I have hastened to write, I your devoted servant. So let us take heed in the last days; for the whole time of our faith will profit us nothing unless now, in the lawless time and in the stumbling blocks to come, we resist, as befits sons of God, so that the Black One may not find a way in.

Let us flee from all vanity; let us utterly hate the works of the evil way. Do not withdraw by yourselves and live alone, as though already justified, but come together and seek together what is for the common good.

For the scripture says, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Let us become spiritual; let us become a perfect temple for God. As far as it lies with us, let us practice the fear of God and strive to keep his commandments, so that we may rejoice in his righteous decrees.

The Lord will judge the world without partiality. Each will receive according to what he has done. If he is good, his righteousness will go before him; if he is wicked, the wages of wickedness will be before him.

Let us never rest as those who are called and fall asleep in our sins, and the evil ruler gain power over us and thrust us out of the kingdom of the Lord.

And consider this also, my brothers: when you see that after such great signs and wonders were done in Israel, even so they were abandoned, let us take heed lest, as it is written, we be found “many called, but few chosen.”

For this reason the Lord endured to hand over his flesh to destruction, so that we might be made pure by the forgiveness of sins, that is, by his sprinkled blood.

For it is written about him, some things concerning Israel and some concerning us, and it says thus: “He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our sins; by his stripes we were healed. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer.”

We ought, then, to give great thanks to the Lord, because he has made known to us the things that are past, and made us wise in things present, and we are not without understanding regarding things to come.

And the scripture says, “Not unjustly are nets spread for birds.” It means this: that a man who has knowledge of the way of righteousness will justly perish if he shuts himself up in the way of darkness.

And further, my brothers: if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, though he is Lord of the whole world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness,” how, then, did he endure to suffer at the hand of men?

Learn: the prophets, having their grace from him, prophesied of him; and he, in order to abolish death and show the resurrection from the dead, because he had to be manifested in the flesh, endured,

so that he might fulfill the promise made to the fathers, and, preparing the new people for himself, show while he was on earth that he himself will raise the dead and will judge.

Indeed, he taught Israel and did such great wonders and signs, and preached, and loved them exceedingly.

And when he chose his own apostles, who were to preach his gospel, men who were lawless beyond all sin, so that he might show that he came not to call the righteous but sinners, then he revealed himself to be the Son of God.

For if he had not come in the flesh, how could people have been saved by looking at him? For when they look at the sun, which will cease to exist and is the work of his hands, they cannot gaze directly into its rays.

So the Son of God came in the flesh for this reason, that he might bring to completion the full measure of sins of those who persecuted his prophets to death.

So for this he endured. For God says that the wound of his flesh came from them: “When they strike their shepherd, then the sheep of the flock will perish.”

But he himself willed to suffer thus, for it was necessary that he suffer on a tree. For the one who prophesies of him says, “Spare my soul from the sword,” and, “Nail my flesh, for the assemblies of evildoers have risen up against me.”

And again he says, “Behold, I have given my back to scourges and my cheeks to blows, and I have set my face like a solid rock.”

When, then, he gave the command, what does he say? “Who is the one who disputes with me? Let him oppose me. Or who is the one who goes to law with me? Let him draw near to the Servant of the Lord.

Woe to you, for you will all grow old like a garment, and the moth will devour you.” And again the prophet says, since he was set as a strong stone for crushing: “Behold, I will lay in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, chosen, a cornerstone, honored.”

Then what does he say? “And whoever hopes in him will live forever.” Is our hope, then, in a stone? Certainly not; but because the Lord has set his flesh in strength. For he says, “And he set me like a solid rock.”

And the prophet says again, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.” And again he says, “This is the great and wonderful day that the Lord has made.”

I write to you more simply, so that you may understand; I am your love's devoted servant.

What, then, does the prophet say again? “An assembly of evildoers surrounded me; they encircled me like bees around a honeycomb,” and, “For my clothing they cast lots.”

Since, then, he was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, his suffering was revealed beforehand. For the prophet says concerning Israel, “Woe to their soul, for they have plotted an evil plot against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous one, for he is troublesome to us.’”

