1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 11.22 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
11.22. כִּי אִם־שָׁמֹר תִּשְׁמְרוּן אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשֹׂתָהּ לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לָלֶכֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו וּלְדָבְקָה־בוֹ׃ | 11.22. For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him," |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Leviticus, 11.44-11.45 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
11.44. כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אָנִי וְלֹא תְטַמְּאוּ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם בְּכָל־הַשֶּׁרֶץ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 11.45. כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה הַמַּעֲלֶה אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לִהְיֹת לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אָנִי׃ | 11.44. For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth." 11.45. For I am the LORD that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. ." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Psalms, 16.3, 21.23, 35.1 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
16.3. לִקְדוֹשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָרֶץ הֵמָּה וְאַדִּירֵי כָּל־חֶפְצִי־בָם׃ 35.1. לְדָוִד רִיבָה יְהוָה אֶת־יְרִיבַי לְחַם אֶת־לֹחֲמָי׃ 35.1. כָּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה יְהוָה מִי כָמוֹךָ מַצִּיל עָנִי מֵחָזָק מִמֶּנּוּ וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מִגֹּזְלוֹ׃ | 16.3. As for the holy that are in the earth, They are the excellent in whom is all my delight." 35.1. [A Psalm] of David. Strive, O LORD, with them that strive with me; Fight against them that fight against me." |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 7.14, 60.17, 60.21 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
7.14. לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא לָכֶם אוֹת הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ עִמָּנוּ אֵל׃ 60.17. תַּחַת הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אָבִיא זָהָב וְתַחַת הַבַּרְזֶל אָבִיא כֶסֶף וְתַחַת הָעֵצִים נְחֹשֶׁת וְתַחַת הָאֲבָנִים בַּרְזֶל וְשַׂמְתִּי פְקֻדָּתֵךְ שָׁלוֹם וְנֹגְשַׂיִךְ צְדָקָה׃ 60.21. וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מטעו [מַטָּעַי] מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר׃ | 7.14. Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." 60.17. For brass I will bring gold, And for iron I will bring silver, And for wood brass, And for stones iron; I will also make thy officers peace, And righteousness thy magistrates." 60.21. Thy people also shall be all righteous, They shall inherit the land for ever; The branch of My planting, the work of My hands, Wherein I glory." |
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5. Hebrew Bible, Joshua, 24.30 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 24.30. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash." |
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6. Pindar, Fragments, 57 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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7. Aratus Solensis, Phaenomena, 5 (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
5. τοῦ γάρ καὶ γένος εἰμέν· ὁ δʼ ἤπιος ἀνθρώποισιν | |
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8. Anon., 1 Enoch, 62.7 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 62.7. For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, And the Most High preserved him in the presence of His might, And revealed him to the elect. |
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9. Cicero, Pro Flacco, 28 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
28. maioribus nostris fuit ut, cum in privatis rebus suisque sumptibus minimo contenti tenuissimo cultu viverent, in imperio atque in publica dignitate omnia ad gloriam splendoremque revocarent. quaeritur enim in re domestica continentiae laus, in publica dignitatis. quod si etiam praesidi causa classem habuit, quis erit tam iniquus qui reprehendat? ' nulli erant praedones.' quid ? nullos fore quis praestare poterat? ' minuis,' inquit, 'gloriam Pompei.' immo tu auges molestiam. | |
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10. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, 3.13-4.26, 8.5 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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11. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 3.1-3.30 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
3.1. אנתה [אַנְתְּ] מַלְכָּא שָׂמְתָּ טְּעֵם דִּי כָל־אֱנָשׁ דִּי־יִשְׁמַע קָל קַרְנָא מַשְׁרֹקִיתָא קיתרס [קַתְרוֹס] שַׂבְּכָא פְסַנְתֵּרִין וסיפניה [וְסוּפֹּנְיָה] וְכֹל זְנֵי זְמָרָא יִפֵּל וְיִסְגֻּד לְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא׃ 3.1. נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא עֲבַד צְלֵם דִּי־דְהַב רוּמֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁתִּין פְּתָיֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁת אֲקִימֵהּ בְּבִקְעַת דּוּרָא בִּמְדִינַת בָּבֶל׃ 3.2. וּנְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא שְׁלַח לְמִכְנַשׁ לַאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּא סִגְנַיָּא וּפַחֲוָתָא אֲדַרְגָּזְרַיָּא גְדָבְרַיָּא דְּתָבְרַיָּא תִּפְתָּיֵא וְכֹל שִׁלְטֹנֵי מְדִינָתָא לְמֵתֵא לַחֲנֻכַּת צַלְמָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא׃ 3.2. וּלְגֻבְרִין גִּבָּרֵי־חַיִל דִּי בְחַיְלֵהּ אֲמַר לְכַפָּתָה לְשַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ לְמִרְמֵא לְאַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא׃ 3.3. בֵּאדַיִן מַלְכָּא הַצְלַח לְשַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ בִּמְדִינַת בָּבֶל׃ 3.3. בֵּאדַיִן מִתְכַּנְּשִׁין אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּא סִגְנַיָּא וּפַחֲוָתָא אֲדַרְגָּזְרַיָּא גְדָבְרַיָּא דְּתָבְרַיָּא תִּפְתָּיֵא וְכֹל שִׁלְטֹנֵי מְדִינָתָא לַחֲנֻכַּת צַלְמָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא וקאמין [וְקָיְמִין] לָקֳבֵל צַלְמָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר׃ 3.4. וְכָרוֹזָא קָרֵא בְחָיִל לְכוֹן אָמְרִין עַמְמַיָּא אֻמַּיָּא וְלִשָּׁנַיָּא׃ 3.5. בְּעִדָּנָא דִּי־תִשְׁמְעוּן קָל קַרְנָא מַשְׁרוֹקִיתָא קיתרוס [קַתְרוֹס] סַבְּכָא פְּסַנְתֵּרִין סוּמְפֹּנְיָה וְכֹל זְנֵי זְמָרָא תִּפְּלוּן וְתִסְגְּדוּן לְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא׃ 3.6. וּמַן־דִּי־לָא יִפֵּל וְיִסְגֻּד בַּהּ־שַׁעֲתָא יִתְרְמֵא לְגוֹא־אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא׃ 3.7. כָּל־קֳבֵל דְּנָה בֵּהּ־זִמְנָא כְּדִי שָׁמְעִין כָּל־עַמְמַיָּא קָל קַרְנָא מַשְׁרוֹקִיתָא קיתרס [קַתְרוֹס] שַׂבְּכָא פְּסַנְטֵרִין וְכֹל זְנֵי זְמָרָא נָפְלִין כָּל־עַמְמַיָּא אֻמַיָּא וְלִשָּׁנַיָּא סָגְדִין לְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא׃ 3.8. כָּל־קֳבֵל דְּנָה בֵּהּ־זִמְנָא קְרִבוּ גֻּבְרִין כַּשְׂדָּאִין וַאֲכַלוּ קַרְצֵיהוֹן דִּי יְהוּדָיֵא׃ 3.9. עֲנוֹ וְאָמְרִין לִנְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא מַלְכָּא לְעָלְמִין חֱיִי׃ 3.11. וּמַן־דִּי־לָא יִפֵּל וְיִסְגֻּד יִתְרְמֵא לְגוֹא־אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא׃ 3.12. אִיתַי גֻּבְרִין יְהוּדָאיִן דִּי־מַנִּיתָ יָתְהוֹן עַל־עֲבִידַת מְדִינַת בָּבֶל שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ לָא־שָׂמוּ עליך [עֲלָךְ] מַלְכָּא טְעֵם לאלהיך [לֵאלָהָךְ] לָא פָלְחִין וּלְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵימְתָּ לָא סָגְדִין׃ 3.13. בֵּאדַיִן נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר בִּרְגַז וַחֲמָה אֲמַר לְהַיְתָיָה לְשַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ בֵּאדַיִן גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ הֵיתָיוּ קֳדָם מַלְכָּא׃ 3.14. עָנֵה נְבֻכַדְנֶצַּר וְאָמַר לְהוֹן הַצְדָּא שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ לֵאלָהַי לָא אִיתֵיכוֹן פָּלְחִין וּלְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵימֶת לָא סָגְדִין׃ 3.15. כְּעַן הֵן אִיתֵיכוֹן עֲתִידִין דִּי בְעִדָּנָא דִּי־תִשְׁמְעוּן קָל קַרְנָא מַשְׁרוֹקִיתָא קיתרס [קַתְרוֹס] שַׂבְּכָא פְּסַנְתֵּרִין וְסוּמְפֹּנְיָה וְכֹל זְנֵי זְמָרָא תִּפְּלוּן וְתִסְגְּדוּן לְצַלְמָא דִי־עַבְדֵת וְהֵן לָא תִסְגְּדוּן בַּהּ־שַׁעֲתָה תִתְרְמוֹן לְגוֹא־אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא וּמַן־הוּא אֱלָהּ דֵּי יְשֵׁיזְבִנְכוֹן מִן־יְדָי׃ 3.16. עֲנוֹ שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ וְאָמְרִין לְמַלְכָּא נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר לָא־חַשְׁחִין אֲנַחְנָה עַל־דְּנָה פִּתְגָם לַהֲתָבוּתָךְ׃ 3.17. הֵן אִיתַי אֱלָהַנָא דִּי־אֲנַחְנָא פָלְחִין יָכִל לְשֵׁיזָבוּתַנָא מִן־אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא וּמִן־יְדָךְ מַלְכָּא יְשֵׁיזִב׃ 3.18. וְהֵן לָא יְדִיעַ לֶהֱוֵא־לָךְ מַלְכָּא דִּי לאלהיך [לֵאלָהָךְ] לָא־איתינא [אִיתַנָא] פָלְחִין וּלְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵימְתָּ לָא נִסְגֻּד׃ 3.19. בֵּאדַיִן נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר הִתְמְלִי חֱמָא וּצְלֵם אַנְפּוֹהִי אשתנו [אֶשְׁתַּנִּי] עַל־שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ עָנֵה וְאָמַר לְמֵזֵא לְאַתּוּנָא חַד־שִׁבְעָה עַל דִּי חֲזֵה לְמֵזְיֵהּ׃ 3.21. בֵּאדַיִן גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ כְּפִתוּ בְּסַרְבָּלֵיהוֹן פטישיהון [פַּטְּשֵׁיהוֹן] וְכַרְבְּלָתְהוֹן וּלְבֻשֵׁיהוֹן וּרְמִיו לְגוֹא־אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא׃ 3.22. כָּל־קֳבֵל דְּנָה מִן־דִּי מִלַּת מַלְכָּא מַחְצְפָה וְאַתּוּנָא אֵזֵה יַתִּירָא גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ דִּי הַסִּקוּ לְשַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ קַטִּל הִמּוֹן שְׁבִיבָא דִּי נוּרָא׃ 3.23. וְגֻבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ תְּלָתֵּהוֹן שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ נְפַלוּ לְגוֹא־אַתּוּן־נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא מְכַפְּתִין׃ 3.24. אֱדַיִן נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא תְּוַהּ וְקָם בְּהִתְבְּהָלָה עָנֵה וְאָמַר לְהַדָּבְרוֹהִי הֲלָא גֻבְרִין תְּלָתָא רְמֵינָא לְגוֹא־נוּרָא מְכַפְּתִין עָנַיִן וְאָמְרִין לְמַלְכָּא יַצִּיבָא מַלְכָּא׃ 3.25. עָנֵה וְאָמַר הָא־אֲנָה חָזֵה גֻּבְרִין אַרְבְּעָה שְׁרַיִן מַהְלְכִין בְּגוֹא־נוּרָא וַחֲבָל לָא־אִיתַי בְּהוֹן וְרֵוֵהּ דִּי רביעיא [רְבִיעָאָה] דָּמֵה לְבַר־אֱלָהִין׃ 3.26. בֵּאדַיִן קְרֵב נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר לִתְרַע אַתּוּן נוּרָא יָקִדְתָּא עָנֵה וְאָמַר שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד־נְגוֹ עַבְדוֹהִי דִּי־אֱלָהָא עליא [עִלָּאָה] פֻּקוּ וֶאֱתוֹ בֵּאדַיִן נָפְקִין שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ מִן־גּוֹא נוּרָא׃ 3.27. וּמִתְכַּנְּשִׁין אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּא סִגְנַיָּא וּפַחֲוָתָא וְהַדָּבְרֵי מַלְכָּא חָזַיִן לְגֻבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ דִּי לָא־שְׁלֵט נוּרָא בְּגֶשְׁמְהוֹן וּשְׂעַר רֵאשְׁהוֹן לָא הִתְחָרַךְ וְסָרְבָּלֵיהוֹן לָא שְׁנוֹ וְרֵיחַ נוּר לָא עֲדָת בְּהוֹן׃ 3.28. עָנֵה נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר וְאָמַר בְּרִיךְ אֱלָהֲהוֹן דִּי־שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹ דִּי־שְׁלַח מַלְאֲכֵהּ וְשֵׁיזִב לְעַבְדוֹהִי דִּי הִתְרְחִצוּ עֲלוֹהִי וּמִלַּת מַלְכָּא שַׁנִּיו וִיהַבוּ גשמיהון [גֶשְׁמְהוֹן] דִּי לָא־יִפְלְחוּן וְלָא־יִסְגְּדוּן לְכָל־אֱלָהּ לָהֵן לֵאלָהֲהוֹן׃ 3.29. וּמִנִּי שִׂים טְעֵם דִּי כָל־עַם אֻמָּה וְלִשָּׁן דִּי־יֵאמַר שלה [שָׁלוּ] עַל אֱלָהֲהוֹן דִּי־שַׁדְרַךְ מֵישַׁךְ וַעֲבֵד נְגוֹא הַדָּמִין יִתְעֲבֵד וּבַיְתֵהּ נְוָלִי יִשְׁתַּוֵּה כָּל־קֳבֵל דִּי לָא אִיתַי אֱלָה אָחֳרָן דִּי־יִכֻּל לְהַצָּלָה כִּדְנָה׃ | 3.1. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon." 3.2. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." 3.3. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up." 3.4. And the herald cried aloud: ‘To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages," 3.5. that at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;" 3.6. and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.’" 3.7. Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." 3.8. Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews." 3.9. They spoke and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: ‘O king, live for ever!" 3.10. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;" 3.11. and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." 3.12. There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.’" 3.13. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then were these men brought before the king." 3.14. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them: ‘Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that ye serve not my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" 3.15. Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is the god that shall deliver you out of my hands?’" 3.16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king: ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter." 3.17. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, He will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and out of thy hand, O king." 3.18. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.’" 3.19. Then was Nebuchadnezzar filled with fury, and the form of his visage was changed, against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated." 3.20. And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace." 3.21. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, and their robes, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." 3.22. Therefore because the king’s commandment was peremptory, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego." 3.23. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." 3.24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was alarmed, and rose up in haste; he spoke and said unto his ministers: ‘Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said unto the king: ‘True, O king.’" 3.25. He answered and said: ‘Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.’" 3.26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace; he spoke and said: ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of God Most High, come forth, and come hither.’ Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth out of the midst of the fire." 3.27. And the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the king’s ministers, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their cloaks changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them." 3.28. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said: ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." 3.29. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort.’" 3.30. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon." |
