1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 23.4 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 23.4. לֹא־יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי בִּקְהַל יְהוָה גַּם דּוֹר עֲשִׂירִי לֹא־יָבֹא לָהֶם בִּקְהַל יְהוָה עַד־עוֹלָם׃ | 23.4. An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever;" |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 4.11-4.12 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 4.11. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלָיו מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם אוֹ מִי־יָשׂוּם אִלֵּם אוֹ חֵרֵשׁ אוֹ פִקֵּחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר הֲלֹא אָנֹכִי יְהוָה׃ 4.12. וְעַתָּה לֵךְ וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה עִם־פִּיךָ וְהוֹרֵיתִיךָ אֲשֶׁר תְּדַבֵּר׃ | 4.11. And the LORD said unto him: ‘Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the LORD?" 4.12. Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.’" |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Job, 1.6-1.12, 5.9, 9.10 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 1.6. וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם וַיָּבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים לְהִתְיַצֵּב עַל־יְהוָה וַיָּבוֹא גַם־הַשָּׂטָן בְּתוֹכָם׃ 1.7. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־הַשָּׂטָן מֵאַיִן תָּבֹא וַיַּעַן הַשָּׂטָן אֶת־יְהוָה וַיֹּאמַר מִשּׁוּט בָּאָרֶץ וּמֵהִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּהּ׃ 1.8. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־הַשָּׂטָן הֲשַׂמְתָּ לִבְּךָ עַל־עַבְדִּי אִיּוֹב כִּי אֵין כָּמֹהוּ בָּאָרֶץ אִישׁ תָּם וְיָשָׁר יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים וְסָר מֵרָע׃ 1.9. וַיַּעַן הַשָּׂטָן אֶת־יְהוָה וַיֹּאמַר הַחִנָּם יָרֵא אִיּוֹב אֱלֹהִים׃ 1.11. וְאוּלָם שְׁלַח־נָא יָדְךָ וְגַע בְּכָל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ אִם־לֹא עַל־פָּנֶיךָ יְבָרֲכֶךָּ׃ 1.12. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־הַשָּׂטָן הִנֵּה כָל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ בְּיָדֶךָ רַק אֵלָיו אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ וַיֵּצֵא הַשָּׂטָן מֵעִם פְּנֵי יְהוָה׃ 5.9. עֹשֶׂה גְדֹלוֹת וְאֵין חֵקֶר נִפְלָאוֹת עַד־אֵין מִסְפָּר׃ | 1.6. Now it fell upon a day, that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them." 1.7. And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Whence comest thou?’ Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’" 1.8. And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil?’" 1.9. Then Satan answered the LORD, and said: ‘Doth Job fear God for nought?" 1.10. Hast not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are increased in the land." 1.11. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, surely he will blaspheme Thee to Thy face.’" 1.12. And the LORD said unto Satan: ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.’ So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD." 5.9. Who doeth great things and unsearchable, Marvellous things without number;" 9.10. Who doeth great things past finding out; Yea, marvellous things without number." |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Psalms, 21.23, 68.18 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 68.18. רֶכֶב אֱלֹהִים רִבֹּתַיִם אַלְפֵי שִׁנְאָן אֲדֹנָי בָם סִינַי בַּקֹּדֶשׁ׃ | 68.18. The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in holiness." |
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5. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 52.7, 57.19 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 52.7. מַה־נָּאווּ עַל־הֶהָרִים רַגְלֵי מְבַשֵּׂר מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם מְבַשֵּׂר טוֹב מַשְׁמִיעַ יְשׁוּעָה אֹמֵר לְצִיּוֹן מָלַךְ אֱלֹהָיִךְ׃ 57.19. בּוֹרֵא נוב [נִיב] שְׂפָתָיִם שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם לָרָחוֹק וְלַקָּרוֹב אָמַר יְהוָה וּרְפָאתִיו׃ | 52.7. How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of the messenger of good tidings, That announceth peace, the harbinger of good tidings, That announceth salvation; That saith unto Zion: ‘Thy God reigneth! ’" 57.19. Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, Saith the LORD that createth the fruit of the lips; And I will heal him." |
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6. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 10.1-10.10 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 10.1. וַיהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֱמֶת הוּא־אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים וּמֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם מִקִּצְפּוֹ תִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ וְלֹא־יָכִלוּ גוֹיִם זַעְמוֹ׃ 10.1. שִׁמְעוּ אֶת־הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה עֲלֵיכֶם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ 10.2. כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה אֶל־דֶּרֶךְ הַגּוֹיִם אַל־תִּלְמָדוּ וּמֵאֹתוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם אַל־תֵּחָתּוּ כִּי־יֵחַתּוּ הַגּוֹיִם מֵהֵמָּה׃ 10.2. אָהֳלִי שֻׁדָּד וְכָל־מֵיתָרַי נִתָּקוּ בָּנַי יְצָאֻנִי וְאֵינָם אֵין־נֹטֶה עוֹד אָהֳלִי וּמֵקִים יְרִיעוֹתָי׃ 10.3. כִּי־חֻקּוֹת הָעַמִּים הֶבֶל הוּא כִּי־עֵץ מִיַּעַר כְּרָתוֹ מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי־חָרָשׁ בַּמַּעֲצָד׃ 10.4. בְּכֶסֶף וּבְזָהָב יְיַפֵּהוּ בְּמַסְמְרוֹת וּבְמַקָּבוֹת יְחַזְּקוּם וְלוֹא יָפִיק׃ 10.5. כְּתֹמֶר מִקְשָׁה הֵמָּה וְלֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ נָשׂוֹא יִנָּשׂוּא כִּי לֹא יִצְעָדוּ אַל־תִּירְאוּ מֵהֶם כִּי־לֹא יָרֵעוּ וְגַם־הֵיטֵיב אֵין אוֹתָם׃ 10.6. מֵאֵין כָּמוֹךָ יְהוָה גָּדוֹל אַתָּה וְגָדוֹל שִׁמְךָ בִּגְבוּרָה׃ 10.7. מִי לֹא יִרָאֲךָ מֶלֶךְ הַגּוֹיִם כִּי לְךָ יָאָתָה כִּי בְכָל־חַכְמֵי הַגּוֹיִם וּבְכָל־מַלְכוּתָם מֵאֵין כָּמוֹךָ׃ 10.8. וּבְאַחַת יִבְעֲרוּ וְיִכְסָלוּ מוּסַר הֲבָלִים עֵץ הוּא׃ 10.9. כֶּסֶף מְרֻקָּע מִתַּרְשִׁישׁ יוּבָא וְזָהָב מֵאוּפָז מַעֲשֵׂה חָרָשׁ וִידֵי צוֹרֵף תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן לְבוּשָׁם מַעֲשֵׂה חֲכָמִים כֻּלָּם׃ | 10.1. Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel;" 10.2. thus saith the LORD: Learn not the way of the nations, And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; For the nations are dismayed at them." 10.3. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; For it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, The work of the hands of the workman with the axe." 10.4. They deck it with silver and with gold, They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." 10.5. They are like a pillar in a garden of cucumbers, and speak not; They must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, Neither is it in them to do good." 10.6. There is none like unto Thee, O LORD; Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might." 10.7. Who would not fear Thee, O king of the nations? For it befitteth Thee; Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royalty, There is none like unto Thee." 10.8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: The vanities by which they are instructed are but a stock;" 10.9. Silver beaten into plates which is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; Blue and purple is their clothing; They are all the work of skilful men." 10.10. But the LORD God is the true God, He is the living God, and the everlasting King; At His wrath the earth trembleth, And the nations are not able to abide His indignation." |
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7. Euripides, Hercules Furens, 141-156, 140 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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8. Plato, Phaedrus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 247b. they proceed steeply upward to the top of the vault of heaven, where the chariots of the gods, whose well matched horses obey the rein, advance easily, but the others with difficulty; for the horse of evil nature weighs the chariot down, making it heavy and pulling toward the earth the charioteer whose horse is not well trained. There the utmost toil and struggle await the soul. For those that are called immortal, when they reach the top |
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9. Anon., 1 Enoch, 1.8-1.9 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.8. But with the righteous He will make peace.And will protect the elect, And mercy shall be upon them.And they shall all belong to God, And they shall be prospered, And they shall all be blessed.And He will help them all, And light shall appear unto them, And He will make peace with them'. 1.9. And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly:And to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. |
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10. Dead Sea Scrolls, Messianic Rule, 2.4-2.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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11. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 10.13, 10.20 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 10.13. וְשַׂר מַלְכוּת פָּרַס עֹמֵד לְנֶגְדִּי עֶשְׂרִים וְאֶחָד יוֹם וְהִנֵּה מִיכָאֵל אַחַד הַשָּׂרִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים בָּא לְעָזְרֵנִי וַאֲנִי נוֹתַרְתִּי שָׁם אֵצֶל מַלְכֵי פָרָס׃ | 10.13. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I was left over there beside the kings of Persia." 10.20. Then said he: Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I go forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come." |
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12. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 5.16, 14.19 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 5.16. When Judas and the people heard these messages, a great assembly was called to determine what they should do for their brethren who were in distress and were being attacked by enemies. 14.19. And these were read before the assembly in Jerusalem. |
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13. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 15.5, 21.17, 23.24, 38.33, 39.10 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 15.5. She will exalt him above his neighbors,and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly. 21.17. The utterance of a sensible man will be sought in the assembly,and they will ponder his words in their minds. 38.33. Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly. They do not sit in the judges seat,nor do they understand the sentence of judgment;they cannot expound discipline or judgment,and they are not found using proverbs. |
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14. Septuagint, Judith, 6.16, 14.10 (2nd cent. BCE - 0th cent. CE)
| 6.16. They called together all the elders of the city, and all their young men and their women ran to the assembly; and they set Achior in the midst of all their people, and Uzziah asked him what had happened. 14.10. And when Achior saw all that the God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God, and was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this day. |
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15. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 8.2 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 8.2. I loved her and sought her from my youth,and I desired to take her for my bride,and I became enamored of her beauty. |