What does the other prophet, Moses, say to them? “Behold, thus says the Lord God: Enter into the good land, which the Lord swore to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

But what does knowledge say? Learn: “Hope,” it says, “in Jesus, who is about to be manifested to you in the flesh.” For man is earth that suffers; for the forming of Adam was from the face of the earth.

What, then, does it mean: “Into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey”? Blessed be our Lord, brothers, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of his secrets. For the prophet speaks a parable of the Lord: who will understand it, except one who is wise and understanding and loves his Lord?

Since, then, he renewed us by the forgiveness of sins, he made us another type, so that we have the soul of children, as though he were forming us anew.

For the scripture speaks about us, as he says to the Son: “Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them rule over the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven and the fish of the sea.” And the Lord said, seeing our beautiful form, “Increase and multiply and fill the earth.” These things he said to the Son.

Again I will show you how he speaks to us. He made a second creation in the last days. And the Lord says, “Behold, I make the last things like the first.” For this reason, then, the prophet proclaimed, “Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey and rule over it.”

See, then, we have been formed anew, as he says again in another prophet: “Behold, says the Lord, I will take out of them” (that is, out of those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw) “the hearts of stone and put in hearts of flesh”; for he himself was to be manifested in the flesh and to dwell in us.

For the dwelling place of our heart, my brothers, is a holy temple to the Lord.

For the Lord says again, “And with what shall I appear before the Lord my God and be glorified?” He says, “I will confess you in the assembly of my brothers, and I will sing to you in the midst of the assembly of the saints.” So we are the ones whom he brought into the good land.

What, then, is the milk and honey? That a child is first nourished with honey, then with milk. So also we, being nourished by faith in the promise and by the word, will live and rule over the earth.

And we said above, “And let them increase and multiply and rule over the fish.” Who, then, is now able to rule over beasts or fish or birds of heaven? For we ought to understand that to rule implies authority, so that one may command and have dominion.

If, then, this does not happen now, he has told us when: when we ourselves are made perfect so as to become heirs of the Lord's covenant.

Understand, then, children of gladness, that the good Lord revealed everything to us beforehand, so that we might know whom we ought to praise, giving thanks for everything.

If, then, the Son of God, being Lord and about to judge the living and the dead, suffered so that his wound might give us life, let us believe that the Son of God could not suffer except for our sake.

But also, when he was crucified, he was given vinegar and gall to drink. Hear how the priests of the temple revealed this. When the commandment was written, “Whoever does not keep the fast shall surely die,” the Lord commanded it, since he himself was to offer the vessel of the Spirit as a sacrifice for our sins, so that the type set forth in Isaac, who was offered on the altar, might be fulfilled.

What, then, does he say in the prophet? “And let them eat of the goat that is offered at the fast for all their sins.” Pay close attention: “And let the priests alone eat the entrails unwashed with vinegar.”

Why? Because you are going to give me gall with vinegar to drink when I am about to offer my flesh for the sins of my new people; you alone eat, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes; to show that he must suffer at their hands.

Pay attention to what he commanded: “Take two goats, good and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take one as a whole burnt offering for sins.”

And what shall they do with the other? “The other,” he says, “is accursed.” Notice how the type of Jesus is revealed:

“And all of you spit on it and pierce it, and put the scarlet wool around its head, and so let it be driven into the wilderness.” And when this has been done, the one who carries the goat leads it into the wilderness, takes off the wool, and places it on a bush called rachel, whose shoots we are accustomed to eat when we find them in the countryside; so sweet are the fruits of the rachel alone.

What, then, does this mean? Pay attention: “The one on the altar, the other accursed,” and why is the accursed one crowned? Because they will see him then on that day with the long scarlet robe about his flesh, and they will say, “Is this not the one whom we once crucified, despising and piercing and spitting on him? Truly this was the one who then said he was the Son of God.”

For how is he like that goat? For this reason the goats are alike, good, and equal: so that when they see him coming then, they may be astonished at the likeness of the goat. See, then, the type of Jesus, who was to suffer.

And why do they place the wool in the midst of the thorns? It is a type of Jesus set forth for the church: whoever wishes to take the scarlet wool must suffer much, because the thorn is fearsome, and gain it only through affliction. So, he says, those who wish to see me and lay hold of my kingdom must receive me through affliction and suffering.

