Date: 2017-12-15T08:00:00+00:00
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Description: From one of our most celebrated writers on religion comes this fresh, bold, and unsettling new translation of the New Testament David Bentley Hart undertook this new translation of the New Testament in the spirit of "etsi doctrina non daretur," "as if doctrine is not given." Reproducing the texts' often fragmentary formulations without augmentation or correction, he has produced a pitilessly literal translation, one that captures the texts' impenetrability and unfinished quality while awakening readers to an uncanniness that often lies hidden beneath doctrinal layers. The early Christians' som
Publisher: Yale University Press
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THE NEW TESTAMENT

THE NEW TESTAMENT

A TRANSLATION

David Bentley Hart

Published with assistance from the Mary Cady Tew Memorial Fund.

Copyright © 2017 by David Bentley Hart.

All rights reserved.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For John Milbank

λέγει ὁ λόγος:

ἔγειρον τὸν λίθον κἀκεῖ εὑρήσεις με·
σχίσον τὸν ξύλον κἀγὼ ἐκεῖ εἰμί.

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Transliteration

Introduction

The Gospel According to Matthew

The Gospel According to Mark

The Gospel According to Luke

The Gospel According to John

The Acts of the Apostles

The Letter to the Romans

The First Letter to the Corinthians

The Second Letter to the Corinthians

The Letter to the Galatians

The Letter to the Ephesians

The Letter to the Philippians

The Letter to the Colossians

The First Letter to the Thessalonikans

The Second Letter to the Thessalonikans

The First Letter to Timothy

The Second Letter to Timothy

The Letter to Titus

The Letter to Philemon

The Letter to the Hebrews

The Letter of James

The First Letter of Peter

The Second Letter of Peter

The First Letter of John

The Second Letter of John

The Third Letter of John

The Letter of Judas

The Revelation of John

Concluding Scientific Postscript

Acknowledgments

MY THANKS PRINCIPALLY to Jennifer Banks of Yale University Press for suggesting this project, after I—in keeping with a discreditable appetite for the needlessly recherché—had proposed producing a translation of either some of Ronsard’s verse or the whole of Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica. I had not realized how deeply this labor would affect me, and she can have no way of knowing what I owe her for having given it to me. (Ghaṇā ābhāra.) I am also grateful to her and the other editors at Yale for their patience: the translation was interrupted for over a year and a half by a particularly debilitating illness I contracted, and not once did any representative of Yale University Press give me cause to feel I was letting down the side. I am especially indebted to Lawrence Kenney, the copy editor of this book, for his keen diligence and his patience, and for rescuing me from my own omissions.

My thanks to my brother Addison for our conversations regarding various words in the original Greek, for encouraging me in my resolve to resist the easy path of adopting conventional solutions to difficult interpretive problems, and for agreeing with me on certain translations that otherwise I might have decided were too outlandish (even though correct). My thanks as well to my mother, Marianne Hart, for typing out long portions of this translation when I was too ill to do it for myself. And thanks too to Jacob Prahlow, my research assistant at Saint Louis University, for proofreading the texts of the four Gospels with such care and for removing the typographical errors from those manuscripts for me.

I am especially grateful to Robert L. Wilken, both for the encouragement he offered me with regard to the finished product and for his suggestions on how to reorganize the introductory and critical materials. And I am very grateful indeed to the editors of Commonweal for permission to adapt portions of an article that I originally published in the pages of their journal (“Christ’s Rabble,” 7 October 2016) for my introduction to this volume.

A Note on Transliteration

IN MY INTRODUCTION and footnotes I have many occasions to transliterate Greek words into Latin lettering, and for the most part—inasmuch as the phonetic correspondences are mostly obvious—I do so quite conventionally. But I should note that the pronunciation I assume to be “correct” is that of modern demotic. While it is possible to debate the degree to which modern Greek pronunciation matches that of late antiquity, there can be no serious doubt that it comes much nearer to doing so than does the accent invented by sixteenth-century Western European humanists, which corresponds to no version of spoken Greek—Homeric, Attic, koinē, Mediaeval, Katharevousa, Demotic—ever heard on the lips of a native speaker. It is not difficult to find plays on words in late antique texts that are entirely invisible unless one is reading the words as having demotic vowel values; and we have enough specimens of phonetically induced misspellings (scrawled on certain ancient Cappadocian monastic walls, for instance) or homophonous variant spellings of transliterations (for instance, Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34) to confirm that late antique speakers of Greek used an accent at least very close to that of modern Greek. It is something of a mystery that classicists are still taught to lisp Sophocles or Plato in the entirely artificial and really rather hideous intonations of what is often called Erasmian Greek. This affects my text in only a limited way, but one that needs some clarification. I have not attempted to “demoticize” every aspect of my transliteration, for fear of producing something unintelligible. I have eschewed the classicist habit of rendering a rho as “rh” rather than “r,” but I have also resisted the demotic temptation to render every delta as “dh” rather than “d,” however much I might wish to try to capture the lovely, melting, soft “th” sound that the consonant has in spoken Greek. Neither have I rendered beta as “v,” which would baffle far too many readers, as would also happen if I tried to render the softness of the modern Greek gamma, or wrote it as a consonantal “y” before an epsilon or iota. And sadly there is no intelligible way to represent the diphthong omicron-iota in such a way as to make readers hear it as an English long “e” rather than the obnoxious and philologically indefensible “oy” of Western European sixteenth-century convention. I have used a long mark over the “o” that represents omega, to distinguish it from omicron, even though the latter is “short” more durationally than tonally in modern Greek; to Anglophone ears, it would still sound long. (The long pronunciation of both “e” and “o” is the same as in English.) I have also made the “h” that represents the hard breathing mark over certain vowels a superscript, to make clear that ideally it should be voiced somewhere along the continuum from extremely softly to silently. I have similarly made the iota-subscript of singular datives into a subscript in English also. And I have rendered the letter ypsilon (not, as it is often mispronounced, upsilon) by three separate letters: “y,” “u,” and “v.” Where the ypsilon is simply an isolated vowel it becomes a “y,” just as we are accustomed to seeing it rendered in such words as “physics” or “psychology,” and it should always be pronounced like an English long “e.” And, just as “u” and “v” were really one letter in classical Latin, functioning at times as the vowel and at times as the consonant, something similar is true of the ypsilon: It can serve as a vowel, sounded either with its own “y” sound or, after an omicron, as producing the diphthong “ou,” which sounds like the double-o in “boot”; but it can serve also as a consonant, after an alpha, eta, or epsilon, where it produces either a “v” or an “f” sound, depending on what letter follows it, and in those cases I have rendered it as a “v” (think of it as sometimes an English “v,” sometimes a German).

Introduction

The Purpose of This Translation

To write yet another translation of the New Testament is probably something of a foolish venture. No matter what one produces—recklessly liberal, timidly conservative, or something poised equilibriously in between—it will provoke consternation (and probably indignation) in countless breasts. There are so many traditions, denominations, assemblies, and devotions—so many magisteria, critical schools, theological factions, and assorted individuals with idiosyncratic spiritual commitments—that one can never hope to please everyone at once, or perhaps anyone entirely. And, as scarcely needs be said, there is an entire guild of New Testament scholars, most of whom owe allegiance to some dogmatic tradition or critical theory, and each of whom is likely to favor his or her understanding of the text over every other. Even the doctrinally indifferent or academically uninvolved are apt to have very particular prejudices regarding what style is most appropriate for rendering scripture into a modern language: whether, for example, one’s principal concern should be to produce good literature or to provide a stringently faithful gloss; whether one should strive more for explanatory clarity or for literal accuracy; whether one should substitute modern equivalents for the obsolete idioms of the ancient world or remain obedient to the unfamiliar diction of the original despite any awkwardness that might ensue; whether paraphrase is a duty or a sin; and so on. It is a game in which no player prospers.

Yet, even so, here is my attempt at a new translation. In a sense, I have spent years preparing for it. At least, I have often enough found myself retranslating passages of the New Testament for students in a lecture hall, in a rather ad hoc fashion, because whatever printed translation they were using obscured aspects of the original text I thought extremely important. To be honest, I have come to believe that all the standard English translations render a great many of the concepts and presuppositions upon which the books of the New Testament are built largely impenetrable, and that most of them effectively hide (sometimes forcibly) things of absolutely vital significance for understanding how the texts’ authors thought. At times this is a result of the peculiarities of the translators’ linguistic, historical, or conceptual training. More often it is the result of their commitment to one or another specific theological tradition or predisposition. And occasionally it is the result of their loyalty to some prevailing theory of translation (such as “dynamic equivalence theory”) that encourages them to make the line between translation and interpretation perilously hazy. Really, it is usually the result of all these things at once, inasmuch as almost all modern translations of the text have been produced not by single scholars with their own particular visions of the texts but by committees. The inevitable consequence of this is that many of the most important decisions are negotiated accommodations, achieved by general agreement, and favoring only those solutions that prove the least offensive to everyone involved. This becomes, in effect, a process of natural selection, in which novel approaches to the text are generally the first to perish, and only the tried and trusted survive. And this can result in the exclusion not only of extravagantly conjectural readings, but often of the most straightforwardly literal as well. (A sort of “acid test” for me is Judas [or Jude] 1:19, a verse whose meaning is startlingly clear in the Greek but which no collaborative translation I know of translates in any but the vaguest and most periphrastic manner.) I think I have come to be opposed to translation by mass collaboration on principle, even when (as in the case of the King James) the final product is literarily admirable. All such renderings, it seems to me, become ineluctably mired in the anodyne blandness and imprecision of “diplomatic” accord.

Still, all this said, the idea of undertaking a complete translation of my own would probably not have occurred to me without the prompting of an indispensable editor at Yale University Press named Jennifer Banks. The project would not have appealed to me at all, moreover, if it had been only a matter of repeating the efforts of past translators in a slightly different combination of words. But the prospect of writing a version that would be by my lights as scrupulously faithful as I could make it, that would not merely reiterate conventional readings of the text, and that would allow me to call attention to features of the Greek original usually invisible in English versions proved irresistible. After all, most modern readers are separated from the New Testament not only by those obvious differences in language, culture, and intellectual formation that put them at an immense historical remove from the authors, but also to a considerable degree by the doctrinal expectations that have shaped the decisions of translators for centuries. The relation between Christian theology and scriptural translation has a long and complicated history; theology has not only influenced translation, but particular translations have had enormous consequences for the development of theology (it would be almost impossible, for instance, to exaggerate how consequential the Latin Vulgate’s inept rendering of a single verse, Romans 5:12, proved for the development of the Western Christian understanding of original sin). In the end even the most conscientious translations tend, at certain crucial junctures, to use language determined as much by theological and dogmatic tradition as by the “plain” meaning of the words on the page. And in some extreme cases doctrinal or theological or moral ideologies drive translators to distort the text to a discreditable degree. Certain popular translations, like The New International Version and The English Standard Version, are notorious examples of this. These may represent the honest zeal of devout translators to communicate what they imagine to be the “correct” theology of scripture, but the preposterous liberties taken to accomplish this end often verge on a kind of pious fraudulence. Moreover, even where ideology does not intrude quite so violently on the work of translation, a kind of inertia has come to hold sway, from generation to generation, over the making of new versions: Where difficult words or syntactical uncertainties or grammatical obscurities appear in the Greek, the solutions favored by earlier translators are generally carried over by their successors, even where there may be more plausible or more interesting alternatives. At the last, generation upon generation, those who cannot read the original Greek are deprived of any way to see in the text of scripture a vast number of those verbal connections, conceptual ambiguities, and semantic oddities that are, in a very real sense, inseparable from its essence.

This is not to say that I can pretend to be free of intellectual prejudices; I can only say that I have made every effort not to allow them to interpose themselves between me and the text, even when the result has at some level displeased me. In the end it may not be entirely possible to write a translation of scripture not shaped by later theological and doctrinal history. Even so, that is what I have attempted. I am not prompted by any great desire, I hasten to add, to challenge or offend against theological orthodoxies; those, as a rule, can take care of themselves perfectly well, and for the most part would not be threatened by even the most daringly revisionist approach to the text. Some orthodoxies, of course, fare better than others when one returns to the original Greek; but that is not my guiding concern. Neither, in fact, do I think of my translation as “revisionist” so much as reconstructive. It is easy to anticipate the criticisms this version of the text might elicit from those who firmly believe that any rendering should reflect the usages of later doctrinal determinations. But it would be contrary to conscience on my part to try to make the words on the page conform to what later dogmatic reflection found in them (and, after all, if orthodoxy really required that sort of discreet redaction of the record, it would be self-evidently false). My principal aim is to help awaken readers to mysteries and uncertainties and surprises in the New Testament documents that often lie wholly hidden from view beneath layers of received hermeneutical and theological tradition. And I would hope my translation would succeed, in many places, in making the familiar strange, novel, and perhaps newly compelling.

Here, however, I defer discussion of the particulars of some of my more consequential choices to my Concluding Scientific Postscript, at the end of this volume. And I recommend consulting that postscript to any reader who wants some explanations of the decisions I have made regarding how to render various words and phrases. At least, I suspect that many readers will be somewhat taken aback by the absence of many terms they are accustomed to finding in the New Testament—“eternal,” “forever,” “redemption,” “justification,” “repentance,” “predestination,” “world,” “hell,” and so on—and by the presence of very different terms in their places. My postscript explains the reasoning behind many of these decisions, and constitutes in some sense a kind of manifesto for the understanding of the New Testament’s texts that I regard as most convincing.

Matters of Style

I should note that this is not a literary translation of the New Testament, much less a rendering for liturgical use. If it conforms in any degree to any current school of translation theory, it is certainly that of “formal,” rather than “dynamic,” equivalence—though, in fact, I believe that no translator should entrust his or her choices to the authority of any “theory” whatsoever. Again and again, I have elected to produce an almost pitilessly literal translation; many of my departures from received practices are simply my efforts to make the original text as visible as possible through the palimpsest of its translation. I cannot emphasize this too starkly: I have not chosen to fill in syntactical lacunae, rectify grammatical lapses, or draw a veil of delicacy over jarring words or images (while “uncircumcision,” for example, may be the traditional and demure rendering of the Greek ἀκροβυστία [akrobystia]it singularly fails to capture the physiological bluntness of the word). Where the Greek of the original is maladroit, broken, or impenetrable (as it is with some consistency in Paul’s letters), so is the English of my translation; where an author has written bad Greek (such as one finds throughout the book of Revelation), I have written bad English. Even then, I have not captured all the idiosyncrasies of the texts. It was common practice in koinē Greek, at least when written (perhaps because writing materials were rarer and more precious than they are now), to elide verbs in predicative constructions, as well as some other syntactic ligatures; if done well this can produce an elegant terseness, if poorly a confused heap of grammatical wreckage. Paul’s fondness for elision is so pronounced that any translator is bound to supply a large quantity of words only adumbrated in the original Greek (all those italicized words in the King James), and this practice often does as much to determine the meaning of a verse as to elucidate it. I have added the pretermitted verbs where it seemed unproblematic to me, but not nearly as freely as most translators have done. In part to preserve uncertainties that I did not want to presume to dispel, and in part to capture something of the concise, urgent, precipitous quality of Paul’s writings, I have reproduced many of his fragmentary formulations without augmentation or “correction.” I have, however, also resorted to copious dashes and parentheses and other devices to break up the unbroken flow of his often deeply tangled sentences into discrete intelligible phrases and clauses, though the original texts are devoid of all but the minimal punctuation (which is a common feature of texts of the time). In general, moreover, I have not attempted to clarify these texts by redistributing their often insufferably prolonged periods into discrete sentences, or by supplying proper subjects in place of the personal pronouns that vie wildly with one another in verse after verse; again, these are features both of late antique style and of the peculiar voices of these authors, neither of which I want to dissemble.

Also, throughout the New Testament, where there are sudden shifts of tense in the original Greek, my English usually follows suit. The use of the “historical present” in the books of the time was common enough, and the result of rendering it literally often cannot help but seem awkward in modern English; but the device is employed fairly haphazardly in the Gospels, and my interest is accuracy. And I have to say that I find the effect somewhat enchanting: When the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John shift back and forth between past and present tenses—it happens only rarely in Luke—it has something of the immediacy of a person standing among friends and relating a story, perhaps a little breathlessly, lapsing naturally into the present tense at critical moments, then withdrawing into the past again. At times, it endows the text with a peculiar vividness; at least, to me there is a strikingly plain plangency to “They crucify him” that is qualitatively different from the effect of “They crucified him.”

I have as well elected generally to translate many words from the Greek by their literal meanings in English, rather than in the forms consecrated by theological tradition. Thus I have not rendered Χριστός (Christos) by the Anglicized Greek word “Christ” or, for that matter, by the Anglicized Hebrew or Aramaic word “Messiah,” but by the simply literal translation “Anointed”; rather than rendering διάβολος (diabolos) by the Anglicized Persian word “devil,” I have used “Slanderer”; I have made ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) “assembly” rather than “church,” not out of some predisposition toward a low ecclesiology, but simply to make the reader aware that it was once an ordinary word with an ordinary meaning. This is not, I hope, a gesture of pedantry or preciosity on my part; my aim is simply to make the modern English reader “hear” the words of the text as words with common meanings, as early Greek-speaking Christians would have done. I have not been entirely consistent in this regard, admittedly. I considered rendering ἀπόστολος (apostolos) as “emissary” rather than “apostle,” for instance, but in English the former is still just barely included among the latter’s connotations, and in much of the New Testament the apostolate has already emerged as a recognizably distinct office and distinct title among Christ’s followers. And I considered translating ἄγγελος (angelos) not as “angel” but as “herald” or “messenger,” but in many cases the effect would have been absurd (talk of “legions of messengers” would, at least for me, immediately summon up images of massed ranks of mailmen or bicycle letter-carriers or hotel bellhops, and to say that the face of Stephen before the Sanhedrin looked like “the face of a messenger” would lack a certain poetic force). Really, there are only a few instances in the New Testament where the word refers to a human agent; for the most part, it is used as already having the special referent of one of the heavenly host, or occasionally one of the devil’s deputies. I have also insistently chosen to render particular words throughout the text by the same English “equivalent” whenever possible, even when the result is less than perfectly attractive or utterly clear or when another course might be recommended by prevailing theories of translation; I have done this especially in those places (John 3:8 is a good example) where an obvious bit of wordplay would be lost if I were to render a single Greek word, used in two distinct but related instances, by two different English words. I have adopted a similar principle in the case where words with the same root are used in what seems like a more than accidental association, as in the case of the substantive aiōn and the adjective aiōnios (see my postscript at the end of this volume). All that said, it would be disingenuous of me to suggest that what follows is simply a literal rendering from the Greek into English. Part of the task of illuminating the original text for Anglophone readers raised on the standard translations is, as I say, to give them a sense of the strangeness of the text: the novelty, the impenetrability, the frequently unfinished quality of the prose and of the theology. To this end, I have on many occasions chosen to offer the more unfamiliar or more baffling interpretation of a difficult passage—in part to apprise readers that the original may differ considerably from what they expect, but also because in most cases I truly believe that the more unsettling rendering is also the more accurate.

