1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 30.14 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
30.14. כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ׃ | 30.14. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Esther, 9.15 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
9.15. וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ היהודיים [הַיְּהוּדִים] אֲשֶׁר־בְּשׁוּשָׁן גַּם בְּיוֹם אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר וַיַּהַרְגוּ בְשׁוּשָׁן שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת אִישׁ וּבַבִּזָּה לֹא שָׁלְחוּ אֶת־יָדָם׃ | 9.15. And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 33.19 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
33.19. וַיֹּאמֶר אֲנִי אַעֲבִיר כָּל־טוּבִי עַל־פָּנֶיךָ וְקָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם יְהוָה לְפָנֶיךָ וְחַנֹּתִי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר אָחֹן וְרִחַמְתִּי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר אֲרַחֵם׃ | 33.19. And He said: ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’" |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 11.5-11.6, 15.5, 49.27 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
11.5. וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה לִרְאֹת אֶת־הָעִיר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם׃ 11.6. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם וְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת וְעַתָּה לֹא־יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת׃ 15.5. וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט־נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים אִם־תּוּכַל לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ׃ 49.27. בִּנְיָמִין זְאֵב יִטְרָף בַּבֹּקֶר יֹאכַל עַד וְלָעֶרֶב יְחַלֵּק שָׁלָל׃ | 11.5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." 11.6. And the LORD said: ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do." 15.5. And He brought him forth abroad, and said: ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them’; and He said unto him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’" 49.27. Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; In the morning he devoureth the prey, And at even he divideth the spoil.’" |
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5. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 42.6, 49.6 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
42.6. אֲנִי יְהוָה קְרָאתִיךָ בְצֶדֶק וְאַחְזֵק בְּיָדֶךָ וְאֶצָּרְךָ וְאֶתֶּנְךָ לִבְרִית עָם לְאוֹר גּוֹיִם׃ 49.6. וַיֹּאמֶר נָקֵל מִהְיוֹתְךָ לִי עֶבֶד לְהָקִים אֶת־שִׁבְטֵי יַעֲקֹב ונצירי [וּנְצוּרֵי] יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהָשִׁיב וּנְתַתִּיךָ לְאוֹר גּוֹיִם לִהְיוֹת יְשׁוּעָתִי עַד־קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ׃ | 42.6. I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, And have taken hold of thy hand, And kept thee, and set thee for a covet of the people, For a light of the nations;" 49.6. Yea, He saith: ‘It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be My servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the offspring of Israel; I will also give thee for a light of the nations, That My salvation may be unto the end of the earth.’" |
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6. Hebrew Bible, Lamentations, 3.42 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
3.42. נַחְנוּ פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ אַתָּה לֹא סָלָחְתָּ׃ | 3.42. We have transgressed and have rebelled; Thou hast not pardoned." |
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7. Septuagint, Isaiah, 49.1 (8th cent. BCE - 6th cent. BCE)
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8. Dead Sea Scrolls, 1Qha, 12.16 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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9. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 9.19 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
9.19. אֲדֹנָי שְׁמָעָה אֲדֹנָי סְלָחָה אֲדֹנָי הַקֲשִׁיבָה וַעֲשֵׂה אַל־תְּאַחַר לְמַעֲנְךָ אֱלֹהַי כִּי־שִׁמְךָ נִקְרָא עַל־עִירְךָ וְעַל־עַמֶּךָ׃ | 9.19. O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, attend and do, defer not; for Thine own sake, O my God, because Thy name is called upon Thy city and Thy people.’" |
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10. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 4.13, 6.9, 8.1, 11.24, 14.38 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.13. There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no high priest,' 6.9. and should slay those who did not choose to change over to Greek customs. One could see, therefore, the misery that had come upon them.' 8.1. But Judas, who was also called Maccabeus, and his companions secretly entered the villages and summoned their kinsmen and enlisted those who had continued in the Jewish faith, and so they gathered about six thousand men.' 11.24. We have heard that the Jews do not consent to our father's change to Greek customs but prefer their own way of living and ask that their own customs be allowed them. 14.38. For in former times, when there was no mingling with the Gentiles, he had been accused of Judaism, and for Judaism he had with all zeal risked body and life.' |
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11. Septuagint, 4 Maccabees, 4.26 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.26. when, then, his decrees were despised by the people, he himself, through torture, tried to compel everyone in the nation to eat defiling foods and to renounce Judaism. |
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12. Anon., Didache, 12.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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13. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 6.1. But if any one propound Judaism unto you, here him not: for it is better to hear Christianity from a man who is circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either the one or the other speak not concerning Jesus Christ, I look on them as tombstones and graves of the dead, whereon are inscribed only the names of men. |
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14. Ignatius, To The Magnesians, 8.1, 10.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 8.1. Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace: 10.3. It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, wherein every tongue believed and was gathered together unto God. |
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15. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 6.1. But if any one propound Judaism unto you, here him not: for it is better to hear Christianity from a man who is circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either the one or the other speak not concerning Jesus Christ, I look on them as tombstones and graves of the dead, whereon are inscribed only the names of men. |
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16. Ignatius, To The Smyrnaeans, 1.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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17. Ignatius, To The Trallians, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 6.1. I exhort you therefore -- yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ -- take ye only Christian food, and abstain from strange herbage, which is heresy: |
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18. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 13.297-13.298, 17.41, 18.4-18.10, 18.14, 18.23-18.25, 19.332, 20.102-20.136 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 13.297. but of these matters we shall speak hereafter. What I would now explain is this, that the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the laws of Moses; and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers. 13.298. And concerning these things it is that great disputes and differences have arisen among them, while the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich, and have not the populace obsequious to them, but the Pharisees have the multitude on their side. But about these two sects, and that of the Essenes, I have treated accurately in the second book of Jewish affairs. 17.41. For there was a certain sect of men that were Jews, who valued themselves highly upon the exact skill they had in the law of their fathers, and made men believe they were highly favored by God, by whom this set of women were inveigled. These are those that are called the sect of the Pharisees, who were in a capacity of greatly opposing kings. A cunning sect they were, and soon elevated to a pitch of open fighting and doing mischief. 18.4. Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the nation to assert their liberty; 18.4. When Phraates had had legitimate sons of his own, he had also an Italian maid-servant, whose name was Thermusa, who had been formerly sent to him by Julius Caesar, among other presents. He first made her his concubine; but he being a great admirer of her beauty, in process of time having a son by her, whose name was Phraataces, he made her his legitimate wife, and had a great respect for her. 18.5. as if they could procure them happiness and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a still greater good, which was that of the honor and glory they would thereby acquire for magimity. They also said that God would not otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their joining with one another in such councils as might be successful, and for their own advantage; and this especially, if they would set about great exploits, and not grow weary in executing the same; 18.5. But Vonones fled away to Armenia; and as soon as he came thither, he had an inclination to have the government of the country given him, and sent ambassadors to Rome [for that purpose]. 18.6. o men received what they said with pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a great height. All sorts of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree; 18.6. 2. But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money, and derived the origin of the stream from the distance of two hundred furlongs. However, the Jews were not pleased with what had been done about this water; and many ten thousands of the people got together, and made a clamor against him, and insisted that he should leave off that design. Some of them also used reproaches, and abused the man, as crowds of such people usually do. 18.7. one violent war came upon us after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; 18.7. and when he joyfully hearkened to her entreaty, she said she wanted no more than fifty thousand drachmae for the entrapping of the woman. So when she had encouraged the young man, and gotten as much money as she required, she did not take the same methods as had been taken before, because she perceived that the woman was by no means to be tempted by money; but as she knew that she was very much given to the worship of the goddess Isis, she devised the following stratagem: 18.8. whence arose seditions, and from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own people, (by the madness of these men towards one another, while their desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,) and sometimes on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies’ fire. 18.8. while he only banished Mundus, but did no more to him, because he supposed that what crime he had committed was done out of the passion of love. And these were the circumstances which concerned the temple of Isis, and the injuries occasioned by her priests. I now return to the relation of what happened about this time to the Jews at Rome, as I formerly told you I would. 18.9. Such were the consequences of this, that the customs of our fathers were altered, and such a change was made, as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction, which these men occasioned by their thus conspiring together; for Judas and Sadduc, who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, and had a great many followers therein, filled our civil government with tumults at present, and laid the foundations of our future miseries, by this system of philosophy, which we were before unacquainted withal 18.9. 