1I bid you greeting, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord who loved us, in peace. 2 Seeing that the ordinances of God are great and rich for you, I rejoice with exceedingly great and overflowing joy at your blessed and glorious spirits; so innate is the grace of the spiritual gift that you have received. 3 Therefore, I congratulate myself even more, hoping to be saved, because I truly see the Spirit poured out among you from the riches of the Lord’s fount. The much-desired sight of you amazed me so greatly concerning you. 4 Being fully persuaded of this, and knowing within myself that, having said much among you, I am aware the Lord journeyed with me on the way of righteousness, and I am wholly compelled to love you more than my own soul for great faith and love dwells in you through the hope of the life which is His—considering this therefore, 5 if I take care to communicate to you some portion of what I received, it will turn to my reward for having served such spirits. I was eager to send you a small piece, so that along with your faith you might also have your knowledge complete. 6 Well then, there are three ordinances of the Lord: *the hope of life, which is the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness, which is the beginning and end of judgment; love shown in gladness and exultation, the testimony of works of righteousness.* 7 For the Lord made known to us through His prophets things past and present, giving us likewise the firstfruits of the taste of things to come. And seeing each of these things separately occurring as He said, we should offer a richer and higher offering to Him in reverent fear. But I, not as though I were a teacher but as one of you, will show a few things by which you will be gladdened in these present circumstances.
2Seeing then that the days are evil and that the Active One himself has the authority, we ought to pay attention to ourselves and to seek out the ordinances of the Lord. 2 The aids of our faith, then, are fear and patience, and our allies are long-suffering and self-restraint. 3 While these remain in a pure spirit in matters relating to the Lord, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and insight rejoice with them. 4 For He has shown us through all the prophets that He wants neither sacrifices nor whole burnt offerings nor oblations, saying at one time: 5 ‘What is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord ‘I am full of whole burnt offerings and the fat of lambs, and I do not desire the blood of bulls and goats—not even if you come to appear before Me. Who demanded these things from you? You will no longer continue to tread My court. If you bring fine flour, it is in vain; incense is an abomination to Me; your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.’ 6 Therefore He abolished these things so that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, being free from the yoke of necessity, might have an offering not made by human hands. 7 And He says again to them: ‘Did I command your fathers, when they went out from the land of Egypt, to bring Me whole burnt offerings and sacrifices?’ 8 ‘No, this was My command to them: Let none of you hold a grudge of evil against a neighbor in his heart, and do not love a false oath.’ 9 So we ought to understand—unless we lack understanding—the mind of the goodness of our Father; for He speaks to us, wanting us not to go astray like them but to seek how we may approach Him. 10 Thus He speaks to us: ‘The sacrifice to God is a broken heart; the smell of a sweet fragrance to the Lord is a heart that glorifies its Maker.’ We should therefore, friends, learn precisely about our salvation, lest the Evil One, having worked his way into us with error, throw us out of our life.
3He speaks again, therefore, to them concerning these things: ‘Why do you fast for Me,’ says the Lord, ‘so that your voice is heard today crying loudly? This is not the fast I have chosen,’ says the Lord; ‘not a person humiliating his soul; 2 not even if you bend your neck like a hoop and wear sackcloth and place your bed in ashes; even then you would not call this an acceptable fast.’ 3 But to us He says: ‘Look, this is the fast I have chosen,’ says the Lord: ‘loosen every bond of wickedness, untie the tight cords of forced contracts, release the broken ones, and tear apart every unjust bond. Share your bread with the hungry, and if you see anyone naked, clothe them; bring the homeless into your house, and if you see a humble person, you shall not despise them, nor shall any of your household or of your own offspring. 4 Then your light will break forth in the morning, and your healing will spring up quickly, and righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. 5 Then you will call out, and God will answer you; while you are still speaking, He will say ‘Look, I am here’; if you remove from yourself the yoke and the pointing of the finger and the word of complaint, and if you give your bread to the hungry willingly, and have compassion for the humbled soul. 6 For this reason, friends, He who is patient, foreseeing that the people whom He had prepared in His beloved would believe in simplicity, showed us in advance concerning all things, so that we might not, as beginners, run aground on their law.