All this being said, however, I should note that much of the original Greek of the New Testament can be translated without inordinate difficulty. More important than the small local matters of dealing with multivalent words or vague turns of phrase is the larger matter of rendering the entire text into modern English as gracefully as possible without sacrificing the literal meaning of the original. In the long twilight struggle between felicity and fidelity, the latter should always win out in the end; and, though in many cases a happy compromise between the two is possible, in many cases it is not. But, frankly, any loss of high or mellifluous diction in parts of my rendering does not constitute any great injustice to the source material. The power and beauty of the New Testament are, for the most part, largely unrelated to its literary quality, which is often meager (at least, as these things are conventionally judged). Most of the authors of the New Testament did not write particularly well, even by the forgiving standards of the koinē—that is, “common”—Greek in which they worked. The unknown author of the Letter to the Hebrews commanded a fairly distinguished and erudite style, and was obviously an accomplished native speaker of the tongue; and Luke, the author of both the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, wrote in an urbane, unspectacular, but mostly graceful prose; the author of the first letter attributed to Peter was clearly an educated person whose primary language was a fairly refined form of Greek, while the author of the second letter wrote in a somewhat bombastic style, of the kind classically called Asiatic Greek; but the language of most of the canon is anything but extraordinary. Paul’s letters possess an elemental power born out of the passion of his faith and the marvel of what he believes has been revealed to him, and his prose occasionally flowers into a plain but startling lyricism; but his Greek is generally rough, sometimes inept, and occasionally incoherent. The Gospel of Mark contains obvious solecisms and is awkwardly written throughout. The prose of the Gospel of Matthew is rarely better than ponderous. Even the Gospel of John, perhaps the most structurally and symbolically sophisticated religious text to have come down to us from late antiquity, is written in a Greek that is grammatically correct but syntactically almost childish (or perhaps I should say, “remarkably limpid”), and—unless its author was some late first-century precursor of Gertrude Stein—its stylistic limitations suggest an author whose command of the language did not exceed mere functional competence. Then, of course, the book of Revelation, the last New Testament text to be accepted into the canon—it was not firmly established there throughout the Christian world until the early fifth century—is, if judged purely by the normal standards of literary style and good taste, almost unremittingly atrocious. And, in the most refined pagan critics of the new faith in late antiquity, the stylistic coarseness of Christian literature often provoked the purest kind of patrician contempt.

This is all evidence, however, of a deeper truth about these texts: They are not beguiling exercises in suasive rhetoric or feats of literary virtuosity; rather, they are chiefly the devout and urgent attempts of often rather ordinary persons to communicate something “seen” and “heard” that transcends any language, but that nevertheless demands to be spoken, now, here, in whatever words one can marshal. This is the special amphibology of Christian scripture. Whereas the Jewish Bible represents the concentrated literary genius of an ancient and amazingly rich culture—mythic, epic, lyric, historical, and visionary, in texts assembled over many centuries and then judiciously synthesized, redacted, and polished—the Christian New Testament is a somewhat unsystematically compiled and pragmatically edited compendium of “important documentation”: writings from the first generations of witnesses to the new faith, the oldest ambassadors to us from the apostolic and early postapostolic ages, consisting in quickly limned stories, theological discourses, and even a bit of historically impenetrable occasional writing. As such it draws one in by the intensity, purity, and perhaps frequent naïveté of its language, not by the exquisite sheen of its belletristic graces. Romans chapter twelve, for instance, is a syntactical congeries; but its moral beauty is ravishing. Over the centuries, the authors of the New Testament have profited greatly from translation; the King James Bible, among the greatest glories of our tongue, transformed their “common Greek” into a very uncommon, though sublimely uncluttered, English. Even if my intention here were another “literary” translation, my efforts would fall so far short of that achievement as to render them pointless. But, happily, my aim in what follows is something else altogether, and so I have been left relatively unmolested by the “anxiety of influence.”

The sole literary claim I make for my version, then, is that my mulish stubbornness regarding the idiosyncrasies of the text allowed me to “do the police in different voices,” so to speak. Most translations, in evening out the oddities of the text, tend to flatten the various voices of the writers into a single clean, commodious style (usually the translator’s own). And yet in the Greek their voices differ radically; and I like to think that my version is somewhat more successful than most at capturing those differences. I believe, for example, that a reader of this version will get something like an accurate sense of how vastly the style of Romans differs from that of Hebrews in the Greek by seeing how vastly they differ in my English rendering. Obviously, any translator’s choices in these matters are dependent upon what he or she wishes to convey: If a translator is interested only in the “inner content” of the authors’ messages, then the peculiar qualities of their various voices are at most a distraction and should probably be effaced. But, even if I granted that substance and style could be so neatly discriminated (which I definitely do not), my interest is in something else altogether.

The Community of the New Testament

Finally, something of a personal confession. Before embarking on this project, I doubt I ever truly properly appreciated precisely how urgent the various voices of the New Testament authors are, or how profound the provocations of what they were saying were for their own age, and probably remain for every age. Those voices blend, or at least interweave, in a kind of wildly indiscriminate polyphony, as if an early Baroque vocal trio, an Appalachian band, a couple of Viennese tenors piping twelve-tone Lieder, and a jazz crooner or two were all singing out together; but what all have in common, and what somehow forges a genuine harmony out of all that ecstatic clamor, is the vibrant certainty that history has been invaded by God in Christ in such a way that nothing can stay as it was, and that all terms of human community and conduct have been altered at the deepest of levels. And perhaps I could never have come to this realization had I not undertaken this task. To translate a text is to be conducted into its mysteries in a way that no mere act of reading—however conscientious or frequent—makes possible. At the very least, a translator is obliged to confront the words on the page not merely as meanings to be received, but as problems to be solved; and this demands an attentiveness to detail for which most of us never quite have the time. For myself, I know that writing this translation caused me to absorb certain conclusions about the world of the early church at a deeper level than I could have anticipated. Most of them I already knew, admittedly, if often as little more than shadows glimpsed through a veil of conventional habits of thought—for instance, how stark the dualism really is, in Paul’s letters and elsewhere in the New Testament, between “flesh” and “spirit,” or how greatly formulations that seem to imply universal salvation outnumber those very few that appear (and rather nebulously) to threaten an ultimate damnation for the wicked, and so on. Still, none of that surprised me; I was learning nothing about these matters for the first time, even if I was learning about them for the first time in an indelible way; the experience merely roused me from my complacent assumption that, simply by virtue of having read the text in Greek for many years, I had a natural feel for its tone.

What perhaps did impress itself upon me with an entirely unexpected force was a new sense of the utter strangeness of the Christian vision of life in its first dawning—by which I mean, precisely, its strangeness in respect to the Christianity of later centuries. When one truly ventures into the world of the first Christians, one enters a company of “radicals” (for want of a better word), an association of men and women guided by faith in a world-altering revelation, and hence in values almost absolutely inverse to the recognized social, political, economic, and religious truths not only of their own age, but of almost every age of human culture. The first Christians certainly bore very little resemblance to the faithful of our day, or to any generation of Christians that has felt quite at home in the world, securely sheltered within the available social stations of its time, complacently comfortable with material possessions and national loyalties and civic conventions. In truth, I suspect that very few of us, in even our wildest imaginings, could ever desire to be the kind of persons that the New Testament describes as fitting the pattern of life in Christ. And I do not mean merely that most of us would find the moral requirements laid out in Christian scripture a little onerous—though of course we do. Therein lies the perennial appeal of the venerable early modern theological fantasy that the Apostle Paul inveighed against something called “works-righteousness” in favor of a purely extrinsic “justification” by grace—which, alas, he did not. He rejected only the notion that one might be “shown righteous” by “works” of the Mosaic Law—that is, ritual “observances” like circumcision or keeping kosher—but he also quite clearly insisted, as did Christ, that all will be judged in the end according to their deeds (Romans 2:1–16 and 4:10–12; 1 Corinthians 3:12–15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 2:16; and so on). Rather, I mean that most of us would find Christians truly cast in the New Testament mold fairly obnoxious: civically reprobate, ideologically unsound, economically destructive, politically irresponsible, socially discreditable, and really just a bit indecent. Or, if not that, we would at least be bemused by the sheer, unembellished, unremitting otherworldliness of their understanding of the gospel. We are quite accustomed, after all, to thinking of Christianity as a fairly commonsensical creed as regards the practicalities of life. On the matter of wealth, for instance, we take it as given that, while the New Testament enjoins generosity to the poor, it otherwise allows the wealthy to enjoy the fruits of their industry or fair fortune with a clean conscience. Common sense instructs us that it is not wealth as such that the New Testament condemns, but only a spiritually unhealthy preoccupation with it—the idolatry of riches, wealth misused, wealth immorally gained; riches in and of themselves, we assume, are neither good nor bad. But, in fact, one thing in startlingly short supply in the New Testament is common sense, and the commonsensical view of the early church is invariably the wrong one. For instance, the New Testament, alarmingly enough, condemns personal wealth not merely as a moral danger, but as an intrinsic evil.

Actually, the biblical texts are so unambiguous on this matter that it requires an almost heroic defiance of the obvious to fail to grasp their import. Admittedly, many translations down the centuries have had an emollient effect on a few of the New Testament’s severer pronouncements. But this is an old story. The great theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215 CE) may have been the first—back when the faith had just begun spreading among the more comfortably situated classes in the empire—to apply a reassuring gloss to the raw rhetoric of scripture on wealth and poverty. He drew a distinction between the poverty that matters (humility, renunciation, spiritual purity, generosity) and the poverty that does not (actual material indigence), and assured propertied Christians that, so long as they cultivated the former, they need never submit to the latter. And throughout Christian history, even among the few who bothered to consult scripture on the matter, this has generally been the tacit interpretation of Christ’s (and Paul’s and James’s) condemnations of the wealthy and acquisitive. In the early modern period, moreover, for obvious reasons, forms of Christianity took shape that were especially well suited to the needs of an emerging prosperous middle class, and to the spiritual complacency that a culture of increasing material security dearly required of its religion. For this vision of the gospel, all moral anxiety became a kind of spiritual pathology, the heresy of “works-righteousness,” sheer Pelagianism. Grace had set humanity free not only from works of the Law, but also from the spiritual agony of seeking to become holy by moral deeds. In a sense, the good news announced by scripture was that Christ had come to save humanity from the burden of Christianity.

Or so, at any rate, “our” version of Christianity might have seemed in the eyes of the very first Christians. None of which is to deny the cultural genius of, say, early modern Christianity’s sanctification of the ordinary or the countless ways in which it allows for an appreciation of the moral heroism of the everyday. But if, as may be the case, such a vision of Christian life is a genuine unfolding of some logic implicit in the gospel, it was nonetheless a logic largely invisible to those who wrote the Christian scriptures. Again, the New Testament knows very little of common sense. The Gospels, the epistles, Acts, Revelation—all of them are relentless torrents of exorbitance and extremism: commands to become as perfect as God in his heaven and to live as insouciantly as the lilies in their field; condemnations of a roving eye as equivalent to adultery and of evil thoughts toward another as equivalent to murder; injunctions to sell all one’s possessions and to give the proceeds to the poor, and demands that one hate one’s parents for the Kingdom’s sake and leave the dead to bury the dead. This extremism is not merely an occasional hyperbolic presence in the texts or an infrequent intonation sounded only in their most urgent moments; it is their entire cultural and spiritual atmosphere. The New Testament emerges from a cosmos ruled by malign celestial principalities (conquered by Christ but powerful to the end) and torn between spirit and flesh (the one, according to Paul, longing for God, the other opposing him utterly). There are no comfortable medians in these latitudes, no areas of shade. Everything is cast in the harsh light of a final judgment that is both absolute and terrifyingly imminent. In regard to all these texts, the qualified, moderate, commonsense interpretation is always false.

Without question, there are texts in the New Testament that condemn an idolatrous obsession with wealth, and that might be taken as saying nothing more than that. At least, 1 Timothy 6:17–19 is often cited as an example of this—though (see below) it probably should not be. If one confines oneself to such passages, it is possible to imagine that the earliest church thought it sufficient, in order to avoid trying to serve both God and Mammon, simply to have the right attitude toward riches. But, if this really were all the New Testament had to say on the matter, then one would expect those texts to be balanced out by others affirming the essential benignity of riches honestly procured and well used. And this is precisely what one does not find. Instead, they are balanced out by still more uncompromising comminations of wealth in and of itself. Certainly Christ condemned not only an unhealthy preoccupation with riches, but rather the getting and keeping of riches as such. The most obvious citation from all three synoptic Gospels would be the story of the rich young ruler who could not bring himself to part with his fortune for the sake of the Kingdom, and of Christ’s astonishing remark about camels passing more easily through needles’ eyes than rich men through the Kingdom’s gate. As for the question the disciples then put to Christ, it should probably be translated not as “Who then can be saved?” or “Can anyone be saved?” but rather “Then can any [of them, the rich] be saved?” To which the sobering reply is that it is humanly impossible, but that by divine power even a rich man might be spared. But one can look everywhere in the Gospels for confirmation of the message. Christ clearly means what he says when quoting the prophet: He has been anointed by God’s Spirit to preach good tidings to the poor (Luke 4:18). To the prosperous, the tidings he bears are decidedly grim: “But alas for you who are rich, for you have your comfort. Alas for you who are now replete, for you will be hungry. Alas for those now laughing, for you will mourn and lament” (Luke 6:24–25). As Abraham tells Dives in Hades, “You received your good things during your life . . . and now . . . you are in torment” (Luke 16:25). Again, perhaps many of the practices Christ condemns in the rulers of his time are merely misuses of power and property; but that does not begin to exhaust the rhetorical force of his teachings as a whole. He not only demands that his followers give freely to all who ask from them (Matthew 5:42), and to do so with such prodigality that one hand is ignorant of the other’s largesse (Matthew 6:3); he explicitly forbids storing up earthly wealth—not merely storing it up too obsessively—and allows instead only the hoarding of the treasures of heaven (Matthew 6:19–20). He tells all who would follow him (as he tells the rich young ruler) to sell all their possessions and give the proceeds away as alms, thereby supplying that same heavenly treasury (Luke 12:33), and explicitly states that “no one of you who does not bid farewell to all his own possessions can be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). It is truly amazing how rarely Christians seem to notice that these counsels are stated, quite decidedly, as commands. Certainly the texts are not in any way unclear on the matter. After all, as Mary says, part of the saving promise of the gospel is that the Lord “has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:53).

Of the compilation of pericopes, however, there is no end. What is most important to recognize is that all these pronouncements on wealth and poverty belong to a moral sensibility that saturates the pages of the New Testament. It is there, for instance, in the epistles’ condemnations of πλεονέξια (pleonexia) (often translated as “greed” but really meaning all acquisitive desire), and in the Pastoral Epistles’ condemnation of αἰσχροκερδής (aischrokerdēs) (often translated as “greed for base gain” but really referring to the sordidness of seeking financial profit for oneself). James perhaps states the matter most clearly: “Come now, you who are rich, weep, howling out at the miseries that are coming for you: Your riches have spoiled and your garments have become moth-eaten; Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have kept treasure in the last days. Look: The wages of the workers who have reaped your lands, which have been unfairly held back by you, clamor aloud, and the outcries of those who have reaped have entered the ears of the Lord Sabaoth. You lived on the earth in dainty luxury and self-indulgence. You have gorged your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned—have murdered—the upright man; he does not oppose you” (James 5:1–6). Now, perhaps we can read this as a dire warning issued only to those wealthy persons who have acted unjustly toward their employees and who live too self-indulgently. But the rest of the letter does not encourage us to do so. Earlier in the epistle, James has already asserted that, while the “poor brother” should exult in how God has lifted him up, the “rich man” (who, it seems, scarcely merits the name of “brother”) should rejoice in being “made low” or “impoverished,” as otherwise he will wither and vanish away like a wildflower scorched by the sun (1:9–11). He has also gone on to remind his readers that God has “chosen the destitute within the cosmos, as rich in faithfulness and as heirs of the Kingdom he has promised to those who love him,” while the rich, by contrast, must be recognized as oppressors and persecutors and blasphemers of Christ’s holy name (2:5–7). And this constant leitmotif merely swells to a crescendo and reaches a climax in those later verses quoted above, which plainly condemn not only those whose wealth is gotten unjustly, but all who are rich as oppressors of workers and lovers of luxury. It is almost as if, seen from the perspective of the Kingdom, all property is theft. Fair or not, the text does not distinguish good wealth from bad—any more than Christ did.

This, in all likelihood, explains why the early Christians were (in the strictly technical sense) communists, as the book of Acts quite explicitly states. If these are indeed the Last Days, as James says—if everything is now seen in the light of final judgment—then storing up possessions for ourselves is the height of imprudence. And I imagine this is also why subsequent generations of Christians have not, as a rule, been communists: the Last Days in fact are taking quite some time to elapse, and we have families to raise in the meantime. But at the dawn of the faith little thought was given to providing a decent life in this world for the long term. Thus we are told the first converts in Jerusalem after the resurrection, as the price of becoming Christians, sold all their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to those in need, and then fed themselves by sharing their resources in common meals (Acts 2:43–46). Barnabas, on becoming a Christian, sold his field and handed over all the money to the Apostles (Acts 4:35)—though Ananias and Sapphira did not follow suit, with somewhat unfortunate consequences. To be a follower of “The Way” was to renounce every claim to private property and to consent to communal ownership of everything (Acts 4:32).

Even those verses from 1 Timothy 6 that I mentioned above are not nearly as mild and moderate as they might seem at first glance. Earlier in the chapter, the text reminds Christians that they bring nothing into this world and can take nothing with them when they leave it, and tells them to content themselves simply with having enough food and clothing. It also tells them that all who seek wealth—not simply all who procure it unjustly—have ensnared themselves in desires that will lead to their ruin: “For the love of money is a root of all evils, in reaching out for which some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves about with many pains” (6:7–10). True, verse 17 merely advises the rich not to be “arrogant” or “in high spirits” (depending on how one interprets it), and not to put their trust in wealth’s “uncertainty” (or, better, in “the hiddenness” of their riches) rather than in the lavishness of God’s providence. But verse 18 goes further and tells them not only to make themselves rich in good works, but also to become—well, here the customary translations are along the lines of “generous” (εὐμεταδότους [evmetadotous]) and “sharing” (κοινωνικούς [koinōnikous]), but the better renderings would be something like “persons readily distributing” their goods, in the former case, and something like “communalists” or “persons having all their possessions in common,” in the latter. (A property that is koinōnikon is something held in common or corporately, and therefore a person who is koinōnikos is certainly not just someone who occasionally makes donations at his own discretion.) Only thus, says verse 19, can the wealthy now “store up” a good foundation for the age that is coming, and reach out to take hold of “the life that is real.” And this would seem to have been the social philosophy of the early church in general. When Christianity arrived in Edessa (to take a very local but very revealing case, more or less at random), its adherents promptly became a kind of mendicant order, apparently owning nothing much at all. In the words of that very early manual of Christian life, The Didache, a Christian must never claim that anything is his own property, but must own all things communally with his brethren (4:9–12).