And what do you think is the type in this, that Israel was commanded that men in whom sins are complete should offer a heifer, and slaughter and burn it, and that then children should take the ashes and put them into vessels, and tie the scarlet wool and the hyssop on a stick (see again the type of the cross and the scarlet wool), and so the children should sprinkle the people one by one, so that they might be purified from their sins?

Understand how simply he speaks to you. The calf is Jesus; the sinful men who offer it are those who brought him to the slaughter. Then there are no longer men, no longer the glory of sinners.

The children who sprinkle are those who preached to us the forgiveness of sins and the purification of the heart, to whom he gave authority over the gospel to preach (they were twelve, as a testimony to the tribes, because there are twelve tribes of Israel).

And why are there three children who sprinkle? As a testimony to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because these were great before God.

And why is the wool on the stick? Because the kingdom of Jesus is on the tree, and because those who hope in him will live forever.

And why the wool and the hyssop together? Because in his kingdom there will be evil and foul days, in which we shall be saved; for the one who suffers in the flesh is healed through the cleansing of the hyssop.

And for this reason these things, happening in this way, are plain to us but obscure to them, because they did not hear the voice of the Lord.

For he speaks again about the ears, how he circumcised our heart. The Lord says in the prophet, “At the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.” And again he says, “Those far off will hear with their hearing; they will know what I have done.” And, “Circumcise your hearts, says the Lord.”

And again he says, “Hear, O Israel, for thus says the Lord your God.” And again the Spirit of the Lord prophesies, “Who is the one who wishes to live forever? Let him listen closely to the voice of my Servant.”

And again he says, “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken these things as a testimony.” And again he says, “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of this people.” And again he says, “Hear, children, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” So he circumcised our hearing, so that we might hear the word and believe.

But the circumcision in which they trust has been abolished. For he declared that circumcision was not of the flesh; but they transgressed, because an evil angel deceived them.

He says to them, “Thus says the Lord your God” (here I find a commandment): “Do not sow among thorns; be circumcised to your Lord.” And what does he say? “Circumcise your hardness of heart, and do not stiffen your neck.” Take this again: “Behold, says the Lord, all the nations are uncircumcised in foreskin, but this people is uncircumcised in heart.”

But you will say, “Surely the people was circumcised as a seal.” But so is every Syrian and Arab and all the priests of the idols. Are they, then, also of their covenant? Why, even the Egyptians practice circumcision.

Learn, then, children of love, about everything richly: that Abraham, who first gave circumcision, circumcised looking forward in the Spirit to Jesus, having received the teachings of three letters.

For it says, “And Abraham circumcised from his household eighteen men and three hundred.” What, then, was the knowledge given to him? Learn that he mentions the eighteen first, and then, after a pause, the three hundred. The eighteen: I is ten, H is eight; you have Jesus. And because the cross in the letter T was to have grace, he mentions also the three hundred. So he shows Jesus in the two letters, and the cross in the one.

He who placed within us the implanted gift of his teaching knows it. No one has learned from me a more genuine word; but I know that you are worthy.

Now when Moses said, “You shall not eat pig, nor eagle, nor hawk, nor crow, nor any fish that has no scales on it,” he received in his understanding three teachings.

Indeed, he says to them in Deuteronomy, “And I will establish my righteous decrees with this people.” So then, not eating is not a commandment of God; but Moses spoke in the Spirit.

So he mentioned the pig for this reason: you shall not cling, he means, to people who are like pigs; that is, when they live in luxury they forget the Lord, but when they are in want they acknowledge the Lord, just as the pig, when it eats, does not know its master, but when it is hungry it cries out, and when it has received food it is silent again.

“Nor shall you eat the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor the crow.” You shall not, he means, cling to or become like such people, who do not know how to provide their food by toil and sweat, but in their lawlessness seize what belongs to others, and, while walking about as if in innocence, watch and look around for someone to strip because of their greed; just as these birds alone do not provide food for themselves, but sit idle and seek how they may devour the flesh of others, being pests in their wickedness.