3. But Vitellius came into Judea, and went up to Jerusalem; it was at the time of that festival which is called the Passover. Vitellius was there magnificently received, and released the inhabitants of Jerusalem from all the taxes upon the fruits that were bought and sold, and gave them leave to have the care of the high priest’s vestments, with all their ornaments, and to have them under the custody of the priests in the temple, which power they used to have formerly 18.14. They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again; 18.14. Alexander had a son of the same name with his brother Tigranes, and was sent to take possession of the kingdom of Armenia by Nero; he had a son, Alexander, who married Jotape, the daughter of Antiochus, the king of Commagena; Vespasian made him king of an island in Cilicia. 18.23. 6. But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. 18.23. Now the centurion who was set to keep Agrippa, when he saw with what haste Marsyas came, and what joy Agrippa had from what he said, he had a suspicion that his words implied some great innovation of affairs, and he asked them about what was said. 18.24. And since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to a great many, I shall speak no further about that matter; nor am I afraid that any thing I have said of them should be disbelieved, but rather fear, that what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo pain. 18.24. 1. But Herodias, Agrippa’s sister, who now lived as wife to that Herod who was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, took this authority of her brother in an envious manner, particularly when she saw that he had a greater dignity bestowed on him than her husband had; since, when he ran away, it was because he was not able to pay his debts; and now he was come back, it was because he was in a way of dignity, and of great good fortune. 18.25. And it was in Gessius Florus’s time that the nation began to grow mad with this distemper, who was our procurator, and who occasioned the Jews to go wild with it by the abuse of his authority, and to make them revolt from the Romans. And these are the sects of Jewish philosophy. 18.25. Now Caius saluted Herod, for he first met with him, and then looked upon the letters which Agrippa had sent him, and which were written in order to accuse Herod; wherein he accused him, that he had been in confederacy with Sejanus against Tiberius’s and that he was now confederate with Artabanus, the king of Parthia, in opposition to the government of Caius; 19.332. 4. However, there was a certain man of the Jewish nation at Jerusalem, who appeared to be very accurate in the knowledge of the law. His name was Simon. This man got together an assembly, while the king was absent at Caesarea, and had the insolence to accuse him as not living holily, and that he might justly be excluded out of the temple, since it belonged only to native Jews. 20.102. And besides this, the sons of Judas of Galilee were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the Jews, as we have showed in a foregoing book. The names of those sons were James and Simon, whom Alexander commanded to be crucified. 20.103. But now Herod, king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son of Camydus, from the high priesthood, and made Aias, the son of Nebedeu, his successor. And now it was that Cumanus came as successor to Tiberius Alexander; 20.105. 3. Now while the Jewish affairs were under the administration of Cureanus, there happened a great tumult at the city of Jerusalem, and many of the Jews perished therein. But I shall first explain the occasion whence it was derived. 20.106. When that feast which is called the passover was at hand, at which time our custom is to use unleavened bread, and a great multitude was gathered together from all parts to that feast, Cumanus was afraid lest some attempt of innovation should then be made by them; so he ordered that one regiment of the army should take their arms, and stand in the temple cloisters, to repress any attempts of innovation, if perchance any such should begin; 20.107. and this was no more than what the former procurators of Judea did at such festivals. 20.108. But on the fourth day of the feast, a certain soldier let down his breeches, and exposed his privy members to the multitude, which put those that saw him into a furious rage, and made them cry out that this impious action was not done to reproach them, but God himself; nay, some of them reproached Cumanus, and pretended that the soldier was set on by him 20.109. which, when Cumanus heard, he was also himself not a little provoked at such reproaches laid upon him; yet did he exhort them to leave off such seditious attempts, and not to raise a tumult at the festival. 20.111. but when the multitude saw the soldiers there, they were affrighted at them, and ran away hastily; but as the passages out were but narrow, and as they thought their enemies followed them, they were crowded together in their flight, and a great number were pressed to death in those narrow passages; 20.112. nor indeed was the number fewer than twenty thousand that perished in this tumult. So instead of a festival, they had at last a mournful day of it; and they all of them forgot their prayers and sacrifices, and betook themselves to lamentation and weeping; so great an affliction did the impudent obsceneness of a single soldier bring upon them. 20.113. 4. Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief befell them also; for some of those that raised the foregoing tumult, when they were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs from the city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and plundered him of all that he had with him; 20.114. which things when Cureanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to plunder the neighboring villages, and to bring the most eminent persons among them in bonds to him. 20.115. Now as this devastation was making, one of the soldiers seized the laws of Moses that lay in one of those villages, and brought them out before the eyes of all present, and tore them to pieces; and this was done with reproachful language, and much scurrility; 20.116. which things when the Jews heard of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, and came down to Caesarea, where Cumanus then was, and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God himself, whose laws had been affronted; for that they could not bear to live any longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted after this manner. 20.117. Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also, took care that the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be beheaded, and thereby put a stop to the sedition which was ready to be kindled a second time. 20.118. 1. Now there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews on the occasion following: It was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the Samaritans; and at this time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was called Ginea, which was situated in the limits of Samaria and the great plain, where certain persons thereto belonging fought with the Galileans, and killed a great many of them. 20.119. But when the principal of the Galileans were informed of what had been done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to avenge the murder of those that were killed; but he was induced by the Samaritans, with money, to do nothing in the matter; 20.121. And when their principal men endeavored to pacify them, and promised to endeavor to persuade Cureanus to avenge those that were killed, they would not hearken to them, but took their weapons, and entreated the assistance of Eleazar, the son of Dineus, a robber, who had many years made his abode in the mountains, with which assistance they plundered many villages of the Samaritans. 20.122. When Cumanus heard of this action of theirs, he took the band of Sebaste, with four regiments of footmen, and armed the Samaritans, and marched out against the Jews, and caught them, and slew many of them, and took a great number of them alive; 20.123. whereupon those that were the most eminent persons at Jerusalem, and that both in regard to the respect that was paid them, and the families they were of, as soon as they saw to what a height things were gone, put on sackcloth, and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by all possible means besought the seditious, and persuaded them that they would set before their eyes the utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children, which would be the consequences of what they were doing; and would alter their minds, would cast away their weapons, and for the future be quiet, and return to their own homes. These persuasions of theirs prevailed upon them. 20.124. So the people dispersed themselves, and the robbers went away again to their places of strength; and after this time all Judea was overrun with robberies. 20.125. 2. But the principal of the Samaritans went to Ummidius Quadratus, the president of Syria, who at that time was at Tyre, and accused the Jews of setting their villages on fire, and plundering them; 20.126. and said withal, that they were not so much displeased at what they had suffered, as they were at the contempt thereby shown to the Romans; while if they had received any injury, they ought to have made them the judges of what had been done, and not presently to make such devastation, as if they had not the Romans for their governors; 20.127. on which account they came to him, in order to obtain that vengeance they wanted. This was the accusation which the Samaritans brought against the Jews. But the Jews affirmed that the Samaritans were the authors of this tumult and fighting, and that, in the first place, Cumanus had been corrupted by their gifts, and passed over the murder of those that were slain in silence;— 20.128. which allegations when Quadratus heard, he put off the hearing of the cause, and promised that he would give sentence when he should come into Judea, and should have a more exact knowledge of the truth of that matter. 20.129. So these men went away without success. Yet was it not long ere Quadratus came to Samaria, where, upon hearing the cause, he supposed that the Samaritans were the authors of that disturbance. But when he was informed that certain of the Jews were making innovations, he ordered those to be crucified whom Cumanus had taken captives. 20.131. whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death: but still he sent away Aias the high priest, and Aus the commander [of the temple], in bonds to Rome, to give an account of what they had done to Claudius Caesar. 20.132. He also ordered the principal men, both of the Samaritans and of the Jews, as also Cumanus the procurator, and Ceier the tribune, to go to Italy to the emperor, that he might hear their cause, and determine their differences one with another. 20.133. But he came again to the city of Jerusalem, out of his fear that the multitude of the Jews should attempt some innovations; but he found the city in a peaceable state, and celebrating one of the usual festivals of their country to God. So he believed that they would not attempt any innovations, and left them at the celebration of the festival, and returned to Antioch. 20.134. 3. Now Cumanus, and the principal of the Samaritans, who were sent to Rome, had a day appointed them by the emperor whereon they were to have pleaded their cause about the quarrels they had one with another. 20.135. But now Caesar’s freed-men and his friends were very zealous on the behalf of Cumanus and the Samaritans; and they had prevailed over the Jews, unless Agrippa, junior, who was then at Rome, had seen the principal of the Jews hard set, and had earnestly entreated Agrippina, the emperor’s wife, to persuade her husband to hear the cause, so as was agreeable to his justice, and to condemn those to be punished who were really the authors of this revolt from the Roman government:— 20.136. whereupon Claudius was so well disposed beforehand, that when he had heard the cause, and found that the Samaritans had been the ringleaders in those mischievous doings, he gave order that those who came up to him should be slain, and that Cureanus should be banished. He also gave order that Celer the tribune should be carried back to Jerusalem, and should be drawn through the city in the sight of all the people, and then should be slain. |