In any event, however Christians might be disposed to take such verses today, and regardless of whether they reflect the actual social situation—rather than the professed ideals—of the early church, one cannot begin to understand the earliest Christians or the texts they wrote if one imagines that such language was intended as mere bracing hyperbole. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have keenly desired to believe that the New Testament affirms the kind of people they are, rather than—as is actually the case—the kind of people they are not, and really would not want to be. Again, the first, perhaps most crucial thing to understand about the earliest generations of Christians is that theirs was an association of extremists, radical in its rejection of the values and priorities of society not only at its most degenerate, but often at its most reasonable and decent also. They were rabble. They lightly cast off all their prior loyalties and attachments: religion, empire, nation, tribe, even family. In fact, far from teaching “family values,” Christ was remarkably dismissive of the family. And decent civic order, like social respectability, was apparently of no importance to him. Not only did he not promise his followers worldly success (even success in making things better for others); he told them to hope for a Kingdom not of this world, and promised them that in this world they would win only rejection, persecution, tribulation, and failure. Yet he instructed them also to take no thought for the morrow. And this apparently was the pattern of life the earliest Christians believed had been given them by Christ to live out. As I say, I doubt we would think highly of their kind if we met them today. Then again, those who have tried to be like them have always been few. Clement of Alexandria may have been making an honest attempt to accommodate the gospel to the realities of a Christian empire, but it was those other Egyptians, the Desert Fathers, who took the gospel at its word. But, as a rule, very few can live like that, or can imitate that obstinacy and perversity. To live as the New Testament language really requires, Christians would have to become strangers and sojourners on the earth, to have here no enduring city, to belong to a Kingdom truly not of this world. And we surely cannot do that, can we?

Remarks on the Greek Text and on My Footnotes

There is no single definitive text of the New Testament canon. Among the oldest manuscripts we have, no text in the New Testament, nor any complete collection of New Testament texts, wholly agrees with every other version. Among the oldest renditions of its various books there are numerous differences, mostly quite small, but occasionally quite significant. This presents a problem for the literalist believer in “verbal inspiration”; for, if indeed an absolutely pure text of scripture somewhere exists, we have no notion whatsoever where it is to be found. That sort of textual fundamentalism, however, is very much a late modern phenomenon; during the first several centuries of the church, it was widely known that there was a great variety of differing versions of biblical texts, and this seemed to perturb no one very much. In fact, it was many centuries before what we regard as the New Testament canon gained universal acceptance; in many places, books we do not now tend to regard as canonical were treated as sacred scripture, while other books that we assume to be part of Christian scripture were either unknown or rejected as dubious. That said, there is (or was) what came to be a sort of generally identifiable standard version of the New Testament in the West that (borrowing the term advanced by Erasmus, in his decidedly synthetic edition) is called the textus receptus; this, in turn, is derived from what is called the Byzantine Text-type, or Majority Text, of the New Testament, the version more or less exclusively reproduced from the ninth century onward in the East, but poorly represented among earlier manuscripts; and it is upon this “received text” that most older traditional translations are based. But not only does this version, to the extent it can be isolated, differ in various places from other, often more ancient and better-attested Greek versions (such as those belonging to the Alexandrian Text-type); even among the various iterations of the “received” version there are numerous differences, some occasionally seriously affecting how a passage is to be understood. And, in many places, it seems more than reasonable to conclude that the Byzantine type incorporates certain conscious alterations of the text, sometimes simply to improve the quality and grammar of its Greek, sometimes more nearly to harmonize the language of its synoptic Gospels, and sometimes discreetly to burnish away an irksome flaw from its surface (such as the accidental ascription to Isaiah of a quotation from Malachi in Mark 1:2, an error found in all earlier forms of the Gospel).

For this translation I have worked from the so-called Critical Text, which is based on earlier and different manuscript sources (such as those of the Alexandrian Text-type), though I have also included many verses and phrases found only in the Majority Text (placing them in brackets to set them off from the Critical Text). Even here, I should note, each of these versions exists in differing forms, and I have accorded none of them absolute authority. In the course of my work, though taking the most recent scholarship on the Critical Text as my guide, I consulted editions going as far back as the edition of Hort and Westcott from 1881 and as far forward as the current editions of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (currently in its twenty-eighth edition) and The Greek New Testament of the United Bible Societies (currently in its fifth edition), as well as various reproductions of ancient manuscripts (to the degree that my meager palaeographic skills allowed). Where I found evidence of interesting textual variants, I recorded the fact in my footnotes. For the bracketed materials from the Majority Text, I consulted both The New Testament in the Original Greek According to the Byzantine/Majority Textform of Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, and The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text edited by Zane C. Hodges and Arthur L. Farstad; but ultimately I relied on the official Patriarchal Text of the Greek Orthodox Church from 1904, as it seems to me the most representative of the Majority tradition. I have also enclosed a few other dubious words or passages within brackets in my translation, even if they appear in both the Critical and Majority Texts, to indicate where to my mind the most credible critical consensus identifies an interpolation; in each significant case, I explain my decision in a footnote. The result is that my version agrees with no other scholarly or devotional version perfectly, and that it—like every other, alas—is an attempt at an approximation to an ideal version of the text that in actuality we shall never be able to identify entirely.

As for my footnotes in general, they are not meant to provide anything like an exhaustive critical apparatus of the sort that would please or impress a New Testament scholar. They are meant simply to advance my larger project of attempting to give readers with little or no Greek, and limited or no knowledge of late antique culture, as much access to the original text as possible. For the most part, my notes merely call attention to uncertainties in the text, or in my translation thereof, or explain references or idioms with which a modern reader is unlikely to be familiar. In a very few instances, in Romans in particular, where the complexity of the text and the influence of later tradition have conspired to make the original especially difficult to follow, I have tried to clarify the argument on the page by providing something like a paraphrase in my notes. On the whole, though, my notes should be taken as nothing more than useful information for those who might find some use for it; they do not begin to represent all that might (or should) be said about any of these texts.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Gospel According to Matthew

CHAPTER ONE

1The record of the lineage of Jesus the Anointed, son of David, son of Abraham:

2Abraham sired Isaac, and Isaac sired Jacob, and Jacob sired Judah and his brothers; 3And Judah, by Tamar, sired Perez and Zarah, and Perez sired Hezron, and Hezron sired Ram; 4And Ram sired Amminadab, and Amminadab sired Nahshon, and Nahshon sired Salmon; 5And Salmon, by Rahab, sired Boaz; and Boaz, by Ruth, sired Obed; and Obed sired Jesse; 6And Jesse sired King David. David, by Uriah’s wife, sired Solomon; 7And Solomon sired Rehoboam, and Rehoboam sired Abijah, and Abijah sired Asa; 8And Asa sired Jehosaphat, and Jehosaphat sired Joram, and Joram sired Uzziah; 9And Uzziah sired Jotham, and Jotham sired Ahaz, and Ahaz sired Hezekiah; 10And Hezekiah sired Manasseh, and Manasseh sired Amos, and Amos sired Josiah; 11And Josiah sired Jeconiah and his brothers, in the time of the removal to Babylon. 12And, after the removal to Babylon, Jeconiah sired Salathiel, and Salathiel sired Zerubbabel; 13And Zerubbabel sired Abiud, and Abiud sired Eliakim, and Eliakim sired Azor; 14And Azor sired Zadok, and Zadok sired Achim, and Achim sired Eliud; 15And Eliud sired Eleazar, and Eleazar sired Matthan, and Matthan sired Jacob; 16And Jacob sired Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, called the Anointed. 17Thus there were in all fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the removal to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the removal to Babylon to the Anointed.

18Now the manner of the birth of Jesus the Anointed was this: His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but, before they had been joined, she was discovered to be pregnant from a Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being an upright man and not wishing to make a spectacle of her, resolved to divorce her in private. 20But look: As he was pondering these matters the Lord’s angel appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to receive your wife Mary; for what has been begotten within her is from a Spirit, the Holy one. 21And she will bear a son, and you shall declare his name to be Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 22All of this has occurred in order that there might be fulfilled what the Lord spoke through the prophet, saying, 23‘See: The virgin shall conceive in her womb and shall bear a son, and they shall declare his name to be Emmanuel’”—which, being interpreted, means “God with us.” 24And Joseph, having arisen from sleep, did as the Lord’s angel had bidden him, and received his wife. 25But he had no intimacy with her until she bore a son. And he declared his name to be Jesus.

CHAPTER TWO

1Now, Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days when Herod was king, look: Magiansa arrived in Jerusalem from Eastern parts, 2Saying, “Where is the newborn King of the Judaeans? For we saw his star at its rising,b and came to make obeisance to him.”c 3And, hearing this, King Herod was perturbed, and so was all of Jerusalem along with him; 4And, having assembled all of the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Anointed is to be born. 5And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea, for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For from you will come forth a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod, secretly summoning the Magians, ascertained from them the exact time of the star’s appearance 8And, sending them to Bethlehem, said, “Go and inquire very precisely after the child; and when you find him send word to me, so that I too may come and make my obeisance to him.” 9And, obeying the king, they departed. And look: The star, which they saw at its rising, preceded them until it came to the place where the child was and stood still above it. 10And, seeing the star, they were exultantly joyful. 11And, entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and, falling down, made obeisance to him; and, opening their treasure caskets, they proffered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, however, they departed for their own country by another path.

13And when they had departed, look: The Lord’s angel appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, “Awaken, and take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and remain there till such time as I might speak to you; for Herod intends to seek out the child in order to destroy him.” 14And, waking, he took the child and his mother in the night and departed into Egypt, 15And was there until Herod’s death, in order that there might be fulfilled what the Lord spoke through the prophet, saying, “I have called my son out of Egypt.”

16Then Herod, seeing that he had been made a fool by the Magians, was furious and, dispatching men, he destroyed all the male children in Bethlehem and all its environs, two years old and younger, in accord with the time he had so exactly ascertained from the Magi. 17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah when he said, 18“A voice was heard in Rama, a weeping and a great lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.”

19But when Herod had died, look: The Lord’s angel appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20Saying, “Awaken, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the child’s sould have died.” 21And, waking, he took the child and his mother and entered into the land of Israel. 22Hearing, however, that Archelaus now reigns over Judaea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; and, being warned in a dream, he departed into the territories of Galilee, 23And on arriving took up his dwelling in a city called Nazareth; thus was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: that “He shall be called a Nazorean.”

CHAPTER THREE

1Now in those days comes John the Baptist, making his proclamation in the wilderness of Judaea, 2Saying, “Change your hearts; for the Kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” 3For this is the one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the Lord’s way, make straight his paths.’” 4Now this man John had on a garment made from the hairs of a camel, as well as a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5At that time Jerusalem went out to him, and all of Judaea and all of the countryside surrounding the Jordan, 6And they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 7But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to baptism he said to them, “Brood of vipers, who divulged to you that you should flee from the wrath that is coming? 8Bear fruit worthy of a change of heart; 9And do not think to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father’; for I tell you that God has the power to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; and thus every tree not bearing good fruit is felled and thrown into fire. 11I indeed baptize you in water for the sake of transforming hearts; but the one coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry; he will baptize you in a Holy Spirit and fire: 12He whose winnow is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor, and will gather his grain into the storehouse, and will burn away the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”

13Then Jesus arrives at the Jordan, coming from Galilee to John to be baptized by him. 14But he prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?” 15But in reply Jesus said to him, “Let me pass now; for it is necessary for us to fulfill every right requirement.” Then he lets him pass. 16And, having been baptized, Jesus immediately rose up out of the water; and look: The heavens were opened, and he saw God’s Spirit descending as a dove, alighting upon him; 17And look: a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I have delighted.”

CHAPTER FOUR

1Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tried by the Slanderer. 2And, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And, drawing near, the Tempter said to him, “If you are God’s Son, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” 4He, however, answered by saying, “It has been written, ‘The human being shall live not upon bread alone, but upon every utterance issuing from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the Slanderer carries him off into the Holy City, and stood him upon the pinnacle of the Temple, 6And says to him, “If you are God’s Son, cast yourself down; for it has been written that ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and that ‘They will catch you in their hands, that you may not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7“Conversely,” said Jesus to him, “it has been written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8Again the Slanderer carries him off, to an extremely high mountain, and displays before him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9And said to him, “All of these things I shall give to you, were you to prostrate yourself and make obeisance to me.” 10Then Jesus says to him, “Be gone, Accuser:e for it has been written, ‘You shall make obeisance to the Lord your God and him only shall you adore.’” 11Then the Slanderer leaves him alone, and look: Angels arrived and ministered to him.

12Now, hearing that John had been handed over, he withdrew into Galilee. 13And, departing from Nazareth, he came and took up his dwelling in Capernaum beside the sea, in the territories of Zebulon and Naphthali: 14So that there might be fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, saying, 15“Land of Zebulon and land of Naphthali, sea road, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, 16The people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and light dawned upon those sitting in the region and shadow of death.”

17From that time Jesus began to make his proclamation and to say, “Change your hearts; for the Kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.”

18And, walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And he says to them, “Come follow me and I shall make you fishers of men.” 20And, immediately abandoning the nets, they followed him. 21And, going on from there, he saw another pair of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, mending their nets in the boat with their father Zebedee; and he summoned them. 22And, immediately abandoning the boat and their father, they followed him.

23And he went about in the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good tidings of the Kingdom and healing every illness and every infirmity among the people. 24And word of him went out into the whole of Syria. And they brought to him all those who were very sick, suffering from complicated illnesses and enduring torments, demoniacs and lunatics and paralytics, and he healed them. 25And large crowds followed him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judaea and from beyond the Jordan.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Now, seeing the crowds, he ascended the mountain; and when he seated himself his disciples approached him; 2And opening his mouth he taught them, saying: 3“How blissfulf the destitute, abjectg in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of the heavens; 4How blissful those who mourn, for they shall be aided; 5How blissful the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth; 6How blissful those who hunger and thirst for what is right, for they shall feast; 7How blissful the merciful, for they shall receive mercy; 8How blissful the pure in heart, for they shall see God; 9How blissful the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God; 10How blissful those who have been persecuted for the sake of what is right, for theirs is the Kingdom of the heavens; 11How blissful you when they reproach you, and persecute you and falsely accuse you of every evil for my sake: 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in the heavens is great; for thus they persecuted the prophets before you.

13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should become insipid, by what shall it be made salty? It is no longer of any use except to scatter outside for people to tread upon. 14You are the light of the world. A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden; 15Neither do they light a lamp and place it under the dry-goods basket, but rather they place it upon a lampstand, and it illumines all who are in the house. 16So let your light shine out before humanity, so that they may see your good works and may glorify your Father in the heavens.

17“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law and the prophets; I came not to destroy but to fulfill. 18For, amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth shall pass away, not a single iota or single serif must vanish from the Law, until all things come to pass. 19Whoever breaks one of the least of the commandments and teaches people to do likewise shall be called least in the Kingdom of the heavens; but whoever performs and teaches it, this one shall be called great in the Kingdom of the heavens. 20For I tell you that, unless your uprightness surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of the heavens.

21“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times: ‘You shall not commit murder; and whoever commits murder shall be liable to judgment.’ 22Whereas I say to you that everyone who becomes angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; and whoever says ‘Raka’h to his brother shall be liable to the Council; and whoever says ‘worthless reprobate’i shall be liable to enter Hinnom’s Vale of fire. 23If, therefore, you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother holds something against you, 24Leave your gift in front of the altar, and first go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Be quick to show good will to the plaintiff against you, while you are out in the street with him, lest that plaintiff deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you are thrown into prison. 26Amen, I tell you, you shall most certainly not emerge from there until you repay the very last pittance.

27“You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28Whereas I tell you that everyone looking at a married womanj in order to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29So if your right eye causes you to falter remove it and fling it away from you; for it is expedient for you that one of your members should perish, rather than that your whole body should be thrown into the Vale of Hinnom. 30And, if your right hand causes you to falter, cut it off and fling it away from you; for it is expedient for you that one of your members should perish, rather than that your whole body should depart into the Vale of Hinnom. 31Moreover, it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, he must provide her with a writ of separation.’ 32Whereas I tell you that everyone who divorces his wife, except in cases of whorishness, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever weds a divorced woman commits adultery. 33Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear oaths falsely,’ and ‘You shall render up to the Lord what your oaths are sworn upon.’ 34Whereas I tell you not to swear at all: neither by heaven, inasmuch as it is God’s throne; 35Nor by the earth, inasmuch as it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, inasmuch as it is the Great King’s city; 36—Neither swear by your own head, inasmuch as you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37Rather, let your utterance be ‘Yes, yes,’ ‘No, no’; because it is from the roguish man that anything more extravagant than this comes. 38You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39Whereas I tell you not to oppose the wicked man by force; rather, whosoever strikes you upon the right cheek, turn to him the other as well; 40And to him who wishes to bring a judgment against you, so he may take away your tunic, give him your cloak as well; 41And whoever presses you into service for one mile, go with him for two. 42Give to the one who begs from you, and do not turn away from one who wishes to borrow from you. 43You have heard that it has been said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and shall hate your enemy’— 44Whereas I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; 45In this way you may become sons of your Father in the heavens, for he makes his sun to rise on the wicked and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust. 46For if you love only those who love you, what recompense do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is extraordinary? Do not even the gentiles do the same? 48So be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

CHAPTER SIX

1“And make certain not to practice your righteousness before men, in order to be watched by them; otherwise you have no recompense with your Father in the heavens. 2When you give alms, therefore, do not trumpet it aloud before you, as those who are playacting do in the synagogues and in the streets so they may be lauded by men; amen, I tell you, they have their recompense in full. 3But when you are giving alms do not allow your left hand to know what it is your right hand does, 4So that your almsgiving is in secret. And your Father, who watches what is secret, will reward you. 5And when you pray do not be like those who are playacting; for they love to pray while standing in the synagogues and on the corners of streets, so that they may be visible to men; I tell you truly, they have their recompense in full. 6But, when you pray, enter into your private room and, having closed your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who watches what is secret, will reward you. 7And when praying do not babble repetitious phrases as the gentiles do; for they imagine that they will be listened to by virtue of their prolixity. 8So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9Therefore, pray in this way: ‘Our Father, who are in the heavens, let your name be held holy; 10Let your Kingdom come; let your will come to pass, as in heaven so also upon earth; 11Give to us today bread for the day ahead; 12And excuse us our debts, just as we have excused our debtors; 13And do not bring us to trial, but rescue us from him who is wicked. [For yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory unto the ages.]’ 14For, if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15But if you should not forgive men, neither shall your Father forgive your offenses. 16And when you fast do not adopt a sullen countenance, as do those who are playacting; for they disfigure their faces so that it is apparent to men that they are fasting; amen, I tell you, they have their recompense in full. 17But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face, 18So that you show yourself to be fasting not to men, but rather to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who watches what is secret, will reward you.