4It is necessary for us, then, to investigate deeply regarding the present and to search out the things that can save us. Let us therefore wholly flee from all works of lawlessness, lest they overpower us; and let us despise the deception of the present time so that we may be loved for what is to come. 2 Let us allow no relaxation for our soul, giving it freedom to associate with sinners and wicked men, lest we become like them. 3 The final offense is near, about which Scripture speaks, as Enoch says. For this reason the Master has shortened the seasons and the days, so that His beloved may come quickly and inherit.[1] 4 And the prophet also speaks in this way: ‘Ten reigns will rule on the earth, and after them another king will arise, who will humble three of the kings under one.’ 5 Likewise, Daniel speaks about the same: ‘And I saw the fourth beast was wicked and strong and more stubborn than all the beasts of the earth, and from it arose ten horns, and from these another small horn and growth, and it humbled under one three of the great horns.’ 6 You should therefore understand. Moreover, I ask you this one thing besides, as someone like you, loving each of you more than my own soul, to pay attention now, and not to resemble certain people who heap sin upon sin, saying that our covenant also belongs to them. 7 It belongs to us; but they lost it forever in this way when Moses had just received it. For Scripture says: ‘And Moses was on the mountain fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord—tablets of stone written by the finger of the hand of the Lord.’ 8 But they lost it by turning to idols. For the Lord says: ‘Moses, Moses, come down quickly, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted unlawfully.’ And Moses understood and threw down the two tablets from his hands; and their covenant was shattered, so that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed in our hearts in the hope that arises from faith in Him. 9 But although I would gladly write many things, not as a teacher but as one who loves you so that you may not fail in what we possess, I was eager to write to you, being your devoted servant. Therefore, let us be cautious in these last days. For the entire duration of our faith will profit us nothing, unless now, in the time of lawlessness and impending offenses, we, as God’s children, stand firm so the Black One may not force his way in. 10 Let us flee from all vanity; let us altogether hate the works of the evil way. Do not stand apart secretly, as though you were already justified, but gather yourselves together and deliberate about the common good. 11 For Scripture says: ‘Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight.’ Let us become spiritual, let us become a temple perfect for God. As far as we can, let us practice the fear of God, and let us strive to keep His commandments, so we may rejoice in His ordinances. 12 The Lord judges the world without partiality; everyone will receive according to their deeds. If someone is good, his righteousness will go before him on the way; if evil, the penalty for his wrongdoing is before him, so that, 13 if we relax, being called people of God, we might sleep in our sins, and the prince of evil might gain power over us and drive us out of the Lord’s kingdom. 14 Furthermore, understand this too, my brothers. When you see that even after so many signs and wonders worked in Israel, they were still abandoned, we must be cautious so that we are not found as Scripture says: ‘Many are called but few are chosen.’
5For this reason the Lord endured giving His flesh over to corruption, so that by the forgiveness of sins we might be purified, and this purification comes through the blood of His sprinkling. 2 For the Scripture concerning Him contains some parts about Israel and some about us. And it says: ‘He was wounded for your transgressions, and He was bruised for our sins; by His stripes we were healed. Like a sheep He was led to slaughter; like a lamb before its shearer, He was silent.’ 3 We should therefore be very thankful to the Lord, because He revealed to us the past, made us wise in the present, and regarding the future, we do not lack understanding. 4 For Scripture says: ‘It is not in vain that the net is spread for the birds.’ He means that a person will justly perish who has knowledge of the path of righteousness but forces himself into the path of darkness. 5 Yet there is also this, my friends: If the Lord endured suffering for our souls—though He was Lord of the whole world, to whom God said from the foundation of the world, “Let Us make humanity in Our image and likeness”—how then did He endure being mistreated by humankind? 6 Understand: The prophets, receiving grace from Him, prophesied about Him. But He Himself suffered so that He might destroy death and show forth the resurrection of the dead, because He needed to appear in the flesh. 7 This was also so that He could fulfill the promise made to the ancestors, and by preparing a new people for Himself, show, while on earth, that after bringing about the resurrection, He will Himself exercise judgment. 8 And even further, He preached to Israel, performing so many wonders and miracles, and He loved them greatly. 9 And when He chose His own apostles—who were to proclaim His Gospel—He chose the greatest sinners to show that He came not to call the righteous but sinners, then He showed Himself to be the Son of God. 10 For if He had not come in the flesh, people could not have looked on Him and been saved. Indeed, when they look on the sun, which will someday cease to be (and which is the work of His hands), they cannot face its rays. 11 So the Son of God came in the flesh for this purpose—that He might sum up the total of their sins against those who persecuted and killed His prophets. 12 For this reason He endured. For God says of the wounds in His flesh that they came from them: ‘When they strike their own shepherd, then the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 13 But He Himself chose to suffer this way, for it was necessary for Him to suffer on a tree. For the one who prophesied said of Him: ‘Spare My soul from the sword’ and ‘Pierce My flesh with nails, for the gatherings of evildoers have risen up against Me.’ 14 And again He says: ‘See, I have given My back to stripes and My cheeks to blows, and I set My face like a hard rock.’