“And you shall not eat,” he says, “the lamprey, nor the octopus, nor the cuttlefish.” You shall not, he means, become like such people by clinging to them, who are utterly ungodly and already condemned to death; just as these fish alone are accursed and swim in the depths, not swimming like the rest, but dwelling on the ground below the deep.

But you shall not eat the hare either. Why? You shall not, he means, become a corrupter of boys, nor become like such people, because the hare gains an extra orifice every year; for as many years as it lives, so many holes it has.

Nor shall you eat the hyena. You shall not, he means, become an adulterer or a corrupter, nor become like such people. Why? Because this animal changes its nature every year, and is sometimes male, sometimes female.

But he rightly hated the weasel also. You shall not, he means, become like those whom we hear of doing lawlessness with the mouth because of impurity; nor shall you cling to impure women who do lawlessness with the mouth. For this animal conceives through its mouth.

Concerning foods, then, Moses received three teachings and spoke thus in the Spirit; but they, because of the desire of the flesh, accepted them as though they concerned food.

And David receives knowledge of the same three teachings and says: “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly,” just as the fish go in darkness into the depths; “and has not stood in the way of sinners,” just as those who seem to fear the Lord sin like the pig; “and has not sat in the seat of pestilent men,” just as the birds sit waiting for plunder. You have the full teaching also about food.

Again Moses says, “You shall eat every animal that divides the hoof and chews the cud.” What does he mean? That the one who receives food knows the one who feeds him, and resting upon him seems to rejoice. He spoke well, looking to the commandment. What, then, does he mean? Cling to those who fear the Lord, to those who meditate in their heart on the exact meaning of the word they have received, to those who speak and keep the Lord's righteous decrees, to those who know that meditation is a work of gladness and who chew over the word of the Lord. And what is the divided hoof? That the righteous man both walks in this world and awaits the holy age. See how well Moses legislated.

But how could they perceive or understand these things? But we, rightly understanding the commandments, speak them as the Lord wished. For this reason he circumcised our ears and our hearts, so that we might understand these things.

Let us inquire whether the Lord took care to reveal beforehand about the water and about the cross. Concerning the water, it is written of Israel how they would not accept the baptism that brings forgiveness of sins, but would build for themselves.

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 have forsaken me, the fountain of life, and have dug for themselves a pit of death.

Is my holy mountain Sinai a desert rock? For you will be like fledglings of a bird, fluttering about when taken from the nest.”

And again the prophet says, “I will go before you and level mountains and shatter bronze gates and break iron bars, and I will give you treasures that are dark, hidden, unseen, so that they may know that I am the Lord God.”

And, “You shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock.” And, “His water is sure; you will see a king in glory, and your soul will meditate on the fear of the Lord.”

And again in another prophet he says, “And the one who does these things will be like the tree planted by the streams of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall off, and everything he does will prosper.

Not so the ungodly, not so, but they are like the dust that the wind drives from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly will not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly will perish.”

Notice how he described the water and the cross together. For he means this: blessed are those who, having hoped on the cross, went down into the water; for he speaks of the reward “in its season”: then, he says, I will repay. But now, when he says, “its leaves will not fall off,” he means this: that every word that comes out of your mouth in faith and love will bring conversion and hope to many.

And again another prophet says, “And the land of Jacob was praised above all the earth.” He means this: he glorifies the vessel of his Spirit.

Then what does he say? “And there was a river flowing on the right, and beautiful trees grew up out of it; and whoever eats of them will live forever.”

He means this: that we go down into the water full of sins and filth, and come up bearing fruit, having in our heart fear and in our spirit hope in Jesus. “And whoever eats of these will live forever”: he means this: whoever, he says, hears these things spoken and believes will live forever.

Likewise again he defines the cross in another prophet, who says, “And when will these things be accomplished? The Lord says: When a tree is bent down and rises up, and when blood drips from a tree.” Again you have a word about the cross and about the one who was to be crucified.

And again he speaks to Moses, when Israel was being attacked by foreigners, and in order to remind them, while they were being attacked, that they had been handed over to death because of their sins: the Spirit speaks to Moses' heart, that he should make a type of the cross and of the one who was to suffer, because, he says, unless they hope in him they will be warred against forever. Moses, then, piled weapon upon weapon in the midst of the battle, and standing higher than everyone he stretched out his hands, and so Israel was again winning. Then, whenever he lowered them, they were being killed.