19“Do not store up treasures for yourself on the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves penetrate by digging and steal; 20Rather, store up for yourself treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves neither penetrate by digging nor steal; 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. 22The lamp of the body is the eye. Thus if your eye be pure your entire body will be radiant; 23But if your eye be baleful your entire body will be dark. So if the light within you is darkness, how very great the darkness. 24No one can be a slave to two lords; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand fast by the one and disdain the other. You cannot be a slave both to God and to Mammon. 25Therefore I say to you: Do not worry, regarding your soul, what you will eat; nor, regarding your body, what you will wear. Is not your soul more than food and your body more than garments? 26See the birds of the sky—that they neither sow nor reap nor gather into granaries; and your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not more excellent than they? 27But who among you can, by worrying, lengthen the span of his life by a single cubit? 28And why do you worry over clothing? Look closely at the lilies of the field—how they grow; they neither labor nor spin; 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was garbed like one of them. 30But if God thus clothes the grass of the field, which exists for today and is thrown into an oven tomorrow, will he not much more clothe you, men of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What might we eat?’ or ‘What might we drink?’ or ‘What might we wear?’ 32For the gentile peoples seek after all these things—for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. 33But first seek his Kingdom and his justice, and all of these things shall be supplied to you. 34So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself; each day has evil enough of its own.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1“Judge not, that you may not be judged; 2For by whatever verdict you pass judgment you shall be judged, and in whatever measure you measure it shall be meted out to you. 3And why do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, yet do not perceive the beam in your own eye? 4How is it that you will say to your brother, ‘Let me take that straw out of your eye,’ and look: The beam is in your eye? 5Charlatan, first pluck the beam out of your eye, and then you will see clearly how to pluck the straw out of your brother’s eye. 6Do not give what is holy to the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them with their feet and, turning, shatter you. 7Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it shall be opened. 9Or is it not the case that no man among you, if his son should ask for a loaf of bread, would give him a stone? 10Or, if he should also ask for a fish, would give him a serpent? 11If you, therefore, who are wicked, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in the heavens give good things to those who ask him. 12Therefore, all such things as you wish men might do to you, so do to them as well; for this is the Law and the prophets.

13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the path leading away to destruction is broad and open, and there are many who enter by it; 14For narrow is the gate and close-cramped the path leading away to life, and those who find it are few. 15Beware of false prophets, who come to you garbed as sheep, but who are ravenous wolves within. 16You will know them from their fruits. Persons do not gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17So every good tree produces good fruits, but the diseased tree produces bad fruits. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruits, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruits. 19Every tree not producing good fruit is felled and cast into fire. 20From their fruits, therefore, you will know them. 21Not everyone saying ‘Lord, Lord’ to me will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but rather the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and exorcize demons in your name, and perform many acts of power in your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them that: ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

24“Everyone, therefore, who hears these sayings of mine and enacts them shall be likened to a prudent man who built his house upon rock. 25And the rain descended and the rivers flooded in and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it did not fall; for it had been founded upon rock. 26And everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not enact them shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon sand. 27And the rain descended and the rivers flooded in and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and its fall was a great one.”

28And it happened that, when Jesus completed these sayings, the crowds were astounded at his teaching; 29For he was teaching them like one possessing authority, and not like their scribes.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1And at his descent from the mountain large crowds followed him. 2And look: A leper approached and bowed down to him, saying, “Lord, if you wish, you are able to cleanse me.” 3And stretching out a hand he touched him, saying, “I wish it; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed away. 4And Jesus says to him, “See to it that you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

5And on his entry into Capernaum a centurion approached him, imploring him 6And saying, “Lord, my servantk has been laid low in my house, a paralytic, suffering terribly.” 7He says to him, “I shall come and heal him.” 8But in reply the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof; but only declare it by a word and my servant will be healed. 9For I am also a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and to this one I say, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10And, hearing this, Jesus marveled and said to those following him, “Amen, I tell you, I have found no one in Israel with such faith. 11Moreover, I tell you that many will come from East and West and will recline at table alongside Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the heavens; 12But the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth there.” 13And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; as you have had faith, so let it come to pass for you.” And in that hour the servant was healed.

14And coming into Peter’s house Jesus saw Peter’s mother-in-law laid out and in a fever; 15And he touched her hand and the fever left her; and she arose and waited on him.

16And when evening arrived they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he exorcized the spirits by word, and healed all those who were suffering; 17Thus was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “He took away our infirmities and bore away our maladies.”

18But, seeing a crowd surrounding him, Jesus gave orders to depart, across to the far shore. 19And one scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you may go.” 20And Jesus says to him, “The foxes have lairs and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Manl has no place where he may rest his head.” 21Then another, one of the disciples, said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go away and bury my father.” 22But Jesus says to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.”

23And when he embarked into the boat his disciples followed him. 24And look: There was a great upheaval in the sea, so that the boat was enveloped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25And they went to him and roused him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are perishing.” 26And he says to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then rising, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm came about. 27And the men marveled, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” 28And when he had come across to the far shore, into the country of the Gadarenes, two men possessed by demons came out from among the tombs and met him: men so extremely dangerous that no one was strong enough to pass by that road. 29And look: They cried out, saying, “What do we and you have to do with one another, Son of God? Did you come here to torment us before a due season?” 30Now at a good distance from them a herd of many swine was feeding. 31And the demons implored him, saying, “If you exorcize us, send us into the herd of swine.” 32And he said to them, “Go.” And they came out and went off into the swine; and look: The whole herd charged down the precipice into the sea and died in the waters. 33Then the herdsmen fled and, going away into the city, reported it all, including the things concerning the demoniacs. 34And look: The whole city came out to meet Jesus and, on seeing him, begged that he might pass on beyond their borders.

CHAPTER NINE

1And embarking into the boat he made the crossing, and came into his own city. 2And look: They brought to him a paralytic laid out upon a pallet. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Take heart, child, your sins are forgiven you.” 3And look: Some of the scribes said among themselves, “This man blasphemes.” 4And Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think wicked things in your hearts? 5For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6In order, then, that you may know that the Son of Man has power upon earth to forgive sins . . .”—then he says to the paralytic, “Rise, take your pallet, and go to your house.” 7And rising he departed for his house. 8And seeing this the crowds were frightened and glorified the God who gave such power to human beings. 9And passing on from there Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax-collection house, and says to him, “Follow me.” And rising he followed him. 10And it happened that, as he was reclining at table in the house, look: Many tax-collectors and sinners came and reclined at table with Jesus and his disciples. 11And, seeing this, the Pharisees said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?” 12But he heard them and said, “The hale do not have need of a physician, but rather those who are ill. 13Go then and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’; for I came to call not the upright, but sinners.”

14Then the disciples of John approach him, saying, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the sons of the bridal chamber mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16And no one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment; for the filling tears away from the garment and a worse rent appears. 17Neither do they put new wine in old wineskins; for if they should the wineskins are burst open, and the wine is spilled out, and the wineskins are destroyed. Rather, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are together preserved.”

18As he was saying these things to them, look: A ruler approached and bowed down to him, saying that: “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.” 19Jesus, rising, followed him, and his disciples also. 20And look: A woman who had been suffering a discharge of blood for twelve years approached from behind and touched the fringe of his mantle; 21For she was saying within herself, “If I may but touch his mantle, I shall be healed.” 22And, turning and seeing her, Jesus said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has healed you.” And from that hour the woman was healed. 23And Jesus, coming into the ruler’s house and seeing the flute-players and the clamoring crowd, 24Said, “Go away; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they ridiculed him. 25But, when the crowd was expelled, he went in and took hold of her hand, and the girl was raised. 26And this story went into all of that land. 27And, as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed, crying out and saying, “Pity us, Son of David.” 28And, when he came into the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus says to them, “Do you have faith that I am able to do this?” They say to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith, let it happen to you.” 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly commanded them, “See you let no one know of this.” 31But when they departed they spread word of him throughout that whole land. 32And as they were going out, look: They brought a mute demoniac to him. 33And when the demon was exorcized the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees said, “He exorcizes demons through the Archon of the demons.”

35And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and announcing the good tidings of the Kingdom and healing every disease and infirmity. 36And seeing the crowds he was moved inwardly with compassion for them, because they were in distress and cast down, like sheep having no shepherd. 37Then he says to his disciples, “Indeed the harvest is abundant, but the laborers few; 38Pray to the Lord of the harvest, therefore, that he may send forth laborers to his harvest.”

CHAPTER TEN

1And, calling to him his twelve disciples, he gave them power: over impure spirits so as to exorcize them, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. 2Now the names of the twelve disciples are these: first Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, 3Philip and bar-Tholomaeus, Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, 4Simon the Kananaian,m and Judas the Iscariot—the one also betraying him. 5These twelve Jesus sent forth, giving them orders, saying:

“Do not go forth on a road of the gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans; 6Go rather to the lost sheep of the household of Israel. 7And preach as you go along, saying that the Kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. 8Heal the ailing, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, exorcize demons. You have received a free gift; give a free gift. 9Do not provide yourself with gold or silver or brass in your girdles, 10Nor with a leather pouch for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff. For the laborer earns his provisions. 11And, whatever city or village you enter into, carefully ascertain who within it is a worthy man, and stay with him until you should depart. 12On entering the household, moreover, give it your salutation; 13And if indeed the household should be worthy, may your ‘Peace’n come upon it; but if it should be unworthy, may your ‘Peace’ revert back to you. 14And whoever should not welcome you, or should not listen to your words, on departing outside that household or that city shake the dust off your feet. 15Amen, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city. 16See: I send you forth as sheep into the midst of wolves; so be as wise as serpents and as guileless as doves. 17And beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues; 18And you will be led before leaders and even kings for my sake, as a witness to them and to the gentiles. 19But when they deliver you up do not worry over how or what you might speak; for whatever you might say will be given to you in that hour; 20For you are not the ones speaking, but rather the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you. 21And brother will deliver up brother to death, and father child, and children will rise up against parents and put them to death. 22And you will be hated by all on account of my name; but whosoever endures to the end, that one will be saved. 23And when they persecute you in one city, flee to another; for, amen, I tell you, you will most certainly not have finished with the cities of Israel before the Son of Man arrives. 24A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his lord. 25It suffices that the disciple become as his teacher, and the slave as his lord. If they have arraigned the master of the household as ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more so those who belong to his household? 26Therefore, do not fear them; for there is nothing that has been veiled that will not be unveiled, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. 27What I say to you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in the Vale of Hinnom. 29Are not two sparrows sold for the smallest pittance? And not one of them will fall to earth without your Father. 30But even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. 31So do not be afraid; you are of greater worth than a great many sparrows. 32Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father in the heavens; 33And whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father in the heavens. 34Do not suppose that I have come to impose peace upon the earth; I came to impose not peace but a sword. 35For I came to divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law—36And a man’s enemies: the members of his household. 37Whoever cherishes father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever cherishes son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever gains his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for my sake will gain it. 40Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who has sent me forth. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is called prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a just man because he is called just will receive a just man’s reward. 42And whoever gives one of these humble ones a cup of cold water solely because he is called disciple, amen, I tell you, he most certainly will not lose his reward.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1And it happened that when Jesus finished issuing instructions to his twelve disciples, he went from there to teach and to make proclamation in their cities.

2And John in prison heard of the works of the Anointed. Sending word by two of his disciples, 3He said, “Are you he who is coming, or should we expect another?” 4And in reply Jesus said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind see again and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and dead men are raised and the destitute are given the good tidings; 6And blissful is he who is not scandalized by me.” 7And as they were going on Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to gaze at? A reed being shaken by the wind? 8But then what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft finery? Look: Those clad in soft finery are in the houses of kings. 9But then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. 10This is he concerning whom it has been written, ‘See: I send forth my messengero before your face, who will prepare your path before you.’ 11Amen, I tell you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist; but a lesser man, in the Kingdom of the heavens, is greater than he. 12Yet from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of the heavens has been violently assailed, and the violent seize it. 13For all the prophets and the Law, right up to John, prophesied; 14And—if you are willing to accept this—he is himself Elijah who is destined to come. 15Whoever has ears, let him listen. 16But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace who, accosting the others, 17Say, ‘We played flutes for you and you did not dance; we wailed in lamentation and you did not beat your breasts.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look: a gluttonous and wine-besotted man, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.’ And Wisdom has been vindicated by her works.”

20Then he began to reproach the cities in which his many feats of power had taken place, because they did not change their hearts: 21“Alas for you, Chorazin; alas for you, Bethsaida; because, if the feats of power that have occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have changed their hearts, in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, were you not exalted as far as heaven? You shall descend as far as Hades; because if the feats of power that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have endured to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

25At that time, Jesus spoke out and said, “I give you fullest thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and sagacious and revealed them to infants; 26Yes, Father, because such was pleasing before you. 27All things were delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and neither does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 28Come to me, all who toil and are burdened, and I shall give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon yourselves and learn from me, because I am gentle and accommodating in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; 30For my yoke is mild and my burden light.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

1At that time, Jesus passed through fields of grain during the Sabbath; and his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of grain and to eat. 2But the Pharisees saw, and said to him, “Look: Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3And he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4How he entered into the house of God and they ate the loaves of bread of presentation, to eat which was not permitted to him, nor to his companions, but only to the priests? 5Or have you not read in the Law that during the Sabbath the priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6But I tell you that something greater than the Temple is here. 7But if you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

9And passing on from there he entered their synagogue. 10And look: a man with a withered hand; and they questioned him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal during the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring an accusation against him. 11But he said to them, “Will there be one man among you who will own one sheep and, if it should fall into a pit during the Sabbath, he will not take hold of it and raise it out? 12How much more than a sheep is a man. So it is permitted to do good during the Sabbath.” 13Then he says to the man, “Stretch forth your hand.” And he stretched it forth, and it was restored, becoming as healthy as the other. 14But going outside the Pharisees conferred together against him, so that they might destroy him. 15But Jesus, knowing this, departed from there. And many followed him, and he healed all of them, 16And warned them that they should not make him known, 17So that there might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 18“See my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul has delighted; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim judgment to the nations. 19He will neither fight nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice out in the streets. 20He will not break the bent reed nor quench the smoldering flax, until he should issue his judgment victoriously. 21And in his name the nations shall have hope.”

22Then a blind and mute demoniac was brought to him; and he healed him, thus causing the mute man to speak and to see. 23And all the crowds were astonished and said, “Is not this the son of David?” 24But hearing this the Pharisees said, “This man does not exorcize demons except by Beelzebul, the Archon of the demons.” 25But, knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is reduced to desolation, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26And if the Accuser exorcizes the Accuser, he has been divided against himself; how therefore will his kingdom stand? 27And, if I exorcize demons by Beelzebul, by what do your sons exorcize? Hence they shall be your judges. 28But if I exorcize the demons by God’s Spirit, then the Kingdom of God has overtaken you. 29Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and steal his possessions if he does not first tie the strong man up? And then he can plunder his household. 30Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather together with me scatters. 31Hence I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be excused men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be excused. 32And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be excused him; but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy one, it will not be excused him, neither in this age nor in the one that is coming. 33Either make out the tree to be good and its fruit good, or make out the tree to be rotten and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by the fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you, being wicked, speak of good things? For the mouth speaks out of what overflows from the heart. 35The good man issues good things out of his good stores, and the wicked man issues wicked things out of his wicked stores. 36But I tell you that every idle word that men will speak, they will render an account of it on the day of judgment; 37For by your words you shall be vindicated, and by your words you shall be condemned.”

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees responded to him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But in reply he said to them, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign and a sign shall not be given it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For, just as Jonah was in the bowels of the sea-monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41The men of Ninevah will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it; because at Jonah’s proclamation they changed their hearts, and look: Something more than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will be raised with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and look: Something more than Solomon is here. 43And when the unclean spirit comes out of the man it wanders through dry places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I shall go back into my house, from which I came out’; and coming it finds it standing idle, swept clean and furnished in good order. 45Then it goes off and brings along with itself seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and enters in and takes up residence there; and the man’s last circumstances turn out worse than the first. So it shall also be for this wicked generation.”

46While he was still speaking to the crowds, look: His mother and brothers stood outside seeking to speak to him. 47And someone said to him, “Look: Your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.” 48But in reply he said to the one speaking to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49And stretching out a hand toward his disciples he said, “Look: my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in the heavens, that one is my brother and sister and mother.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1On that day Jesus, going out of the house, sat down beside the sea; 2And many crowds were gathered before him, so that he embarked into a boat in order to sit down, and the whole crowd stood upon the strand. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying, “Look: A sower went out to sow. 4And, as he was sowing seeds, some of course fell beside the path and birds came and devoured them. 5Others, however, fell upon stony places where there was not much soil, and it sprang up instantly because there was no depth to the soil; 6But when the sun had risen it was parched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7But still others fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and throttled them. 8But still others fell upon the good soil and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Let him who has ears listen.” 10And the disciples, approaching him, said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11And in reply he said, “Because it has been granted to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens, but it has not been granted to them. 12For to him who has it shall be given and shall be more than is needed; but from him who does not have even what he has shall be taken away. 13Hence I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they neither hear nor understand. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, when he says, ‘With your hearing you will hear and in no way understand, and in seeing you will see and in no way perceive. 15For this people’s heart has grown crass, and they have listened with their ears grudgingly, and they have closed their eyes, so that it may never happen that they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with the heart and turn back, and I shall heal them.’ 16But blissful are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For, amen, I tell you that many prophets and upright men yearned to see the things you see, and did not see, and to hear the things you hear, and did not hear. 18Listen, therefore, to the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand, the wicked one comes and seizes away what has been sown in his heart; this is what was sown beside the path. 20And the word sown upon stony places: this is the one who hears the word and immediately accepts it with joy; 21But he does not hold the root within himself and it is temporary, and when tribulation and persecution come on account of the word he immediately falters. 22But what is sown among the thorns: this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of this life and the beguilement of riches throttle the word, and it becomes fruitless. 23But the word sown upon the good soil: this is the one who, hearing and understanding the word, bears fruit, one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, another thirtyfold.”

24He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of the heavens has been likened to a man sowing good seed in his field. 25But, when men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed darnel-seeds as well, in among the grain, and departed. 26And when the crop sprouted and bore fruit the darnel-weeds also appeared. 27And the householder’s slaves, approaching, said to him, ‘Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the darnel-weeds it contains come from?’ 28And he said to them, ‘Someone who is an enemy did this.’ So the slaves say to him, ‘Do you wish then that we should go out and gather them?’ 29But he says, ‘No, lest in gathering the darnel-weeds you should uproot the grain along with them. 30Let them both grow up together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I shall tell the reapers, “First gather the darnel-weeds and tie them in sheaves in order to burn them; but gather the grain into my granary.”’” 31He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of the heavens is like mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field, 32Which is indeed the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows it is larger than garden-herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.” 33He told them another parable: “The Kingdom of the heavens is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

34All these things Jesus told the crowds in parables, and he told them nothing apart from a parable; 35So that there was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet, when he said, “I shall open my mouth in parables, I shall utter things that have been hidden since the creation.”

36Then, sending the crowds away, he went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain the parable of the field’s darnel-weeds to us.” 37And in reply he said, “The one sowing the good seed is the Son of Man; 38And the field is the cosmos; and the good seed—these are the sons of the Kingdom; and the darnel-weeds are the sons of the wicked one, 39And the enemy who sowed them is the Slanderer; and the harvest is the consummation of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Therefore, just as the darnel-weeds are gathered and consumed by fire, so it will be at the consummation of the age; 41The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather up out of his Kingdom all the snares that cause stumbling, as well as the workers of lawlessness, 42And will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth there. 43Then the just will shine out like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears hear.