6When He gave the commandment, what does He say? ‘Who is the one who argues with Me? Let him challenge Me. Or who is the one who goes to law with Me? Let him come near the servant of the Lord.’ 2 ‘Woe to you, for you will all wear out like a garment, and the moth will consume you.’ And again, the prophet says, seeing that He was destined like a hard stone for crushing: ‘Look, I will place in the fountains of Zion a very precious stone, chosen, a chief cornerstone, honored.’ 3 Then again, what does He say? ‘Whoever sets his hope on Him will live forever.’ Is our hope set on a stone? Certainly not. It is because the Lord has established His flesh in strength. For He says: ‘And He placed Me as a hard rock.’ 4 And the prophet says again: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head and the corner.’ And again He says: ‘This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord has made.’ 5 I write to you more simply so that you may understand, I who am the outcast of your love. 6 What then does the prophet say again? ‘A gathering of evildoers surrounded Me; they encircled Me like bees around a comb, and they cast lots for My clothing.’ 7 Because He was about to appear in the flesh and to suffer, His suffering was foretold in advance. For the prophet speaks concerning Israel: ‘Woe to their souls, for they devised harmful plans against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous man, for he is useless to us.’[2] 8 What does the other prophet, Moses, say to them? ‘Look, these are the words of the Lord God: enter into the good land which the Lord swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 9 But what does knowledge say? Understand this: Set your hope on the One who is going to be revealed to you in the flesh—Jesus. For humankind is earth that suffers; from the face of the earth, the creation of Adam took place. 10 What then does He say? ‘Into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Blessed is our Lord, friends, who established wisdom and understanding of His secrets among us. For the prophet presents a parable concerning the Lord: ‘Who will comprehend it, except the one who is wise and understanding and who loves his Lord?’ 11 Since He renewed us by forgiving our sins, He shaped us to be a new type, so that we might have the soul of children, as if recreating us. 12 For Scripture says of us, in these words to the Son: ‘Let Us make humanity in Our image and after Our likeness, and let them rule over the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.’ And the Lord, when He saw the beauty of our creation, said: ‘Increase and multiply and fill the earth.’ These words refer to the Son. 13 Again, I will show you how the Lord speaks about us. He made a second creation at the end, and the Lord says: ‘Look, I make the last things like the first.’ Concerning this, the prophet proclaimed: ‘Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it.’ 14 Look then, we have been created anew, as He says again in another prophet: ‘Look,’ says the Lord, ‘I will take out from them—that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw—their stony hearts and will put into them hearts of flesh;’ for He Himself was going to appear in the flesh and dwell among us. 15 For a holy temple to the Lord, my friends, is the dwelling of our heart. 16 For the Lord says again: ‘How will I appear to the Lord my God and be glorified? I will confess You in the assembly of my brothers, and I will sing to You in the midst of the assembly of the saints.’ We therefore are those whom He led into the good land. 17 What then is the milk and the honey? Because a child is first kept alive by honey and then by milk, so in the same way we also, nourished first by our faith in the promise and by the word, will live and rule over the earth. 18 Now, we have already mentioned above: ‘Let them increase and multiply and rule over the fish.’ But who is able now to rule over beasts and fish and birds of the air? For we should understand that ruling implies power, so that one gives orders and has authority. 19 If this does not happen now, it is certain that He spoke to us about the future, when we ourselves will be made perfect so that we may become heirs of the Lord’s covenant.
7Understand therefore, children of gladness, that the good Lord showed us everything in advance so that we might know to whom we should in all things render thanks and praise. 2 If the Son of God—being Lord and the future Judge of the living and the dead—suffered so that His wound could give us life, let us believe that the Son of God could not have suffered unless it was for us. 3 Moreover, when He was crucified, He was given vinegar and gall to drink. Listen to how the priests of the temple exposed this. Seeing that Scripture contains a command, ‘Whoever will not observe the fast will surely die,’ the Lord commanded, because He Himself was about to offer in His own person the vessel of His Spirit as a sacrifice for our sins, that the type also given in Isaac—who was offered on the altar—should be fulfilled. 4 What then does He say in the prophet? ‘Let them eat of the goat that is offered during the fast for all their sins. Pay close attention: And let all the priests alone eat the entrails unwashed with vinegar.’ 5 Why? ‘Since you are going to give Me, who will offer My flesh for the sins of My new people, gall with vinegar to drink, eat by yourselves, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes,’ so that He might show that He must suffer by their hands. 6 Pay attention to the commands He gave: ‘Take two goats, fair and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take the one for a whole burnt offering for sins.’ 7 But what must be done with the other? ‘Cursed,’ He says, ‘is the one.’ Notice how Jesus is revealed in this. 8 ‘And all of you must spit on it and poke it, and place scarlet wool around its head, and thus cast it into the wilderness. And when this is done, the one who takes the goat into the wilderness leads it, and removes the wool, and places it upon the branch called Rachia, from which we eat the shoots if we find them in the countryside. Of this briar alone the fruit is sweet.’ 9 What does this mean? Pay attention: One is at the altar, and the other is cursed. Moreover, the cursed one is crowned. For in that day they will see Him wearing a long scarlet robe on His flesh, and they will say, ‘Isn’t this the One whom we once crucified and ridiculed and spat upon? Truly, this was He who said He was the Son of God.’ 10 For what reason is He compared to the goat? For the reason it says: ‘The goats shall be fair and alike,’ so that when they see Him then, they may be astonished at the likeness. Therefore, notice the type of Jesus who was to suffer. 11 But what is meant by them placing the wool in the midst of the thorns? It is a type of Jesus set out for the Church, since anyone who desires to take away the scarlet wool must endure many hardships because of the fearful nature of the thorn, and only through suffering gain mastery over it. Therefore, He says, those who desire to see Me and to attain My kingdom must grasp Me through distress and suffering.