Why? So that they might know that they cannot be saved unless they hope in him.

And again in another prophet he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient people, who oppose my righteous way.”

Again Moses makes a type of Jesus, showing that he must suffer, and that the one they will think they have destroyed will himself give life, by a sign when Israel was falling (for the Lord made every kind of snake bite them, and they were dying, since the transgression happened through the serpent in Eve), in order to convince them that because of their transgression they would be handed over to the affliction of death.

Indeed, though Moses himself commanded, “You shall have neither a molten nor a carved image for your god,” he himself makes one, in order to show a type of Jesus. So Moses makes a bronze serpent and sets it up gloriously and calls the people by proclamation.

So they came together and begged Moses to offer a prayer for them, for their healing. And Moses said to them, “When,” he says, “any of you is bitten, let him come to the serpent that is placed on the tree, and let him hope, believing that though it is dead it can give life, and he will be saved at once.” And so they did. Again you have in these things also the glory of Jesus, that all things are in him and for him.

What again does Moses say to Jesus the son of Nun, when he gave him this name, being a prophet, so that all the people might listen to him alone? That the Father reveals everything about his Son Jesus.

So Moses says to Jesus the son of Nun, having given 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 will cut off by the roots the whole house of Amalek in the last days.”

See again: Jesus, not a son of man but the Son of God, yet manifested in type in the flesh. Since, then, they are going to say that the Christ is the son of David, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of sinners: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

And again Isaiah speaks thus: “The Lord said to my Christ, the Lord, whose right hand I have held, that nations should obey before him, and I will shatter the strength of kings.” See how David calls him Lord, and does not call him son.

Let us see whether this people or the former is the heir, and whether the covenant is for us or for them.

Hear, then, what the scripture says about the people: “And Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren, and she conceived. Then Rebecca went out to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in your belly; and one people will surpass the other, and the greater will serve the lesser.”

You ought to understand who Isaac is and who Rebecca is, and concerning whom he has shown that this people is greater than that one.

And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more plainly to Joseph his son, saying, “Behold, the Lord has not deprived me of your face; bring me your sons, that I may bless them.”

And he brought Ephraim and Manasseh, wishing Manasseh to 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 to come. And what does it say? “And Jacob crossed his hands and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the second and younger, and blessed him. And Joseph said to Jacob, Move your right hand onto the head of Manasseh, for he is my firstborn son. And Jacob said to Joseph, I know, child, I know; but the greater will serve the lesser, and this one too will be blessed.”

See on whom he has set it: that this people is first and heir of the covenant.

If, then, it was also mentioned through Abraham, we have the completion of our knowledge. What, then, does he say to Abraham, when he alone believed and was set for righteousness? “Behold, I have made you, Abraham, the father of the nations who believe in God in uncircumcision.”

Yes. But let us see whether he has given the covenant that he swore to the fathers to give to the people. He has given it; but they were not worthy to receive it because of their sins.

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 tablets written by the finger of the hand of the Lord in the Spirit.” And having received them, Moses was bringing them down to give to the people.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt has acted lawlessly.” And Moses understood that they had again made themselves molten images, and he threw them out of his hands, and the tablets of the covenant of the Lord were broken.

Moses received it, but they were not worthy. But learn how we received it. Moses received it as a servant, but the Lord himself gave it to us, to be a people of inheritance, having endured suffering for our sake.

And he was manifested, so that they might be made complete in their sins, and we might receive the covenant through the Lord Jesus who inherited it, who was prepared for this, so that, when he appeared, he might redeem from darkness our hearts, already spent by death and handed over to the lawlessness of error, and establish a covenant in us by his word.

For it is written how the Father commands him, having redeemed us from darkness, to prepare a holy people for himself.

So the prophet says, “I, the Lord your God, have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand and strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out from their chains those who are bound, and from the prison house those who sit in darkness.” We know, then, from what we have been redeemed.

Again the prophet says, “Behold, I have made you a light for the nations, that you may be for salvation to the end of the earth; thus says the Lord, the God who redeemed you.”