44“The Kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure that had been hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and from his joy he goes and sells the things he owns and purchases that field. 45Again, the Kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant looking for lovely pearls; 46And, finding one extremely valuable pearl, he went away and sold all the things he owned and purchased it. 47Again, the Kingdom of the heavens is like a large dragnet cast into the sea and gathering in things of every kind: 48And when it was filled they drew it up onto the strand and, sitting down, collected the good things in vessels, but threw the rancid things away. 49Thus it will be at the consummation of the age: The angels will go forth and will separate the wicked out from the midst of the just, 50And will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth there. 51Did you understand all of these things?” They say to him, “Yes.” 52Then he said to them, “Hence every scribe who has been made a disciple to the Kingdom of the heavens is like a man who is master of a house, who brings forth things new and old from his treasury.”

53And it happened that when Jesus finished these parables he departed from there. 54And coming into his native country he taught them in their synagogues, in such a way as astonished them and caused them to say, “From where has this man received this wisdom and these powers? 55Is not this man the craftsman’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? From where, therefore, does this man receive all these things?” 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his native country and in his own household.” 58And, on account of their lack of faith, he did not perform many feats of power there.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1At that time, the tetrarch Herod heard report of Jesus, 2And said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason powers are at work in him.” 3For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him away in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; 4For John had said to him, “It is not legal for you to have her.” 5And, though wishing to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, for they held him to be a prophet. 6But when Herod’s birthday celebrations took place the daughter of Herodias danced in the middle of them and was pleasing to Herod, 7In consequence of which he promised her with an oath to grant whatever she might request. 8And she, having been instructed in advance by her mother, says, “Give me, here on a trencher, the head of John the Baptist.” 9And, in distress, the king—on account of his oaths and of those reclining together at table—commanded that it be given, 10And sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. 11And his head was brought on a trencher and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12And his disciples came and took away the corpse and buried it, and went and told Jesus. 13And, hearing this, Jesus withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself; and the crowds, hearing of this, followed him on foot from the cities. 14And on disembarking he saw a large crowd, and he was moved inwardly with compassion for them and healed the ill among them. 15But when evening arrived his disciples approached him, saying, “This is a desert place and the hour is already past; so send the crowd away so that they may go off into the villages and buy foodstuffs for themselves.” 16But Jesus said to them, “They have no need to go away; you give them something to eat.” 17But they say to him, “We have nothing here but five loaves of bread and two fishes.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19And, having bidden the crowds to recline upon the grass, he took the five loaves and two fishes, looked up to heaven, pronounced a blessing, and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 20And all ate and ate their fill; and they took up what was left over of the fragments, filling twelve baskets. 21And those eating were about five thousand men, not counting women and children. 22Then he insisted that the disciples embark into the boat and precede him to the other side, until he should dismiss the crowds. 23And having dismissed the crowds he ascended the mountain by himself to pray. And when evening arrived he was there alone. 24But the boat was now many stadia away from land, being tormented by the waves because the wind was adverse. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came toward them, walking upon the sea. 26And the disciples, seeing him walking upon the sea, were disturbed, saying, “It is a phantom,” and they cried out in fear. 27But at once he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28And, answering him, Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you upon the waters.” 29And he said, “Come.” And descending from the boat Peter walked on the waters and came toward Jesus. 30But seeing the blowing wind he was afraid and, beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31And, immediately stretching out a hand, Jesus took hold of him and says, “You of little faith, why did you waver?” 32And as they went up into the boat the wind fell. 33And those in the boat prostrated themselves to him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 34And, crossing over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35And the men of that place, recognizing him, sent out word to the whole of that region, and brought to him all those who were suffering afflictions, 36And begged him that they might but touch the fringe of his mantle; and as many as touched it were entirely cured.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem approach Jesus, saying, 2“Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands whenever they eat bread.” 3But in reply he said to them, “And why, on account of your tradition, do you transgress God’s commandment? 4For God said, ‘Honor father and mother,’ and ‘To him who speaks abusively to father or mother let death put an end.’ 5But you say that whoever says to father or mother, ‘Anything that might have been owed to you by me is a consecrated offering,’ 6Most certainly must not honor his father or mother; and by your tradition you have made the word of God powerless. 7You charlatans, Isaiah prophesied well concerning you when he said, 8‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me; 9And they worship me vainly, teaching doctrines that are the dictates of men.’” 10And, calling the crowd forward, he said to them, “Listen and understand: 11It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles the man.” 12Then, approaching, the disciples say to him, “Are you aware that the Pharisees who heard this saying were scandalized?” 13But in reply he said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14Leave them: They are blind guides to the blind; and if a blind man guides a blind man both will fall into a pit.” 15But in reply Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16But he said, “Are you also so unable to understand? 17Do you not grasp that everything entering the mouth passes on to the bowels and is expelled into a latrine? 18But the things that come out of the mouth emerge from the heart, and those defile the man. 19For from the heart emerge wicked thoughts, murders, adulteries, whorings, thefts, perjuries, blasphemies. 20These are the things that defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

21And going out Jesus departed from there into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. 22And look: A Canaanite woman from those bounds came forward and cried out, saying, “Have mercy upon me, Lord, son of David, my daughter is badly demon-possessed.” 23But he answered not a word to her. And, approaching, his disciples implored him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out behind us.” 24But in reply he said, “I was not sent forth except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and prostrated herself to him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26But in reply he said, “It is not a good thing to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27And she said, “Yes, Lord; for the dogs also eat, from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.” 28Then in reply Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; as you desire, so let it happen to you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

29And, moving on from there, Jesus went by the Sea of Galilee and ascended a mountain and seated himself there. 30And many crowds approached him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others, and threw them at his feet; and he healed them; 31So that the crowd was astonished when they saw mutes speaking, the maimed made whole and the lame walking and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 32But Jesus, calling his disciples forward, said, “I am moved inwardly with compassion for the crowd, because they stay with me, three days now, and they do not have anything they might eat; and I do not wish to send them away unfed, for fear they should grow weak on the way.” 33And the disciples say to him, “From where, in a desert, can we get enough loaves of bread fully to feed so great a crowd?” 34And Jesus says to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, as well as a few fishes.” 35And, having enjoined the crowd to repose upon the ground, 36He took the seven loaves and the fishes and, giving thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 37And all ate and ate their fill, and they took up what was left over of the fragments, filling seven baskets. 38And those eating were four thousand men, not counting women and children. 39And, having sent the crowds away, he embarked into the boat and entered the borders of Magadan.p

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1And the Pharisees and Sadducees approached and, testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But in reply he said to them, “When evening comes, you say, ‘Fair weather, for the sky is a fiery red’; 3And in the morning, ‘Stormy weather today, for the lowering sky is a fiery red.’ You know how to judge the face of the sky, yet can you not judge the signs of the times? 4A wicked and adulterous generation seeks out a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And, leaving them behind, he departed. 5And the disciples, in crossing to the other shore, forgot to bring along loaves of bread. And Jesus said to them, 6“Watch and be wary of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7But they talked among themselves, saying, “We did not bring along loaves of bread.” 8But, knowing this, Jesus said, “Why do you talk among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have no loaves of bread? 9Do you not yet understand, and do you not remember the five thousand’s five loaves of bread and how many baskets you took up? 10Nor the four thousand’s seven loaves of bread and how many baskets you took up? 11How do you not grasp that I was not speaking to you about loaves of bread? Be wary, rather, of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12Then they understood that he was telling them to be wary not of the yeast in loaves of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

13And Jesus, coming into the regions of Caesarea Philippi, questioned his disciples, saying, “Who do men say the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “While some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He says to them, “But you, who do you say I am?” 16And, answering, Simon Peter said, 17“You are the Anointed, the Son of the living God.” And in reply Jesus said to him, “Blissful are you, Simon bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but rather my Father in the heavens. 18And to you I also say, You are Peter [Rock], and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades shall have no power against it. 19I shall give you the keys of the Kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth will have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you unbind on the earth will have been unbound in the heavens.” 20Then he warned the disciples that they should tell no one that he is the Anointed.

21From then on, Jesus the Anointed began to explain to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go forth into Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders and ruling priests and scribes, and to be put to death and to be raised on the third day. 22And, taking hold of him, Peter began to remonstrate with him, saying, “Grace to you, Lord; by no means shall this happen to you.” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Accuser; you are a stumbling-block for me, because you think not the things of God, but those of men.” 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wishes to come along behind me, let him deny himself utterly and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it; and whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole cosmos but lose his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is about to arrive in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his conduct. 28Amen, I tell you that among those standing here there are some who most certainly will not taste of death until they see the Son of Man arriving in his Kingdom.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1And after six days Jesus takes Peter, and James, and his brother John, and privately leads them up to a high mountain. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone out like the sun, and his garments became as white as light. 3And look: Visible to them were Moses and Elijah conversing with him. 4And Peter, speaking out, said, “Lord, it is a good thing that we are here; if you wish, I shall make three tabernacles here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5While he was still speaking, look: A shining cloud overshadowed them, and look: a voice from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I have delighted; listen to him.” 6And, hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces and were extremely afraid. 7And Jesus approached and, touching them, said, “Arise and do not be afraid.” 8And lifting their eyes they saw no one except Jesus alone. 9And as they were coming down out of the mountain Jesus enjoined them, saying, “Relate the vision to no one until the Son of Man is raised up from among the dead.” 10And the disciples questioned him, saying, “Why therefore do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?” 11And in reply he said, “Indeed, Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12But I tell you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but instead did whatever things to him they wished; thus the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

14And as they came to the crowd a man approached him, kneeling before him 15And saying, “Lord, have mercy upon my son, for he is a lunatic and is in a very bad state; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16And I brought him to your disciples, and they were unable to heal him.” 17And, speaking out, Jesus said, “O faithless and perverted generation, for how long shall I be with you? For how long shall I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18And Jesus rebuked it, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed from that hour. 19Then the disciples, privately coming to Jesus, said, “Why were we not able to exorcize it?” 20And he says to them, “Because of your little faith; for, amen, I tell you, if you possess as much as a mustard seed of faith, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you. [21But this kind does not come out, except by prayer and fasting.]”

22And when they were gathered together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23And they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly saddened.

24And when they came into Capernaum, the two-drachma fee-collectors approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the two drachmas?” He says, “Yes.” 25And as he was going into the house Jesus anticipated him, saying, “How does it seem to you, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth exact a toll or tribute? From their sons or from strangers?” 26And when he said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Well then, the sons are free. 27But, so as not to scandalize them, go to the sea, cast a hook and take the first fish drawn up, and opening its mouth you will find a stater; take and give that to them for me and you.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1At that hour, the disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Who then is the greater in the Kingdom of the heavens?” 2And, calling a child forward, he stood the child in their midst, 3And said, “Amen, I tell you, unless you turn back and become as children, you most certainly may not enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. 4He therefore who will make himself small as this child, this one is the greater in the Kingdom of the heavens. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me; 6And, whoever causes one of these little ones who have faith in me to falter, it is better for him to have a millstone, of the kind turned by an ass, hung about his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7Alas for the cosmos because of the occasions of faltering; for it is a necessity that occasions of faltering come about, but alas for the man through whom the occasion of faltering comes. 8Now, if your hand or your foot causes you to falter, cut it off and fling it away from you; it is good for you to enter into life crippled or limping rather than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the fire of the Age. 9And if your eye causes you to falter, tear it out and fling it away from you; it is good for you to enter into life with one eye rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into Hinnom’s Vale of fire. 10See to it that you are not contemptuous of one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in the heavens forever look upon the face of my Father in the heavens. [11For the Son of Man has come to save the lost.] 12How does it seem to you? If there is any man to whom a hundred sheep belong, and one of them wanders off, will he not leave the ninety-nine upon the hillside and go in search of the one that has strayed? 13And if he happens to find it, amen, I tell you that he takes more joy over it than over the ninety-nine who have not strayed. 14So it is not a desire that occurs to your Father in the heavens that one of these little ones should perish. 15Now, if your brother sins, go and remonstrate with him, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you gain your brother; 16If, though, he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that everything that is said may be confirmed by the mouths of two or three witnesses; 17If, though, he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly; and if he refuses to listen even to the assembly, let him be to you as the gentile or the tax-collector. 18Amen, I tell you, whatever things you bind on the earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you unbind on the earth will have been unbound in heaven. 19Again, [amen,] I tell you that if two among you agree on earth concerning everything they request, whatever it is, it shall come to pass for them, coming from my Father in the heavens. 20For where there are two or three who have gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.”

21Then Peter approached and said to him, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I shall forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus says to him, “I tell you, not as many as seven times, but as many as seventy times seven. 23Thus the Kingdom of the heavens has been likened to a man who was a king, who wished to reckon up accounts with his slaves. 24And, as he began his reckoning, one who was indebted to him for ten thousand talents was brought forward. 25And, as he was unable to make repayment, the master commanded he be sold, as well as his wife and children and all such things as he owns, and repayment be made. 26Then the slave fell down and made obeisance to him, saying, ‘Be patient toward me, and I shall repay you everything.’ 27And that slave’s master, being inwardly moved with compassion, released him and forgave him his loan. 28But going out that slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seized hold of and throttled him, saying, ‘Pay me everything you owe.’ 29Then his fellow slave fell down and implored him, saying, ‘Be patient toward me, and I shall repay you.’ 30He would not, though, but went off and threw him into prison until he should repay the debt. 31Therefore, seeing the things that had taken place, his fellow slaves were extremely upset and went and explained to their master all the things that had happened. 32Then, calling him forward, his master says to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt after you implored me; 33Should you not also have mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34And in anger his master delivered him to the inquisitors until he should repay everything owing to him. 35Thus also my heavenly Father will do to you unless, from your hearts, each one of you forgive his brother.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1And it happened that when Jesus had done with these sayings, he moved on from Galilee and entered the borders of Judaea, across the Jordan. 2And many crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3And Pharisees approached him to test him and said, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 4But in reply he said, “Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning ‘made them male and female’? 5And said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and shall be joined fast to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh’: 6So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God joined together let no man separate.” 7They say to him, “Why then did Moses enjoin giving a writ of separation and divorcing?” 8He says to them, “Moses, on account of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it did not happen thus. 9And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for whorishness, and marries another woman, commits adultery.” 10The disciples say to him, “If such is the responsibility of a man with a wife, it is not profitable to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not all can accept this saying—save those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were gelded by men, and there are eunuchs who gelded themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of the heavens. Let him who can accept this accept it.”

13Then small children were brought to him, that he might lay hands upon them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, “Leave the little children be and do not prevent them from coming to me; for of such is the Kingdom of the heavens.” 15And, laying hands upon them, he departed from there.

16And look: Someone approaching him said, “Teacher, what good thing may I do in order that I may have the life of the Age?” And he said to him, 17“Why do you question me concerning the good? One there is who is good. But if you wish to enter into life keep the commandments.” 18He says to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, 19Honor father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man says to him, “All of these I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have a treasury in the heavens, and come follow me.” 22But the young man, hearing the counsel, went away in sorrow, for he was someone who had many possessions. 23And Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I tell you that it will be hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. 24And again I tell you, it is easier for a camelq to enter in through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.” 25But on hearing this the disciples were greatly astonished, saying, “Can any of them then be saved?”r 26And, looking directly at them, Jesus said to them, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” 27Then, in reply, Peter said to him, “Look: We gave up all things and followed you; what then will there be for us?” 28And Jesus said to them, “Amen, I tell you, in the Regeneration, when the Son of Man sits upon the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will yourselves sit also upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who gave up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my name’s sake will receive many times as much and will inherit life in that Age. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

1“For the Kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a household, who went out in the early morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2And agreeing with the workers upon a denarius for the day he sent them out into his vineyard. 3And going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4And to those men he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I shall give you whatever is fair.’ And they went. 5Going out again at about the sixth and the ninth hours, he did likewise. 6And at about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing about, and he says to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle the whole day?’ 7They say to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He says to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8And, evening having come, the lord of the vineyards says to his steward, ‘Call the workers and pay the wage, beginning from the last and proceeding to the first.’ 9And when those of about the eleventh hour came each received a denarius. 10And when the first came they supposed they would receive more; and each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying, 12‘These last ones labored one hour, and you made them equal to us, who have borne the day’s oppressiveness and the heat.’ 13But he, making rejoinder, said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unjust to you; did you not agree to a denarius with me? 14Take what is yours and go; but I wish to give to the last man what I also give to you; 15Am I not permitted to do what I wish with my own possessions? Or is your eye baleful because I am generous?’ 16Thus the last will be first and the first last.”

17Then, as Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and, on the way, said to them, 18“See: We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19And they will hand him over to the gentiles to mock and to flog and to crucify, and on the third day he will be raised.”

20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons, making her obeisance and asking something from him. 21And he said to her, “What do you wish?” She says to him, “Say that in your Kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on your right and one on your left.” 22And in reply Jesus said, “You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They say to him, “We can.” 23He says to them, “You will indeed drink my cup; but to sit on my right and on my left, this is not mine to give, but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24And hearing this the ten were irate over the two brothers. 25But Jesus, calling them forward, said to them, “You know that the rulers of the gentile peoples dominate them, and that their great men wield power over them. 26It is not so among you; rather, whoever among you wishes to be great will be your servant, 27And whoever among you wishes to be first will be your slave; 28Just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his soul as the price of liberation for many.”

29And as they were departing from Jericho a large crowd followed him. 30And look: Two blind men sitting beside the road, hearing that Jesus is passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy upon us, son of David.” 31But the crowd censured them, demanding that they should be silent; but they cried out the louder, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, son of David.” 32And coming to a standstill Jesus called to them and said, “What do you wish that I might do for you?” 33They say to him, “Lord, that our eyes might be opened.” 34And, moved inwardly with compassion for them, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they saw again and followed him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

1And when they came near to Jerusalem and arrived at Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples out, 2Telling them, “Go into the village opposite you, and you will at once find a tethered ass, and a foal with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say that ‘the Lord has need of them’; and he will send them along right away.” 4And this occurred that there might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet when he said, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion: See, your king comes to you, gentle and mounted upon an ass and upon a foal, a son of a beast of burden.” 6And the disciples, going and doing as Jesus directed them, 7Brought the ass and the foal, and covered them with their cloaks, and he sat down upon them. 8And the largest crowd spread their own cloaks in the road, but others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the road. 9And the crowds preceding him and those following him cried out, saying, “Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest places.” 10And as he entered Jerusalem the whole city was in commotion, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”

12And Jesus entered the Temple and threw out all those selling and buying in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, 13And he says to them, “It has been written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a robbers’ den.” 14And the blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. 15But, seeing the wonders he performed and the children crying out in the Temple and saying ‘Hosanna to the son of David,’ the chief priests and the scribes were indignant, 16And said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have provided praise’?” 17And leaving them he went forth, outside the city to Bethany, and lodged there for the night.

18Now, going up in the morning to Jerusalem, he was hungry. 19And seeing a single fig tree on the way he went over to it and found nothing on it, but only leaves, and he says to it, “May fruit never come forth from you, throughout the age.”s And at once the fig tree withered. 20And seeing this the disciples marveled, saying, “How was the fig tree withered in an instant?” 21And in reply Jesus said to them, “Amen, I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be caught up and flung into the sea,’ it will happen; 22And all such things as you might ask in prayer, if you have faith, you shall receive.”