8What do you think the type implies when the command is given to Israel that those people whose sins are mature should offer a heifer, slaughter it, and burn it, and then the children collect the ashes, put them into vessels, and twist the scarlet wool on a tree—here again is the type of the cross and the scarlet wool—and the hyssop, and once that is done, the children sprinkle the people one by one so that they may be purified from their sins? 2 Understand how plainly this is said to you: the calf is Jesus; the men who offer it, being sinners, are those who offered Him for slaughter. From then on it is no longer men who offer, and the glory is no longer for sinners. 3 The children who sprinkle are those who preached to us the forgiveness of sins and the purification of our heart—they, being twelve in number for a testimony to the tribes (for there are twelve tribes of Israel)—to whom He gave authority over the Gospel, that they might preach it. 4 But why are the children who sprinkle three in number? For a testimony to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because these are great before God. 5 Then there is the placing of the wool on the tree. This means that the kingdom of Jesus is on the cross, and that those who set their hope on Him will live forever. 6 And why do we see wool and hyssop at the same time? Because in His kingdom there will be painful and foul days in which we will be saved; for the one who suffers in the flesh is healed by the bitterness of the hyssop. 7 For us it is clear these things happened for this reason, but for them it was obscure because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
9Furthermore, He speaks about the ears: that it is our heart which He has circumcised. The Lord says through the prophet: ‘With the hearing of the ears, they listened to Me.’ And again: ‘Those who are far away will hear with their ears and understand what I have done.’ And: ‘Be circumcised in your hearts,’ says the Lord. 2 And again He says: ‘Listen, Israel, for this is what the Lord your God says. Whoever wants to live forever, let them hear with their ears the voice of My servant.’ And again He says: ‘Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth, for the Lord has spoken these things as a testimony.’ And again He says: ‘Hear the words of the Lord, you rulers of this people.’ And again He says: ‘Hear, My children, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.’ So He has circumcised our ears so that, hearing the word, we might believe. 3 Moreover, the circumcision in which they trust has been abolished, for He said there must be a circumcision of the heart rather than of the flesh. But they violated this because a wicked angel taught them trickery.[3] 4 He says to them: ‘This is what the Lord your God says (this is the command I discover): Sow not among thorns; be circumcised to the Lord.’ And what does He say? ‘Be circumcised in the hardness of your hearts, and then do not stiffen your necks.’ Take this further: ‘Look,’ says the Lord, ‘all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but this people is uncircumcised in their hearts.’ 5 But you might say, ‘Surely the people have been circumcised as a seal.’ No, but all Syrians and Arabians and all the priests of idols are also circumcised. Are they all part of their covenant? Furthermore, the Egyptians are included among the circumcised. 6 Therefore learn, beloved children, fully about all things. Abraham, who first established circumcision, looked ahead in spirit to Jesus when he circumcised, having received the ordinances of three letters. 7 For Scripture says: ‘And Abraham circumcised eighteen males and three hundred in his household.’ What knowledge was given to him? Notice that it first mentions eighteen, and then, after a pause, three hundred. In the eighteen, ‘I’ stands for ten and ‘H’ for eight; here you have JESUS (ΙΗ). And because the cross, in the ‘T’ (Τ), was going to have grace, it also says three hundred. So He reveals Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one, the cross. 8 He who put within us the innate gift of His covenant knows this. No one has learned a more genuine word from me than this, but I know that you are worthy.