And again the prophet says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good news of grace to the lowly; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim 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 who mourn.”

Further, then, concerning the Sabbath also it is written in the Ten Words, in which he spoke face to face to Moses on Mount Sinai: “And sanctify the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a clean heart.”

And in another place he says, “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then I will bestow my mercy upon them.”

He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of creation: “And God made the works of his hands in six days, and finished on the seventh day, and rested on it and sanctified it.”

Pay attention, children, to what “he finished in six days” means. It means this: that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to completion; for with him a day signifies a thousand years. And he himself testifies to me, saying, “Behold, the day of the Lord will be as a thousand years.” So then, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be brought to completion.

“And he rested on the seventh day.” This means: when his Son comes and abolishes the time of the lawless one, and judges the ungodly, and changes the sun and the moon and the stars, then he will truly rest on the seventh day.

Indeed, he says, “You shall sanctify it with clean hands and a clean heart.” If, then, anyone can now sanctify the day that God sanctified by being pure in heart, we are deceived in everything.

See, then, that we will truly rest and sanctify it only then, when we are able to do so ourselves, having been justified and having received the promise, when lawlessness is no more and all things have been made new by the Lord. Then we will be able to sanctify it, having first been sanctified ourselves.

Indeed, he says to them, “Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure.” Do you see what he means? The present sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but the one that I have made, on which, having brought all things to rest, I will make the beginning of an eighth day, that is, the beginning of another world.

For this reason we also keep the eighth day with gladness, the day on which Jesus also rose from the dead, and, having been manifested, ascended into heaven.

Further, I will also speak to you about the temple, how the wretched people, going astray, set their hope on the building and not on their God who made them, as if it were the house of God.

For almost like the Gentiles they consecrated him in the temple. But learn how the Lord speaks, abolishing it: “Who has measured heaven with a span, or the earth with his hand? Have not I? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet; what kind of house will you build for me, or what is the place of my rest?” You have learned that their hope is vain.

Indeed, again he says, “Behold, those who tore down this temple will themselves build it.”

It is happening. For because they went to war it was torn down by their enemies; now the very servants of their enemies will build it up again.

Again, it was revealed that the city and the temple and the people of Israel were to be handed over. For the scripture says, “And it will come to pass in the last days that the Lord will hand over the sheep of the pasture and the fold and their tower to destruction.” And it happened as the Lord said.

But let us inquire whether there is a temple of God. There is, where he himself says he makes and completes it. For it is written, “And it will come to pass, when the week is completed, that a temple of God will be built gloriously in the name of the Lord.”

I find, then, that there is a temple. Learn, then, how it will be built in the name of the Lord. Before we believed in God, the dwelling place of our heart was corrupt and weak, truly a temple built by hand; for it was full of idolatry and was a house of demons, because we did whatever was contrary to God.

“But it will be built in the name of the Lord.” Pay attention, so that the temple of the Lord may be built gloriously. Learn how: having received the forgiveness of sins and hoped on the name, we became new, created again from the beginning; therefore God truly dwells in us, in our dwelling place.

How? His word of faith, his calling of promise, the wisdom of the righteous decrees, the commandments of the teaching, he himself prophesying in us, he himself dwelling in us: opening for us who were enslaved to death the door of the temple, which is the mouth, and giving us repentance, he leads us into the incorruptible temple.

For the one who longs to be saved looks not to the man but to the one who dwells and speaks in him, amazed at him, that he has never heard such words from the speaker's mouth, nor ever himself desired to hear them. This is a spiritual temple being built for the Lord.

As far as it was possible to explain to you simply, my soul hopes, according to my desire, that I have not left out anything that pertains to salvation.

For if I write to you about things present or to come, you will not understand, because they are set in parables. So much for these things.

But let us pass on also to another knowledge 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 over the one are set light-bearing angels of God, and over the other angels of Satan.

And the one is Lord from eternity to eternity, and the other is the ruler of the present time of lawlessness.

This, then, is the way of light: if anyone wishes to travel the way to the appointed place, let him be zealous in his works. The knowledge given to us for walking in it is this:

You shall love the one who made you; you shall fear the one who formed you; you shall glorify the one who redeemed you from death. You shall be simple in heart and rich in spirit. You shall not join those who walk in the way of death. You shall hate everything that is not pleasing to God; you shall hate all hypocrisy. You shall never abandon the commandments of the Lord.