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16. Philo of Alexandria, On The Sacrifices of Cain And Abel, 9-10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 10. In reference to which it is said of Moses, "That no one is said to know of his Tomb;" for who could be competent to perceive the migration of a perfect soul to the living God? Nor do I even believe that the soul itself while awaiting this event was conscious of its own improvement, inasmuch as it was at that time becoming gradually divine; for God, in the case of those persons whom he is about to benefit, does not take him who is to receive the advantage into his counsels, but is accustomed rather to pour his benefits ungrudgingly upon him without his having any previous anticipation of them. This is something like the meaning of God's adding the creation of what is good to the perfect mind. But the good is holiness, the name of which is Abel. IV. |
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17. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 2.189 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.189. for when," the scripture say, "the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies he will not be a Man." What then will he be if he is not a man? Will he be a God? I would not venture to say that (for the chief prophet, Moses, did receive the inheritance of this name while he was still in Egypt, being called "the god of Pharaoh;") nor again is he man, but he touches both these extremities as if he touched both the feet and the head. XXIX. |
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18. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Moses, 1.158 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.158. What more shall I say? Has he not also enjoyed an even greater communion with the Father and Creator of the universe, being thought unworthy of being called by the same appellation? For he also was called the god and king of the whole nation, and he is said to have entered into the darkness where God was; that is to say, into the invisible, and shapeless, and incorporeal world, the essence, which is the model of all existing things, where he beheld things invisible to mortal nature; for, having brought himself and his own life into the middle, as an excellently wrought picture, he established himself as a most beautiful and Godlike work, to be a model for all those who were inclined to imitate him. |
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19. Vitruvius Pollio, On Architecture, 1.2.1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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20. Epictetus, Discourses, 2.10.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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21. Mishnah, Berachot, 3.4-3.6 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 3.4. One who has had a seminal emission utters the words [of the Shema] in his heart and he doesn’t say a blessing, neither before nor after. Over food he says a blessing afterwards, but not the blessing before. Rabbi Judah says: he blesses both before them and after them." 3.5. If a man was standing saying the tefillah and he remembers that he is one who has had a seminal emission, he should not stop but he should abbreviate [the blessings]. If he went down to immerse, if he is able to come up and cover himself and recite the Shema before the rising of the sun, he should go up and cover himself and recite, but if not he should cover himself with the water and recite. He should not cover himself either with foul water or with steeping water until he pours fresh water into it. How far should he remove himself from it and from excrement? Four cubits." 3.6. A zav who has had a seminal emission and a niddah from whom semen escapes and a woman who becomes niddah during intercourse require a mikveh. Rabbi Judah exempts them." |
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22. Mishnah, Yevamot, 8.3 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 8.3. An Ammonite and a Moabite are forbidden [to enter into the congregation of the Lord] and their prohibition is for ever. However, their women are permitted at once. An Egyptian and an Edomite are forbidden only until the third generation, whether they are males or females. Rabbi Shimon permits their women immediately. Said Rabbi Shimon: This is a kal vehomer: if where the males are forbidden for all time the females are permitted immediately, where the males are forbidden only until the third generation how much more should the females be permitted immediately. They said to him: If this is a halakhah, we shall accept it; but if it is only a logical reference, there is a refutation. He replied: This is not so, I am in fact saying a halakhah. Mamzerim and nethinim are forbidden, and their prohibition is forever, whether they be males or females." |
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23. Mishnah, Yadayim, 4.4 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 4.4. On that day Judah, an Ammonite convert, came and stood before them in the house of study. He said to them: Do I have the right to enter into the assembly? Rabban Gamaliel said to him: you are forbidden. Rabbi Joshua said to him: you are permitted. Rabban Gamaliel said to him: the verse says, \"An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord: even to the tenth generation\" (Deuteronomy 23:4). R. Joshua said to him: But are the Ammonites and Moabites still in their own territory? Sanheriv, the king of Assyria, has long since come up and mingled all the nations, as it is said: \"In that I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants\" (Isaiah 10:1. Rabban Gamaliel said to him: the verse says, \"But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon,\" (Jeremiah 49:6) they have already returned. Rabbi Joshua said to him: [another] verse says, \"I will return the captivity of my people Israel and Judah\" (Amos 9:14). Yet they have not yet returned. So they permitted him to enter the assembly." |
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24. New Testament, 1 Peter, 1.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.12. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. |
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25. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1.2, 1.10, 1.19-1.24, 2.1-2.2, 2.6-2.14, 3.2, 3.10, 4.1-4.2, 4.16-4.17, 5.12-5.13, 6.2-6.3, 7.17, 8.5, 9.17, 10.11, 10.20-10.21, 10.32, 11.16, 11.18, 11.22, 12.4-12.29, 13.2, 14.1-14.35, 15.8-15.10, 15.24-15.27, 15.51, 16.1, 16.15, 16.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.2. to the assembly of God whichis at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to besaints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in everyplace, both theirs and ours: 1.10. Now Ibeg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that youall speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, butthat you be perfected together in the same mind and in the samejudgment. 1.19. For it is written,"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing. 1.20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyerof this world? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1.21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdomdidn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness ofthe preaching to save those who believe. 1.22. For Jews ask for signs,Greeks seek after wisdom 1.23. but we preach Christ crucified; astumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks 1.24. but to thosewho are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God andthe wisdom of God. 2.1. When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence ofspeech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2.2. ForI determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, andhim crucified. 2.6. We speak wisdom, however, among those who are fullgrown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world,who are coming to nothing. 2.7. But we speak God's wisdom in amystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained beforethe worlds to our glory 2.8. which none of the rulers of this worldhas known. For had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lordof glory. 2.9. But as it is written,"Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear,Which didn't enter into the heart of man,These God has prepared for those who love him. 2.10. But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For theSpirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 2.11. For whoamong men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man,which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God'sSpirit. 2.12. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but theSpirit which is from God, that we might know the things that werefreely given to us by God. 2.13. Which things also we speak, not inwords which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches,comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 2.14. Now thenatural man doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit, for they arefoolishness to him, and he can't know them, because they arespiritually discerned. 3.2. I fed you with milk, not withmeat; for you weren't yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready 3.10. According to the grace of Godwhich was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation,and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds onit. 4.1. So let a man think of us as Christ's servants, and stewards ofGod's mysteries. 4.2. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, thatthey be found faithful. 4.16. I beg you therefore, be imitators of me. 4.17. Becauseof this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithfulchild in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ,even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. 5.12. For what haveI to do with also judging those who are outside? Don't you judge thosewho are within? 5.13. But those who are outside, God judges. "Put awaythe wicked man from among yourselves. 6.2. Don't youknow that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judgedby you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 6.3. Don't youknow that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain tothis life? 7.17. Only, as the Lord hasdistributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So Icommand in all the assemblies. 8.5. For though there are things that are called "gods,"whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many "gods" and many"lords; 9.17. For if I do this of my own will, Ihave a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardshipentrusted to me. 10.11. Now all these thingshappened to them by way of example, and they were written for ouradmonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 10.20. But I say that thethings which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and notto God, and I don't desire that you would have communion with demons. 10.21. You can't both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.You can't both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table ofdemons. 10.32. Give no occasions for stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks,or to the assembly of God; 11.16. But if any man seems to be contentious, we have nosuch custom, neither do God's assemblies. 11.18. For firstof all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisionsexist among you, and I partly believe it. 11.22. What, don't you have houses to eat and to drink in?Or do you despise God's assembly, and put them to shame who don't have?What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don't praise you. 12.4. Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 12.5. There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. 12.6. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works allthings in all. 12.7. But to each one is given the manifestation of theSpirit for the profit of all. 12.8. For to one is given through theSpirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge,according to the same Spirit; 12.9. to another faith, by the sameSpirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; 12.10. and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and toanother discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages;and to another the interpretation of languages. 12.11. But the one andthe same Spirit works all of these, distributing to each one separatelyas he desires. 12.12. For as the body is one, and has many members, and all themembers of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. 12.13. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whetherJews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink intoone Spirit. 12.14. For the body is not one member, but many. 12.15. If the foot would say, "Because I'm not the hand, I'm not part of thebody," it is not therefore not part of the body. 12.16. If the earwould say, "Because I'm not the eye, I'm not part of the body," it'snot therefore not part of the body. 12.17. If the whole body were aneye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where wouldthe smelling be? 12.18. But now God has set the members, each one ofthem, in the body, just as he desired. 12.19. If they were all onemember, where would the body be? 12.20. But now they are many members,but one body. 12.21. The eye can't tell the hand, "I have no need foryou," or again the head to the feet, "I have no need for you. 12.22. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker arenecessary. 12.23. Those parts of the body which we think to be lesshonorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and ourunpresentable parts have more abundant propriety; 12.24. whereas ourpresentable parts have no such need. But God composed the bodytogether, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part 12.25. thatthere should be no division in the body, but that the members shouldhave the same care for one another. 12.26. When one member suffers,all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all themembers rejoice with it. 12.27. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 12.28. God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, secondprophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings,helps, governments, and various kinds of languages. 12.29. Are allapostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? 13.2. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and allknowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, butdon't have love, I am nothing. 14.1. Follow after love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, butespecially that you may prophesy. 14.2. For he who speaks in anotherlanguage speaks not to men, but to God; for no one understands; but inthe Spirit he speaks mysteries. 14.3. But he who prophesies speaks tomen for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. 14.4. He whospeaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesiesedifies the assembly. 14.5. Now I desire to have you all speak withother languages, but rather that you would prophesy. For he is greaterwho prophesies than he who speaks with other languages, unless heinterprets, that the assembly may be built up. 14.6. But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with otherlanguages, what would I profit you, unless I speak to you either by wayof revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching? 14.7. Even things without life, giving a voice, whether pipe or harp,if they didn't give a distinction in the sounds, how would it be knownwhat is piped or harped? 14.8. For if the trumpet gave an uncertainsound, who would prepare himself for war? 14.9. So also you, unlessyou uttered by the tongue words easy to understand, how would it beknown what is spoken? For you would be speaking into the air. 14.10. There are, it may be, so many kinds of sounds in the world, and none ofthem is without meaning. 14.11. If then I don't know the meaning ofthe sound, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he who speakswould be a foreigner to me. 14.12. So also you, since you are zealousfor spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of theassembly. 14.13. Therefore let him who speaks in another language praythat he may interpret. 14.14. For if I pray in another language, myspirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 14.15. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I willpray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and Iwill sing with the understanding also. 14.16. Otherwise if you blesswith the spirit, how will he who fills the place of the unlearned saythe "Amen" at your giving of thanks, seeing he doesn't know what yousay? 14.17. For you most assuredly give thanks well, but the otherperson is not built up. 14.18. I thank my God, I speak with otherlanguages more than you all. 14.19. However in the assembly I wouldrather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instructothers also, than ten thousand words in another language. 14.20. Brothers, don't be children in thoughts, yet in malice bebabies, but in thoughts be mature. 14.21. In the law it is written,"By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speakto this people. Not even thus will they hear me, says the Lord. 14.22. Therefore other languages are for a sign, not to those whobelieve, but to the unbelieving; but prophesying is for a sign, not tothe unbelieving, but to those who believe. 14.23. If therefore thewhole assembly is assembled together and all speak with otherlanguages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won't they saythat you are crazy? 14.24. But if all prophesy, and someoneunbelieving or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and he isjudged by all. 14.25. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed.So he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God isamong you indeed. 14.26. What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each oneof you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has anotherlanguage, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build eachother up. 14.27. If any man speaks in another language, let it be two,or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret. 14.28. Butif there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, andlet him speak to himself, and to God. 14.29. Let the prophets speak,two or three, and let the others discern. 14.30. But if a revelationis made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent. 14.31. Foryou all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may beexhorted. 14.32. The spirits of the prophets are subject to theprophets 14.33. for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.As in all the assemblies of the saints 14.34. let your wives keepsilent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them tospeak; but let them be in subjection, as the law also says. 14.35. Ifthey desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home,for it is shameful for a woman to chatter in the assembly. 15.8. and last of all, as to the child born at the wrongtime, he appeared to me also. 15.9. For I am the least of theapostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because Ipersecuted the assembly of God. 15.10. But by the grace of God I amwhat I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but Iworked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which waswith me. 15.24. Then the end comes, when he willdeliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will haveabolished all rule and all authority and power. 15.25. For he mustreign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 15.26. The lastenemy that will be abolished is death. 15.27. For, "He put all thingsin subjection under his feet." But when he says, "All things are put insubjection," it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all thingsto him. 15.51. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but wewill all be changed 16.1. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commandedthe assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 16.15. Now I beg you, brothers (you know the house of Stephanas,that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have setthemselves to minister to the saints) 16.19. The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greetyou much in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in theirhouse. |
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26. New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, 1.1, 2.2, 2.14-2.16, 3.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2.2. but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the gospel of God in much conflict. 2.14. For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews; 2.15. who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and didn't please God, and are contrary to all men; 2.16. forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost. 3.13. to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. |
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27. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 3.5, 3.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.5. (but if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?) 3.15. but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. |
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28. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 1.1, 2.8, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16, 4.4, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 5.20, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.14-7.1, 8.1, 8.18, 8.19, 8.23, 8.24, 10.1, 11.8, 11.23, 11.24, 11.25, 11.26, 11.27, 11.28, 11.29, 11.30, 11.31, 11.32, 11.33, 12.1, 12.7 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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29. New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, 1.1, 1.4, 1.10, 2.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ: 1.4. so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. 1.10. when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired among all those who have believed (because our testimony to you was believed) in that day. 2.1. Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you |
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30. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 2.10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.10. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. |