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12. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.46, 2.18, 3.2, 10.21, 12.6, 12.8-12.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.46. to defile the sanctuary and the priests 2.18. Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts. 3.2. All his brothers and all who had joined his father helped him; they gladly fought for Israel. 10.21. So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance. 12.6. Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to their brethren the Spartans, greeting. 12.8. Onias welcomed the envoy with honor, and received the letter, which contained a clear declaration of alliance and friendship. 12.9. Therefore, though we have no need of these things, since we have as encouragement the holy books which are in our hands |
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13. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 9.19-9.27, 11.16-11.38 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 9.19. To his worthy Jewish citizens, Antiochus their king and general sends hearty greetings and good wishes for their health and prosperity.' 9.20. If you and your children are well and your affairs are as you wish, I am glad. As my hope is in heaven,' 9.21. I remember with affection your esteem and good will. On my way back from the region of Persia I suffered an annoying illness, and I have deemed it necessary to take thought for the general security of all.' 9.22. I do not despair of my condition, for I have good hope of recovering from my illness,' 9.23. but I observed that my father, on the occasions when he made expeditions into the upper country, appointed his successor,' 9.24. o that, if anything unexpected happened or any unwelcome news came, the people throughout the realm would not be troubled, for they would know to whom the government was left.' 9.25. Moreover, I understand how the princes along the borders and the neighbors to my kingdom keep watching for opportunities and waiting to see what will happen. So I have appointed my son Antiochus to be king, whom I have often entrusted and commended to most of you when I hastened off to the upper provinces; and I have written to him what is written here.' 9.26. I therefore urge and beseech you to remember the public and private services rendered to you and to maintain your present good will, each of you, toward me and my son.' 9.27. For I am sure that he will follow my policy and will treat you with moderation and kindness.' 11.16. The letter written to the Jews by Lysias was to this effect:'Lysias to the people of the Jews, greeting.' 11.17. John and Absalom, who were sent by you, have delivered your signed communication and have asked about the matters indicated therein.' 11.18. I have informed the king of everything that needed to be brought before him, and he has agreed to what was possible.' 11.19. If you will maintain your good will toward the government, I will endeavor for the future to help promote your welfare.' 11.20. And concerning these matters and their details, I have ordered these men and my representatives to confer with you.' 11.21. Farewell. The one hundred and forty-eighth year, Dioscorinthius twenty-fourth.' 11.22. The king's letter ran thus:'King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greeting.' 11.23. Now that our father has gone on to the gods, we desire that the subjects of the kingdom be undisturbed in caring for their own affairs.' 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. 11.25. Accordingly, since we choose that this nation also be free from disturbance, our decision is that their temple be restored to them and that they live according to the customs of their ancestors.' 11.26. You will do well, therefore, to send word to them and give them pledges of friendship, so that they may know our policy and be of good cheer and go on happily in the conduct of their own affairs.' 11.27. To the nation the king's letter was as follows:'King Antiochus to the senate of the Jews and to the other Jews, greeting.' 11.28. If you are well, it is as we desire. We also are in good health.' 11.29. Menelaus has informed us that you wish to return home and look after your own affairs. 11.30. Therefore those who go home by the thirtieth day of Xanthicus will have our pledge of friendship and full permission 11.31. for the Jews to enjoy their own food and laws, just as formerly, and none of them shall be molested in any way for what he may have done in ignorance.' 11.32. And I have also sent Menelaus to encourage you. 11.33. Farewell. The one hundred and forty-eighth year, Xanthicus fifteenth.' 11.34. The Romans also sent them a letter, which read thus:'Quintus Memmius and Titus Manius, envoys of the Romans, to the people of the Jews, greeting.' 11.35. With regard to what Lysias the kinsman of the king has granted you, we also give consent.' 11.36. But as to the matters which he decided are to be referred to the king, as soon as you have considered them, send some one promptly, so that we may make proposals appropriate for you. For we are on our way to Antioch.' 11.37. Therefore make haste and send some men, so that we may have your judgment.' 11.38. Farewell. The one hundred and forty-eighth year, Xanthicus fifteenth.' |
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14. Septuagint, 3 Maccabees, 7.6-7.7 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 7.6. But we very severely threatened them for these acts, and in accordance with the clemency which we have toward all men we barely spared their lives. Since we have come to realize that the God of heaven surely defends the Jews, always taking their part as a father does for his children 7.7. and since we have taken into account the friendly and firm goodwill which they had toward us and our ancestors, we justly have acquitted them of every charge of whatever kind. |
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15. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.77-1.78 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.77. For it is commanded that all men shall every year bring their first fruits to the temple, from twenty years old and upwards; and this contribution is called their ransom. On which account they bring in the first fruits with exceeding cheerfulness, being joyful and delighted, inasmuch as simultaneously with their making the offering they are sure to find either a relaxation from slavery, or a relief from disease, and to receive in all respects a most sure freedom and safety for the future. 1.78. And since the nation is the most numerous of all peoples, it follows naturally that the first fruits contributed by them must also be most abundant. Accordingly there is in almost every city a storehouse for the sacred things to which it is customary for the people to come and there to deposit their first fruits, and at certain seasons there are sacred ambassadors selected on account of their virtue, who convey the offerings to the temple. And the most eminent men of each tribe are elected to this office, that they may conduct the hopes of each individual safe to their destination; for in the lawful offering of the first fruits are the hopes of the pious.XV. |
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16. Philo of Alexandria, On The Embassy To Gaius, 312 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 312. for that these assemblies were not revels, which from drunkenness and intoxication proceeded to violence, so as to disturb the peaceful condition of the country, but were rather schools of temperance and justice, as the men who met in them were studiers of virtue, and contributed the first fruits every year, sending commissioners to convey the holy things to the temple in Jerusalem. |
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17. Anon., 2 Baruch, 79-86, 78 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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18. Anon., Epistle of Barnabas, 16.3-16.4, 19.10 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 16.3. Furthermore He saith again; Behold they that pulled down this temple themselves shall build it. 16.4. So it cometh to pass; for because they went to war it was pulled down by their enemies. Now also the very servants of their enemies shall build it up. |
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19. Anon., Didache, 4.2, 6.1, 7.1, 9.5, 10.7, 11.1, 11.3-11.4, 11.7-11.12, 12.2, 15.1-15.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1. There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbour as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do not also do to another. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there, if you love those who love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone gives you a blow upon your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes away your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to every one that asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he that gives according to the commandment; for he is guiltless. Woe to him that receives; for if one having need receives, he is guiltless; but he that receives not having need, shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what, and, coming into straits (confinement), he shall be examined concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape thence until he pay back the last farthing. Matthew 5:26 But also now concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give. |
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20. Clement of Rome, 1 Clement, 1.1, 5.4-5.5, 44.3, 45.7, 46.2, 57.1, 60.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
1.1. Διὰ τὰς αἰφνιδίους καὶ ἐπαλλήλους γενομένας ἡμῖν συμφορὰς καὶ περιπτώσεις, C reads perista/seit shich L perhaps represente by impedimenta, and Knopf accepts this. βράδιον νομίζομεν ἐπιστροφὴν πεποιῆσθαι περὶ τῶν ἐπιζητουμένων παῤ ὑμῖν πραγμάτων, ἀγαπητοί, τῆς τε ἀλλοτρίας καὶ ξένης τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ, μιαρᾶς καὶ ἀνοσίου στάσεως ἣν ὀλίγα πρόσωπα προπετῆ καὶ αὐθάδη ὑπάρχοντα εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀπονοίας ἐξέκαυσαν, ὥστε τὸ σεμνὸν καὶ περιβόητον καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀξιαγάπητον ὄνομα ὑμῶν μεγάλως βλασφημηθῆναι. 5.4. Πέτρον, ὅς διὰ ζῆλον ἄδικον οὐχ ἕνα οὐδὲ δύο, ἀλλὰ πλείονας ὑπήνεγκεν πόνους καὶ οὕτω μαρτυρήσας ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὸν ὀφειλόμενον τόπον τῆς δόξης. 5.5. διὰ ζῆλον καὶ ἔριν Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον ὑπέδειξεν 44.3. τοὺς οὖν κατασταθέντας ὑπ̓ ἐκείνων ἢ μεταξὺ ὑφ̓ ἑτέρων ἐλλογίμων ἀνδρῶν συνενδοκησάσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας πάσης, καὶ λειτουργήσαντας ἀμέμπτως τῷ ποιμνίῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ ταπεινοφροσύνης, ἡσύχως καὶ ἀβαναύσως, μεμαρτυρημένους τε πολλοῖς χρόνοις ὑπὸ πάντων, τούτους οὐ δικαίως νομίζομεν ἀποβάλλεσθαι τῆς λειτουργίας. 45.7. ἢ Ἀνανίας καὶ Ἀζαρίας καὶ Μισαὴλ ὑπὸ τῶν θρησκευόντων τὴν μεγαλοπρεπῆ καὶ ἔνδοξον θρησκείαν τοῦ ὑψίστου κατείρχθησαν εἰς κάμινον πυρός; μηθαμῶς τοῦτο γένοιτο. τίνες οὖν οἱ ταῦτα δράσαντες; οἱ στυγητοὶ καὶ πάσης κακίας πλήρεις εἰς τοσοῦτο ἐξήρισαν θυμοῦ, ὥστε τοὺς ἐν ὁσίᾳ καὶ ἀμώμῳ προθέσει δουλεύοντας τῷ θεῷ εἰς αἰκίαν περιβαλεῖν, μὴ εἰδότες ὅτι ὁ ὕψιστος ὑπέρμαχος καὶ ὑπερασπιστής ἐστιν τῶν ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει λατρευόντων τῷ παναρέτῳ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ: ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν. 46.2. γέγραπται γάρ: Κολλᾶσθε τοῖς ἁγίοις, ὅτι οἱ κολλώμενοι αὐτοῖς ἁγιασθήσονται. 57.1. Ὑμεῖς οὖν οἱ τὴν καταβολὴν τῆς στάσεως ποιήσαντες ὑποτάγητε τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ παιδεύθητε εἰς μετάνοιαν, κάμψαντες τὰ γόνατα τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν. 60.2. μὴ λογίσῃ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν δούλων σου καὶ παιδισκῶν, ἀλλὰ καθάρισον ἡμᾶς τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῆς σῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ Pss. 40, 2; 119, 133 κατεύθυνον τὰ διαβήματα ἡμῶν ἐν ὁσιότητι καρδίας I Kings 9, 4 πορεύεσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν τὰ καλὰ καὶ εὐάρεστα Deut. 12, 25, 26; 13, 16; 21, 9 ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀρχόντων ἡμῶν. | |
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21. Dio Chrysostom, Orations, 12.27, 12.81 (1st cent. CE