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19. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.162-2.163, 2.223-2.245 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.162. 14. But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned: the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect. These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God 2.163. and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men, although fate does cooperate in every action. They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the souls of good men only are removed into other bodies,—but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment. 2.223. 1. Now after the death of Herod, king of Chalcis, Claudius set Agrippa, the son of Agrippa, over his uncle’s kingdom, while Cumanus took upon him the office of procurator of the rest, which was a Roman province, and therein he succeeded Alexander; under which Cumanus began the troubles, and the Jews’ ruin came on; 2.224. for when the multitude were come together to Jerusalem, to the feast of unleavened bread, and a Roman cohort stood over the cloisters of the temple(for they always were armed, and kept guard at the festivals, to prevent any innovation which the multitude thus gathered together might make), one of the soldiers pulled back his garment, and cowering down after an indecent manner, turned his breech to the Jews, and spake such words as you might expect upon such a posture. 2.226. Upon which Cumanus was afraid lest all the people should make an assault upon him, and sent to call for more armed men, who, when they came in great numbers into the cloisters, the Jews were in a very great consternation; and being beaten out of the temple, they ran into the city; 2.227. and the violence with which they crowded to get out was so great, that they trod upon each other, and squeezed one another, till ten thousand of them were killed, insomuch that this feast became the cause of mourning to the whole nation, and every family lamented [their own relations]. 2.228. 2. Now there followed after this another calamity, which arose from a tumult made by robbers; for at the public road of Bethhoron, one Stephen, a servant of Caesar, carried some furniture, which the robbers fell upon and seized. 2.229. Upon this Cumanus sent men to go round about to the neighboring villages, and to bring their inhabitants to him bound, as laying it to their charge that they had not pursued after the thieves, and caught them. Now here it was that a certain soldier, finding the sacred book of the law, tore it to pieces, and threw it into the fire. 2.231. Accordingly, he, perceiving that the multitude would not be quiet unless they had a comfortable answer from him, gave order that the soldier should be brought, and drawn through those that required to have him punished, to execution, which being done, the Jews went their ways. 2.232. 3. After this there happened a fight between the Galileans and the Samaritans; it happened at a village called Geman, which is situated in the great plain of Samaria; where, as a great number of Jews were going up to Jerusalem to the feast [of tabernacles,] a certain Galilean was slain; 2.233. and besides, a vast number of people ran together out of Galilee, in order to fight with the Samaritans. But the principal men among them came to Cumanus, and besought him that, before the evil became incurable, he would come into Galilee, and bring the authors of this murder to punishment; for that there was no other way to make the multitude separate without coming to blows. However, Cumanus postponed their supplications to the other affairs he was then about, and sent the petitioners away without success. 2.234. 4. But when the affair of this murder came to be told at Jerusalem, it put the multitude into disorder, and they left the feast; and without any generals to conduct them, they marched with great violence to Samaria; nor would they be ruled by any of the magistrates that were set over them 2.235. but they were managed by one Eleazar, the son of Dineus, and by Alexander, in these their thievish and seditious attempts. These men fell upon those that were in the neighborhood of the Acrabatene toparchy, and slew them, without sparing any age, and set the villages on fire. 2.236. 5. But Cumanus took one troop of horsemen, called the troop of Sebaste, out of Caesarea, and came to the assistance of those that were spoiled; he also seized upon a great number of those that followed Eleazar, and slew more of them. 2.237. And as for the rest of the multitude of those that went so zealously to fight with the Samaritans, the rulers of Jerusalem ran out, clothed with sackcloth, and having ashes on their heads, and begged of them to go their ways, lest by their attempt to revenge themselves upon the Samaritans they should provoke the Romans to come against Jerusalem; to have compassion upon their country and temple, their children and their wives, and not bring the utmost dangers of destruction upon them, in order to avenge themselves upon one Galilean only. 2.238. The Jews complied with these persuasions of theirs, and dispersed themselves; but still there were a great number who betook themselves to robbing, in hopes of impunity; and rapines and insurrections of the bolder sort happened over the whole country. 2.239. And the men of power among the Samaritans came to Tyre, to Ummidius Quadratus, the president of Syria, and desired that they that had laid waste the country might be punished: 2.241. 6. But Quadratus put both parties off for that time, and told them, that when he should come to those places, he would make a diligent inquiry after every circumstance. After which he went to Caesarea, and crucified all those whom Cumanus had taken alive; 2.242. and when from thence he was come to the city Lydda, he heard the affair of the Samaritans, and sent for eighteen of the Jews, whom he had learned to have been concerned in that fight, and beheaded them; 2.243. but he sent two others of those that were of the greatest power among them, and both Jonathan and Aias, the high priests, as also Aus the son of this Aias, and certain others that were eminent among the Jews, to Caesar; as he did in like manner by the most illustrious of the Samaritans. 2.244. He also ordered that Cumanus [the procurator] and Celer the tribune should sail to Rome, in order to give an account of what had been done to Caesar. When he had finished these matters, he went up from Lydda to Jerusalem, and finding the multitude celebrating their feast of unleavened bread without any tumult, he returned to Antioch. 2.245. 7. Now when Caesar at Rome had heard what Cumanus and the Samaritans had to say (where it was done in the hearing of Agrippa, who zealously espoused the cause of the Jews, as in like manner many of the great men stood by Cumanus), he condemned the Samaritans, and commanded that three of the most powerful men among them should be put to death; he banished Cumanus |
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20. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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21. Josephus Flavius, Life, 9, 11 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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22. New Testament, 1 John, 2.2, 3.23, 4.10, 5.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.2. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 3.23. This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. 4.10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 5.13. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. |
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23. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1.1, 1.9, 1.21-1.24, 2.6-2.16, 5.5, 7.15-7.24, 8.9-8.13, 9.1-9.3, 9.13-9.23, 10.32, 11.23-11.26, 12.13, 14.18, 15.3-15.11, 15.50 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the willof God, and our brother Sosthenes 1.9. God is faithful, through whom you were calledinto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 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. 2.6. 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. 2.15. But he who is spiritual discerns allthings, and he himself is judged by no one. 2.16. For who has knownthe mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?" But we haveChrist's mind. 5.5. are to deliver such a one to Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day ofthe Lord Jesus. 7.15. Yet if the unbeliever departs, let therebe separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in suchcases, but God has called us in peace. 7.16. For how do you know,wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband,whether you will save your wife? 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. 7.18. Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not becomeuncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not becircumcised. 7.19. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision isnothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. 7.20. Let eachman stay in that calling in which he was called. 7.21. Were you calledbeing a bondservant? Don't let that bother you, but if you get anopportunity to become free, use it. 7.22. For he who was called in theLord being a bondservant is the Lord's free man. Likewise he who wascalled being free is Christ's bondservant. 7.23. You were bought witha price. Don't become bondservants of men. 7.24. Brothers, let eachman, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition withGod. 8.9. But be careful that by no means does this liberty ofyours become a stumbling block to the weak. 8.10. For if a man seesyou who have knowledge sitting in an idol's temple, won't hisconscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed toidols? 8.11. And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, thebrother for whose sake Christ died. 8.12. Thus, sinning against thebrothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sinagainst Christ. 8.13. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble,I will eat no meat forevermore, that I don't cause my brother tostumble. 9.1. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen JesusChrist, our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord? 9.2. If to others Iam not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of myapostleship in the Lord. 9.3. My defense to those who examine me isthis. 9.13. Don't you know that those who serve around sacred thingseat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar havetheir portion with the altar? 9.14. Even so the Lord ordained thatthose who proclaim the gospel should live from the gospel. 9.15. But Ihave used none of these things, and I don't write these things that itmay be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyoneshould make my boasting void. 9.16. For if I preach the gospel, I havenothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me,if I don't preach the gospel. 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. 9.18. What then is my reward? That, when I preach thegospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, so as not toabuse my authority in the gospel. 9.19. For though I was free fromall, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. 9.20. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to thosewho are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those whoare under the law; 9.21. to those who are without law, as without law(not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that Imight win those who are without law. 9.22. To the weak I became asweak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men,that I may by all means save some. 9.23. Now I do this for thegospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker of it. 10.32. Give no occasions for stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks,or to the assembly of God; 11.23. For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered toyou, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed tookbread. 11.24. When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "Take,eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory ofme. 11.25. In the same way he also took the cup, after supper,saying, "This cup is the new covet in my blood. Do this, as often asyou drink, in memory of me. 11.26. For as often as you eat this breadand drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 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. 14.18. I thank my God, I speak with otherlanguages more than you all. 15.3. For I delivered to youfirst of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sinsaccording to the Scriptures 15.4. that he was buried, that he wasraised on the third day according to the Scriptures 15.5. and that heappeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 15.6. Then he appeared to overfive hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but somehave also fallen asleep. 15.7. Then he appeared to James, then to allthe apostles 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. 15.11. Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so youbelieved. 15.50. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can'tinherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inheritincorruption. |
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24. New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, 1.1, 1.9, 2.12, 2.14-2.16, 4.7, 5.24 (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. 1.9. For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God 2.12. to the end that you should walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 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. 4.7. For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 5.24. Faithful is he who calls you, who will also do it. |
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25. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 1.1, 1.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and Christ Jesus our hope; 1.13. although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. |
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26. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 1.1, 3.7-3.11, 3.18, 4.6, 4.16-4.17, 7.1, 8.23, 11.22, 11.24, 11.26, 12.1-12.5, 12.10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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27. New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, 1.1, 1.11, 2.14 (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: 1.11. To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power; 2.14. to which he called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
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28. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 1.12-1.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.12. For this cause I suffer also these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day. 1.13. Hold the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. |
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29. New Testament, Acts, 1.2, 1.8, 1.21-1.22, 2.14-2.21, 2.37-2.47, 4.1-4.31, 5.34-5.40, 6.1, 7.51-7.56, 7.58, 8.14-8.17, 9.1-9.9, 9.29, 10.44-10.48, 11.23, 13.47, 15.5, 15.7-15.11, 15.22-15.41, 16.1-16.3, 16.12, 16.16-16.24, 19.11-19.19, 21.20-21.21, 22.3, 22.17-22.22, 23.6-23.11, 26.5, 26.23 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.2. until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 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. 1.21. of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us 1.22. beginning from the baptism of John, to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection. 2.14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, "You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 2.15. For these aren't drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. 2.16. But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: 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. 2.18. Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy. 2.19. I will show wonders in the the sky above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. 2.20. The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 2.21. It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 2.37. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do? 2.38. Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 2.39. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. 2.40. With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation! 2.41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. 2.42. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 2.43. Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 2.44. All who believed were together, and had all things common. 2.45. They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. 2.46. Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart 2.47. praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved. 4.1. As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them 4.2. being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 4.3. They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening. 4.4. But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. 4.5. It happened in the morning, that their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. 4.6. Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest. 4.7. When they had stood them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this? 4.8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel 4.9. if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed 4.10. be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole. 4.11. He is 'the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which was made the head of the corner.' 4.12. There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, in which we must be saved! 4.13. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. 4.14. Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 4.15. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves 4.16. saying, "What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can't deny it. 4.17. But so that this spreads no further among the people, let's threaten them, that from now on they don't speak to anyone in this name. 4.18. They called them, and charged them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 4.19. But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves 4.20. for we can't help telling the things which we saw and heard. 4.21. They, when they had further threatened them, let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done. 4.22. For the man was more than forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was performed. 4.23. Being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 4.24. They, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, "O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; 4.25. who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, 'Why do the nations rage, And the peoples plot a vain thing? 4.26. The kings of the earth take a stand, And the rulers take council together, Against the Lord, and against his Christ.' 4.27. For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 4.28. to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen. 4.29. Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness 4.30. while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus. 4.31. When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. 5.34. But one stood up in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, honored by all the people, and commanded to take the apostles out a little while. 5.35. He said to them, "You men of Israel, be careful concerning these men, what you are about to do. 5.36. For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing. 5.37. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. 5.38. Now I tell you, refrain from these men, and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown. 5.39. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God! 5.40. They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 6.1. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a grumbling of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily service. 7.51. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. 7.52. Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. 7.53. You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn't keep it! 7.54. Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 7.55. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God 7.56. and said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God! 7.58. They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 8.14. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them 8.15. who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit; 8.16. for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 8.17. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 9.1. But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 9.2. and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 9.3. As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. 9.4. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 9.5. He said, "Who are you, Lord?"The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 9.6. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do. 9.7. The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. 9.8. Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9.9. He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank. 9.29. preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and disputed against the Grecian Jews, but they were seeking to kill him. 10.44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. 10.45. They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. 10.46. For they heard them speak with other languages and magnify God. Then Peter answered 10.47. Can any man forbid the water, that these who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we should not be baptized? 10.48. He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days. 11.23. who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would remain near to the Lord. 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.' 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. 15.7. When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 15.8. God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 15.9. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 15.10. Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 15.11. But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are. 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. 15.23. They wrote these things by their hand: "The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings. 15.24. Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law,' to whom we gave no commandment; 15.25. it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul 15.26. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15.27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth. 15.28. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: 15.29. that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell. 15.30. So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 15.31. When they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. 15.32. Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words, and strengthened them. 15.33. After they had spent some time there, they were sent back with greetings from the brothers to the apostles. 15.35. But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 15.36. After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing. 15.37. Barnabas planned to take John with them also, who was called Mark. 15.38. But Paul didn't think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and didn't go with them to do the work. 15.39. Then there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away to Cyprus 15.40. but Paul chose Silas, and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God. 15.41. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies. 16.1. He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek. 16.2. The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him. 16.3. Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 16.12. and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city. 16.16. It happened, as we were going to prayer, that a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. 16.17. The same, following after Paul and us, cried out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation! 16.18. This she did for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" It came out that very hour. 16.19. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 16.20. When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city 16.21. and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans. 16.22. The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 16.23. When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely 16.24. who, having received such a charge, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. 19.11. God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul 19.12. so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the evil spirits went out. 19.13. But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. 19.14. There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this. 19.15. The evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? 19.16. The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 19.17. This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 19.18. Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds. 19.19. Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 21.20. They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. 21.21. They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs. 22.3. I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day. 22.17. It happened that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance 22.18. and saw him saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive testimony concerning me from you.' 22.19. I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you. 22.20. When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.' 22.21. He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.' 22.22. They listened to him until he said that, then they lifted up their voice, and said, "Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn't fit to live! 23.6. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged! 23.7. When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 23.8. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these. 23.9. A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees part stood up, and contended, saying, "We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let's not fight against God! 23.10. When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. 23.11. The following night, the Lord stood by him, and said, "Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome. 26.5. having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 26.23. how the Christ must suffer, and how he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles. |
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30. New Testament, Apocalypse, 1.4, 22.21 (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; 22.21. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen. |
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31. New Testament, Philemon, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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32. New Testament, Colossians, 1.1, 2.8, 2.20-2.22, 3.11, 3.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother 2.8. Be careful that you don't let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. 2.20. If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordices 2.21. Don't handle, nor taste, nor touch 2.22. (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? 3.11. where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. 3.15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. |
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33. New Testament, Ephesians, 1.1-1.2, 4.4 (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. 4.4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; |
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34. New Testament, Galatians, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.12-2.14, 1.13, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19, 1.20, 1.21, 1.22, 1.23, 1.24, 1.25, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21, 3.1, 3.2, 3.7, 3.26, 3.27, 3.28, 3.29, 4.12, 4.24, 4.25, 4.26, 4.29, 5.2, 5.3, 5.6, 5.8, 5.16, 5.17, 5.18, 5.19, 5.20, 5.21, 5.22, 5.23, 5.24, 5.25, 6.8, 6.12, 6.15, 6.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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35. New Testament, Hebrews, 2.17, 9.5 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.17. Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 9.5. and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can't now speak in detail. |
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36. New Testament, Philippians, 1.1, 1.20, 2.5, 2.25, 3.2-3.11 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ; To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 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. 2.5. Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus 2.25. But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and minister to my need; 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; 3.4. though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: 3.5. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 3.6. concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. 3.7. However, what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. 3.8. Yes most assuredly, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ 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; 3.10. that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death; 3.11. if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. |
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37. New Testament, Romans, 1.1, 1.3-1.4, 1.7, 1.16, 1.21-1.23, 1.25, 1.30, 2.1-2.2, 2.9-2.10, 2.12, 2.17-2.24, 2.28-2.29, 3.1-3.4, 3.9-3.12, 3.19-3.25, 3.29, 4.11-4.13, 4.16-4.18, 5.20, 7.5-7.25, 8.4-8.5, 8.12-8.13, 8.23-8.26, 8.29-8.30, 9.3-9.8, 9.11, 9.14-9.18, 9.22-9.26, 9.30-9.33, 10.1-10.4, 10.6-10.12, 10.17, 11.1, 11.13-11.14, 11.17, 15.15-15.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 1.3. concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh 1.4. who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord 1.7. to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. 1.21. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. 1.22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools 1.23. and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 1.25. who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 1.30. backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents 2.1. Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. 2.2. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 2.9. oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, on the Jew first, and also on the Greek. 2.10. But glory and honor and peace to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 2.12. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 2.17. Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God 2.18. and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law 2.19. and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness 2.20. a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. 2.21. You therefore who teach another, don't you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn't steal, do you steal? 2.22. You who say a man shouldn't commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 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. 2.28. 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? 3.2. Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3.3. For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? 3.4. May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, "That you might be justified in your words, And might prevail when you come into judgment. 3.9. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously charged both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. 3.10. As it is written, "There is no one righteous. No, not one. 3.11. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 3.12. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, No, not, so much as one. 3.19. Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. 3.20. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 3.21. But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; 3.22. even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction 3.23. for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 3.24. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; 3.25. whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance; 3.29. Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also 4.11. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. 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. 4.13. For the promise to Abraham and to his seed that he should be heir of the world wasn't through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 4.16. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 4.17. As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. 4.18. Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So will your seed be. 5.20. The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly; 7.5. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit to death. 7.6. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter. 7.7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn't have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn't have known coveting, unless the law had said, "You shall not covet. 7.8. But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 7.9. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 7.10. The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death; 7.11. for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. 7.12. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. 7.13. Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful. 7.14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. 7.15. For I don't know what I am doing. For I don't practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do. 7.16. But if what I don't desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good. 7.17. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. 7.18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don't find it doing that which is good. 7.19. For the good which I desire, I don't do; but the evil which I don't desire, that I practice. 7.20. But if what I don't desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. 7.21. I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. 7.22. For I delight in God's law after the inward man 7.23. but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. 7.24. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? 7.25. I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God's law, but with the flesh, the sin's law. 8.4. that the ordice of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 8.5. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 8.12. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 8.13. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 8.23. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. 8.24. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? 8.25. But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience. 8.26. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered. 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. 8.30. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. 9.3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers' sake, my relatives according to the flesh 9.4. who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covets, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises; 9.5. of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. 9.6. But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. 9.7. Neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children. But, "In Isaac will your seed be called. 9.8. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as a seed. 9.11. For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls 9.14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be! 9.15. For he said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 9.16. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. 9.17. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. 9.18. So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. 9.22. What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction 9.23. and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory 9.24. us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 9.25. As he says also in Hosea, "I will call them 'my people,' which were not my people; And her 'beloved,' who was not beloved. 9.26. It will be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' There they will be called 'sons of the living God.' 9.30. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn't follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith; 9.31. but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn't arrive at the law of righteousness. 9.32. Why? Because they didn't seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone; 9.33. even as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; And no one who believes in him will be put to shame. 10.1. Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. 10.2. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 10.3. For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 10.4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 10.6. But the righteousness which is of faith says this, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down); 10.7. or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) 10.8. But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;" that is, the word of faith, which we preach: 10.9. that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10.10. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 10.11. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 10.12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 10.17. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 11.1. I ask then, Did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 11.13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 11.14. if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 11.17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; 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 15.16. that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 15.17. I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. 15.18. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed 15.19. in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God's Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ; 15.20. yes, making it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another's foundation. |
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38. New Testament, Titus, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness |
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39. New Testament, John, 1.10-1.14, 4.19, 5.16, 14.21, 14.23, 16.25 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him. 1.11. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him. 1.12. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: 1.13. who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 1.14. The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 4.19. The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 5.16. For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. 14.21. One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him. 14.23. Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. 16.25. I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. |
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40. New Testament, Luke, 2.32, 2.46-2.49, 4.31-4.37, 6.11, 7.6, 7.36, 11.37-11.44, 13.17, 13.31, 14.1, 14.6, 16.16-16.17, 22.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.32. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of your people Israel. 2.46. It happened after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. 2.47. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 2.48. When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you. 2.49. He said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house? 4.31. He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day 4.32. and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. 4.33. In the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice 4.34. saying, "Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God! 4.35. Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" When the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 4.36. Amazement came on all, and they spoke together, one with another, saying, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out! 4.37. News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region. 6.11. But they were filled with rage, and talked with one another about what they might do to Jesus. 7.6. Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. 7.36. One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat at the table. 11.37. Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table. 11.38. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner. 11.39. The Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 11.40. You foolish ones, didn't he who made the outside make the inside also? 11.41. But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. 11.42. But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and the love of God. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 11.43. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. 11.44. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don't know it. 13.17. As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. 13.31. On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, "Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you. 14.1. It happened, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 14.6. They couldn't answer him regarding these things. 16.16. The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the gospel of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 16.17. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall. 22.20. Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covet in my blood, which is poured out for you. |
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41. New Testament, Mark, 1.14, 1.40-1.41, 3.6, 3.13-3.19, 7.3, 7.5-7.8, 7.24-7.31, 8.27-8.38, 9.5, 9.11-9.13, 9.38-9.41, 10.35-10.45, 12.13-12.17, 12.35-12.37, 14.6-14.9, 14.21-14.24, 14.32-14.42, 15.1-15.47 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.14. Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God 1.40. There came to him a leper, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean. 1.41. Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, "I want to. Be made clean. 3.6. The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. 3.13. He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him. 3.14. He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach 3.15. and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 3.16. Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; 3.17. James the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James, and he surnamed them Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder; 3.18. Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; 3.19. and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. He came into a house. 7.3. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, don't eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 7.5. The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why don't your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands? 7.6. He answered them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. 7.7. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 7.8. For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things. 7.24. From there he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice. 7.25. For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. 7.26. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. 7.27. But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 7.28. But she answered him, "Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. 7.29. He said to her, "For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter. 7.30. She went away to her house, and found the child lying on the bed, with the demon gone out. 7.31. Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis. 8.27. Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am? 8.28. They told him, "John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets. 8.29. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"Peter answered, "You are the Christ. 8.30. He charged them that they should tell no one about him. 8.31. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 8.32. He spoke to them openly. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 8.33. But he, turning around, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men. 8.34. He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, "Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 8.35. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 8.36. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? 8.37. For what will a man give in exchange for his life? 8.38. For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 9.5. Peter answered Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let's make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. 9.11. They asked him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? 9.12. He said to them, "Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised? 9.13. But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him. 9.38. John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone who doesn't follow us casting out demons in your name; and we forbade him, because he doesn't follow us. 9.39. But Jesus said, "Don't forbid him, for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name, and be able quickly to speak evil of me. 9.40. For whoever is not against us is on our side. 9.41. For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ's, most assuredly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward. 10.35. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask. 10.36. He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you? 10.37. They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory. 10.38. But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 10.39. They said to him, "We are able."Jesus said to them, "You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 10.40. but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared. 10.41. When the ten heard it, they began to be indigt towards James and John. 10.42. Jesus summoned them, and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 10.43. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. 10.44. Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be servant of all. 10.45. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 12.13. They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 12.14. When they had come, they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don't defer to anyone; for you aren't partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 12.15. Shall we give, or shall we not give?"But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it. 12.16. They brought it. He said to them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"They said to him, "Caesar's. 12.17. Jesus answered them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."They marveled greatly at him. 12.35. Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 12.36. For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.' 12.37. Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?"The common people heard him gladly. 14.6. But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. 14.7. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. 14.8. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. 14.9. Most assuredly I tell you, wherever this gospel may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her. 14.21. For the Son of Man goes, even as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born. 14.22. As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed, he broke it, and gave to them, and said, "Take, eat. This is my body. 14.23. He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. 14.24. He said to them, "This is my blood of the new covet, which is poured out for many. 14.32. They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray. 14.33. He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. 14.34. He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch. 14.35. He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. 14.36. He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire. 14.37. He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you watch one hour? 14.38. Watch and pray, that you not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 14.39. Again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words. 14.40. Again he returned, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they didn't know what to answer him. 14.41. He came the third time, and said to them, "Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 14.42. Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand. 15.1. Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate. 15.2. Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"He answered, "So you say. 15.3. The chief priests accused him of many things. 15.4. Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they testify against you! 15.5. But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled. 15.6. Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. 15.7. There was one called Barabbas, bound with those who had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. 15.8. The multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do as he always did for them. 15.9. Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? 15.10. For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. 15.11. But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead. 15.12. Pilate again asked them, "What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews? 15.13. They cried out again, "Crucify him! 15.14. Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?"But they cried out exceedingly, "Crucify him! 15.15. Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified. 15.16. The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort. 15.17. They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 15.18. They began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews! 15.19. They struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him. 15.20. When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him. 15.21. They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross. 15.22. They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, "The place of a skull. 15.23. They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn't take it. 15.24. Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take. 15.25. It was the third hour, and they crucified him. 15.26. The superscription of his accusation was written over him, "THE KING OF THE JEWS. 15.27. With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. 15.28. The Scripture was fulfilled, which says, "He was numbered with transgressors. 15.29. Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days 15.30. save yourself, and come down from the cross! 15.31. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others. He can't save himself. 15.32. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him." Those who were crucified with him insulted him. 15.33. When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 15.34. At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 15.35. Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah. 15.36. One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Let him be. Let's see whether Elijah comes to take him down. 15.37. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. 15.38. The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. 15.39. When the centurion, who stood by opposite him, saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God! 15.40. There were also women watching from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 15.41. who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. 15.42. When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath 15.43. Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for the Kingdom of God, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus' body. 15.44. Pilate marveled if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long. 15.45. When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 15.46. He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 15.47. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid. |
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42. New Testament, Matthew, 5.2, 5.17, 12.1-12.14, 15.2, 16.17, 23.4, 23.23-23.28 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.2. He opened his mouth and taught them, saying 5.17. Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill. 12.1. At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 12.2. But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, "Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. 12.3. But he said to them, "Haven't you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; 12.4. how he entered into the house of God, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 12.5. Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? 12.6. But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 12.7. But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 12.8. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 12.9. He departed there, and went into their synagogue. 12.10. And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" that they might accuse him. 12.11. He said to them, "What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? 12.12. of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. 12.13. Then he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. 12.14. But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. 15.2. Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat bread. 16.17. Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 23.4. For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. 23.23. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 23.24. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel! 23.25. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. 23.26. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of it may become clean also. 23.27. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 23.28. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. |
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43. Tosefta, Sotah, 7.11-7.12 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 7.11. A person might think: 'since the Academy of Shammai declares unclean that which the Academy of Hillel declares clean, one prohibits that which the other permits, how, then, can I learn Torah?' This is way Torah repeats: \"words...the words...these are the words...\" All of the words have been given by a single Shepherd, one God fashioned them, one Provider gave them, Source of all deeds, blessed be God, has spoken them. So make for yourself a heart with many rooms, and bring into it the words of the Academy of Shammai and the words of the Academy of Hillel, the words of who declare unclean and those that declare clean. " |
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44. Anon., Sifre Deuteronomy, 351 (2nd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
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45. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 3.2, 3.13.1 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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46. Tertullian, Against Marcion, 3.22-3.23, 4.13, 5.3.1 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 3.22. You have the work of the apostles also predicted: How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, which bring good tidings of good, not of war nor evil tidings. In response to which is the psalm, Their sound is gone through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world; that is, the words of them who carry round about the law that proceeded from Sion and the Lord's word from Jerusalem, in order that that might come to pass which was written: They who were far from my righteousness, have come near to my righteousness and truth. When the apostles girded their loins for this business, they renounced the elders and rulers and priests of the Jews. Well, says he, but was it not above all things that they might preach the other god? Rather (that they might preach) that very self-same God, whose scripture they were with all their might fulfilling! Depart, depart, exclaims Isaiah; go out from thence, and touch not the unclean thing, that is blasphemy against Christ; Go out of the midst of her, even of the synagogue. Be separate who bear the vessels of the Lord. Isaiah 52:11 For already had the Lord, according to the preceding words (of the prophet), revealed His Holy One with His arm, that is to say, Christ by His mighty power, in the eyes of the nations, so that all the nations and the utmost parts of the earth have seen the salvation, which was from God. By thus departing from Judaism itself, when they exchanged the obligations and burdens of the law for the liberty of the gospel, they were fulfilling the psalm, Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us; and this indeed (they did) after that the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain devices; after that the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took their counsel together against the Lord, and against His Christ. What did the apostles thereupon suffer? You answer: Every sort of iniquitous persecutions, from men that belonged indeed to that Creator who was the adversary of Him whom they were preaching. Then why does the Creator, if an adversary of Christ, not only predict that the apostles should incur this suffering, but even express His displeasure thereat? For He ought neither to predict the course of the other god, whom, as you contend, He knew not, nor to have expressed displeasure at that which He had taken care to bring about. See how the righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and how merciful men are taken away, and no man considers. For the righteous man has been removed from the evil person. Isaiah 57:1 Who is this but Christ? Come, say they, let us take away the righteous, because He is not for our turn, (and He is clean contrary to our doings). Wisdom 2:12 Premising, therefore, and likewise subjoining the fact that Christ suffered, He foretold that His just ones should suffer equally with Him - both the apostles and all the faithful in succession; and He signed them with that very seal of which Ezekiel spoke: The Lord said to me, Go through the gate, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set the mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men. Now the Greek letter Tau and our own letter T is the very form of the cross, which He predicted would be the sign on our foreheads in the true Catholic Jerusalem, in which, according to the twenty-first Psalm, the brethren of Christ or children of God would ascribe glory to God the Father, in the person of Christ Himself addressing His Father; I will declare Your name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto You. For that which had to come to pass in our day in His name, and by His Spirit, He rightly foretold would be of Him. And a little afterwards He says: My praise shall be of You in the great congregation. In the sixty-seventh Psalm He says again: In the congregations bless the Lord God. So that with this agrees also the prophecy of Malachi: I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord; neither will I accept your offerings: for from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place sacrifice shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering Malachi 1:10-11 - such as the ascription of glory, and blessing, and praise, and hymns. Now, inasmuch as all these things are also found among you, and the sign upon the forehead, and the sacraments of the church, and the offerings of the pure sacrifice, you ought now to burst forth, and declare that the Spirit of the Creator prophesied of your Christ. 