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31. New Testament, Acts, 1.8, 2.17, 5.11, 7.38, 8.1, 8.3, 11.22, 11.26, 12.1, 12.5, 13.1, 13.44-13.50, 14.1-14.7, 14.19-14.20, 14.23, 15.1-15.5, 15.22, 19.32, 19.39-19.40, 20.17, 20.28, 22.21 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. 2.17. 'It will be in the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. 5.11. Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things. 7.38. This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us 8.1. Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles. 8.3. But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house, and dragged both men and women off to prison. 11.22. The report concerning them came to the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem. They sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch 11.26. When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. It happened, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 12.1. Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly. 12.5. Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him. 13.1. Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 13.44. The next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God. 13.45. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed. 13.46. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 13.47. For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, 'I have set you as a light of the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.' 13.48. As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 13.49. The Lord's word was spread abroad throughout all the region. 13.50. But the Jews urged on the devout women of honorable estate, and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders. 14.1. It happened in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. 14.2. But the disobedient Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. 14.3. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 14.4. But the multitude of the city was divided. Part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 14.5. When some of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made a violent attempt to insult them and to stone them 14.6. they became aware of it, and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region. 14.7. There they preached the gospel. 14.19. But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 14.20. But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and entered into the city. On the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe. 14.23. When they had appointed elders for them in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed. 15.1. Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can't be saved. 15.2. Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 15.3. They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers. 15.4. When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that God had done with them. 15.5. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. 15.22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. 19.32. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn't know why they had come together. 19.39. But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly. 19.40. For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning this day's riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn't be able to give an account of this commotion. 20.17. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly. 20.28. Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood. 22.21. He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.' |
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32. New Testament, Apocalypse, 1.4, 1.20, 2.1, 2.7-2.8, 2.11, 2.17, 2.23, 3.1, 3.6, 3.14, 7.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.4. John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 1.20. the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies. 2.1. To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands says these things: 2.7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God. 2.8. To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: 2.11. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death. 2.17. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. 2.23. I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 3.1. And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: "I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 3.6. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. 3.14. To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things: 7.9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. |
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33. New Testament, James, 5.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.14. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord |
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34. New Testament, Philemon, 9, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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35. New Testament, Colossians, 1.3-1.20, 1.23-1.27, 1.29, 2.2, 2.10-2.12, 2.15-2.16, 2.18, 2.21, 3.1-3.4, 3.12-3.17, 4.1, 4.3, 4.12-4.13, 4.15-4.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.3. We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you 1.4. having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints 1.5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel 1.6. which has come to you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and increasing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 1.7. even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 1.8. who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 1.9. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don't cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding 1.10. that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 1.11. strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy; 1.12. giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 1.13. who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; 1.14. in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins; 1.15. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 1.16. For by him were all things created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. 1.17. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 1.18. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 1.19. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; 1.20. and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him, I say, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens. 1.23. if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 1.24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the assembly; 1.25. of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God 1.26. the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints 1.27. to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; 1.29. for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. 2.2. that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ 2.10. and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; 2.11. in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 2.12. having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 2.15. having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 2.16. Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day 2.18. Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind 2.21. Don't handle, nor taste, nor touch 3.1. If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 3.2. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3.3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 3.4. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. 3.12. Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 3.13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 3.14. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 3.15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 3.16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. 3.17. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him. 4.1. Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 4.3. praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; 4.12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 4.13. For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 4.15. Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house. 4.16. When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. |
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36. New Testament, Ephesians, 1.1-1.23, 2.1-2.22, 3.1-3.9, 3.11-3.21, 4.1-4.24, 4.27, 4.30, 4.32, 5.1-5.3, 5.5-5.6, 5.8-5.10, 5.14, 5.17-5.33, 6.1, 6.4-6.24 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1.2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; 1.4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; 1.5. having predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire 1.6. to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved 1.7. in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 1.8. which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence 1.9. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 1.10. to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him; 1.11. in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will; 1.12. to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: 1.13. in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, -- in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise 1.14. who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory. 1.15. For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints 1.16. don't cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers 1.17. that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; 1.18. having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints 1.19. and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 1.20. which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places 1.21. far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. 1.22. He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly 1.23. which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 2.1. You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins 2.2. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience; 2.3. among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 2.4. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us 2.5. even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) 2.6. and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus 2.7. that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 2.8. for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God 2.9. not of works, that no one would boast. 2.10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. 2.11. Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by that which is called "circumcision," (in the flesh, made by hands); 2.12. that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covets of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 2.13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 2.14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition 2.15. having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordices, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace; 2.16. and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby. 2.17. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 2.18. For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 2.19. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God 2.20. being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 2.21. in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 2.22. in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. 3.1. For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles 3.2. if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you; 3.3. how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words 3.4. by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; 3.5. which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 3.6. that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel 3.7. whereof I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. 3.8. To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ 3.9. and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ; 3.11. according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; 3.12. in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 3.13. Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory. 3.14. For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 3.15. from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named 3.16. that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 3.17. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love 3.18. may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth 3.19. and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 3.20. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us 3.21. to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. 4.1. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called 4.2. with all lowliness and humility, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love; 4.3. being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4.4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; 4.5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism 4.6. one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. 4.7. But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 4.8. Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. 4.9. Now this, "He ascended," what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 4.10. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 4.11. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 4.12. for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 4.13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 4.14. that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 4.15. but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 4.16. from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love. 4.17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind 4.18. being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; 4.19. who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 4.20. But you did not learn Christ that way; 4.21. if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 4.22. that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 4.23. and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind 4.24. and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 4.27. neither give place to the devil. 4.30. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 4.32. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you. 5.1. Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. 5.2. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance. 5.3. But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; 5.5. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. 5.6. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience. 5.8. For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 5.9. for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth 5.10. proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. 5.14. Therefore he says, "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 5.17. Therefore don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 5.18. Don't be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit 5.19. speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and singing praises in your heart to the Lord; 5.20. giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father; 5.21. subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. 5.22. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 5.23. For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body. 5.24. But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything. 5.25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it; 5.26. that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word 5.27. that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 5.28. Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. 5.29. For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly; 5.30. because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. 5.31. For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh. 5.32. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly. 5.33. Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband. 6.1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 6.4. You fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 6.5. Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; 6.6. not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 6.7. with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; 6.8. knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free. 6.9. You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him. 6.10. Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. 6.11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 6.12. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 6.13. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. 6.14. Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness 6.15. and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 6.16. above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 6.17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 6.18. with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints: 6.19. on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel 6.20. for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 6.21. But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things; 6.22. whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts. 6.23. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 6.24. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen. |
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37. New Testament, Galatians, 1.2, 1.11-1.13, 1.15-1.16, 1.22-1.23, 2.2, 2.7-2.9, 2.21, 3.6-3.9, 3.15-3.18, 3.26, 3.28, 4.2-4.3, 4.8-4.9, 5.5-5.6, 6.15-6.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.2. and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: 1.11. But Imake known to you, brothers, concerning the gospel which was preachedby me, that it is not according to man. 1.12. For neither did Ireceive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me throughrevelation of Jesus Christ. 1.13. For you have heard of my way ofliving in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure Ipersecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it. 1.15. Butwhen it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother'swomb, and called me through his grace 1.16. to reveal his Son in me,that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn't immediately conferwith flesh and blood 1.22. Iwas still unknown by face to the assemblies of Judea which were inChrist 1.23. but they only heard: "He who once persecuted us nowpreaches the faith that he once tried to destroy. 2.2. I went up byrevelation, and I laid before them the gospel which I preach among theGentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear thatI might be running, or had run, in vain. 2.7. but to the contrary, when they saw that Ihad been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcision, even asPeter with the gospel for the circumcision 2.8. (for he who appointedPeter to the apostleship of the circumcision appointed me also to theGentiles); 2.9. and when they perceived the grace that was given tome, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should goto the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. 2.21. I don't make void the grace of God.For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing! 3.6. Even as Abraham "believed God, and it wascounted to him for righteousness. 3.7. Know therefore that those whoare of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. 3.8. The Scripture,foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached thegospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you all the nations will beblessed. 3.9. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with thefaithful Abraham. 3.15. Brothers, I speak like men. Though it is only aman's covet, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void,or adds to it. 3.16. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and tohis seed. He doesn't say, "To seeds," as of many, but as of one, "Toyour seed," which is Christ. 3.17. Now I say this. A covetconfirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundredand thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of noeffect. 3.18. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more ofpromise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise. 3.26. For you are all sons ofGod, through faith in Christ Jesus. 3.28. There is neither Jewnor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither malenor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 4.2. but isunder guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father. 4.3. So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under theelements of the world. 4.8. However at that time, not knowing God, youwere in bondage to those who by nature are not gods. 4.9. But now thatyou have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do youturn back again to the weak and miserable elements, to which you desireto be in bondage all over again? 5.5. For we, through the Spirit,by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. 5.6. For in Christ Jesusneither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faithworking through love. 6.15. For in Christ Jesus neitheris circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 6.16. As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and onGod's Israel. |
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38. New Testament, Hebrews, 1.1-1.3, 2.12, 5.12, 9.5, 12.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways 1.2. has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 1.3. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 2.12. saying, "I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise. 5.12. For when by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. 9.5. and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can't now speak in detail. 12.23. to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect |
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39. New Testament, Philippians, 1.19-1.20, 2.10, 3.2-3.3, 3.6, 3.9, 4.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.19. For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ 1.20. according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. 2.10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth 3.2. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. 3.3. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; 3.6. concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. 3.9. and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 4.15. You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only. |
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40. New Testament, Romans, 2.11, 2.23-2.24, 2.27-2.29, 3.1, 3.3, 3.8, 3.21, 3.29, 4.12, 6.17-6.23, 8.15, 8.29, 8.37-8.39, 11.25, 11.33, 12.1, 12.3-12.8, 15.15, 15.30, 16.1, 16.4-16.5, 16.16-16.17, 16.23, 16.25-16.27 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.11. For there is no partiality with God. 2.23. You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God? 2.24. For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," just as it is written. 2.27. Won't the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? 2.28. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 2.29. but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. 3.1. Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? 3.3. For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? 3.8. Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil, that good may come?" Those who say so are justly condemned. 3.21. But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; 3.29. Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also 4.12. The father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. 6.17. But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto you were delivered. 6.18. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. 6.19. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. 6.20. For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 6.21. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 6.22. But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life. 6.23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 8.15. For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father! 8.29. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 8.37. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 8.38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers 8.39. nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 11.25. For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in 11.33. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 12.1. Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 12.3. For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. 12.4. For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don't have the same function 12.5. so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 12.6. Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 12.7. or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; 12.8. or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with liberality; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 15.15. But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God 15.30. Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me 16.1. I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae 16.4. who for my life, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles. 16.5. Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ. 16.16. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you. 16.17. Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. 16.23. Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother. |
