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In the Greek version of Isaiah, God promises salvation to those who return and groan. Exegesis on the Soul, a Nag Hammadi text, quotes this promise to support its call for repentance through tears and prayer.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Isaiah 30:15
Septuagint
15 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel: When you turn back and groan, then you shall be saved and realize where you were; when you placed your trust in vain things, your strength became vain. And you were not willing to hear 16 but said, “We will flee upon horses”— therefore you shall flee! And you said, “We will be riders upon swift steeds”— therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
Exegesis on the Soul 5:9
Nag Hammadi
By the Spirit he therefore said to the prophet: “Say to the children of my people: ‘[If] your sins reach [from earth to] heaven, and if they are [red] as scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth, [and if] you return to me with all your soul, and say to me “my Father!” I will listen to you as a holy people.’” ‒ (1 Clement 8:3) Yet another passage: “Thus says the Lord, the holy one of Israel: ‘If you return and weep, then you will be saved, and you will know where you were when you hoped in what is empty.’” ‒ (Isaiah 30:15) And in another passage, he said: “Jerusalem wept much, saying, ‘Have pity on me.’ He will be gracious to you at the sound of your weeping. And when he saw, he answered you.
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Notes and References
“... Again another place (Is 30:15), Thus says the lord, the holy one of Israel: “If you (sg.) return and sigh, then you will be saved and will know where you were when you trusted in what is empty.” Again he said in another place (Is 30:19-20), Jerusalem wept much, saying, “Have pity on me.” He will have pity on the sound of your (sg.) weeping. And when he saw he heeded you. And the lord will give you (pi.) bread of affliction and water of oppression. From now on those who deceive will not approach you (sg.) again. Your eyes will see those who are deceiving you. Therefore it is fitting to pray to God night and day, spreading out our hands towards him as do people sailing in the middle of the sea: they pray to God with all their heart without hypocrisy. ...”
Robinson, William C., Jr.; Scopello, Maddalena
"The Exegesis on the Soul (II,6)" in Robinson, James M. (ed.) The Nag Hammadi Library in English
(p. 197) HarperCollins, 1990
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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