23And when he went into the Temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him while he was teaching and said, “By what power do you do these things? And who gave you this power?” 24And in reply Jesus said to them, “I shall also ask you to tell me one thing, if you will tell me which I shall also tell you by what power I do these things: 25John’s baptism, where did it come from? From heaven or from men?” And they discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not trust him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for all hold John to be a prophet.” 27And replying to Jesus they said, “We do not know.” He said to them in turn, “Neither do I tell you by what power I do these things. 28But how does it seem to you? A man had two children; going to the first, he said, ‘Child, go work in the vineyard today,’ 29But he in answer said, ‘I will, Lord,’ and did not go. 30And going to the second he spoke in the same way. And in answer he said, ‘I do not wish to,’ and later regretted it and went. 31Which of the two did the father’s will?” They said, “The latter.” Jesus says to them, “Amen, I tell you that the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going before you into the Kingdom of God. 32For John came to you on the path of rectitude, and you did not trust him; but the tax-collectors and prostitutes trusted him; yet, having seen this, you did not later feel regret and trust him. 33Listen to another parable. There was a man, the master of a household, who planted a vineyard and ran a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and constructed a tower and leased it out to husbandmen and went abroad. 34And when the proper time of fruiting drew near he sent out his slaves to the husbandmen to receive its fruits. 35And the husbandmen seized his slaves, and one they flogged, and another they killed, and another they stoned. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first lot, and they treated them in the same way. 37Thereafter he sent his son to them, saying, ‘My son they will treat with shamed deference.’ 38But the husbandmen, seeing the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and let us take possession of his inheritance’; 39And seizing him they cast him outside the vineyard and killed him. 40When the lord of the vineyard comes, what therefore will he do to those husbandmen?” 41They say to him, “He will put those wicked men to a wicked death, and he will lease out the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to him the fruits at their proper times.” 42Jesus says to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures ‘A stone that the builders rejected, this became the corner’s capstone; from the Lord this came to pass, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and will be given to a nation bearing its fruits. [44And whoever falls upon this stone will be shattered; but whomever it falls upon, it will crush him.]” 45And, hearing his parables, the chief priests and Pharisees knew that he is speaking about them; 46And, seeking how to seize him by force, they were afraid of the crowds: for they held him to be a prophet.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

1And in reply Jesus spoke to them in parables again, saying, 2“The Kingdom of the heavens has been likened to a man, a king, who arranged wedding celebrations for his son. 3And he sent out his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebrations, and they did not wish to come. 4Again, he sent out other slaves, saying, ‘Say to those who have been invited, “Look: I have prepared my luncheon, my bulls and fatted beasts have been sacrificed, and all things are ready; come to the wedding celebrations.”’ 5But they went away in indifference, one to his own field, another to his business; 6But the rest overpowered the slaves, treated them brutally, and killed them. 7The king was then enraged and, sending his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8Then he says to his slave, ‘The wedding is indeed ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; 9Go, therefore, to where the roads let out, and summon as many as you find to the wedding celebrations.’ 10And those slaves, going out into the streets, gathered together all whom they found, both the bad and the good; and the wedding hall was filled with those reclining at table. 11But the king, coming in to see those who reclined at table, spied there a man not clothed in a wedding garment; 12And he says to him, ‘Friend, how did you enter here not wearing a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to his servants, ‘Bind his feet and hands and throw him into the darkness outside.’ There will be weeping and grinding of teeth there. 14For many are called, but few chosen.”

15Then, going away, the Pharisees took counsel together regarding how they might ensnare him in words. 16And they send their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you teach the way of God in truth, and you harbor no anxiety toward anyone, for you are not a respecter of men’s persons; 17Tell us, then, how does it seem to you? Is it lawful to render the poll-tax to Caesar or not?” 18But knowing their wickedness Jesus said, “Why do you try me, you charlatans? 19Show me the coin for the poll-tax.” And they brought a denarius to him. 20And he says to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” 21They say, “Caesar’s.” Then he says to them, “Then render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar and the things that are God’s to God.” 22And hearing this they were amazed and, leaving him be, they departed.

23On that day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, approached him and questioned him, 24Saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If any man dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife in turn and shall raise up seed for his brother.’ 25But among us there were seven brothers; and the first, having married, died and had no children, and left his wife to his brother; 26Likewise also the second and the third, right up to the seventh of them. 27And, last of all, the wife died. 28In the resurrection, therefore, of which of the seven will she be the wife? For they all had her.” 29But in reply Jesus said to them, “You have been led astray, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are married, but are as angels in heaven.t 31But regarding the resurrection of the dead have you not read what was told you by God, in saying, 32‘I am God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob’? He is not a God of the dead, but of the living.” 33And, hearing this, the crowds were stupefied by his teaching.

34But the Pharisees, hearing that he had rendered the Sadducees speechless, gathered together, 35And one of them who was a lawyer, testing him, posed him the question, 36“Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your reason. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40All the Law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments.”

41And while the Pharisees were assembled Jesus questioned them, 42Saying, “How does it seem to you regarding the Anointed? Whose son is he?” They say to him, “David’s.” 43He says to them, “How is it then that David calls him ‘Lord’ when saying, 44‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit upon my right until I put your enemies beneath your feet”’? 45If therefore David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” 46And no one could answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to interrogate him again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

1Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2Saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves upon the seat of Moses. 3Therefore, all the things they might tell you, whatever they are, do and observe, but do not act in accord with their deeds; for they speak and do not do. 4And they tie up heavy loads and place them on men’s shoulders, but they are not willing to apply a finger of their own to move them. 5And they perform all their deeds so as to be seen by men; for they widen their phylacteries and exaggerate their fringes in the synagogues, 6And they cherish the chief couch at meals and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called Rabbi by men. 8But do not let yourselves be called Rabbi; for there is one who is your teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call someone on earth ‘Father,’ for there is one who is your heavenly Father. 10Neither let yourself be called instructors, because your one instructor is the Anointed. 11And the greater among you shall be your servant. 12And whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, and whoever will humble himself will be exalted. 13But alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you shut the Kingdom of the heavens in men’s faces; for you do not enter, nor do you allow those going in to enter. [14Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you devour the homes of widows and declaim at great length when praying, for which you shall receive condemnation in greater abundance.] 15Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you travel all about the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when it is done you make him twice as much a son of Hinnom’s Vale as you yourselves. 16Alas for you blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the Temple sanctuary, it means nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Temple sanctuary, he is under obligation.’ 17Fools and blind men! For what is greater, the gold of the Temple sanctuary or the sanctuary that makes the gold holy? 18And: ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever swears by the offering upon it, he is under obligation.’ 19Blind men! For what is greater, the offering or the altar that makes the offering holy? 20Hence the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by all the things upon it; 21And the one who swears by the Temple sanctuary swears by the sanctuary and by him who dwells in it. 22And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 23Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you tithe a tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law, the judgment and the mercy and the faith; yet these things you ought to have done, while also not neglecting those others. 24Blind guides, who strain out the gnat but drink down the camel. 25Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are filled up with plunder and dissoluteness. 26Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup, so that its outside may also be clean. 27Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly indeed appear lovely, but within are filled with the bones of the dead and with all uncleanliness. 28Thus you also outwardly indeed appear upright, but within you are full of dissimulation and lawlessness. 29Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, charlatans, because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the upright, 30And say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we should not have had a part with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you bear witness regarding yourselves that you are the sons of the prophets’ murderers. 32And you—you fully measure up to your fathers. 33Serpents, brood of vipers, how may you escape the verdict of Hinnom’s Vale? 34So look: I send prophets and wise men and scribes to you; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and drive from city to city; 35Thus accrues to you all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the upright up to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Amen, I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who have been sent to you, how often I have wished to gather your children, the way a bird gathers chicks under her wings, and you did not wish it. 38See: For you, your house is abandoned [to desolation]. 39For I tell you, henceforth you most assuredly will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

1And going out Jesus departed from the Temple, and his disciples approached him to call his attention to the Temple’s buildings. 2And he, in response, said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Amen, I tell you, by no means shall a stone be left upon a stone here that will not be thrown down.” 3And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what the sign of your arrival and of the consummation of the age?” 4And in reply Jesus said to them, “Keep watch, so that no one causes you to go astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Anointed,’ and will cause many to go astray. 6But you will begin to hear about wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for it is necessary that this occur, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will be raised against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places; 8But all these things are the beginning of birth pangs. 9Then they will deliver you over to affliction and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. 10And then many will be caused to falter and will betray one another and hate one another; 11And many false prophets will be raised up and will cause many to go astray; 12And because of the increase of lawlessness the love of many will grow cold. 13But whoever endures to the end—this one will be saved. 14And these good tidings of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole of the inhabited world, in witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place . . .” (Let the reader understand) 16“. . . Then those in Judaea, let them flee into the mountains; 17He who is on the housetop, let him not descend to collect things from his house; 18And he who is in the field, let him not turn back to fetch his cloak. 19Alas in those days for pregnant women and for women nursing. 20And pray that your flight may not occur in winter, nor on a Sabbath; 21For there will be great affliction then, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the cosmos until now—nor indeed could occur. 22And, but that those days were shortened, no flesh at all would have been saved; yet, on account of the chosen, those days will be shortened. 23If anyone says to you then, ‘Look: The Anointed is here’ or ‘here,’ do not believe; 24For false Anointed Ones and false prophets will be raised up, and they will produce great signs and prodigies, so as to lead astray—if possible—even the chosen. 25See, I have told you in advance. 26Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look: He is in the desert,’ do not venture out; ‘Look: He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe. 27For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, such shall be the arrival of the Son of Man; 28Wherever the carcass may be, there the eagles will be gathered. 29And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts and will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the sky with power and great glory; 31And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpeting, and they will gather together the chosen from the four winds, from end to end of the heavens. 32But learn the parable from the fig tree: Now, when its branch softens and produces leaves, you know that the summer is near; 33So too, when you see all these things you know that he is near, at the doors. 34Amen, I tell you that this generation most definitely does not pass away until all these things happen. 35The sky and the earth will pass away, but in no way could my words pass away. 36But about that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son—except the Father only. 37For just as in the days of Noah, so shall be the arrival of the Son of Man. 38For just as those in the days before the flood were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the day on which Noah entered the ark, 39And knew nothing until the flood came and carried all away, so also will be the arrival of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field: one is carried off and one is spared; 41Two women grinding at the mill: one is carried off and one is spared. 42Be alert, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But this you know: that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have been awake and would not have permitted his household to be breached. 44For this reason, you too be ready, because the Son of Man comes at the hour you do not expect. 45Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom the master appointed over his household slaves, to give them food at the proper time? 46How blissful that slave whom his master will find so doing when he arrives; 47Amen, I tell you that he will appoint him over all his possessions. 48But if that slave, being base, says in his heart, ‘My master is taking a long time,’ 49And begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the wine-sots, 50That slave’s master will come on a day on which he is not expecting him, and at an hour in which he is unaware, 51And will cut him in two,u and will assign him his lot with the dissemblers; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

1“Then the Kingdom of the heavens shall be likened to ten virgins who, taking their own lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were foolish and five wise. 3For the foolish, when taking the lamps, did not take oil with them. 4But the wise took oil in vessels along with their lamps. 5With the bridegroom taking a long time, however, they all grew drowsy and lay down to sleep. 6And in the middle of the night there was a cry: ‘Look, the bridegroom; go out to meet him!’ 7Then all those virgins were roused and trimmed their lamps. 8But the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise ones answered by saying, ‘Surely there would not be enough for us and for you; rather than that, go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10But while they were gone away to make their purchase the bridegroom came, and those who were prepared went in with him to the wedding celebrations, and the door was shut. 11And afterward the remaining virgins also come, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12But in reply he said, ‘Amen, I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13So be alert, for you do not know the day or the hour. 14For just as a man leaving home on a journey summoned his own slaves and handed his possessions over to them, 15And gave five talents to one, and two to another, and one to another, to each according to his peculiar ability, and left home on his journey— 16Immediately, the one who received five talents employed them in trade and gained another five; 17Similarly, the one who had two gained another two; 18But the one who received one went away, dug into the ground, and hid his master’s silver. 19Then after a long time the master of those slaves comes and settles accounts with them. 20And, approaching, the one receiving the five talents brought the other five talents forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over five talents to me; look, I gained another five talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave, you were trustworthy over a few things, I shall place you over many; enter into your master’s delight.’ 22Also approaching, the one with two talents said, ‘Look, I gained another two talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave, you were trustworthy over a few things, I shall place you over many; enter into your master’s delight.’ 24And, also approaching, the one who had received one talent said, ‘Master, I knew you, that you are a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter; 25And, being afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the earth; see, you have what is yours.’ 26But in reply his master said to him, ‘You wicked and timorous slave, did you know that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have placed my silver pieces with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered what was my own with interest. 28Therefore, take the talent away from him and give it to him who has ten talents; 29For to everyone who has, it shall be given and shall be more than is needed; but from him who does not have even what he has shall be taken away. 30And throw the useless slave into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth there.’ 31And when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his throne of glory; 32And all the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the kid goats,v 33And will set the sheep to his right, but the kid goats to the left. 34Then the King will say to those to his right, ‘Come, you blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the cosmos. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you gave me hospitality, 36Naked and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the just will answer him, saying, ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and give you hospitality, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you ill or in prison and come to you?’ 40And in reply the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those to the left, ‘Go from me, you execrable ones, into the fire of the Age prepared for the Slanderer and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not give me hospitality, naked and you did not clothe me, ill and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44Then they too will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and did not attend to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Amen, I tell you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these my brothers, neither did you do it to me.’ 46And these will go to the chasteningw of that Age, but the just to the life of that Age.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

1And it happened that, when Jesus had finished all of these utterances, he said to his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.” 3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were assembled in the courtyard of the chief priest named Caiaphas, 4And together deliberated on how they might by deceit seize and kill Jesus; 5But they said, “Not during the festival, so that no unrest occurs among the people.”

6Now while Jesus was in Bethany, in the home of Simon the leper, 7A woman who had an alabaster phial of precious unguent approached him and poured it upon his head as he reclined at table. 8But seeing this the disciples were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this could be sold for a large amount and be given to the destitute.” 10But, knowing this, Jesus said to them, “Why do you subject the woman to abuse? For she has done a beautiful deed for me; 11For you always have the destitute with you, but you do not always have me; 12When she shed this unguent upon my body, she did it so as to prepare me for burial. 13Amen, I tell you, wherever these good tidings are proclaimed, in the whole world, what this woman did will also be told, as a memorial to her.” 14Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, going to the chief priests, 15Said, “What are you willing to give me, and I shall hand him over to you?” And they paid him thirty silver pieces. 16And from then on he sought a good opportunity, so that he might hand him over.

17Now on the first day of the Unleavened Loaves the disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Where do you wish us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18And he said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time is near; I am observing the Passover at your place, along with my disciples.”’” 19And the disciples did as Jesus enjoined them and prepared the Passover. 20And when evening came he reclined at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating he said, “Amen, I tell you that one of you will hand me over.” 22And in vehement distress they began, each one of them, to say to him, “Am I he, Lord?” 23And in reply he said, “He who dips his hand in the bowl along with me, this one will hand me over. 24True, the Son of Man goes away, just as has been written about him, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is handed over; it would have been a good thing for that man had he not been born.” 25And in reply Judas, the one handing him over, said, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He says to him, “You have said it.” 26And as they were eating, Jesus, taking a loaf and giving thanks, broke it and, giving it to his disciples, said, “Take, eat: This is my body.” 27And, taking a cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from this, all of you: 28For this is my blood of the covenant, which is being shed for many, for the forgiveness of sins. 29And I tell you, henceforth I will most surely not drink of this, the yield of the vine, until that day when I drink it with you, new, in the Kingdom of my Father.”

30And, having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31Then Jesus says to them, “During this night, you will all be caused to fail me; for it has been written, ‘I shall strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’; 32But after I am raised, I shall precede you into Galilee.” 33But in reply Peter said to him, “Though all will be made to fail you, I shall never be made to fail.” 34Jesus said to him, “Amen, I tell you that on this night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35Peter says to him, “Even if it is necessary for me to die with you, I most assuredly will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

36Then Jesus goes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and says to the disciples, “Sit down here while I go apart in order to pray over there.” 37And, taking along Peter and the sons of Zebedee, he began to grieve and to suffer distress. 38Then he says to them, “My soul is in anguish, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me.” 39And going a little ahead he fell on his face, praying and saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, “So, were you not strong enough to keep watch with me for one hour? 41Keep watch and pray that you might not come to trial; truly, the spirit is eager, but the flesh is frail.” 42Going off again a second time, he prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is not possible for it to pass by without my drinking it, let your will be done.” 43And on coming he again found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy. 44And, leaving them alone, he again went away and prayed a third time, speaking the same words again. 45Then he comes to the disciples and says to them, “Sleep some more and rest—Look: The hour has drawn near and the Son of Man is delivered over into the hands of sinners. 46Arise, let us be going; look: The one handing me over has come near.”

47And while he was still speaking, look: Judas—one of the twelve—came, and with him a large crowd with swords and bludgeons from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48Now the one handing him over gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I should kiss, that is he; seize him.” 49And immediately approaching Jesus he said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him affectionately. 50But Jesus said to him, “Friend, get on to what you are here for.” Then coming forward they laid hands on Jesus and forcibly seized him. 51And look: One of those with Jesus, stretching forth a hand, pulled out his sword and, striking the chief priest’s slave, cut off his ear. 52Then Jesus says to him, “Return your sword to its place; for all who take up a sword will be destroyed by a sword. 53Or do you imagine that I cannot ask my Father, and he will at this very moment place more than twelve legions of angels beside me? 54How then would the things written by the prophets be fulfilled: that it must happen thus?” 55At that hour, Jesus said to the crowds, “You came out with swords and bludgeons to arrest me, as though coming against a bandit? I sat each day in the Temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56But all of this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples, abandoning him, fled away.