10But since Moses said, ‘You shall not eat the seine, nor the eagle, nor the falcon, nor the crow, nor any fish that does not have scales upon it,’ he received in his understanding three decrees. 2 Yes, and further He says to them in Deuteronomy: ‘And I will lay My ordinances on this people as a covenant.’ Therefore, it is not a command of God not to bite with their teeth; Moses spoke it spiritually. 3 Accordingly, he mentioned the pig with this intent: ‘You shall not cling,’ he says, ‘to people who are like pigs; that is, when they are living in luxury, they forget the Lord, but when they are in need, they remember the Lord—just as a pig, when it is eating, does not know its master, but when it is hungry, it cries out, and once it is fed, it is silent again.’ 4 ‘Neither shall you eat the eagle or the falcon or the kite or the crow.’ ‘You shall not,’ He says, ‘cling to or resemble such men who do not know how to get food by their own toil and sweat but, in their lawlessness, seize what belongs to others, keeping watch to see whom they may rob in their greed, just as these birds do not provide food for themselves but hover idly, looking for how they might eat what belongs to others, being agents of evil in their actions.’ 5 ‘And you shall not eat,’ He says, ‘the lamprey or the octopus or the cuttlefish.’ ‘You shall not,’ He means, ‘become like people who are already condemned to death, just as these fish are cursed and swim in the depths, not swimming on the surface like the others but living on the bottom of the deep sea.’ 6 Moreover, ‘You shall not eat the hare.’ Why so? ‘You shall not be found corrupting young boys, nor become like such persons; for the hare gains one more passage in its body every year, and as many years as it lives, it has that many openings.’ 7 Again, you shall not eat the hyena. ‘You shall not,’ He says, ‘become an adulterer or a fornicator, nor resemble such people.’ Why so? Because this animal changes its nature each year, sometimes male and sometimes female. 8 Moreover, He has hated the weasel as well, and rightly so. ‘You shall not,’ He says, ‘become like those of whom we hear do evil with their mouth for impurity, nor shall you associate with impure women who commit sin with their mouth.’ For this creature conceives through its mouth. 9 Concerning foods, then, Moses received three decrees with this meaning and spoke them in a spiritual sense; but they accepted them in accordance with fleshly desire, as if referring to actual eating. 10 David also understood these same three decrees and says: ‘Blessed is the one who has not walked in the council of the ungodly’—just as fish go into darkness in the depths—‘and has not stood in the path of sinners’—just as those who only appear to fear the Lord but sin like pigs—‘and has not sat in the seat of destroyers’—like the birds that wait in ambush. Now you have the complete lesson about eating. 11 Again, Moses says: ‘You shall eat everything that divides the hoof and chews the cud.’ What does that mean? The one who receives the food recognizes the One who gives it, and, being refreshed, appears to rejoice in Him. Well did he speak, keeping in mind the command. What then does he mean? ‘Cling to those who fear the Lord, those who reflect in their hearts on the distinction of the word they have received, those who speak of the ordinances of the Lord and keep them, those who know that reflection is a work of joy and who chew the cud of the word of the Lord.’ But why ‘that divides the hoof’? Because the righteous person walks in this world but also looks forward to the holy world to come. You see how wise a lawgiver Moses was. 12 But how could they understand or perceive these things? Yet we, having rightly understood the commandments, tell them as the Lord intended. For this purpose He has circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we may understand these matters.
11Let us inquire whether the Lord also took care to foreshadow the water and the cross. Now about the water, it is written regarding Israel, how they would not accept the baptism that brings forgiveness of sins, but would build for themselves. 2 For the prophet says: ‘Be appalled, heaven, and let the earth shudder even more at this, for this people has committed two evils: they abandoned Me, the fountain of life, and they dug for themselves a pit of death.’ 3 ‘Is My holy mountain of Sinai a desolate rock? For you will be like baby birds flapping about when deprived of the nest.’ 4 And again the prophet says: ‘I will go before you and level mountains; I will smash gates of bronze and break iron bars, and I will give you hidden, dark, unseen treasures, so that they may know that I am the Lord God.’ 5 And: ‘You will live in a lofty cave of a strong rock.’ And: ‘His water will be certain; you will see the King in glory, and your soul will dwell on the fear of the Lord.’ 6 And again He says in another prophet: ‘And the land of Jacob was praised above the entire earth.’ He means this: He glorifies the vessel of His Spirit. 7 Next, what does He say? ‘And there was a river flowing from the right side, and beautiful trees grew from it; and whoever eats from them will live forever.’ 8 He says this because we go down into the water laden with sins and impurity, and we come up from it bearing fruit in our hearts, placing our fear and hope in Jesus through the Spirit. ‘And whoever eats of these will live forever.’ He means: ‘Whoever,’ He says, ‘hears and believes these things spoken will live forever.’ 9 And again another prophet says: ‘And the land of Jacob was praised above the whole earth.’ He means He glorifies the vessel of His Spirit. 10 What does He say next? ‘There was a river flowing from the right side, and beautiful trees were rising from it, and whoever eats from them will live forever.’ 11 This He says because those who descend into the water, carrying sins and defilement, come up with fruit in their hearts, trusting in Jesus through the Spirit. And whoever eats of these will live forever. He means: whoever hears and believes these messages will live forever.