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41. New Testament, Titus, 2.14, 3.3-3.7 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.14. who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. 3.3. For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 3.4. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared 3.5. not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit 3.6. which he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; 3.7. that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. |
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42. New Testament, John, 1.3, 1.10, 10.8, 14.25-14.26 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.3. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. 1.10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him. 10.8. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. 14.25. I have said these things to you, while still living with you. 14.26. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. |
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43. New Testament, Luke, 21.12-21.15, 23.54, 24.25-24.27, 24.44-24.47 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 21.12. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. 21.13. It will turn out as a testimony for you. 21.14. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer 21.15. for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict. 23.54. It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near. 24.25. He said to them, "Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 24.26. Didn't the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? 24.27. Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 24.44. He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled. 24.45. Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. 24.46. He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day 24.47. and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. |
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44. New Testament, Mark, 13.11, 13.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 13.11. When they lead you away and deliver you up, don't be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 13.14. But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains |
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45. New Testament, Matthew, 7.6, 16.18, 18.17, 24.15, 28.1, 28.19-28.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 7.6. Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. 16.18. I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 18.17. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 24.15. When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) 28.1. Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 28.19. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 28.20. teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. |
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46. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 41.1-41.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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47. Tosefta, Berachot, 2.12-2.14 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.12. Zavim, Zavot, Niddot, and women who gave birth are permitted to read the Torah and to learn Mishna, Midrash, laws, and Aggadot. And men who had a seminal emission (Baalei Keraim) are forbidden in all of them. Rebbi Yossi says, “He can learn the laws that he is familiar with, as long as he does not arrange the Mishna.”" 2.13. “A man who had a seminal emission (Baal Keri) who does not have water to dip in may read the Shema, but he may not [read it loud enough so that he can] hear [himself talking] with his own ear, and does not say the Beracha (blessing) not before it and not after it.” [These are] the words of Rebbi Meir. And the Chachamim (Sages) say, ”He may read the Shema and he may [read it loud enough so that he can] hear [himself talking] with his own ear, and he says the Beracha [both] before it and after it.” Rebbi Meir said, “One time we were sitting in the Bet Midrash (Study Hall) in front of Rebbi Akiva and we were reading the Shema, but we were not saying it loud enough to be able to hear ourselves, because of one inquisitor who was standing by the door.” They (i.e. Chachamim) said [back] to him, “The time of danger is not a proof.”" 2.14. One that was standing in the field naked or that was doing his work naked should cover himself with straw and with stubble or anything [else for that matter] and may read [the Shema]. Even though they (i.e. the Rabbis) said that it is not praiseworthy for a person to be sitting naked, because the Holy One Blessed Be He did not create man naked as it says, “I clothed him in a cloud and [made] mist his shroud.” (Job 38:9) “Clothed him in a cloud” that [refers to] the sack of the fetus, “and [made] mist his shroud” that [refers to] the placenta. [If] there was a wrap of cloth or of skin wrapped around his loins he may read [the Shema]. Either way he should not pray [Shmoneh Esreh] until he covers his heart." |
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48. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, 1.12, 1.12.55, 1.17.84, 1.18, 7.16.95 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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49. Justin, First Apology, 63, 60 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 60. And the physiological discussion concerning the Son of God in the Tim us of Plato, where he says, He placed him crosswise in the universe, he borrowed in like manner from Moses; for in the writings of Moses it is related how at that time, when the Israelites went out of Egypt and were in the wilderness, they fell in with poisonous beasts, both vipers and asps, and every kind of serpent, which slew the people; and that Moses, by the inspiration and influence of God, took brass, and made it into the figure of a cross, and set it in the holy tabernacle, and said to the people, If you look to this figure, and believe, you shall be saved thereby. Numbers 21:8 And when this was done, it is recorded that the serpents died, and it is handed down that the people thus escaped death. Which things Plato reading, and not accurately understanding, and not apprehending that it was the figure of the cross, but taking it to be a placing crosswise, he said that the power next to the first God was placed crosswise in the universe. And as to his speaking of a third, he did this because he read, as we said above, that which was spoken by Moses, that the Spirit of God moved over the waters. For he gives the second place to the Logos which is with God, who he said was placed crosswise in the universe; and the third place to the Spirit who was said to be borne upon the water, saying, And the third around the third. And hear how the Spirit of prophecy signified through Moses that there should be a conflagration. He spoke thus: Everlasting fire shall descend, and shall devour to the pit beneath. Deuteronomy 32:22 It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as others, but that all speak in imitation of ours. Among us these things can be heard and learned from persons who do not even know the forms of the letters, who are uneducated and barbarous in speech, though wise and believing in mind; some, indeed, even maimed and deprived of eyesight; so that you may understand that these things are not the effect of human wisdom, but are uttered by the power of God. |
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50. Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 76b. הא לא צריכא ליה,[ותיפוק ליה] דהא מצרית ראשונה היא וכי תימא הנך אזלי לעלמא והני אחריני נינהו,והא תניא א"ר יהודה מנימין גר מצרי היה לי חבר מתלמידי ר"ע אמר אני מצרי ראשון ונשאתי מצרית ראשונה אשיא לבני מצרית שניה כדי שיהא בן בני ראוי לבא בקהל,אמר רב פפא אנן משלמה ליקו ונתיב שלמה לא נסיב מידי דכתיב ביה (מלכים א יא, ב) מן הגוים אשר אמר ה' אל בני ישראל לא תבואו בהם והם לא יבואו בכם אכן יטו את לבבכם אחרי אלהיהם בהם דבק שלמה לאהבה אלא קשיא ויתחתן,מתוך אהבה יתירה שאהבה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו נתחתן בה,א"ל רבינא לרב אשי והא אנן תנן פצוע דכא וכרות שפכה מותרים בגיורת ומשוחררת הא בנתינה אסירי,א"ל וליטעמיך אימא סיפא ואינן אסורין אלא מלבא בקהל הא בנתינה שרו אלא מהא ליכא למשמע מינה:, big strongמתני׳ /strong /big עמוני ומואבי אסורים ואיסורן איסור עולם אבל נקבותיהם מותרות מיד,מצרי ואדומי אינם אסורים אלא עד שלשה דורות אחד זכרים ואחד נקבות ר"ש מתיר את הנקבות מיד א"ר שמעון ק"ו הדברים ומה אם במקום שאסר את הזכרים איסור עולם התיר את הנקבות מיד מקום שלא אסר את הזכרים אלא עד שלשה דורות אינו דין שנתיר את הנקבות מיד,אמרו לו אם הלכה נקבל ואם לדין יש תשובה אמר להם לא כי הלכה אני אומר:, big strongגמ' /strong /big מנא ה"מ א"ר יוחנן דאמר קרא (שמואל א יז, נה) וכראות שאול את דוד יוצא לקראת הפלשתי אמר אל אבנר שר הצבא בן מי זה הנער אבנר ויאמר אבנר חי נפשך המלך אם ידעתי ולא ידע ליה והכתיב (שמואל א טז, כא) ויאהבהו מאד ויהי לו נושא כלים אלא אאבוה קא משאיל,ואביו לא ידע ליה והכתיב (שמואל א יז, יב) והאיש בימי שאול זקן בא באנשים ואמר רב ואיתימא רבי אבא זה ישי אבי דוד שנכנס באוכלוסא ויצא באוכלוסא,ה"ק שאול אי מפרץ אתי אי מזרח אתי אי מפרץ אתי מלכא הוי שהמלך פורץ לעשות דרך ואין ממחין בידו אי מזרח אתי חשיבא בעלמא הוי,מ"ט אמר ליה שאל עליה דכתיב (שמואל א יז, לח) וילבש שאול את דוד מדיו כמדתו וכתיב ביה בשאול (שמואל א ט, ב) משכמו ומעלה גבוה מכל העם א"ל דואג האדומי עד שאתה משאיל עליו אם הגון הוא למלכות אם לאו שאל עליו אם ראוי לבא בקהל אם לאו מ"ט דקאתי מרות המואביה,א"ל אבנר תנינא עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית אלא מעתה ממזר ולא ממזרת ממזר כתיב מום זר,מצרי ולא מצרית שאני הכא דמפרש טעמא דקרא (דברים כג, ה) על אשר לא קדמו אתכם בלחם ובמים דרכו של איש לקדם ולא דרכה של אשה לקדם היה להם לקדם אנשים לקראת אנשים ונשים לקראת נשים אישתיק,מיד ויאמר המלך שאל אתה בן מי זה העלם התם קרי ליה נער הכא קרי ליה עלם הכי קא אמר ליה הלכה נתעלמה ממך צא ושאל בבית המדרש שאל אמרו ליה עמוני ולא עמונית מואבי ולא מואבית | 76b. But bthis one,Pharaoh’s daughter, bdid not require suchthings, as she herself was the daughter of royalty, and therefore there would have been no reason to doubt the sincerity of her conversion.,The Gemara asks: bBut let him derivethat Pharaoh’s daughter was forbidden to Solomon for a different reason, bas shewas ba first- /bgeneration bEgyptianconvert. Even if she converted, she would still have been an Egyptian convert of the first generation, and as such neither she nor her children would have been permitted to marry a Jew by birth (Deuteronomy 23:8–9). bAnd if you would