| 12.27. Now concerning the nature of the gods in general, and especially that of the ruler of the universe, first and foremost an idea regarding him and a conception of him common to the whole human race, to the Greeks and to the barbarians alike, a conception that is inevitable and innate in every creature endowed with reason, arising in the course of nature without the aid of human teacher and free from the deceit of any expounding priest, has made its way, and it rendered manifest God's kinship with man and furnished many evidences of the truth, which did not suffer the earliest and most ancient men to doze and grow indifferent to them; |
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22. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 3.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.2. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ, they are with the bishop; and as many as shall repent and enter into the unity of the Church, these also shall be of God, that they may be living after Jesus Christ. |
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23. Ignatius, To The Ephesians, 20.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 20.2. especially if the Lord should reveal aught to me. Assemble yourselves together in common, every one of you severally, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David's race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that ye may obey the bishop and presbytery without distraction of mind; breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die but live for ever in Jesus Christ. |
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24. Ignatius, To The Magnesians, 2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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25. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 3.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.2. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ, they are with the bishop; and as many as shall repent and enter into the unity of the Church, these also shall be of God, that they may be living after Jesus Christ. |
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26. Ignatius, To The Smyrnaeans, 8.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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27. Ignatius, To The Trallians, 3.1, 7.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.1. In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church. 7.1. Be ye therefore on your guard against such men. And this will surely be, if ye be not puffed up and if ye be inseparable from [God] Jesus Christ and from the bishop and from the ordices of the Apostles. |
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28. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 14.110-14.113, 16.167-16.168, 16.172-16.173, 18.310-18.313 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 14.111. Nor is the largeness of these sums without its attestation; nor is that greatness owing to our vanity, as raising it without ground to so great a height; but there are many witnesses to it, and particularly Strabo of Cappadocia, who says thus: 14.112. “Mithridates sent to Cos, and took the money which queen Cleopatra had deposited there, as also eight hundred talents belonging to the Jews.” 14.113. Now we have no public money but only what appertains to God; and it is evident that the Asian Jews removed this money out of fear of Mithridates; for it is not probable that those of Judea, who had a strong city and temple, should send their money to Cos; nor is it likely that the Jews who are inhabitants of Alexandria should do so neither, since they were in no fear of Mithridates. 16.167. 4. Agrippa also did himself write after the manner following, on behalf of the Jews: “Agrippa, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. I will that the care and custody of the sacred money that is carried to the temple at Jerusalem be left to the Jews of Asia, to do with it according to their ancient custom; 16.168. and that such as steal that sacred money of the Jews, and fly to a sanctuary, shall be taken thence and delivered to the Jews, by the same law that sacrilegious persons are taken thence. I have also written to Sylvanus the praetor, that no one compel the Jews to come before a judge on the Sabbath day.” 16.172. 7. Nor did Julius Antonius, the proconsul, write otherwise. “To the magistrates, senate, and people of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. As I was dispensing justice at Ephesus, on the Ides of February, the Jews that dwell in Asia demonstrated to me that Augustus and Agrippa had permitted them to use their own laws and customs, and to offer those their first-fruits, which every one of them freely offers to the Deity on account of piety, and to carry them in a company together to Jerusalem without disturbance. 16.173. They also petitioned me that I also would confirm what had been granted by Augustus and Agrippa by my own sanction. I would therefore have you take notice, that according to the will of Augustus and Agrippa, I permit them to use and do according to the customs of their forefathers without disturbance.” 18.311. There was a city of Babylonia called Neerda; not only a very populous one, but one that had a good and large territory about it, and, besides its other advantages, full of men also. It was, besides, not easily to be assaulted by enemies, from the river Euphrates encompassing it all round, and from the walls that were built about it. 18.312. There was also the city Nisibis, situate on the same current of the river. For which reason the Jews, depending on the natural strength of these places, deposited in them that half shekel which every one, by the custom of our country, offers unto God, as well as they did other things devoted to him; for they made use of these cities as a treasury 18.313. whence, at a proper time, they were transmitted to Jerusalem; and many ten thousand men undertook the carriage of those donations, out of fear of the ravages of the Parthians, to whom the Babylonians were then subject. |
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29. New Testament, 1 Peter, 1.1, 2.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia 2.16. as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. |
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30. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1.1-1.3, 1.12, 3.1, 3.8, 3.11, 3.19, 4.1-4.2, 4.17, 6.1-6.2, 6.15-6.17, 6.19-6.20, 7.22, 8.9, 9.1-9.2, 9.14, 9.16-9.17, 10.16-10.17, 11.5, 12.12-12.28, 14.15, 14.25, 15.3-15.11, 15.25, 15.42-15.44, 16.1-16.4, 16.10 (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 1.2. to the assembly of God whichis at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to besaints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in everyplace, both theirs and ours: 1.3. Grace to you and peace from God ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.12. Now I mean this, that each one of yousays, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Cephas," and, "Ifollow Christ. 3.1. Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as tofleshly, as to babies in Christ. 3.8. Now he who plantsand he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own rewardaccording to his own labor. 3.11. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which hasbeen laid, which is Jesus Christ. 3.19. Forthe wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,"He has taken the wise in their craftiness. 4.1. So let a man think of us as Christ's servants, and stewards ofGod's mysteries. 4.2. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, thatthey be found faithful. 4.17. Becauseof this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithfulchild in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ,even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. 6.1. Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go tolaw before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 6.2. Don't youknow that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judgedby you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 6.15. Don't you know that your bodies aremembers of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and makethem members of a prostitute? May it never be! 6.16. Or don't you knowthat he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, "The two," sayshe, "will become one flesh. 6.17. But he who is joined to the Lord isone spirit. 6.19. Or don't you know that your body is a temple ofthe Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are notyour own 6.20. for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorifyGod in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 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. 8.9. But be careful that by no means does this liberty ofyours become a stumbling block to the weak. 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. 9.14. Even so the Lord ordained thatthose who proclaim the gospel should live from the gospel. 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. 10.16. Thecup of blessing which we bless, isn't it a communion of the blood ofChrist? The bread which we break, isn't it a communion of the body ofChrist? 10.17. Because we, who are many, are one bread, one body; forwe all partake of the one bread. 11.5. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveileddishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she wereshaved. 12.12. For as the body is one, and has many members, and all themembers of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. 12.13. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whetherJews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink intoone Spirit. 12.14. For the body is not one member, but many. 12.15. If the foot would say, "Because I'm not the hand, I'm not part of thebody," it is not therefore not part of the body. 12.16. If the earwould say, "Because I'm not the eye, I'm not part of the body," it'snot therefore not part of the body. 12.17. If the whole body were aneye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where wouldthe smelling be? 12.18. But now God has set the members, each one ofthem, in the body, just as he desired. 12.19. If they were all onemember, where would the body be? 12.20. But now they are many members,but one body. 12.21. The eye can't tell the hand, "I have no need foryou," or again the head to the feet, "I have no need for you. 12.22. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker arenecessary. 12.23. Those parts of the body which we think to be lesshonorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and ourunpresentable parts have more abundant propriety; 12.24. whereas ourpresentable parts have no such need. But God composed the bodytogether, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part 12.25. thatthere should be no division in the body, but that the members shouldhave the same care for one another. 12.26. When one member suffers,all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all themembers rejoice with it. 12.27. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 12.28. God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, secondprophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings,helps, governments, and various kinds of languages. 14.15. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I willpray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and Iwill sing with the understanding also. 14.25. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed.So he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God isamong you indeed. 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. 15.25. For he mustreign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 15.42. So also is the resurrection of the dead.It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. 15.43. It issown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it israised in power. 15.44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised aspiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritualbody. 16.1. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commandedthe assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 16.2. On the first day ofthe week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that nocollections be made when I come. 16.3. When I arrive, I will sendwhoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift toJerusalem. 16.4. If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will gowith me. 16.10. Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, forhe does the work of the Lord, as I also do. |
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31. New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, 1.1, 1.6-1.9, 2.13-2.14, 3.1-3.6, 3.12-3.13, 4.10, 5.12 (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. 1.6. You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit 1.7. so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 1.8. For from you has sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth; so that we need not to say anything. 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 2.13. For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe. 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; 3.1. Therefore, when we couldn't stand it any longer, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone 3.2. and sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith; 3.3. that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task. 3.4. For most assuredly, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened, and you know. 3.5. For this cause I also, when I couldn't stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain. 3.6. But when Timothy came just now to us from you, and brought us glad news of your faith and love, and that you have good memories of us always, longing to see us, even as we also long to see you; 3.12. and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you 3.13. to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 4.10. for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; 5.12. But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you |