You shall not exalt yourself, but shall be humble-minded in all things. You shall not take glory upon yourself. You shall not form an evil plan against your neighbor. You shall not give your soul arrogance.

You shall not commit sexual immorality; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt boys. The word of God shall never go out from you among any who are impure. You shall not show partiality in rebuking anyone for a transgression. You shall be gentle; you shall be quiet; you shall tremble at the words you have heard. You shall not bear a grudge against your brother.

You shall not be double-minded whether it shall be or not. You shall never take the name of the Lord in vain. You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor again kill it when it is born. You shall not withhold your hand from your son or your daughter, but from their youth you shall teach them the fear of God.

You shall not covet your neighbor's goods; you shall not be greedy. Nor shall you join yourself from your soul to the lofty, but you shall live with the humble and righteous. You shall accept the things that happen to you as good, knowing that nothing happens without God.

You shall not be double-minded or double-tongued. You shall be subject to masters as to a representation of God, with respect and fear. You shall never give orders in bitterness to your male or female slave, who hope in the same God, lest they cease to fear the God who is over both; for he came not to call people according to their status, but those whom the Spirit prepared.

You shall share everything with your neighbor and not say that anything is your own; for if you are sharers in what is imperishable, how much more in perishable things? You shall not be quick to speak, for the mouth is a snare of death. As far as you can, you shall be pure for your soul's sake.

Do not be one who stretches out his hands to receive, but draws them back when it comes to giving. You shall love as the apple of your eye everyone who speaks to you the word of the Lord.

You shall remember the day of judgment night and day, and you shall seek out every day the company of the saints, either laboring by word and going to exhort and striving to save a soul by the word, or working with your hands for a ransom for your sins.

You shall not hesitate to give, nor grumble when giving; but you shall know who is the good paymaster of the reward. You shall keep what you have received, neither adding nor taking away. You shall utterly hate evil. You shall judge justly.

You shall not cause division, but you shall make peace by bringing together those who quarrel. You shall confess your sins. You shall not come to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light.

But the way of the Black One is crooked and full of curse. For it is the way of eternal death with punishment, in which are the things that destroy their soul: idolatry, boldness, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, robbery, pride, transgression, deceit, malice, self-will, sorcery, magic, greed, lack of the fear of God.

Persecutors of the good, hating truth, loving falsehood, not knowing the reward of righteousness, not clinging to the good nor to righteous judgment, paying no attention to the widow and the orphan, lying awake not for the fear of God but for evil; from whom gentleness and endurance are far and distant; loving vain things, pursuing reward, having no pity for the poor, not toiling for the oppressed, quick to slander, not knowing the one who made them, murderers of children, destroyers of God's handiwork, turning away the needy, oppressing the afflicted, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utterly sinful.

It is good, then, having learned the righteous decrees of the Lord, as many as are written, to walk in them. For whoever does these things will be glorified in the kingdom of God; whoever chooses those things will perish together with his works. For this reason there is a resurrection; for this reason there is a recompense.

I ask those who are in high positions, if you will accept any advice from my goodwill: you have among you those to whom you may do good; do not fail.

The day is near when everything will perish together with the evil one; the Lord and his reward are near.

Again and again I ask you: be good lawgivers for one another; remain faithful counselors of one another; remove all hypocrisy from among you.

And may God, who rules the whole world, give you wisdom, understanding, insight, knowledge of his righteous decrees, and endurance.

And be taught by God, seeking out what the Lord seeks from you, and do it, so that you may be found on the day of judgment.

And if there is any remembrance of good, remember me as you meditate on these things, so that both my desire and my watchfulness may come to some good. I ask you, begging this as a favor.

While the good vessel is still with you, do not fail in any of these things, but seek them out constantly and fulfill every commandment; for they are worthy.

For this reason I have been all the more eager to write, as far as I was able, to gladden you. Farewell, children of love and peace. The Lord of glory and of all grace be with your spirit. [The Epistle of Barnabas.]