57And those who had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the chief priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58And Peter followed him from afar to the courtyard of the chief priest, and entering within sat with the attendants in order to see the end. 59And the chief priests and the entire Council sought out false evidence against Jesus, so that they might put him to death, 60And they found none, though many perjurers came forward. But two came forward later, 61And said, “This man declared, ‘I can tear down God’s sanctuary and erect it within three days.’” 62And standing up the chief priest said to him, “Do you have no answer to what these men attest against you?” 63But Jesus remained silent. And the chief priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God that you tell us if you are the Anointed, the Son of God.” 64Jesus says to him, “You have said it; but I tell you, you will presently see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming upon the clouds of the sky.” 65Then the chief priest tore his mantle, saying, “He blasphemed; what need do we still have for witnesses? See now, you heard the blasphemy. 66How does it seem to you?” And in reply they said, “He deserves death.” 67Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists, and they slapped him, 68Saying, “Prophesy for us, Anointed One, who is it who has slapped you?” 69And Peter sat outside in the courtyard, and a lone maidservant came up to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus the Galilaean.” 70But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” 71And when he went out into the portico another maidservant saw him and says, “This one was with Jesus the Nazorean.” 72And again he denied it, with an oath, saying, “I do not know the man.” 73And a little later the bystanders, approaching, said to Peter, “Truly you too are one of them, for even your dialect makes you conspicuous.” 74Then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately a cock crowed. 75And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, when he had said, “Before the crowing of the cock you will deny me three times”; and, going outside, he wept bitterly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

1And when early morning came all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel together against Jesus, so as to put him to death; 2And having bound him they led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 3Then Judas, the one who betrayed him, seeing that he had been condemned, changed his heart and returned the thirty silver pieces to the chief priests and elders, 4Saying, “I sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is it to us? You will see to it.” 5And flinging the silver pieces into the sanctuary he withdrew, and going away he hanged himself. 6But the chief priests, taking up the silver pieces, said, “It is not lawful to deposit them in the treasury, because it is a price for blood.” 7And, taking counsel together, with them they purchased the potter’s field for the burial of strangers. 8Hence that field has been called Field of Blood up to this day. 9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah when he said, “And I took the thirty silver pieces, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, whom they prized out from among the sons of Israel, 10And gave them in exchange for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”x 11And Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor interrogated him, saying, “You are the king of the Judaeans?” And Jesus said, “You say it.” 12And, when he was accused by the chief priests and elders of the people, he made no answer. 13Then Pilate says to him, “Do you not hear all the things they attest against you?” 14And he did not answer him, not a single word, so that the governor was greatly astonished. 15Now, for the festival it was the governor’s custom to release to the crowd one prisoner, whomever they wished. 16And they had at that time a notable prisoner named bar-Abbas. 17When therefore they were assembled Pilate said to them, “Whom do you wish I should release to you, bar-Abbas or Jesus, who is called the Anointed?” 18For he knew that they had handed him over through malice. 19But as he sat upon the dais his wife sent word to him, saying, “Let there be nothing between you and that just man; for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.” 20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for bar-Abbas and should destroy Jesus. 21And in reply the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you wish that I should release to you?” And they said, “Bar-Abbas.” 22Pilate says to them, “What then should I do with Jesus, who is called the Anointed?” They all say, “Let him be crucified!” 23But he said, “Why, for what evil did he commit?” But they cried out the more, saying, “Let him be crucified!” 24And Pilate, seeing that it is bootless, and that unrest is being produced instead, took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; you will see to it.” 25And in reply all the people said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” 26Then he released bar-Abbas to them, but having flogged Jesus he handed him over so that he might be crucified.

27Then the governor’s soldiers, having led Jesus into the Praetorium, gathered the whole cohort around him. 28And, stripping him, they placed a scarlet cloak about him, 29And having plaited a crown of thorns they placed it on his head, and a rod in his right hand, and genuflecting before him they derided him, saying, “Hail, King of the Judaeans,” 30And spitting at him they took the rod and battered his head. 31And when they had mocked him they stripped the cloak from him and put his clothing on him and led him away to crucify him. 32And going forth they found a Cyrenian man by the name of Simon; and they pressed this man into service so that he might carry his cross. 33And coming to a place called Golgotha—which is to say, Skull’s Place—34They gave him wine mixed with gall to drink; and, tasting it, he did not wish to drink. 35And having crucified him they portioned out his garments, casting lots, 36And they sat there guarding him. 37And above his head they set the charge inscribed against him: “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JUDAEANS.” 38Then two bandits are crucified with him, one to the right and one to the left. 39And the passersby blasphemed against him, wagging their heads, 40And saying, “You, the one tearing down the sanctuary and building it up in three days, save yourself if you are God’s Son and descend from the cross.” 41Likewise, the chief priests, mocking along with the scribes and the elders, said, 42“He saved others, himself he cannot save; if he is king of Israel, let him now descend from the cross and we will believe in him. 43He has trusted in God—let him now rescue him, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” 44And the bandits who were crucified along with him upbraided him also in the same way. 45And, from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, darkness fell over all the land. 46And around the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”—that is, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” 47And some of those who were standing there, hearing this, said, “This man calls to Elijah.” 48And one of them immediately ran and—taking a sponge and filling it with vinegar and putting it on a rod—gave it to him to drink. 49But the rest said, “Leave off, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50And Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, gave up the spirit. 51And look: The veil of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom, and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split, 52And the tombs were opened and many bodies of those holy ones who had fallen asleep were raised; 53And, coming forth from the tombs, they went into the holy city after his resurrection and appeared to many. 54And the centurion and those guarding Jesus with him, seeing the earthquake and the things that were happening, were extremely afraid, saying, “Truly this was a god’s son.” 55Now there were many women there, watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him; 56Among them was Mary the Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

57And, evening having come, there came a rich man from Arimathaea by the name of Joseph, who had himself also been a disciple to Jesus; 58This man, approaching Pilate, requested the body of Jesus. Pilate then ordered that it be given him. 59And taking the body Joseph wrapped it in clean linen, 60And placed it in his new tomb, which he had hewn out of rock, and having rolled a great stone before the door he departed. 61But Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. 62And on the next day, which is after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were assembled before Pilate, 63Saying, “Lord, we have remembered that that deceiver, when he was still living, said, ‘After three days I am raised.’ 64Therefore command that the tomb be secured until the third day, so that the disciples might not come steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the final deception will be worse than the first.” 65Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go make it as secure as you know how.” 66And going away, along with the guard, they made the tomb secure, sealing up the stone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

1But after the Sabbath, at the dawn of the first day of the Sabbath-week, Mary the Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the tomb. 2And look: A great earthquake occurred, for an angel of the Lord, descending from the sky and coming forward, rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3And his appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. 4And those who were standing guard were shaken by terror at him and became as dead men. 5And speaking out the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who has been crucified; 6He is not here; for he was raised, just as he said; come see the place where he lay. 7And go quickly, tell his disciples that he was raised from the dead; and look: He precedes you into Galilee, where you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8And, quickly departing from the tomb with great fear and joy, they ran to announce it to his disciples. 9And look: Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings.” And, approaching, they took hold of his feet and prostrated themselves before him. 10Then Jesus says to them, “Do not be afraid; go announce to my brothers that they should depart into Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11And as they were going, look: Some of the guard, going into the city, reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12And, having met with the elders and taking counsel together, they gave the soldiers a good quantity of silver, 13Saying, “Say that ‘His disciples, coming by night, stole him while we were sleeping.’ 14And if this is heard of by the governor we shall prevail upon him and see to it that you are free from trouble.” 15And taking the silver they did as they were instructed. And this is the tale that has been spread about by the Judaeans to this day. 16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus appointed them, 17And seeing him they prostrated themselves; but some doubted. 18And, approaching, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go, therefore, instruct all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and see: I am with you every day until the consummation of the age.”

Notes
a. μάγοι (magoi): either “Magians” (men of the Zoroastrian priestly caste of the Persians and Medes, largely associated in the Hellenistic mind with oneiromancy and astrology) or “sorcerers” (in later usage, but obviously not here); it is a word that never merely means “wise” or “learned” men.

b. ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ (en tēi anatolēi): perhaps “in the East,” but the construction would be unusual.

c. προσκυνῆσαι (proskynēsai): “make obeisance,” “prostrate oneself,” “bow down before,” “fall down in adoration”; the classic Eastern gesture of abasement before a superior, originally a kiss of reverence.

d. ψυχή (psychē): “soul,” “life,” “principle of life.”

e. “Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

f. μακάριος (makarios): “blessed,” “happy,” “fortunate,” “prosperous,” but originally with a connotation of divine or heavenly bliss.

g. A πτωχός (ptōchos) is a poor man or beggar, but with the connotation of one who is abject: cowering or cringing.

h. ῥακά (hraka): an Aramaic word meaning “foolish,” “empty,” “of no account,” “worthless.”

i. μωρός (mōros): “foolish,” “insipid,” “dull,” “of no account”; occasionally with the connotation of low and deplorable character.

j. γυνή (gynē): “woman” (as distinct from “maiden,” “virgin”), “wife.” Here the topic is clearly a man who wishes to violate the marriage covenant of another man’s wife.

k. παῖς (pais): “child,” “boy,” “son,” “slave,” “servant”; here almost certainly the last.

l. Though “son of man” is simply a good Semitic idiom meaning “a man,” by the first century it had long served as the name of a mysterious apocalyptic or eschatological figure (as in the one “like a son of man” who rides in the chariot of God in Ezekiel), and as Christ uses it in the Gospels it should clearly be read as a distinctive prophetic title (even if its precise significance cannot be ascertained).

m. An obscure word, probably a Hellenized form of the Aramaic qannāyā, “zealot” (a reading confirmed by Luke’s Gospel), but some scholars see it as an eccentric form of “Canaanite.”

n. The typical form of salutation being to wish peace upon a person or a household.

o. ἄγγελος (angelos), “angel.”

p. Perhaps a faulty transcription of Magdala.

q. The text speaks of a κάμηλος (kamēlos, acc. kamēlon), “camel,” but from the early centuries it has been an open question whether it should really be the homophonous (but poorly attested) word κάμιλος (kamilos), “rope,” “hawser”: a more symmetrical but less piquant analogy.

r. τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι (tis ara dynatai sōthēnai): often translated as “Who then can be saved?” or “Can anyone then be saved?” but I take the import (specifically as regards the τίς) to be “Can any [rich man] then be saved?”

s. Or “until the Age [to come].”

t. See Acts 23:8; 1 Corinthians 15:40–54; and 1 Peter 3:18–19, 4:6, as well as the footnotes thereto.

u. A hyperbolic image for severe chastisement, not a literal description of a real punishment.

v. The noun ἔριφος (eriphos), which is used here in the plural, means specifically “kid” or “kid goat”; kids intermingle with sheep in a mixed herd.

w. The word κόλασις (kolasis) originally meant “pruning” or “docking” or “obviating the growth” of trees or other plants, and then came to mean “confinement,” “being held in check,” “punishment,” or “chastisement,” chiefly with the connotation of “correction.” Classically, the word was distinguished (by Aristotle, for instance) from τιμωρία (timōria), which means a retributive punishment only. Whether such a distinction holds here is difficult to say, since by late antiquity kolasis seems to have been used by many to describe punishment of any kind; but the only other use of the noun in the New Testament is in 1 John 4:18, where it refers not to retributive punishment, but to the suffering experienced by someone who is subject to fear because not yet perfected in charity. The verbal form, κολάζω (kolazō), appears twice: in Acts 4:21, where it clearly refers only to disciplinary punishment, and in 2 Peter 2:9 in reference to fallen angels and unrighteous men, where it probably means “being held in check” or “penned in” [until the day of judgment].

x. This is not in fact a quotation from the book of Jeremiah, but may be a vague reference to Zechariah 11:3.

The Gospel According to Mark

CHAPTER ONE

1The beginning of the good tidings of Jesus the Anointed. 2As has been written by Isaiah the Prophet, “See, I send forth my messengera before your face, who will prepare your path”b—3“A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the Lord’s way, make straight his paths’”—4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of the heart’s transformation, for forgiveness of sins. 5And all the region of Judaea and all the Jerusalemites went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6And John was clothed in camel’s hairs and a leather girdle about his loins, and would eat locusts and wild honey. 7And he made his proclamation, saying, “There comes hereafter one mightier than I, regarding whom I am not fit to bend down and loosen the thong of his sandals. 8I baptized you by water, but he will baptize you by a Holy Spirit.”

9And in those days it happened that Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee, came and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10And, immediately rising up out of the water, he saw the heavens being rent apart and the Spirit descending to him as a dove; 11And a voice out of the heavens: “You are my Son, the beloved, in you I have delighted.” 12And immediately the Spirit cast him out into the wilderness. 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the Accuser, and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

14And after John was handed over Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the good tidings of God: 15That “The proper time has been fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has drawn near; change your hearts and have faith in the good tidings.” 16And, passing along beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon’s brother Andrew trawling in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Come along after me, and I shall make you become fishers of men.” 18And, immediately abandoning the nets, they followed him. 19And proceeding a little further he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. 20And immediately he called them; and leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands they went away after him.

21And they enter Capernaum and, immediately entering the synagogue on the Sabbath, he taught. 22And they were astonished at his teaching; for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as the scribes. 23And immediately there was in their synagogue a man in an impure spirit, and he cried out, 24Saying, “What is there between us and you, Jesus the Nazarene? Did you come to destroy us? I recognize you, who you are, the holy one of God.” 25And Jesus rebuked it: “Be silent and come out.” 26And the impure spirit, convulsing him and shouting with a loud voice, came out of him. 27And all were astounded, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching, with authority; and he commands the impure spirits and they obey him.” 28And the report of him immediately went forth everywhere, into the whole region of Galilee. 29And, immediately departing from the synagogue, they went into the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John. 30And Simon’s mother-in-law was laid out, stricken with fever, and immediately they tell him about her. 31And, approaching, he raised her up, taking hold of her hand; and the fever left her and she waited on them. 32And, evening coming on, after the sun had set they brought to him all who were ailing and those possessed by demons; 33And the whole city was assembled at the door. 34And he healed many who were ailing with various diseases, and he exorcized many demons, and did not allow the demons to speak, because they recognized him. 35And rising very early in the morning, in the darkness, he went out and departed to a deserted place, and prayed there. 36And Simon and those with him hunted for him and found him, and they say to him, 37“Everyone is looking for you.” 38And he says to them, “Let us go somewhere else, into the neighboring towns, that there too I may make my proclamation; for it is for this purpose that I went forth.” 39And he came making his proclamation, into their synagogues, throughout the whole of Galilee, and exorcizing demons.

40And a leper comes to him, imploring him and falling to his knees, saying to him, “If you wish it, you are able to cleanse me.” 41And, moved inwardly with compassion,c he stretched out his hand and touched him, and says to him, “I wish it, be clean.” 42And the leprosy immediately left him, and he was cleansed. 43And, sternly admonishing him, he immediately thrust him out, 44And says to him, “See that you tell nothing to anyone, but go show the priest and offer the things Moses commanded for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.” 45But, on going out, that man began announcing it frequently and spreading the story about, so that he was no longer able to enter a city openly, but was outside in desert places; and they came to him from everywhere.

CHAPTER TWO

1And, again entering into Capernaum, after some days it was heard that he was in a house. 2And many gathered, so that there was not even room before the door, and he spoke the word to them. 3And they come bearing a paralytic to him, carried by four men. 4And, not being able to reach him on account of the crowd, they took away the roof where he was and, having gouged out an opening, they lower the pallet on which the paralytic lay. 5And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7“Why does this man speak thus? He blasphemes. Who can forgive sins except God alone?” 8And Jesus, immediately aware in his spirit that they reasoned thus among themselves, says to them, “Why do you reason over these things in your hearts? 9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and take up your pallet and walk’? 10But in order that you should know that the Son of Mand has power to forgive sins on the earth . . .” —He says to the paralytic, 11“I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go to your house.” 12And he arose and, immediately taking up the pallet, went out before everyone, so that all were astonished and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen the like.”

13And he went out again beside the sea; and the whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. 14And as he was passing by he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collection house, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And getting up he followed him. 15And it happened that he reclined at table in his house, and many tax-collectors and sinners reclined at table along with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. 16And the scribes of the Pharisees, seeing that he eats with sinners and tax-collectors, said to his disciples, “Does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?” 17And, hearing this, Jesus says to them, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but rather those who are ill; I came to call not the upright, but sinners.” 18And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And they come and say to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19And Jesus said to them, “Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? For such time as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then, in that day, they will fast. 21And no one sews a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the filling tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse rent appears. 22And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine is lost, and the wineskins also [, but rather new wine into new wineskins].”

23And it happened that he passed through fields of grain on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to pluck ears of grain as they made their way. 24And the Pharisees said to him, “Look: Why do they do what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25And he says to them, “Did you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, as well as those with him? 26How he entered the house of God in the days of the chief priest Abiathar and ate the loaves of the bread of Presentation, which it is unlawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave them also to those who were with him?” 27And he says to them, “The Sabbath came about for the sake of man, not man for the sake of the Sabbath; 28Thus the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

CHAPTER THREE

1And he again entered a synagogue. And there was a man who had a hand that had been withered; 2And they observed him closely to see if he will heal him on the Sabbath, that they might bring an accusation against him. 3And he says to the man having a withered hand, “Stand up in our midst.” 4And he says to them, “Is it permissible on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil? To save a soul or to kill?” But they were silent. 5And, looking around at them with anger, mortified at the hardness of their hearts, he says to the man, “Stretch forth the hand.” And he stretched it forth and his hand was restored. 6And going out the Pharisees immediately exchanged counsel with the Herodians against him, that they might destroy him.

7And Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea; and a great multitude followed from Galilee, as well as from Judaea 8And from Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond Jordan and the environs of Tyre and Sidon—a great multitude, hearing what things he does, came to him. 9And he told his disciples that a boat should be standing by on account of the crowd, so that they should not press in upon him; 10For he healed many, so that as many as had afflictions fell upon him, in order to touch him. 11And the impure spirits, when they gazed upon him, fell down before him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12And he gave them many stern admonitions that they should not make him manifest. 13And he goes up into the mountain, and summoned to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him. 14And he made the number twelve, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to make proclamation 15And to have power to exorcize demons; 16And he made them twelve, and to Simon he added the name Peter; 17And James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James—to them he also added a name, “Boanerges,” which is to say, “Sons of Thunder”—18And Andrew, and Philip, and bar-Tholomaeus, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Kananaian,e 19And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

20And he comes into a house; and again a crowd assembles, so that they are not able to eat a loaf of bread. 21And his relatives, hearing this, went out to seize him forcibly; for they said, “He is beside himself.” 22And the scribes coming down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul in him, and he exorcizes demons by the Archon of the demons.” 23And calling them over he spoke to them in parables: “How can the Accuserf exorcize the Accuser? 24And, if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; 25And, if a household be divided against itself, that household cannot stand. 26And, if the Accuser has risen up against himself and has been divided, he cannot stand, but has reached an end. 27But no one can enter the strong man’s household and plunder his possessions unless first he should tie the strong man up, and then he can plunder his household. 28Amen, I tell you that all will be excused the sons of men, the transgressions and the blasphemies, howsoever they may blaspheme; 29But whoever blasphemes against the Spirit, the Holy one, has no excuse throughout the age,g but is answerable for a transgression in the Age.”h 30Because they said, “He has an impure spirit.” 31And his mother and his brothers come, and standing outside they sent word to him, summoning him. 32And a crowd was seated around him, and they say to him, “Look: Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside looking for you.” 33And in reply he says to them, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 34And looking around at those sitting in a circle about him he says, “Look: my mother and my brothers. 35Whoever does the will of God, this one is my brother and sister and mother.”