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32. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 1.1-1.2, 1.4, 1.18, 3.1-3.4, 3.8, 6.20 (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; 1.2. to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 1.4. neither to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than God's stewardship, which is in faith -- 1.18. This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare; 3.1. This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work. 3.2. The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3.3. not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 3.4. one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 3.8. Deacons, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money; 6.20. Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called; |
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33. New Testament, 3 John, 9-10 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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34. New Testament, 2 Peter, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: |
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35. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 1.1, 1.19, 1.2, 11.13, 11.14, 11.15, 11.21b-29, 11.22, 11.23, 11.5, 11.9, 12.11, 12.2, 12.3, 13.13, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 2.10, 3.10, 3.6, 4.12, 4.5, 5.17, 5.21, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 8.1, 8.2, 8.21, 8.23, 8.3, 8.4, 9.12, 9.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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36. New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, 1.1, 1.3, 3.3 (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: 1.3. We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you towards one another abounds; 3.3. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you, and guard you from the evil one. |
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37. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 1.1-1.2, 2.24, 4.21 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus 1.2. to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 2.24. The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient 4.21. Be diligent to come before winter. Eubulus salutes you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers. |
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38. New Testament, Acts, 1.2, 1.8, 2.38, 4.29, 6.1-6.6, 8.16, 9.13, 9.32, 9.41, 11.26, 14.23, 15.23-15.29, 16.1-16.3, 16.15, 16.17, 17.14-17.15, 17.28, 18.5, 18.18-18.21, 18.23, 18.26, 19.17, 19.22, 20.4, 20.19, 21.9, 21.18, 26.10, 26.16 (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. 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. 4.29. Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness 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. 6.2. The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. 6.3. Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 6.4. But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word. 6.5. These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch; 6.6. whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 8.16. for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 9.13. But Aias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. 9.32. It happened, as Peter went throughout all those parts, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 9.41. He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 11.26. When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. It happened, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 14.23. When they had appointed elders for them in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed. 15.23. 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. 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. 16.15. When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay." She urged us. 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! 17.14. Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there. 17.15. But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed. 17.28. 'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.' 18.5. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 18.18. Paul, having stayed after this yet many days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila with him. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow. 18.19. He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 18.20. When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined; 18.21. but taking his leave of them, and saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills," he set sail from Ephesus. 18.23. Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. 18.26. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 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. 19.22. Having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 20.4. These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 20.19. serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews; 21.9. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 21.18. The day following, Paul went in with us to James; and all the elders were present. 26.10. This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 26.16. But arise, and stand on your feet, for to this end have I appeared to you, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you; |
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39. New Testament, Apocalypse, 1.1, 1.4, 1.9, 1.11, 2.1, 2.8, 2.12, 2.16, 2.18, 2.20-2.23, 3.1, 3.7, 3.14, 10.7, 11.18, 15.3, 18.24, 19.2, 19.5, 22.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John 1.4. John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 1.9. I John, your brother and partner with you in oppression, kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 1.11. saying, "What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 2.1. To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands says these things: 2.8. To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: 2.12. To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: 2.16. Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 2.18. To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: "The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things: 2.20. But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 2.21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 2.22. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. 2.23. I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 3.1. And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: "I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 3.7. To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: "He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and that shuts and no one opens, says these things: 3.14. To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things: 10.7. but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets. 11.18. The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your servants the prophets, their reward, as well as the saints, and those who fear your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth. 15.3. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. 18.24. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. 19.2. for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, her who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 19.5. A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great! 22.6. He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon. |
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40. New Testament, James, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. |
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41. New Testament, Jude, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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42. New Testament, Philemon, 3, 6, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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43. New Testament, Colossians, 1.1-1.2, 1.7, 1.23, 1.25, 2.6, 3.1-3.13, 3.24, 4.7, 4.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother 1.2. to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.7. even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 1.23. if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 1.25. of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God 2.6. As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him 3.1. If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 3.2. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3.3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 3.4. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. 3.5. Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; 3.6. for which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience. 3.7. You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 3.8. but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 3.9. Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings 3.10. and have put on the new man, that is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator 3.11. where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. 3.12. Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 3.13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 3.24. knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 4.7. All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. 4.12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. |
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44. New Testament, Ephesians, 1.1-1.2, 1.4, 2.6, 2.11-2.15, 3.6-3.7, 4.11-4.17, 6.5-6.7, 6.21-6.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1.2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; 2.6. and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus 2.11. Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by that which is called "circumcision," (in the flesh, made by hands); 2.12. that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covets of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 2.13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 2.14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition 2.15. having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordices, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace; 3.6. that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel 3.7. whereof I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. 4.11. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 4.12. for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 4.13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 4.14. that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 4.15. but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 4.16. from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love. 4.17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind 6.5. Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; 6.6. not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 6.7. with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; 6.21. But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things; 6.22. whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts. 6.23. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
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45. New Testament, Galatians, 1.1-1.3, 1.10-1.24, 2.7-2.9, 2.15, 2.17, 2.19-2.21, 3.6-3.14, 3.19, 3.26-3.28, 5.4, 5.13-5.15, 6.15-6.16 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead) 1.2. and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: 1.3. Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ 1.10. For am I now seeking thefavor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I werestill pleasing men, I wouldn't be a servant of Christ. 1.11. But Imake known to you, brothers, concerning the gospel which was preachedby me, that it is not according to man. 1.12. For neither did Ireceive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me throughrevelation of Jesus Christ. 1.13. For you have heard of my way ofliving in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure Ipersecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it. 1.14. I advanced inthe Jews' religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, beingmore exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 1.15. Butwhen it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother'swomb, and called me through his grace 1.16. to reveal his Son in me,that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn't immediately conferwith flesh and blood 1.17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those whowere apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returnedto Damascus. 1.18. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem tovisit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days. 1.19. But of the otherapostles I saw no one, except James, the Lord's brother. 1.20. Nowabout the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I'm notlying. 1.21. Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 1.22. Iwas still unknown by face to the assemblies of Judea which were inChrist 1.23. but they only heard: "He who once persecuted us nowpreaches the faith that he once tried to destroy. 