saythat bthosewhom the Torah rendered forbidden have already bleftEgypt and are now living elsewhere bin the world, and thosecurrently living in Egypt bare others,there is a difficulty.,As, bisn’t it taughtin a ibaraitathat bRabbi Yehuda said: Minyamin, an Egyptian convert, was a friend of mine from among the students of Rabbi Akiva,and bhe said:After I converted bIwas ba first- /bgeneration bEgyptianconvert, bandso bI marriedanother bfirst- /bgeneration bEgyptianconvert. bI will marry off my son,who is a second-generation Egyptian convert, btoanother bsecond- /bgeneration bEgyptianconvert, bso that my grandson will be fit to enter into the congregation.This indicates that first- and second-generation converts of Egyptian extraction were prohibited from entering into the congregation even during the period of the Mishna., bRav Pappa said: Shall we stand up and raise an objection from Solomon? Solomon did not marry anyone, as it is written in his regard: “of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel, You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods; Solomon cleaved to these in love”(I Kings 11:2). Solomon cleaved to these women in love, but was not legally married to them. As Solomon had other forbidden wives, the case of Pharaoh’s daughter presents no special difficulty. In fact, none of these marriages were valid at all. bButthe phrase b“andSolomon bmarried”(I Kings 3:1) that appears in connection with Pharaoh’s daughter is bdifficult,as it indicates that this marriage was in fact valid.,The Gemara answers: bDue to the extraordinary love that he had for her, the verse relates to him as if he had married herthrough a legally valid marriage, even though this was not the case., bRavina said to Rav Ashi: But didn’t we learnin the mishna that ba man with crushed testicles and one whose penis has been severed are permitted tomarry a female bconvert and an emancipatedmaidservant? That indicates that it is only these women whom they are permitted to marry, bbut they are prohibited frommarrying ba Gibeonite woman.This appears to contradict the ibaraitathat permits a man with crushed testicles to marry a Gibeonite.,Rav Ashi bsaid toRavina: bAnd according to yourline of breasoning, say the latter clauseof the mishna as follows: bAnd they are prohibited only from entering into the congregation,and infer just the opposite, that it is only a woman who was born Jewish whom they are prohibited from marrying, bbut they are permitted tomarry ba Gibeonite woman,as she is not part of the congregation of the Lord. bRather, noinference is bto be learned from thismishna, as the possible inferences are contradictory, and one must therefore rely on the ihalakhathat was expressly taught.,mishna bAmmonite and Moabiteconverts bare prohibitedfrom entering into the congregation and marrying a woman who was born Jewish, band their prohibition is eternal,for all generations. bHowever, their femalecounterparts, even the convert herself, bare permitted immediately. /b, bEgyptian and Edomiteconverts bare prohibitedfrom entering into the congregation bonly for three generations, both males and females. Rabbi Shimon renders permittedEgyptian and Edomite bfemales immediately. Rabbi Shimon said: The mattermay be derived by way of ban ia fortiori /iinference: bIf in a place wherethe Torah rendered bprohibited the males with an eternal prohibition,i.e., Ammonites and Moabites, it brendered permitted the females immediately,then in ba place where it rendered prohibited the males for only three generations,i.e., Egyptians and Edomites, bis it not right that we should render permitted the females immediately? /b,Rabbi Shimon’s colleagues bsaid to him: Ifyou are reporting a ihalakha /ithat you received from your teachers, bwe will acceptit from you. bBut ifyou merely wish to prove your case with an ia fortiori binferencebased on your own reasoning, bthere is a refutationof your argument. Rabbi Shimon bsaid to them:That is bnot so.I disagree with your claim that the ia fortioriinference can be refuted, but in any case bI am stating a ihalakha /ihanded down to me by my teachers.,gemara The Gemara asks: bFrom where are these mattersderived that female Ammonites and Moabites are permitted immediately? bRabbi Yoḥa said: As the verse states: “And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host: Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said: As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell”(I Samuel 17:55). This verse is puzzling: bDidSaul really bnot recognize him? But isn’t itpreviously bwritten:“And David came to Saul, and stood before him; band he loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer”(I Samuel 16:21)? bRather,it must be that bhe was asking aboutDavid’s bfather. /b,The Gemara is still puzzled by this verse: bAnd didSaul bnot recognizeDavid’s bfather? But isn’t it writtenwith regard to Jesse, David’s father: b“And the man in the days of Saul was old, and came among men”(I Samuel 17:12), band Rav, and some say Rabbi Abba, said: Thisis referring to bJesse, father of David, whoalways bentered with multitudes [ iukhlusa /i] and left with multitudes.As he was clearly a man of importance, everyone must have known who he was.,Rather, bthis iswhat bSaul was saying,in his attempt to clarify David’s lineage: bDoeshe bcome fromthe descendants of bPerez, or doeshe bcome fromthe descendants of bZerah?What is the significance of this question? bIfhe bcomes from Perez he will be king, as a king may breach [ iporetz /i] a wayfor himself band no one can stop him.And bif he comes from Zerah he will be merely a man of importance,but not a king.,The Gemara continues with its explanation: bFor what reason didSaul bsay toAbner that he should binquire aboutDavid? bAs it is written: “And Saul clad David with his apparel [ imaddav /i]”(I Samuel 17:38), which indicates that the clothes were bofDavid’s bsize [ ikemiddato /i]. And it is written with regard to Saul: “From his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people”(I Samuel 9:2). Upon seeing that his clothes fit David, Saul began to fear that it might be David who was destined for the throne, and he therefore inquired into his background. At that point, bDoeg the Edomite said toSaul: bBefore you inquire as to whether or not he is fit for kingship, inquire as to whether or not he iseven bfit to enter into the congregation. What is the reasonfor such doubts? It is bthathe bdescends from Ruth the Moabite,and Moabites are permanently barred from entering the congregation., bAbner said to him: Wealready blearnedthat there is no room for such concern. As the verse states: “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4), teaching that ban Ammoniteman is barred from entering into the congregation, bbut not an Ammonite woman;and similarly, ba Moabiteman is barred from entering into the congregation, bbut not a Moabite woman.Doeg said to him: bHowever, if that is so,say that the verse that renders it prohibited for a imamzerto enter the congregation renders prohibited only a male imamzer /i, but not a female imamzer /i.Abner replied: bIt is written: “A imamzer /i,”which should be understood not as a noun but as an adjective, denoting ba strange blemish [ imum zar /i],one who is defective due to a forbidden relationship, and this applies to males and females alike.,Doeg retorted: If so, say that it is prohibited for only ban Egyptianman to enter into the congregation, bbut not an Egyptian woman.Abner answered: bHere it is different, as the reason forthe prohibition recorded in this bversewith regard to Ammonites bis explicit: “Because they did not meet you with bread and with wateron the way, when you came forth out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 23:5). Since bit is the way of a manto go forth bto meetguests bbut it is not the way of a womanto go forth, females were not included in this prohibition. Doeg countered: Still, bthe men should have goneforth bto meet the men, and the women to meet the women.Abner bwas silent,as he did not know how to respond to this objection., bImmediately: “And the king said, inquire you whose son is this lad”(I Samuel 17:56). The Gemara comments: bThere,in the previous verse, Saul bcalls him youth [ ina’ar /i],and bhere he calls him lad [ ielem /i].This change in the wording hints at the following discussion. Saul bsaid toDoeg bas follows:The ihalakhais hidden [ initalma /i] from you,and you are ignorant of the law. bGo and inquireabout the matter bin the study hall. Hewent to the study hall and basked. They said to him:The ihalakhais: bAn Ammoniteman is forbidden, bbut not an Ammonite woman; a Moabiteman is forbidden, bbut not a Moabite woman. /b |
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51. Origen, Against Celsus, 5.2-5.6 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 5.2. We have now, then, to refute that statement of his which runs as follows: O Jews and Christians, no God or son of a God either came or will come down (to earth). But if you mean that certain angels did so, then what do you call them? Are they gods, or some other race of beings? Some other race of beings (doubtless), and in all probability demons. Now as Celsus here is guilty of repeating himself (for in the preceding pages such assertions have been frequently advanced by him), it is unnecessary to discuss the matter at greater length, seeing what we have already said upon this point may suffice. We shall mention, however, a few considerations out of a greater number, such as we deem in harmony with our former arguments, but which have not altogether the same bearing as they, and by which we shall show that in asserting generally that no God, or son of God, ever descended (among men), he overturns not only the opinions entertained by the majority of mankind regarding the manifestation of Deity, but also what was formerly admitted by himself. For if the general statement, that no God or son of God has come down or will come down, be truly maintained by Celsus, it is manifest that we have here overthrown the belief in the existence of gods upon the earth who had descended from heaven either to predict the future to mankind or to heal them by means of divine responses; and neither the Pythian Apollo, nor Æsculapius, nor any other among those supposed to have done so, would be a god descended from heaven. He might, indeed, either be a god who had obtained as his lot (the obligation) to dwell on earth for ever, and be thus a fugitive, as it were, from the abode of the gods, or he might be one who had no power to share in the society of the gods in heaven; or else Apollo, and Æsculapius, and those others who are believed to perform acts on earth, would not be gods, but only certain demons, much inferior to those wise men among mankind, who on account of their virtue ascend to the vault of heaven. 5.3. But observe how, in his desire to subvert our opinions, he who never acknowledged himself throughout his whole treatise to be an Epicurean, is convicted of being a deserter to that sect. And now is the time for you, (reader), who peruse the works of Celsus, and give your assent to what has been advanced, either to overturn the belief in a God who visits the human race, and exercises a providence over each individual man, or to grant this, and prove the falsity of the assertions of Celsus. If you, then, wholly annihilate providence, you will falsify those assertions of his in which he grants the existence of God and a providence, in order that you may maintain the truth of your own position; but if, on the other hand, you still admit the existence of providence, because you do not assent to the dictum of Celsus, that neither has a God nor the son of a God come down nor is to come down to mankind, why not rather carefully ascertain from the statements made regarding Jesus, and the prophecies uttered concerning Him, who it is that we are to consider as having come down to the human race as God, and the Son of God?