3.23. Now, since you join the Jews in denying that their Christ has come, recollect also what is that end which they were predicted as about to bring on themselves after the time of Christ, for the impiety wherewith they both rejected and slew Him. For it began to come to pass from that day, when, according to Isaiah, a man threw away his idols of gold and of silver, which they made into useless and hurtful objects of worship; Isaiah 2:20 in other words, from the time when he threw away his idols after the truth had been made clear by Christ. Consider whether what follows in the prophet has not received its fulfilment: The Lord of hosts has taken away from Judah and from Jerusalem, among other things, both the prophet and the wise artificer; that is, His Holy Spirit, who builds the church, which is indeed the temple, and household and city of God. For thenceforth God's grace failed among them; and the clouds were commanded to rain no rain upon the vineyard of Sorech; to withhold, that is, the graces of heaven, that they shed no blessing upon the house of Israel, which had but produced the thorns wherewith it had crowned the Lord, and instead of righteousness, the cry wherewith it had hurried Him away to the cross. Isaiah 5:6-7 And so in this manner the law and the prophets were until John, but the dews of divine grace were withdrawn from the nation. After his time their madness still continued, and the name of the Lord was blasphemed by them, as says the Scripture: Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the nations Isaiah 52:5 (for from them did the blasphemy originate); neither in the interval from Tiberius to Vespasian did they learn repentance. Therefore has their land become desolate, their cities are burnt with fire, their country strangers are devouring before their own eyes; the daughter of Sion has been deserted like a cottage in a vineyard, or a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, Isaiah 1:7-8 ever since the time when Israel acknowledged not the Lord, and the people understood Him not, but forsook Him, and provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. Isaiah 1:3-4 So likewise that conditional threat of the sword, If you refuse and hear me not, the sword shall devour you, Isaiah 1:20 has proved that it was Christ, for rebellion against whom they have perished. In the fifty-eighth Psalm He demands of the Father their dispersion: Scatter them in Your power. By Isaiah He also says, as He finishes a prophecy of their consumption by fire: Because of me has this happened to you; you shall lie down in sorrow. Isaiah 50:11 But all this would be unmeaning enough, if they suffered this retribution not on account of Him, who had in prophecy assigned their suffering to His own cause, but for the sake of the Christ of the other god. Well, then, although you affirm that it is the Christ of the other god who was driven to the cross by the powers and authorities of the Creator, as it were by hostile beings, still I have to say, See how manifestly He was defended by the Creator: there were given to Him both the wicked for His burial, even those who had strenuously maintained that His corpse had been stolen, and the rich for His death, even those who had redeemed Him from the treachery of Judas, as well as from the lying report of the soldiers that His body had been taken away. Therefore these things either did not happen to the Jews on His account, in which case you will be refuted by the sense of the Scriptures tallying with the issue of the facts and the order of the times, or else they did happen on His account, and then the Creator could not have inflicted the vengeance except for His own Christ; nay, He must have rather had a reward for Judas, if it had been his master's enemy whom they put to death. At all events, if the Creator's Christ has not come yet, on whose account the prophecy dooms them to such sufferings, they will have to endure the sufferings when He shall have come. Then where will there be a daughter of Sion to be reduced to desolation, for there is none now to be found? Where will there be cities to be burnt with fire, for they are now in heaps? Where a nation to be dispersed, which is already in banishment? Restore to Jud a its former state, that the Creator's Christ may find it, and then you may contend that another Christ has come. But then, again, how is it that He can have permitted to range through His own heaven one whom He was some day to put to death on His own earth, after the more noble and glorious region of His kingdom had been violated, and His own very palace and sublimest height had been trodden by him? Or was it only in appearance rather that he did this? God is no doubt a jealous God! Yet he gained the victory. You should blush with shame, who put your faith in a vanquished god! What have you to hope for from him, who was not strong enough to protect himself? For it was either through his infirmity that he was crushed by the powers and human agents of the Creator, or else through maliciousness, in order that he might fasten so great a stigma on them by his endurance of their wickedness. 4.13. Surely to Sion He brings good tidings, and to Jerusalem peace and all blessings; He goes up into a mountain, and there spends a night in prayer, Luke 6:12 and He is indeed heard by the Father. Accordingly turn over the prophets, and learn therefrom His entire course. Into the high mountain, says Isaiah, get up, You who brings good tidings to Sion; lift up Your voice with strength, who brings good tidings to Jerusalem. Isaiah 40:9 They were mightily astonished at His doctrine; for He was teaching as one who had power. Luke 4:32 And again: Therefore, my people shall know my name in that day. What name does the prophet mean, but Christ's? That I am He that does speak - even I. Isaiah 52:6 For it was He who used to speak in the prophets- the Word, the Creator's Son. I am present, while it is the hour, upon the mountains, as one that brings glad tidings of peace, as one that publishes good tidings of good. So one of the twelve (minor prophets), Nahum: For behold upon the mountain the swift feet of Him that brings glad tidings of peace. Nahum 1:15 Moreover, concerning the voice of His prayer to the Father by night, the psalm manifestly says: O my God, I will cry in the day-time, and You shall hear; and in the night season, and it shall not be in vain to me. In another passage touching the same voice and place, the psalm says: I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy mountain. You have a representation of the name; you have the action of the Evangelizer; you have a mountain for the site; and the night as the time; and the sound of a voice; and the audience of the Father: you have, (in short,) the Christ of the prophets. But why was it that He chose twelve apostles, Luke 6:13-19 and not some other number? In truth, I might from this very point conclude of my Christ, that He was foretold not only by the words of prophets, but by the indications of facts. For of this number I find figurative hints up and down the Creator's dispensation in the twelve springs of Elim; Numbers 33:9 in the twelve gems of Aaron's priestly vestment; Exodus 28:13-21 and in the twelve stones appointed by Joshua to be taken out of the Jordan, and set up for the Ark of the Covet. Now, the same number of apostles was thus portended, as if they were to be fountains and rivers which should water the Gentile world, which was formerly dry and destitute of knowledge (as He says by Isaiah: I will put streams in the unwatered ground Isaiah 43:20); as if they were to be gems to shed lustre upon the church's sacred robe, which Christ, the High Priest of the Father, puts on; as if, also, they were to be stones massive in their faith, which the true Joshua took out of the laver of the Jordan, and placed in the sanctuary of His covet. What equally good defense of such a number has Marcion's Christ to show? It is impossible that anything can be shown to have been done by him unconnectedly, which cannot be shown to have been done by my Christ in connection (with preceding types). To him will appertain the event in whom is discovered the preparation for the same. Again, He changes the name of Simon to Peter, inasmuch as the Creator also altered the names of Abram, and Sarai, and Oshea, by calling the latter Joshua, and adding a syllable to each of the former. But why Peter? If it was because of the vigour of his faith, there were many solid materials which might lend a name from their strength. Was it because Christ was both a rock and a stone? For we read of His being placed for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense. I omit the rest of the passage. Therefore He would fain impart to the dearest of His disciples a name which was suggested by one of His own special designations in figure; because it was, I suppose, more peculiarly fit than a name which might have been derived from no figurative description of Himself. There come to Him from Tyre, and from other districts even, a transmarine multitude. This fact the psalm had in view: And behold tribes of foreign people, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians; they were there. Sion is my mother, shall a man say; and in her was born a man (forasmuch as the God-man was born), and He built her by the Father's will; that you may know how Gentiles then flocked to Him, because He was born the God-man who was to build the church according to the Father's will - even of other races also. So says Isaiah too: Behold, these come from far; and these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of the Persians. Isaiah 49:12 Concerning whom He says again: Lift up your eyes round about, and behold, all these have gathered themselves together. Isaiah 49:18 And yet again: You see these unknown and strange ones; and you will say in your heart, Who has begotten me these? But who has brought me up these? And these, where have they been? Isaiah 49:21 Will such a Christ not be (the Christ) of the prophets? And what will be the Christ of the Marcionites? Since perversion of truth is their pleasure, he could not be (the Christ) of the prophets. |
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47. Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics, 7.11 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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