1.24. And theyglorified God in me. 2.7. but to the contrary, when they saw that Ihad been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcision, even asPeter with the gospel for the circumcision 2.8. (for he who appointedPeter to the apostleship of the circumcision appointed me also to theGentiles); 2.9. and when they perceived the grace that was given tome, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should goto the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. 2.15. We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners 2.17. But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselvesalso were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not! 2.19. For I, through the law, died to the law,that I might live to God. 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ, andit is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which Inow live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me,and gave himself up for me. 2.21. I don't make void the grace of God.For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing! 3.6. Even as Abraham "believed God, and it wascounted to him for righteousness. 3.7. Know therefore that those whoare of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. 3.8. The Scripture,foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached thegospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you all the nations will beblessed. 3.9. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with thefaithful Abraham. 3.10. For as many as are of the works of the law areunder a curse. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who doesn'tcontinue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to dothem. 3.11. Now that no man is justified by the law before God isevident, for, "The righteous will live by faith. 3.12. The law is notof faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them. 3.13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become acurse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on atree 3.14. that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentilesthrough Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spiritthrough faith. 3.19. What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions,until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made. It wasordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 3.26. For you are all sons ofGod, through faith in Christ Jesus. 3.27. For as many of you as werebaptized into Christ have put on Christ. 3.28. There is neither Jewnor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither malenor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 5.4. You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by thelaw. You have fallen away from grace. 5.13. For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't useyour freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to oneanother. 5.14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this:"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 5.15. But if you bite anddevour one another, be careful that you don't consume one another. 6.15. For in Christ Jesus neitheris circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 6.16. As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and onGod's Israel. |
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46. New Testament, Hebrews, 2.11-2.12, 12.1-12.4, 13.3, 13.12-13.14, 13.22-13.25 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers 2.12. saying, "I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise. 12.1. Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us 12.2. looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 12.3. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don't grow weary, fainting in your souls. 12.4. You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin; 13.3. Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body. 13.12. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. 13.13. Let us therefore go forth to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. 13.14. For we don't have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. 13.22. But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. 13.23. Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. 13.24. Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you. 13.25. Grace be with you all. Amen. |
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47. New Testament, Philippians, 1.2-1.18, 1.20, 2.19, 2.25-2.30, 3.3-3.11, 3.20-3.21, 4.1-4.7, 4.15-4.18 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.2. Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1.3. I thank my God whenever I remember you 1.4. always in every request of mine on behalf of you all making my requests with joy 1.5. for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; 1.6. being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 1.7. It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 1.8. For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 1.9. This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; 1.10. so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ; 1.11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 1.12. Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the gospel; 1.13. so that it became evident to the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ; 1.14. and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear. 1.15. Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will. 1.16. The former insincerly preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains; 1.17. but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 1.18. What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice. 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. 2.19. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing. 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; 2.26. since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick. 2.27. For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. 2.28. I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. 2.29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor 2.30. because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me. 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. 3.20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 3.21. who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself. 4.1. Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. 4.2. I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord. 4.3. Yes, I beg you also, true yoke-fellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4.4. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, Rejoice! 4.5. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 4.6. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 4.7. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 4.15. You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only. 4.16. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need. 4.17. Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account. 4.18. But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God. |
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48. New Testament, Romans, 1.1, 1.5, 1.7, 1.13, 3.21-3.28, 5.1-5.2, 5.15, 6.3, 6.5-6.6, 6.11, 7.4, 7.6, 8.1, 8.10-8.13, 8.27, 8.39, 9.3, 10.4, 11.13, 12.5, 13.4, 14.1, 14.3, 14.18, 15.7, 15.26, 16.1, 16.7, 16.18, 16.21 (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 1.5. through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; 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. 1.13. Now I don't desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 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; 3.26. to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus. 3.27. Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? No, but by a law of faith. 3.28. We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 5.1. Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; 5.2. through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 5.15. But the free gift isn't like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 6.3. Or don't you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 6.5. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; 6.6. knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. 6.11. Thus also consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 7.4. Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to God. 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. 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 8.10. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 8.11. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 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. 8.27. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God. 8.39. nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 9.3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers' sake, my relatives according to the flesh 10.4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 11.13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 12.5. so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 13.4. for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn't bear the sword in vain; for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 14.1. Now receive one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. 14.3. Don't let him who eats despise him who doesn't eat. Don't let him who doesn't eat judge him who eats, for God has received him. 14.18. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 15.7. Therefore receive one another, even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God. 15.26. For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem. 16.1. I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae 16.7. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 16.18. For those who are such don't serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent. 16.21. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives. |
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49. New Testament, Titus, 1.1, 1.5-1.7 (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 1.5. I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you; 1.6. if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. 1.7. For the overseer must be blameless, as God's steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain; |
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50. New Testament, John, 1.48, 2.5, 2.9, 3.8, 4.11, 4.39, 6.26-6.27, 6.29-6.30, 6.34, 6.38-6.40, 6.42, 6.44, 6.48, 6.50-6.59, 13.8, 18.36 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.48. Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 2.5. His mother said to the servants, "Whatever he says to you, do it. 2.9. When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn't know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom 3.8. The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. 4.11. The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water? 4.39. From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, 'He told me everything that I did. 6.26. Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. 6.27. Don't work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him. 6.29. Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. 6.30. They said therefore to him, "What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do? 6.34. They said therefore to him, "Lord, always give us this bread. 6.38. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 6.39. This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. 6.40. This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 6.42. They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, 'I have come down out of heaven?' 6.44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. 6.48. I am the bread of life. 6.50. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. 6.51. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 6.52. The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 6.53. Jesus therefore said to them, "Most assuredly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. 6.54. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6.55. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 6.56. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. 6.57. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. 6.58. This is the bread which came down out of heaven -- not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever. 6.59. These things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 13.8. Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet!"Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me. 18.36. Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn't be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. |
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51. New Testament, Luke, 1.2, 10.1-10.12, 24.27, 24.29 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.2. even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us 10.1. Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, where he was about to come. 10.2. Then he said to them, "The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. 10.3. Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 10.4. Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way. 10.5. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' 10.6. If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 10.7. Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don't go from house to house. 10.8. Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you. 10.9. Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10.10. But into whatever city you enter, and they don't receive you, go out into the streets of it and say 10.11. 'Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10.12. I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. 24.27. Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 24.29. They urged him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over."He went in to stay with them. |