- whether that Jesus who said and ministered so much, or those who under pretence of oracles and divinations, do not reform the morals of their worshippers, but who have besides apostatized from the pure and holy worship and honour due to the Maker of all things, and who tear away the souls of those who give heed to them from the one only visible and true God, under a pretence of paying honour to a multitude of deities? 5.4. But since he says, in the next place, as if the Jews or Christians had answered regarding those who come down to visit the human race, that they were angels: But if you say that they are angels, what do you call them? he continues, Are they gods, or some other race of beings? and then again introduces us as if answering, Some other race of beings, and probably demons,- let us proceed to notice these remarks. For we indeed acknowledge that angels are ministering spirits, and we say that they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation; and that they ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of the heavenly places in the universe, or even to supercelestial regions purer still; and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call these beings angels from their employments, we find that because they are divine they are sometimes termed god in the sacred Scriptures, but not so that we are commanded to honour and worship in place of God those who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings. For every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer. 5.5. For to invoke angels without having obtained a knowledge of their nature greater than is possessed by men, would be contrary to reason. But, conformably to our hypothesis, let this knowledge of them, which is something wonderful and mysterious, be obtained. Then this knowledge, making known to us their nature, and the offices to which they are severally appointed, will not permit us to pray with confidence to any other than to the Supreme God, who is sufficient for all things, and that through our Saviour the Son of God, who is the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and everything else which the writings of God's prophets and the apostles of Jesus entitle Him. And it is enough to secure that the holy angels of God be propitious to us, and that they do all things on our behalf, that our disposition of mind towards God should imitate as far as it is within the power of human nature the example of these holy angels, who again follow the example of their God; and that the conceptions which we entertain of His Son, the Word, so far as attainable by us, should not be opposed to the clearer conceptions of Him which the holy angels possess, but should daily approach these in clearness and distinctness. But because Celsus has not read our holy Scriptures, he gives himself an answer as if it came from us, saying that we assert that the angels who come down from heaven to confer benefits on mankind are a different race from the gods, and adds that in all probability they would be called demons by us: not observing that the name demons is not a term of indifferent meaning like that of men, among whom some are good and some bad, nor yet a term of excellence like that of the gods, which is applied not to wicked demons, or to statues, or to animals, but (by those who know divine things) to what is truly divine and blessed; whereas the term demons is always applied to those wicked powers, freed from the encumbrance of a grosser body, who lead men astray, and fill them with distractions and drag them down from God and supercelestial thoughts to things here below. 5.6. He next proceeds to make the following statement about the Jews:- The first point relating to the Jews which is fitted to excite wonder, is that they should worship the heaven and the angels who dwell therein, and yet pass by and neglect its most venerable and powerful parts, as the sun, the moon, and the other heavenly bodies, both fixed stars and planets, as if it were possible that 'the whole' could be God, and yet its parts not divine; or (as if it were reasonable) to treat with the greatest respect those who are said to appear to such as are in darkness somewhere, blinded by some crooked sorcery, or dreaming dreams through the influence of shadowy spectres, while those who prophesy so clearly and strikingly to all men, by means of whom rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunder (to which they offer worship), and lightnings, and fruits, and all kinds of productiveness, are brought about - by means of whom God is revealed to them - the most prominent heralds among those beings that are above - those that are truly heavenly angels - are to be regarded as of no account! In making these statements, Celsus appears to have fallen into confusion, and to have penned them from false ideas of things which he did not understand; for it is patent to all who investigate the practices of the Jews, and compare them with those of the Christians, that the Jews who follow the law, which, speaking in the person of God, says, You shall have no other gods before Me: you shall not make unto you an image, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, worship nothing else than the Supreme God, who made the heavens, and all things besides. Now it is evident that those who live according to the law, and worship the Maker of heaven, will not worship the heaven at the same time with God. Moreover, no one who obeys the law of Moses will bow down to the angels who are in heaven; and, in like manner, as they do not bow down to sun, moon, and stars, the host of heaven, they refrain from doing obeisance to heaven and its angels, obeying the law which declares: Lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has divided unto all nations. |
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52. Augustine, The City of God, 9.23 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 9.23. If the Platonists prefer to call these angels gods rather than demons, and to reckon them with those whom Plato, their founder and master, maintains were created by the supreme God, they are welcome to do so, for I will not spend strength in fighting about words. For if they say that these beings are immortal, and yet created by the supreme God, blessed but by cleaving to their Creator and not by their own power, they say what we say, whatever name they call these beings by. And that this is the opinion either of all or the best of the Platonists can be ascertained by their writings. And regarding the name itself, if they see fit to call such blessed and immortal creatures gods, this need not give rise to any serious discussion between us, since in our own Scriptures we read, The God of gods, the Lord has spoken; and again, Confess to the God of gods; and again, He is a great King above all gods. And where it is said, He is to be feared above all gods, the reason is immediately added, for it follows, for all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. He said, above all gods, but added, of the nations; that is to say, above all those whom the nations count gods, in other words, demons. By them He is to be feared with that terror in which they cried to the Lord, Have You come to destroy us? But where it is said, the God of gods, it cannot be understood as the god of the demons; and far be it from us to say that great King above all gods means great King above all demons. But the same Scripture also calls men who belong to God's people gods: I have said, You are gods, and all of you children of the Most High. Accordingly, when God is styled God of gods, this may be understood of these gods; and so, too, when He is styled a great King above all gods. Nevertheless, some one may say, if men are called gods because they belong to God's people, whom He addresses by means of men and angels, are not the immortals, who already enjoy that felicity which men seek to attain by worshipping God, much more worthy of the title? And what shall we reply to this, if not that it is not without reason that in holy Scripture men are more expressly styled gods than those immortal and blessed spirits to whom we hope to be equal in the resurrection, because there was a fear that the weakness of unbelief, being overcome with the excellence of these beings, might presume to constitute some of them a god? In the case of men this was a result that need not be guarded against. Besides, it was right that the men belonging to God's people should be more expressly called gods, to assure and certify them that He who is called God of gods is their God; because, although those immortal and blessed spirits who dwell in the heavens are called gods, yet they are not called gods of gods, that is to say, gods of the men who constitute God's people, and to whom it is said, I have said, You are gods, and all of you the children of the Most High. Hence the saying of the apostle, Though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 We need not, therefore, laboriously contend about the name, since the reality is so obvious as to admit of no shadow of doubt. That which we say, that the angels who are sent to announce the will of God to men belong to the order of blessed immortals, does not satisfy the Platonists, because they believe that this ministry is discharged, not by those whom they call gods, in other words, not by blessed immortals, but by demons, whom they dare not affirm to be blessed, but only immortal, or if they do rank them among the blessed immortals, yet only as good demons, and not as gods who dwell in the heaven of heavens remote from all human contact. But, though it may seem mere wrangling about a name, yet the name of demon is so detestable that we cannot bear in any sense to apply it to the holy angels. Now, therefore, let us close this book in the assurance that, whatever we call these immortal and blessed spirits, who yet are only creatures, they do not act as mediators to introduce to everlasting felicity miserable mortals, from whom they are severed by a twofold distinction. And those others who are mediators, in so far as they have immortality in common with their superiors, and misery in common with their inferiors (for they are justly miserable in punishment of their wickedness), cannot bestow upon us, but rather grudge that we should possess, the blessedness from which they themselves are excluded. And so the friends of the demons have nothing considerable to allege why we should rather worship them as our helpers than avoid them as traitors to our interests. As for those spirits who are good, and who are therefore not only immortal but also blessed, and to whom they suppose we should give the title of gods, and offer worship and sacrifices for the sake of inheriting a future life, we shall, by God's help, endeavor in the following book to show that these spirits, call them by what name, and ascribe to them what nature you will, desire that religious worship be paid to God alone, by whom they were created, and by whose communications of Himself to them they are blessed. |
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53. Augustine, Retractiones, 1.11.4 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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54. Anon., 2 Enoch, 21-22, 20
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55. Anon., Epistle To Diognetus, 5.8-5.15
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56. Epigraphy, I.Ephesos, 8
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