12In the same way, He defines the cross again in another prophet, who says: ‘When will these things be fulfilled?’ says the Lord. ‘Whenever a tree is bent and stands upright, and whenever blood drips from a tree.’ Once more you are taught about the cross and the One who would be crucified. 2 And He says again through Moses, when foreign people waged war against Israel—and so He might remind them, as war was waged against them, that they were handed over to death for their sins—the Spirit speaks to Moses’ heart that he should make a sign of the cross and of the One who would suffer, so that unless, He says, ‘they place their hope on Him, war will be waged against them forever.’ Moses therefore piled weapon upon weapon in the middle of the battle, and standing higher than anyone else, he stretched out his hands. And so Israel was victorious again. Then, whenever he lowered them, they were killed by the sword. 3 Why was this? So they might learn they cannot be saved unless they place their hope on Him. 4 And again, in another prophet, He says: ‘All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient people who opposed My righteous path.’ 5 Again, Moses establishes a type of Jesus—how He must suffer, and that the One they think they destroyed will enliven them—through a symbol when Israel was falling. For the Lord caused all kinds of serpents to bite them, and they died (since the wrongdoing was brought about in Eve by the serpent), so that He might convince them that because of their sin they were handed over to the torment of death. 6 And further, even though Moses gave the command, ‘You shall not make a molten or carved image for your God,’ he himself made one so that he could show them a type of Jesus. So Moses made a bronze serpent and placed it prominently, and summoned the people by proclamation. 7 When they came together, they begged Moses to offer intercession for them so that they might be healed. And Moses said to them, ‘Whenever someone among you is bitten, let them come to the serpent that is placed on the tree, and let them believe and hope that, although the serpent is itself dead, it can make alive; and immediately that person will be saved.’ And so they did. Again, in these matters, you have the glory of Jesus—how all things are in Him and directed toward Him. 8 What again does Moses say to Joshua son of Nun, when he gives him this name as a prophet, so that all the people might listen to him alone because the Father reveals everything about His Son Jesus? 9 Moses says to Joshua, giving him this name when he sent him as a spy into the land: ‘Take a book in your hands, and write what the Lord says—how the Son of God will uproot all the house of Amalek in the last days.’ 10 Notice again that it is Jesus, not a mere son of man but the Son of God, revealed in the flesh as a foreshadowing. Then, since people will say the Christ is the son of David, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of sinners: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool under Your feet.’ 11 And again Isaiah says: ‘The Lord said to my Christ the Lord, whose right hand I hold, that nations should listen to Him, and I will break the strength of kings.’ Notice how David calls Him Lord and not Son.
13Let us now see whether it is this people or the first who have the inheritance, and whether the covenant was for us or for them. 2 Listen then to what Scripture says about the people: ‘And Isaac prayed concerning Rebekah his wife, for she was barren. She conceived. Then Rebekah went out to consult the Lord, and the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in your belly, and one people will defeat the other, and the greater will serve the lesser.’ 3 You must understand who Isaac is and who Rebekah is, and in whose case He shows that one people is greater than the other. 4 And in another prophecy Jacob speaks even more plainly to Joseph his son, saying: ‘Look, the Lord has not deprived me of seeing your face; bring your sons to me so that I may bless them.’ 5 And he brought Ephraim and Manasseh, wanting Manasseh to be blessed because he was the elder; for Joseph led him by his father Jacob’s right hand. But Jacob saw in the Spirit a type of the people that would come later. And what does he do? ‘Jacob crossed his hands, placing his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and blessed him.’ Joseph said to Jacob, ‘Move your right hand to Manasseh’s head, for he is my firstborn son.’ But Jacob said to Joseph, ‘I know it, my son, I know it; but the greater will serve the lesser. Yet this one also will be blessed.’ 6 Notice in whose cases He declared that this people should be first and inherit the covenant. 7 If in addition He recorded it through Abraham, we achieve the fulfillment of our knowledge. What then did He say to Abraham when he alone believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness? ‘Look, I have made you, Abraham, a father of nations that believe in God while still uncircumcised.’
14Indeed, but as for the covenant He swore to the ancestors to give to the people, let us see whether He has actually given it. He has given it, but they themselves were not found worthy to receive it because of their sins. 2 For the prophet says: ‘And Moses was fasting on Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights, so that he could receive the covenant of the Lord to deliver to the people. And [Moses] received from the Lord the two tablets, which were written by the finger of the hand of the Lord in the Spirit. And Moses took them and brought them down to deliver them to the people.’ 3 ‘And the Lord said to Moses: Moses, Moses, come down quickly, for your people, whom you led out of the land of Egypt, have committed wickedness. And Moses saw that they had once again made idols, and he threw them out of his hands, and the tablets of the covenant of the Lord were broken.’ 4 Moses received them, but the people were not found worthy. But how did we receive them? Note this carefully: Moses received them as a servant, but the Lord Himself gave them to us to be the people of His inheritance, having endured patiently for our sakes. 5 But He was revealed, so that at the same time they might reach full measure in their sins, and we might receive the covenant through the One who inherited it—namely, the Lord Jesus, who was prepared for this purpose beforehand, so that He would appear in person to redeem our hearts from darkness, which had already been surrendered to death and handed over to the wickedness of deception, and thus establish the covenant in us through the word. 6 For it is written how the Father charges Him to deliver us from darkness and to prepare a holy people for Himself. 7 Therefore the prophet says: ‘I the Lord your God called You in righteousness, and I will hold Your hand and will strengthen You, and I have given You as a covenant to the race, a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from their chains those who are bound, and those who sit in darkness from their prison. We see then from what we were redeemed.’ 8 Again, the prophet says: ‘Look, I have set You as a light to the Gentiles, so that You would be salvation to the ends of the earth; this is what the Lord, who redeemed you, says: God.’ 9 Again, the prophet says: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, so He anointed Me to bring good news to the humble; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to announce the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of reward, to comfort all who mourn.’