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52. New Testament, Mark, 1.1-1.2, 6.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 1.2. As it is written in the prophets, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, Who will prepare your way before you. 6.2. When the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things?" and, "What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands? |
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53. New Testament, Matthew, 1.1, 1.23, 2.5, 2.15, 6.5, 6.16, 17.24, 18.19-18.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 1.23. Behold, the virgin shall be with child, And shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" Which is, being interpreted, "God with us. 2.5. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written through the prophet 2.15. and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son. 6.5. When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most assuredly, I tell you, they have received their reward. 6.16. Moreover when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most assuredly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17.24. When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachmas came to Peter, and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the didrachma? 18.19. Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 18.20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. |
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54. Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter To The Philippians, 5.3, 6.1, 6.3, 9.1-9.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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55. Anon., The Acts of John, 107-110, 43, 45-46, 75, 106 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 106. John therefore continued with the brethren, rejoicing in the Lord. And on the morrow, being the Lord's day, and all the brethren being gathered together, he began to say unto them: Brethren and fellow-servants and coheirs and partakers with me in the kingdom of the Lord, ye know the Lord, hovv many mighty works he hath granted you by my means, how many wonders, healings, signs, how great spirital gifts, teachings, governings, refreshings, ministries, knowledges, glories, graces, gifts, beliefs, communions, all which ye have seen given you by him in your sight, yet not seen by these eyes nor heard by these ears. Be ye therefore stablished in him, remembering him in your every deed, knowing the mystery of the dispensation which hath come to pass towards men, for what cause the Lord hath l accomplished it. He beseecheth you by me, brethren, and entreateth you, desiring to remain without grief, without insult, not conspired against, not chastened: for he knoweth even the insult that cometh of you, he knoweth even dishonour, he knoweth even conspiracy, he knoweth even chastisement, from them that hearken not to his commandments. |
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56. Anon., Acts of Thomas, 29 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 29. And when he had thus spoken, some of them that stood by said: It is time for the creditor to receive the debt. And he said unto them: He that is lord of the debt desireth always to receive more; but let us give him that which is due. And he blessed them, and took bread and oil and herbs and salt and blessed and gave unto them; but he himself continued his fast, for the Lord's day was coming on (Syr. And he himself ate, because the Sunday was dawning). And when night fell and he slept, the Lord came and stood at his head, saying: Thomas, rise early, and having blessed them all, after the prayer and the ministry go by the eastern road two miles and there will I show thee my glory: for by thy going shall many take refuge with me, and thou shalt bring to light the nature and power of the enemy. And he rose up from sleep and said unto the brethren that were with him: Children, the Lord would accomplish somewhat by me to-day, but let us pray, and entreat of him that we may have no impediment toward him, but that as at all times, so now also it may be done according to his desire and will by us. And having so said, he laid his hands on them and blessed them, and brake the bread of the eucharist and gave it them, saying: This Eucharist shall be unto you for compassion and mercy, and not unto judgement and retribution. And they said Amen. Note by Professor F. C. Burliitt, D.D.: In the Acts of Thomas, 27, the apostle, being about to baptize Gundaphorus the king of India with his brother Gad, invokes the holy name of the Christ, and among other invocations says (according to the best Greek text): 'Come, O elder of the five members, mind, idea, thoughtfulness, consideration, reasoning, communicate with these youths.' What is the essential distinction of these five words for 'mind', and what is meant by the 'elder' (presbuteros, Greek)? We turn to the Syriac, as the original language in which our tale was composed though our present text, which rests here on two manuscripts, has now and then been bowdlerized in the direction of more conventional phraseology, a process that the Greek has often escaped. Here in the Syriac we find (Wright, p.193, l.13; E.Tr., p.166, last line but one): 'Come, Messenger of reconciliation, and communicate with the minds of these youths.' The word for 'Come' is fem., while 'Messenger' (Izgadda) is masc. This is because the whole prayer is an invocation of the Holy Spirit, which in old Syriac is invariably treated as feminine. The word for Messenger is that used in the Manichaean cosmogony for a heavenly Spirit sent from the Divine Light: this Spirit appeared as androgynous, so that the use of the word here with the feminine verb is not inappropriate. It further leads us to look out for other indications of Manichaean phraseology in the passage. But first it suggests to us that [presbuteros] in our passage is a corruption of, or is used for, [presbeutes], 'an ambassador'. As for the five words for 'mind', they are clearly the equivalents of [hauna, mad'a, re'yana, mahshebhatha, tar'itha], named by Theodore bar Khoni as the Five Shekhinas, or Dwellings, or Manifestations, of the Father of Greatness, the title by which the Manichaeans spoke of the ultimate Source of Light. There is a good discussion of these five words by M. A. Kugener in F. Cumont's [Recherches sur le Manicheisme] i, p. 10, note 3. In English we may say: hauna means 'sanity', mad'a means 'reason', re'yana means 'mind', mahshabhetha means 'imagination', tar'itha means 'intention' The Greek terms, used here and also in Acta Archelai, are in my opinion merely equivalents for the Syriac terms. Act the Third: Concerning the servant |
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57. Anon., Marytrdom of Polycarp, 17 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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58. Anon., Acts of John, 107-110, 43, 45-46, 75, 106 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 106. John therefore continued with the brethren, rejoicing in the Lord. And on the morrow, being the Lord's day, and all the brethren being gathered together, he began to say unto them: Brethren and fellow-servants and coheirs and partakers with me in the kingdom of the Lord, ye know the Lord, hovv many mighty works he hath granted you by my means, how many wonders, healings, signs, how great spirital gifts, teachings, governings, refreshings, ministries, knowledges, glories, graces, gifts, beliefs, communions, all which ye have seen given you by him in your sight, yet not seen by these eyes nor heard by these ears. Be ye therefore stablished in him, remembering him in your every deed, knowing the mystery of the dispensation which hath come to pass towards men, for what cause the Lord hath l accomplished it. He beseecheth you by me, brethren, and entreateth you, desiring to remain without grief, without insult, not conspired against, not chastened: for he knoweth even the insult that cometh of you, he knoweth even dishonour, he knoweth even conspiracy, he knoweth even chastisement, from them that hearken not to his commandments. |
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59. Anon., Acts of Paul, 3.5, 3.7 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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60. Anon., Acts of Peter, 41, 7, 30 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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61. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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62. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 3.3.3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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63. Justin, Dialogue With Trypho, 4 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 4. Old Man: Is there, then, such and so great power in our mind? Or can a man not perceive by sense sooner? Will the mind of man see God at any time, if it is uninstructed by the Holy Spirit? Justin: Plato indeed says that the mind's eye is of such a nature, and has been given for this end, that we may see that very Being when the mind is pure itself, who is the cause of all discerned by the mind, having no color, no form, no greatness- nothing, indeed, which the bodily eye looks upon; but It is something of this sort, he goes on to say, that is beyond all essence, unutterable and inexplicable, but alone honourable and good, coming suddenly into souls well-dispositioned, on account of their affinity to and desire of seeing Him. Old Man: What affinity, then, is there between us and God? Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very regal mind? And even as that sees God, so also is it attainable by us to conceive of the Deity in our mind, and thence to become happy? Justin: Assuredly. Old Man: And do all the souls of all living beings comprehend Him? Or are the souls of men of one kind and the souls of horses and of asses of another kind? Justin: No. But the souls which are in all are similar. Old Man: Then, shall both horses and asses see, or have they seen at some time or other, God. Justin: No, for the majority of men will not, saving such as shall live justly, purified by righteousness, and by every other virtue. Old Man: It is not, therefore, on account of his affinity, that a man sees God, nor because he has a mind, but because he is temperate and righteous? Justin: Yes, and because he has that whereby he perceives God. Old Man: What then? Do goats or sheep injure any one? Justin: No one in any respect. Old Man: Therefore these animals will see [God], according to your account. Justin: No; for their body being of such a nature, is an obstacle to them. Old Man: If these animals could assume speech, be well assured that they would with greater reason ridicule our body; but let us now dismiss this subject, and let it be conceded to you as you say. Tell me, however, this: Does the soul see [God] so long as it is in the body, or after it has been removed from it? Justin: So long as it is in the form of a man, it is possible for it to attain to this by means of the mind; but especially when it has been set free from the body, and being apart by itself, it gets possession of that which it was wont continually and wholly to love. Old Man: Does it remember this, then [the sight of God], when it is again in the man? Justin: It does not appear to me so. Old Man: What, then, is the advantage to those who have seen [God]? Or what has he who has seen more than he who has not seen, unless he remember this fact, that he has seen? Justin: I cannot tell. Old Man: And what do those suffer who are judged to be unworthy of this spectacle? Justin: They are imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment. Old Man: Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such forms, and that they have committed some sin? Justin: I do not think so. Old Man: Then these reap no advantage from their punishment, as it seems: moreover, I would say that they are not punished unless they are conscious of the punishment. Justin: No indeed. Old Man: Therefore souls neither see God nor transmigrate into other bodies; for they would know that so they are punished, and they would be afraid to commit even the most trivial sin afterwards. But that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honourable, I also quite agree with you. Justin: You are right. |
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64. Origen, Against Celsus, 3.34, 3.81, 4.29-4.31, 5.4, 5.33, 6.7, 7.44, 7.46, 8.26 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 3.34. I am, however, of opinion that these individuals are the only instances with which Celsus was acquainted. And yet, that he might appear voluntarily to pass by other similar cases, he says, And one might name many others of the same kind. Let it be granted, then, that many such persons have existed who conferred no benefit upon the human race: what would each one of their acts be found to amount to in comparison with the work of Jesus, and the miracles related of Him, of which we have already spoken at considerable length? He next imagines that, in worshipping him who, as he says, was taken prisoner and put to death, we are acting like the Get who worship Zamolxis, and the Cilicians who worship Mopsus, and the Acarians who pay divine honours to Amphilochus, and like the Thebans who do the same to Amphiaraus, and the Lebadians to Trophonius. Now in these instances we shall prove that he has compared us to the foregoing without good grounds. For these different tribes erected temples and statues to those individuals above enumerated, whereas we have refrained from offering to the Divinity honour by any such means (seeing they are adapted rather to demons, which are somehow fixed in a certain place which they prefer to any other, or which take up their dwelling, as it were, after being removed (from one place to another) by certain rites and incantations), and are lost in reverential wonder at Jesus, who has recalled our minds from all sensible things, as being not only corruptible, but destined to corruption, and elevated them to honour the God who is over all with prayers and a righteous life, which we offer to Him as being intermediate between the nature of the uncreated and that of all created things, and who bestows upon us the benefits which come from the Father, and who as High Priest conveys our prayers to the supreme God. 3.81. And do not suppose that it is not in keeping with the Christian religion for me to have accepted, against Celsus, the opinions of those philosophers who have treated of the immortality or after-duration of the soul; for, holding certain views in common with them, we shall more conveniently establish our position, that the future life of blessedness shall be for those only who have accepted the religion which is according to Jesus, and that devotion towards the Creator of all things which is pure and sincere, and unmingled with any created thing whatever. And let him who likes show what better things we persuade men to despise, and let him compare the blessed end with God in Christ - that is, the word, and the wisdom, and all virtue - which, according to our view, shall be bestowed, by the gift of God, on those who have lived a pure and blameless life, and who have felt a single and undivided love for the God of all things, with that end which is to follow according to the teaching of each philosophic sect, whether it be Greek or Barbarian, or according to the professions of religious mysteries; and let him prove that the end which is predicted by any of the others is superior to that which we promise, and consequently that that is true, and ours not befitting the gift of God, nor those who have lived a good life; or let him prove that these words were not spoken by the divine Spirit, who filled the souls of the holy prophets. And let him who likes show that those words which are acknowledged among all men to be human, are superior to those which are proved to be divine, and uttered by inspiration. And what are the better things from which we teach those who receive them that it would be better to abstain? For if it be not arrogant so to speak, it is self-evident that nothing can be denied which is better than to entrust oneself to the God of all, and yield oneself up to the doctrine which raises us above all created things, and brings us, through the animate and living word - which is also living wisdom and the Son of God- to God who is over all. However, as the third book of our answers to the treatise of Celsus has extended to a sufficient length, we shall here bring our present remarks to a close, and in what is to follow shall meet what Celsus has subsequently written. 4.29. But Celsus perhaps has misunderstood certain of those whom he has termed worms, when they affirm that God exists, and that we are next to Him. And he acts like those who would find fault with an entire sect of philosophers, on account of certain words uttered by some rash youth who, after a three days' attendance upon the lectures of a philosopher, should exalt himself above other people as inferior to himself, and devoid of philosophy. For we know that there are many creatures more honourable than man; and we have read that God stands in the congregation of gods, but of gods who are not worshipped by the nations, for all the gods of the nations are idols. We have read also, that God, standing in the congregation of the gods, judges among the gods. We know, moreover, that though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many), but to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. And we know that in this way the angels are superior to men; so that men, when made perfect, become like the angels. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but the righteous are as the angels in heaven, and also become equal to the angels. We know, too, that in the arrangement of the universe there are certain beings termed thrones, and others dominions, and others powers, and others principalities; and we see that we men, who are far inferior to these, may entertain the hope that by a virtuous life, and by acting in all things agreeably to reason, we may rise to a likeness with all these. And, lastly, because it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like God, and shall see Him as He is. And if any one were to maintain what is asserted by some (either by those who possess intelligence or who do not, but have misconceived sound reason), that God exists, and we are next to Him, I would interpret the word we, by using in its stead, We who act according to reason, or rather, We virtuous, who act according to reason. For, in our opinion, the same virtue belongs to all the blessed, so that the virtue of man and of God is identical. And therefore we are taught to become perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. No good and virtuous man, then, is a worm rolling in filth, nor is a pious man an ant, nor a righteous man a frog; nor could one whose soul is enlightened with the bright light of truth be reasonably likened to a bird of the night. 4.30. It appears to me that Celsus has also misunderstood this statement, Let Us make man in Our image and likeness; and has therefore represented the worms as saying that, being created by God, we altogether resemble Him. If, however, he had known the difference between man being created in the image of God and after His likeness, and that God is recorded to have said, Let Us make man after Our image and likeness, but that He made man after the image of God, but not then also after His likeness, he would not have represented us as saying that we are altogether like Him. Moreover, we do not assert that the stars are subject to us; since the resurrection which is called the resurrection of the just, and which is understood by wise men, is compared to the sun, and moon, and stars, by him who said, There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. Daniel also prophesied long ago regarding these things. Celsus says further, that we assert that all things have been arranged so as to be subject to us, having perhaps heard some of the intelligent among us speaking to that effect, and perhaps also not understanding the saying, that he who is the greatest among us is the servant of all. And if the Greeks say, Then sun and moon are the slaves of mortal men, they express approval of the statement, and give an explanation of its meaning; but since such a statement is either not made at all by us, or is expressed in a different way, Celsus here too falsely accuses us. Moreover, we who, according to Celsus, are worms, are represented by him as saying that, seeing some among us are guilty of sin, God will come to us, or will send His own Son, that He may consume the wicked, and that we other frogs may enjoy eternal life with Him. Observe how this venerable philosopher, like a low buffoon, turns into ridicule and mockery, and a subject of laughter, the announcement of a divine judgment, and of the punishment of the wicked, and of the reward of the righteous; and subjoins to all this the remark, that such statements would be more endurable if made by worms and frogs than by Christians and Jews who quarrel with one another! We shall not, however, imitate his example, nor say similar things regarding those philosophers who profess to know the nature of all things, and who discuss with each other the manner in which all things were created, and how the heaven and earth originated, and all things in them; and how the souls (of men), being either unbegotten, and not created by God, are yet governed by Him, and pass from one body to another; or being formed at the same time with the body, exist for ever or pass away. For instead of treating with respect and accepting the intention of those who have devoted themselves to the investigation of the truth, one might mockingly and revilingly say that such men were worms, who did not measure themselves by their corner of their dung-heap in human life, and who accordingly gave forth their opinions on matters of such importance as if they understood them, and who strenuously assert that they have obtained a view of those things which cannot be seen without a higher inspiration and a diviner power. For no man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him: even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God. We are not, however, mad, nor do we compare such human wisdom (I use the word wisdom in the common acceptation), which busies itself not about the affairs of the multitude, but in the investigation of truth, to the wrigglings of worms or any other such creatures; but in the spirit of truth, we testify of certain Greek philosophers that they knew God, seeing He manifested Himself to them, although they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations; and professing themselves to be wise, they became foolish, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. 4.31. After this, wishing to prove that there is no difference between Jews and Christians, and those animals previously enumerated by him, he asserts that the Jews were fugitives from Egypt, who never performed anything worthy of note, and never were held in any reputation or account. Now, on the point of their not being fugitives, nor Egyptians, but Hebrews who settled in Egypt, we have spoken in the preceding pages. But if he thinks his statement, that they were never held in any reputation or account, to be proved, because no remarkable event in their history is found recorded by the Greeks, we would answer, that if one will examine their polity from its first beginning, and the arrangement of their laws, he will find that they were men who represented upon earth the shadow of a heavenly life, and that among them God is recognised as nothing else, save He who is over all things, and that among them no maker of images was permitted to enjoy the rights of citizenship. For neither painter nor image-maker existed in their state, the law expelling all such from it; that there might be no pretext for the construction of images - an art which attracts the attention of foolish men, and which drags down the eyes of the soul from God to earth. There was, accordingly, among them a law to the following effect: Do not transgress the law, and make to yourselves a graven image, any likeness of male or female; either a likeness of any one of the creatures that are upon the earth, or a likeness of any winged fowl that flies under the heaven, or a likeness of any creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, or a likeness of any of the fishes which are in the waters under the earth. The law, indeed, wished them to have regard to the truth of each individual thing, and not to form representations of things contrary to reality, feigning the appearance merely of what was really male or really female, or the nature of animals, or of birds, or of creeping things, or of fishes. Venerable, too, and grand was this prohibition of theirs: Lift not up your eyes unto heaven, lest, when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the host of heaven, you should be led astray to worship them, and serve them. And what a régime was that under which the whole nation was placed, and which rendered it impossible for any effeminate person to appear in public; and worthy of admiration, too, was the arrangement by which harlots were removed out of the state, those incentives to the passions of the youth! Their courts of justice also were composed of men of the strictest integrity, who, after having for a lengthened period set the example of an unstained life, were entrusted with the duty of presiding over the tribunals, and who, on account of the superhuman purity of their character, were said to be gods, in conformity with an ancient Jewish usage of speech. Here was the spectacle of a whole nation devoted to philosophy; and in order that there might be leisure to listen to their sacred laws, the days termed Sabbath, and the other festivals which existed among them, were instituted. And why need I speak of the orders of their priests and sacrifices, which contain innumerable indications (of deeper truths) to those who wish to ascertain the signification of things? 