15Moreover, regarding the Sabbath, it is also written in the Ten Words, in which He spoke face to face to Moses on Mount Sinai: ‘You shall keep holy the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart.’ 2 And in another place He says: ‘If My children observe the Sabbath, then I will grant My mercy to them.’ 3 He speaks about the Sabbath in the beginning of creation: ‘And God made all the works of His hands in six days, and He finished on the seventh day, and He rested on it, and He made it holy.’ 4 Pay attention, children, to what this means: ‘He finished in six days.’ He means this: that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to completion, for a day with Him signifies a thousand years; and He Himself testifies to me, saying: ‘Look, the day of the Lord will be like a thousand years.’ Therefore, children, in six days—that is, in six thousand years—everything will be completed. 5 ‘And He rested on the seventh day.’ He means this: when His Son comes and abolishes the time of the Lawless One, and judges the ungodly, and changes the sun and the moon and the stars, then He will truly rest on the seventh day. 6 Indeed, furthermore, He says: ‘You shall keep it holy with pure hands and a pure heart.’ If, therefore, any person can now keep the day which God made holy—though they are pure in heart—we have completely gone astray. 7 But if, after all, then and not until then will we truly rest and keep it holy—when we will be able to do so after being justified and receiving the promise—when evil is no more and all things have been made new by the Lord, then we will be able to keep it holy because we ourselves will have been made holy first. 8 Finally, He says to them: ‘Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.’ You see His meaning: it is not your present Sabbaths that please Me, but the Sabbath which I have made, in which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day, which is the start of another world. 9 Therefore we also celebrate the eighth day with joy, on which Jesus likewise rose from the dead, and, having been made manifest, ascended into the heavens.
16Furthermore, I will also tell you concerning the temple: how these unfortunate people, being led astray, put their trust in the building instead of in their God who made them, as though it were truly God’s house. 2 For, almost like the Gentiles, they treated Him as if consecrated in the temple. But what does the Lord say, annulling the temple? Learn this: ‘Who has measured the sky with a span or the earth with his hand? Haven’t I?’ says the Lord. ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool under My feet. What house will you build for Me, or what will be My resting place?’ You see that their hope is in vain. 3 Furthermore, He says again: ‘Look, those who tore down this temple will themselves build it.’ 4 So it happens; for since they went to war, it was torn down by their enemies. And now even the servants of their enemies will rebuild it. 5 Again, it was revealed how the city and the temple and the people of Israel would be handed over. For Scripture says: ‘And it will come to pass in the last days that the Lord will hand over the sheep of His pasture, and the fold, and their tower, to destruction.’ And it happened as the Lord said.[4] 6 But let us ask whether there is any temple of God. Yes, there is—the place where He Himself undertakes to make and complete it. For it is written: ‘And it will come to pass, when the week is being completed, the temple of God will be built gloriously in the name of the Lord.’[5] 7 Then I find that there is a temple. How then will it be built in the name of the Lord? Understand: Before we believed in God, the dwelling place of our heart was corrupt and weak, truly a temple built by hands, because it was full of idolatry and was a house of demons, since we did whatever was contrary to God. 8 But it will be built in the name of the Lord. Take care, then, that the temple of the Lord may be built gloriously. 9 How? Understand: By receiving the forgiveness of our sins and placing our hope in the Name, we became new, created anew from the beginning. For this reason, God truly dwells in our habitation within us. How? The word of His faith, the calling of His promise, the wisdom of His ordinances, and the commands of His teaching—He Himself prophesying in us, He Himself dwelling in us—opening for us, who had been enslaved to death, the door of the temple (which is the mouth), and granting us repentance, leads us into the everlasting temple. 10 For the one who wants to be saved does not look to the human being but to Him who dwells and speaks in that person, amazed at this: that he has never heard these words from the mouth of the speaker nor ever desired to hear them. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord.
17So far as it was possible, with all simplicity, to describe these things to you, my soul hopes that I have not left anything out about matters related to salvation and so fallen short in my desire. 2 For if I should write to you about things immediate or future, you would not understand them, because they are expressed in figures. So much for this.
18But let us turn to another lesson and teaching. There are two paths of teaching and of power: one of light and the other of darkness; and there is a great difference between the two ways. For on one side stand the shining angels of God, on the other the angels of Satan. 2 And the One is the Lord from all eternity to all eternity, while the other is lord of this current season of wickedness.
19This, then, is the way of light: if anyone wants to travel on the way to his appointed place, let him be diligent in his works. The knowledge that is given to us, enabling us to walk in it, is as follows.[6] 2 ‘You shall love Him who made you; you shall fear Him who created you; you shall glorify Him who redeemed you from death. You shall be single-hearted and rich in spirit. You shall not cling to those who follow the path of death. You shall hate everything not pleasing to God. You shall hate all hypocrisy. You shall never abandon the Lord’s commandments.’ 3 ‘You shall not exalt yourself but be humble in all things. You shall not claim glory for yourself. You shall not devise evil against your neighbor. You shall not allow arrogance into your soul.’ 4 ‘You shall not commit fornication; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt young people. The word of God shall not come from you where there is any impurity. You shall not show partiality when reproving someone for a transgression. You shall be gentle; you shall be quiet; you shall be in awe of the words you have heard. You shall not hold a grudge against your brother.’ 5 ‘You shall not waver about whether something will be or not. You shall not use the Lord’s name carelessly. You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not kill a child by abortion, nor again kill it once it is born. You shall not withhold your hand from your son or daughter, but from childhood you shall teach them the fear of God.’ 6 ‘You shall not be found craving your neighbor’s goods; you shall not be found greedy for profit. Nor shall you associate your soul with the high-minded but shall walk with the humble and just. Whatever happens to you, accept it as good, knowing that nothing happens without God. You shall not be double-minded or speak with a double tongue.’ 7 ‘You shall be subject to your masters as a symbol of God, in shame and fear. You shall not order your bondservant or servant harshly if they set their hope on the same God, so that they do not stop fearing the God who is over both of you; for He did not come to call anyone with partiality but those whom the Spirit has prepared.’ 8 ‘You shall share in everything with your neighbor and not say that anything is your own. For if you are joint-heirs of what is imperishable, how much more of perishable things? You shall not be quick with your tongue, for the mouth is a snare of death. As far as you can, be pure for your soul’s sake.’ 9 ‘Do not be someone who stretches out his hands to take but draws them back when it comes to giving. You shall love as the apple of your eye everyone who speaks to you the word of the Lord.’[7] 10 ‘You shall remember the day of judgment night and day, and you shall search every day for the faces of the saints, either laboring by word and going to encourage them and meditating on how you can save souls by the word, or you shall work with your hands as a ransom for your sins.’ 11 ‘You shall not hesitate to give, nor shall you grumble when giving, but you shall know who the good Paymaster of your reward is. You shall hold fast to what you have received, neither adding nor taking away. You shall utterly hate the Evil One. You shall judge justly.’ 12 ‘You shall not cause division, but you shall reconcile those who fight by bringing them together. You shall acknowledge your sins. You shall not pray with an evil conscience. This is the way of light.’
20But the way of the Black One is crooked and cursed. For it is a path of eternal death with punishment, containing the things that destroy people’s souls—idolatry, arrogance, abuse of power, hypocrisy, a double heart, adultery, murder, robbery, pride, rebellion, treachery, malice, stubbornness, sorcery, magic, greed, a lack of reverence for God. 2 These are the persecutors of good men, those who hate the truth, love lies, do not perceive the reward of righteousness, do not cling to the good or to fair judgment, disregard the widow and the orphan, keep awake not for God’s reverence but for evil, people from whom gentleness and patience are far removed, lovers of vain things, seeking repayment, not pitying the poor man, not laboring for the oppressed, eager to slander, failing to recognize Him who made them, murderers of children, corruptors of God’s creatures, turning away from the needy, oppressing the afflicted, supporters of the wealthy, unfair judges of the poor—sinful in every way.
21Therefore it is good to learn the ordinances of the Lord, as many as have been written above, and walk in them. For the one who does these will be glorified in God’s kingdom, whereas the one who chooses what opposes them will perish along with his works. For this reason there is the resurrection, for this is the reward. 2 I beg those of you in higher positions—if you accept any good advice from me—keep people among you to whom you can do good. Do not fail. 3 The day is near in which everything will be destroyed together with the Evil One. The Lord is near, and His reward. 4 Again and again I beg you: be good lawgivers among yourselves; continue to be faithful advisers to one another; remove all hypocrisy from you. 5 May God, who is Lord of the entire world, give you wisdom, judgment, knowledge, understanding of His ordinances, and patience. 6 And be taught by God, diligently seeking what the Lord requires of you, and act so that you may be found on the day of judgment. 7 But if you recall any good, remember me when you practice these things, so that both my desire and my watchfulness may lead to some benefit. I beg you, asking it as a favor. 8 As long as the good vessel (the body) is with you, do not fail in any of these matters, but search them out constantly and fulfill every commandment, for they deserve it. 9 For this reason I was all the more eager to write to you, to the extent I could, that I might give you joy. Farewell, children of love and peace. The Lord of glory and all grace be with your spirit.