5.4. But since he says, in the next place, as if the Jews or Christians had answered regarding those who come down to visit the human race, that they were angels: But if you say that they are angels, what do you call them? he continues, Are they gods, or some other race of beings? and then again introduces us as if answering, Some other race of beings, and probably demons,- let us proceed to notice these remarks. For we indeed acknowledge that angels are ministering spirits, and we say that they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation; and that they ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of the heavenly places in the universe, or even to supercelestial regions purer still; and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call these beings angels from their employments, we find that because they are divine they are sometimes termed god in the sacred Scriptures, but not so that we are commanded to honour and worship in place of God those who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings. For every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer. 5.33. The remarks which we have made not only answer the statements of Celsus regarding the superintending spirits, but anticipate in some measure what he afterwards brings forward, when he says: Let the second party come forward; and I shall ask them whence they come, and whom they regard as the originator of their ancestral customs. They will reply, No one, because they spring from the same source as the Jews themselves, and derive their instruction and superintendence from no other quarter, and notwithstanding they have revolted from the Jews. Each one of us, then, has come in the last days, when one Jesus has visited us, to the visible mountain of the Lord, the Word that is above every word, and to the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And we notice how it is built upon the tops of the mountains, i.e., the predictions of all the prophets, which are its foundations. And this house is exalted above the hills, i.e., those individuals among men who make a profession of superior attainments in wisdom and truth; and all the nations come to it, and the many nations go forth, and say to one another, turning to the religion which in the last days has shone forth through Jesus Christ: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in them. For the law came forth from the dwellers in Sion, and settled among us as a spiritual law. Moreover, the word of the Lord came forth from that very Jerusalem, that it might be disseminated through all places, and might judge in the midst of the heathen, selecting those whom it sees to be submissive, and rejecting the disobedient, who are many in number. And to those who inquire of us whence we come, or who is our founder, we reply that we have come, agreeably to the counsels of Jesus, to cut down our hostile and insolent 'wordy' swords into ploughshares, and to convert into pruning-hooks the spears formerly employed in war. For we no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we learn war any more, having become children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of those whom our fathers followed, among whom we were strangers to the covet, and having received a law, for which we give thanks to Him that rescued us from the error (of our ways), saying, Our fathers honoured lying idols, and there is not among them one that causes it to rain. Our Superintendent, then, and Teacher, having come forth from the Jews, regulates the whole world by the word of His teaching. And having made these remarks by way of anticipation, we have refuted as well as we could the untrue statements of Celsus, by subjoining the appropriate answer. 6.7. There might also be found in the writings of Moses and of the prophets, who are older not only than Plato, but even than Homer and the invention of letters among the Greeks, passages worthy of the grace of God bestowed upon them, and filled with great thoughts, to which they gave utterance, but not because they understood Plato imperfectly, as Celsus imagines. For how was it possible that they should have heard one who was not yet born? And if any one should apply the words of Celsus to the apostles of Jesus, who were younger than Plato, say whether it is not on the very face of it an incredible assertion, that Paul the tentmaker, and Peter the fisherman, and John who left his father's nets, should, through misunderstanding the language of Plato in his Epistles, have expressed themselves as they have done regarding God? But as Celsus now, after having often required of us immediate assent (to his views), as if he were babbling forth something new in addition to what he has already advanced, only repeats himself, what we have said in reply may suffice. Seeing, however, he produces another quotation from Plato, in which he asserts that the employment of the method of question and answer sheds light on the thoughts of those who philosophize like him, let us show from the holy Scriptures that the word of God also encourages us to the practice of dialectics: Solomon, e.g., declaring in one passage, that instruction unquestioned goes astray; and Jesus the son of Sirach, who has left us the treatise called Wisdom, declaring in another, that the knowledge of the unwise is as words that will not stand investigation. Our methods of discussion, however, are rather of a gentle kind; for we have learned that he who presides over the preaching of the word ought to be able to confute gainsayers. But if some continue indolent, and do not train themselves so as to attend to the reading of the word, and to search the Scriptures, and, agreeably to the command of Jesus, to investigate the meaning of the sacred writings, and to ask of God concerning them, and to keep knocking at what may be closed within them, the Scripture is not on that account to be regarded as devoid of wisdom. 7.44. Celsus supposes that we may arrive at a knowledge of God either by combining or separating certain things after the methods which mathematicians call synthesis and analysis, or again by analogy, which is employed by them also, and that in this way we may as it were gain admission to the chief good. But when the Word of God says, No man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him, He declares that no one can know God but by the help of divine grace coming from above, with a certain divine inspiration. Indeed, it is reasonable to suppose that the knowledge of God is beyond the reach of human nature, and hence the many errors into which men have fallen in their views of God. It is, then, through the goodness and love of God to mankind, and by a marvellous exercise of divine grace to those whom He saw in His foreknowledge, and knew that they would walk worthy of Him who had made Himself known to them, and that they would never swerve from a faithful attachment to His service, although they were condemned to death or held up to ridicule by those who, in ignorance of what true religion is, give that name to what deserves to be called anything rather than religion. God doubtless saw the pride and arrogance of those who, with contempt for all others, boast of their knowledge of God, and of their profound acquaintance with divine things obtained from philosophy, but who still, not less even than the most ignorant, run after their images, and temples, and famous mysteries; and seeing this, He has chosen the foolish things of this world - the simplest of Christians, who lead, however, a life of greater moderation and purity than many philosophers- to confound the wise, who are not ashamed to address iimate things as gods or images of the gods. For what reasonable man can refrain from smiling when he sees that one who has learned from philosophy such profound and noble sentiments about God or the gods, turns straightway to images and offers to them his prayers, or imagines that by gazing upon these material things he can ascend from the visible symbol to that which is spiritual and immaterial. But a Christian, even of the common people, is assured that every place forms part of the universe, and that the whole universe is God's temple. In whatever part of the world he is, he prays; but he rises above the universe, shutting the eyes of sense, and raising upwards the eyes of the soul. And he stops not at the vault of heaven; but passing in thought beyond the heavens, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and having thus as it had gone beyond the visible universe, he offers prayers to God. But he prays for no trivial blessings, for he has learned from Jesus to seek for nothing small or mean, that is, sensible objects, but to ask only for what is great and truly divine; and these things God grants to us, to lead us to that blessedness which is found only with Him through His Son, the Word, who is God. 7.46. We are careful not to oppose fair arguments even if they proceed from those who are not of our faith; we strive not to be captious, or to seek to overthrow any sound reasonings. But here we have to reply to those who slander the character of persons wishing to do their best in the service of God, who accepts the faith which the meanest place in Him, as well as the more refined and intelligent piety of the learned; seeing that both alike address to the Creator of the world their prayers and thanksgivings through the High Priest who has set before men the nature of pure religion. We say, then, that those who are stigmatized as lamed and mutilated in spirit, as living only for the sake of the body which is dead, are persons whose endeavour it is to say with sincerity: For though we live in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God. It is for those who throw out such vile accusations against men who desire to be God's servants, to beware lest, by the calumnies which they cast upon others who strive to live well, they lame their own souls, and mutilate the inner man, by severing from it that justice and moderation of mind which the Creator has planted in the nature of all His rational creatures. As for those, however, who, along with other lessons given by the Divine Word, have learned and practised this, when reviled to bless, when persecuted to endure, when defamed to entreat, they may be said to be walking in spirit in the ways of uprightness, to be purifying and setting in order the whole soul. They distinguish - and to them the distinction is not one of words merely - between substance, or that which is, and that which is becoming; between things apprehended by reason, and things apprehended by sense; and they connect truth with the one, and avoid the errors arising out of the other; looking, as they have been taught, not at the things becoming or phenomenal, which are seen, and therefore temporary, but at better things than these, whether we call them substance, or spiritual things, as being apprehended by reason, or invisible, because they lie out of the reach of the senses. The disciples of Jesus regard these phenomenal things only that they may use them as steps to ascend to the knowledge of the things of reason. For the invisible things of God, that is, the objects of the reason, from the creation of the world are clearly seen by the reason, being understood by the things that are made. And when they have risen from the created things of this world to the invisible things of God, they do not stay there; but after they have sufficiently exercised their minds upon these, and have understood their nature, they ascend to the eternal power of God, in a word, to His divinity. For they know that God, in His love to men, has manifested His truth, and that which is known of Him, not only to those who devote themselves to His service, but also to some who are far removed from the purity of worship and service which He requires; and that some of those who by the providence of God had attained a knowledge of these truths, were yet doing things unworthy of that knowledge, and holding the truth in unrighteousness, and who are unable to find any excuse before God after the knowledge of such great truths which He has given them. 8.26. And we are not to believe in demons, although Celsus urges us to do so; but if we are to obey God, we must die, or endure anything, sooner than obey demons. In the same way, we are not to propitiate demons; for it is impossible to propitiate beings that are wicked and that seek the injury of men. Besides, what are the laws in accordance with which Celsus would have us propitiate the demons? For if he means laws enacted in states, he must show that they are in agreement with the divine laws. But if that cannot be done, as the laws of many states are quite inconsistent with each other, these laws, therefore, must of necessity either be no laws at all in the proper sense of the word, or else the enactments of wicked men; and these we must not obey, for we must obey God rather than men. Away, then, with this counsel, which Celsus gives us, to offer prayer to demons: it is not to be listened to for a moment; for our duty is to pray to the Most High God alone, and to the Only-begotten, the First-born of the whole creation, and to ask Him as our High Priest to present the prayers which ascend to Him from us, to His God and our God, to His Father and the Father of those who direct their lives according to His word. And as we would have no desire to enjoy the favour of those men who wish us to follow their wicked lives, and who give us their favour only on condition that we choose nothing opposed to their wishes, because their favour would make us enemies of God, who cannot be pleased with those who have such men for their friends - in the same way those who are acquainted with the nature, the purposes, and the wickedness of demons, can never wish to obtain their favour. |
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65. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 16.8, 16.24 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
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66. Epigraphy, Icg, 3647
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67. Pseudo-Tertullian, Martyrdom of Perpetua And Felicitas, 18.9
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