CHAPTER FOUR

1And again he began to teach beside the sea; and the largest crowd yet gathers to him, so that he embarked in a boat on the sea in order to sit down, and the whole crowd was on land facing the sea. 2And he taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3“Listen, look: A sower went out to sow. 4And it happened that as he sowed a part fell beside the path and the birds came and devoured it. 5And another part fell upon the stony place where there was not much soil, and immediately it sprang up because there was no depth to the soil; 6And when the sun rose it was parched, and because it had no root it was withered. 7And another part fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and throttled it, and it did not yield fruit. 8And others fell into the good soil and yielded fruit, shooting up and swelling, and bore thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him listen.” 10And, when he was alone, those around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you the mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted; but to those outside everything comes in parables, 12So that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and it should be forgiven them.” 13And he says to them, “Do you not grasp this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15And these are those beside the path where the word is sown and, when they hear, the Accuser immediately comes and seizes away the word that has been sown in them. 16And, similarly, these are those being sown upon the stony places, who when they hear the word immediately accept it with joy, 17And they do not take root in themselves, but are temporary; then tribulation or persecution comes about on account of the word and they immediately falter. 18And others are those being sown among thorns: These are those hearing the word, 19And, the anxieties of the age and the beguilement of riches and longings for other things intrude, throttling the word, and it becomes fruitless. 20And those sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and welcome it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 21And he said to them: “Does the lamp arrive that it may be placed under the dry-goods basket or under the bed? Not that it may be placed on the lampstand? 22For there is nothing that is hidden except that it might be made manifest, nor that has become concealed except that it might come out into plain sight. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” 24And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it shall be meted out to you and will be added to you. 25For he who has, to him it will be given; and he who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” 26And he said, “Such is the Kingdom of God: just as a man might cast the seed upon the earth, 27And might sleep and arise night and day, and the seed sprouts and increases while he does not observe. 28The earth bears fruit of itself, first a shoot, then an ear, then the full grain within the ear. 29But, when the fruit permits, he immediately extends the scythe, because the harvest has come.” 30And he said, “How may we depict the Kingdom of God, or by what parable may we present it? 31As a grain of mustard that, when sown upon the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on earth, 32And when it is sown it rises up and becomes larger than all the garden-herbs, and produces great branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to shelter under its shade.” 33And he spoke the word to them in many such parables, according to what they were able to hear. 34And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his disciples.

35And on that day, when evening had come, he says to them, “Let us cross over to the far shore.” 36And dismissing the crowd they take him, as he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves broke into the boat, so that now the boat was filling. 38And he was sleeping on the pillow in the stern. And they rouse him and say to him, “Teacher, does it not matter to you that we are perishing?” 39And, being woken, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent, quell yourself!” And the wind fell and a great calm came about. 40And he said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it you do not have faith?” 41And they were afraid, enormously afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this man, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

CHAPTER FIVE

1And they came to the far shore of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. 2And as he disembarked from the boat there came out to meet him from the tombs a man with an impure spirit, 3Who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one was able any longer to bind him with a chain, 4Since he had often been bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn asunder by him and the fetters shattered, and no one had the strength to subdue him; 5And always, every night and day, he was among the tombs and in the mountains crying out and gashing himself with stones. 6And seeing Jesus from afar he ran and prostrated himself to him, 7And crying out with a loud voice he says, “What do I and you have to do with one another, Jesus, Son of the Highest God? I adjure you by God not to torment me.” 8For he said to him, “Come out from the man, impure spirit.” 9And he asked him, “What is your name?” And he says to him, “My name is Legion, because we are many.” 10And he vehemently implored him that he not send them out of the land. 11Now there near the mountain a large herd of swine was feeding; 12And they entreated him, saying, “Send us into the swine, so that we might enter into them.” 13And he gave them leave. And coming forth the impure spirits entered into the swine, and the herd charged down the precipice into the sea, about two thousand, and were suffocated in the sea. 14And those grazing them fled and reported it in the city and in the fields; and they came to see what it is that has happened. 15And they come to Jesus, and see the demoniac—the one who had had Legion in him—seated, clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16And the eyewitnesses recounted to them how this had happened to the demoniac, and all about the swine. 17And they began to implore him to pass on beyond their borders. 18And as he embarked into the boat the former demoniac begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him, but says to him, “Go to your house, to your own family, and report to them the things the Lord has done for you, and that he showed you mercy.” 20And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis the things Jesus did for him, and everyone was amazed.

21And, when Jesus had crossed over in the boat to the far side again, a great crowd congregated about him, and he was beside the sea. 22And one of the leaders of the synagogue, Jairus by name, comes and, seeing him, falls down at his feet, 23And implores him urgently, saying: “My little daughter is at the last extremity—so come that you may lay hands upon her, that she may be healed and live.” 24And he went with him. And a large crowd followed him, and pressed in upon him. 25And a woman enduring a flow of blood for twelve years, 26And suffering many things under many physicians, and having spent everything she had, and having gained nothing but rather having become worse, 27Hearing things about Jesus, came up behind in the crowd and touched his mantle. 28For she said: “If I may touch even his mantle I shall be healed.” 29And immediately the fountain of her blood dried up, and she knew in her body that she was cured of her affliction. 30And immediately Jesus, recognizing in himself the power going forth from him, turning in the crowd, said, “Who touched my mantle?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in upon you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32And he looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33And the woman, afraid and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” 35As he was still speaking, they come from the home of the leader of the synagogue, saying, “Your daughter has died; why continue to trouble the teacher?” 36But Jesus, overhearing the remark as it was spoken, says to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid, only have faith.” 37And he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter and James and James’s brother John. 38And they come into the house of the leader of the synagogue, and he sees a commotion, and people weeping and lamenting a great deal. 39And entering he says to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but rather sleeps.” 40And they ridiculed him. But he, throwing all of them out, takes the child’s father and mother and those who are with him, and goes in where the child was. 41And seizing the child’s hand he says to her, “Talitha koum”—which, being interpreted, means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42And immediately the little girl arose and walked about; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were astonished, very greatly astonished. 43And he charged them at length that no one should know of this, and instructed that she be given something to eat.

CHAPTER SIX

1And he departed from there, and comes into his native country, and his disciples follow him. 2And when the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard were astonished, saying, “From where has this man received these things? And what wisdom has been given to this man? And such feats of power brought about by his hands? 3Is not this man the craftsman, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they were scandalized by him. 4And Jesus said to them: “A prophet is not dishonored except in his native country and among his own kin and in his household.” 5And he could not perform any feat of power there, except for healing a few sick persons by laying on of hands. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

And he went round the villages in a circuit, teaching. 7And he calls the twelve forward and began to send them forth, two by two, and gave them power over impure spirits, 8And charged them that they should take nothing upon the way, “Except only a staff—not a loaf of bread, not a leather pouch, no copper coin in the girdle—9But with sandals bound on, and do not don two tunics.” 10And he said to them, “Wherever you enter a household, remain there until you depart from that place. 11And whatever place does not receive you or listen to you, on departing from there shake off the dust on the bottom of your feet as a witness to them. [Amen, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on a day of judgment than for that city.]” 12And, going out, they proclaimed that persons should change their hearts, 13And exorcized many demons, and anointed with oil many who were ill, and healed them.

14And King Herod heard of it, for his name became well known, and they said: “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and thus feats of power are performed by him.” 15But others said: “It is Elijah.” Yet others said: “A prophet, like one of the prophets.” 16But when Herod heard of it he said, “Him whom I beheaded, John—this one has been raised.” 17For Herod himself had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her; 18For John said to Herod: “It is unlawful for you to have the wife of your brother.” 19And Herodias resentedi him and wished to kill him, and could not; 20For Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a man upright and holy, and protected him, and was very much at a loss when listening to him, yet listened to him with pleasure. 21And an opportune day arrived when Herod, for his birthday celebrations, produced a banquet for his grandees and the chiliarchs and the foremost men of Galilee; 22And, when Herodias’s own daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those reclining at table together. And the king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23And he swore to her: “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” 24And stepping out she said to her mother, “What should I request?” And she said, “The head of John, the one who baptizes.” 25And immediately hastening in to the king she made the request, saying, “I wish that you should at once give me the head of John the Baptist on a trencher.” 26And the king, becoming greatly distressed, did not wish to refuse her, on account of his oaths and of those reclining together at table. 27And, immediately sending word, the king ordered a guard to bring his head. And going away he beheaded him in prison, 28And brought his head on a trencher and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29And, hearing of this, his disciples came and took away his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

30And those who had been sent out came together to Jesus and reported to him all the things that they had done and taught. 31And he says to them, “Come by yourselves privately to a deserted place and rest a little.” For there were many persons coming and going, and they had no opportunity to eat. 32And they went away in the boat privately to a deserted place. 33And many saw them going and knew where, and ran together on foot from all the cities and arrived before them. 34And disembarking he saw a great crowd, and was moved inwardly with compassion for them because they were like sheep having no shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. 35And now, the hour getting late, his disciples approached and said: “This place is deserted and the hour is now late; 36Dismiss them so that, going away to the fields and villages round about, they might buy something to eat for themselves.” 37But in reply he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they say to him, “How could we go out and buy two hundred denarii’s worth of loaves, and give them to them to eat?” 38And he says to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look.” And finding out they say, “Five, and two fishes.” 39And he instructed all of them to recline, party by party, on the green grass. 40And they reclined, group by group, a hundred or fifty each. 41And, taking the five loaves and the two fishes and looking up to heaven, he pronounced a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, to serve to them, and the two fishes he portioned out to everyone. 42And all ate and ate their fill, 43And they took up twelve basketfuls of bread fragments and morsels of fish. 44And those eating the loaves were five thousand men. 45And immediately he insisted that his disciples embark into the boat and precede him to the other side, to Bethsaida, until he dismisses the crowd. 46And having taken his leave of them he went away to the mountain to pray. 47And when evening arrived the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was upon the land alone. 48And seeing them tormented in their rowing, for the wind was against them, he comes toward them at about the fourth watch of the night, walking on the sea; and he intended to pass them by. 49But, on seeing him walking upon the sea, they thought: “It is a phantom”; and they cried out; 50For they all saw him and were disturbed. Immediately, however, he spoke with them, and says to them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 51And he went to them, up into the boat, and the wind ceased; and within themselves they were quite overwhelmingly astonished, 52For they did not understand about the loaves, while their heart was obdurate. 53And crossing over to the land they came into Gennesaret and moored. 54And, immediately recognizing him as they disembarked from the boat, 55They ran about that whole region and began carrying the ill about on pallets, to wherever they heard he was, 56And wherever he went, into villages or into towns or into fields, they set down the afflicted in the open, and pleaded with him that they might but touch the fringe of his mantle; and as many as touched him were healed.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1And the Pharisees and some of the scribes coming out from Jerusalem gather about him. 2And seeing that some of his disciples eat loaves of bread with impure (that is, unwashed) hands—3For the Pharisees and the Judaeans as a whole do not eat unless they wash their hands all the way up the length of the forearm,j upholding the tradition of the elders, 4And coming from the marketplace they do not eat unless they make their ablutions; and there is much else to uphold that they have inherited: immersing drinking vessels, both carven and copper, in water . . .—5And the Pharisees and the scribes inquired of him, “Why do your disciples not walk in accord with the tradition of the elders, but instead eat bread with impure hands?” 6But he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well concerning you, the charlatans, as has been written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me; 7And they worship me vainly, teaching doctrines that are the dictates of men.’ 8Forsaking the command of God, you uphold the tradition of men.” 9And he said to them, “You are quite adept at setting aside God’s command so that you may keep your own tradition. 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘To him who speaks abusively to father or mother let death put an end.’ 11But you say if a man says to father or mother, ‘Anything that might have been owed you by me is qurban’”—which is to say, a consecrated offering—12“You no longer allow him to do anything for father or mother, 13Making the word of God powerless by your tradition, which you have handed down; and you do many other things of the same kind.” 14And calling the crowd forward again he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing from outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him; but rather the things that come forth from a man are what defile him.” [16If anyone has ears to listen, let him listen.] 17And when he went into a house, away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he says to them, “Are you also so unable to understand? Do you not grasp that nothing that enters into a man from without can defile him, 19Because it enters not into his heart, but into the bowels and is expelled into a latrine, purging away everything that has been eaten?” 20And he said: “That which comes forth from a man, that defiles the man. 21For from within, out of the heart of men, emerge evil thoughts, whorings, thefts, murders, 22Adulteries, acts of greed, iniquities, deceit, licentiousness, a baleful eye, blasphemy, arrogance, recklessness: 23All these wicked things come forth from within and defile the man.”

24And arising from there he departed into the region of Tyre. And he went into a household, wanting no one to recognize him, but he was unable to stay hidden; 25Rather, immediately hearing about him, a woman whose young daughter had an impure spirit came and cast herself down at his feet; 26And the woman was Greek, by race a Syrophoenician; and she asked him to exorcize the demon from her daughter. 27And he said to her, “First, let the children be fully fed; for it is not a good thing to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered and says to him, “Yes, Lord; and the dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “On account of this remark, go: the demon has gone out from your daughter.” 30And going away to her house she found the child laid out upon the bed, and found that the demon had gone away. 31And departing again from the region of Tyre he passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis. 32And they bring to him a man who is deaf and can hardly speak, and they implore him that he might lay his hand upon him. 33Then, privately taking him away from the crowd, he put his fingers into his ears and, spitting, touched his tongue, 34And looking up into the sky he sighed deeply, and says to him, “Ephphatha,” which means: “Be opened.” 35And his ears were opened, and immediately the fetter on his tongue was loosed, and he spoke normally. 36And he commanded them that no one should tell of it; but, as much as he commanded them, they proclaimed it all the more extravagantly. 37And they were astonished beyond all measure, saying, “He has done all things well, and he makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

1In those days, there being again a great crowd and they not having anything that they might eat, he summons the disciples and says to them, 2“I am moved inwardly with compassion for the crowd, because they remain with me, three days now, and they do not have anything that they might eat, 3And if I send them away home unfed they will grow weak on the way; and some of them come from far away.” 4And his disciples answered him: “From where, in a desert, will anyone here be able to get loaves of bread fully to feed these people?” 5And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6And he enjoins the crowd to rest upon the ground; and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples so that they might serve them out, and they served them to the crowd. 7And they had a few small fishes; and blessing these he instructed that they too be served out. 8And they ate and were fully fed, and they gathered up the overflow of fragments, seven baskets of them. 9And they were about four thousand. And he sent them away. 10And, immediately embarking in the boat with his disciples, he went into the district of Dalmanoutha.k

11And the Pharisees came out and began to debate with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him. 12And groaning in his spirit he says, “Why does this generation seek a sign? As if—amen, I tell you—a sign will be given to this generation!” 13And leaving them he again embarked and crossed over to the other side. 14And they forgot to take along loaves of bread, and except for one loaf they had nothing with them in the boat. 15And he instructed them, saying, “Watch, be wary of the yeast of the Pharisees and of the yeast of Herod.” 16And this, they reasoned with one another, was because they have no loaves of bread. 17And, knowing this, he says to them, “Why do you reason that it is because you have no loaves of bread? Do you not yet perceive, nor understand? Do you keep an obdurate heart in you? 18Having eyes, do you not look? And having ears, do you not listen? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves of bread among the five thousand, how many baskets filled with fragments did you gather up?” They say to him, “Twelve.” 20“When the seven among the four thousand, how many basketfuls of fragments did you gather up?” And they say, “Seven.” 21And he said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

22And they come to Bethsaida. And they bring a blind man to him and implore him that he might touch him. 23And taking the blind man’s hands he led him away outside the village, and spitting in his eyes he laid hands upon him and inquired of him: “Do you see anything?” 24And looking up he said, “I see men, such that it is as if I perceive trees walking about.” 25Then he again laid hands upon his eyes, and he stared hard, and he was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26And he sent him away to his house, saying, “You must not even go into the village.”

27And Jesus and his disciples departed to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he questioned his disciples, saying to them, “Whom do people say me to be?” 28And they told him, saying: “John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and yet others one of the prophets.” 29And he asked them, “But you, whom do you say me to be?” And in reply Peter says to him, “You are the Anointed.” 30And he warned them sternly that they should tell no one about him. 31And he began to teach them that it is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things, and to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be killed, and after three days to rise again. 32And he made this declaration frankly. And, taking hold of him, Peter began to admonish him. 33But he, turning about and looking at his disciples, admonished Peter and says, “Get behind me, Accuser, because you think not the things of God but those of men.” 34And summoning the crowd along with his disciples he said to them, “If anyone wishes to come along behind me, let him deny himself utterly and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it; but whoever will lose his soul for the sake of me and of the good tidings will save it. 36For what does it profit a man to gain the whole cosmos and to forfeit his soul? 37For what might a man give in exchange for his soul? 38For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him too will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

CHAPTER NINE

1And he said to them, “Amen, I tell you that there are some of those standing here who most certainly shall not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God come in power.”

2And after six days Jesus takes Peter and James and John, and privately leads them up alone to a high mountain. 3And he was transfigured before them, and his garments became an exceedingly brilliant white, a white such as no fuller on earth can produce. 4And Moses and Elijah were seen by them, and they were conversing with Jesus. 5And Peter, speaking out, says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is a good thing for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6For he did not know what expostulation to make; for they had become extremely afraid. 7And a cloud arose, overshadowing them, and there came a voice from the cloud: “This is my Son, the beloved; listen to him.” 8And, looking around, they all at once saw no one with them any longer, save Jesus alone. 9And as they were coming down out of the mountain he enjoined them that they should not relate the things they saw to anyone, except when the Son of Man should rise from among the dead. 10And they seized upon this phrase for themselves, debating what this “to rise from among the dead” means. 11And they questioned him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?” 12And he said to them, “Elijah indeed, coming first, will restore all things; and how has it been written about the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be held in contempt? 13But I tell you that Elijah has also come, and they did whatever things to him they wished, as has been written about him.”

14And as they came to the disciples they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15And, on seeing him, all the crowd were greatly amazed and ran up to him and hailed him. 16And he inquired of them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17And one in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit; 18And wherever it seizes him, it tears at him, and he froths and grinds his teeth and is withered up; and I told your disciples that they should exorcize it, and they did not have the strength.” 19And in reply he says to them, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be in your presence? Bring him to me.” 20And they brought him to him. And, seeing him, the spirit immediately convulsed him violently, and falling upon the ground he rolled about frothing. 21And he asked his father, “Over what span of time has this been happening to him?” And he said, “Since early childhood. 22And it has often flung him both into fire and into waters, so that it might destroy him; but if you are able, moved by compassion for us, help us.” 23And Jesus said to him, “As to ‘if you are able’—all things are possible for the one who has faith.” 24Immediately crying out, the child’s father said, “I have faith; help my faithlessness!” 25And Jesus, seeing that the crowd is rapidly gathering, admonished the impure spirit, saying to it, “Spirit mute and deaf, I command you: Come out of him, and never again may you enter into him.” 26And, crying aloud and with many convulsions, it came out; and he became like a corpse, such that many said that he had died. 27But Jesus, taking hold of his hand, raised him, and he stood up. 28And when he entered into a house his disciples asked him in private, “Why were we not able to exorcize it?” 29And he said to them, “By nothing but prayer can this kind come out.”

30And departing from there they passed through Galilee, and he did not wish that anyone should know it; 31For he was teaching his disciples, and said to them: “The Son of Man is delivered over into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and having been killed he will arise after three days.” 32But they did not understand this utterance, and were afraid to question him.

33And they came to Capernaum. And when he had come into the household he asked them, “What were you debating on the way?” 34But they were silent; for on the way they debated with one another who was greater. 35And sitting down he called out to the twelve and says to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” 36And taking a small child he stood him in their midst, and folding the child in his arms he said to them, 37“Whoever in my name receives one of the little children, like this one, receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the one having sent me forth.” 38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us exorcizing demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for there is no one who will perform a deed of power in my name who will also be able soon afterward to speak ill of me; 40For whoever is not against us is for us. 41For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in the name, because you belong to the Anointed, amen, I tell you that he most certainly will not lose his reward. 42And whoever causes one of these little ones who have faith to falter, it is better for him to have a millstone, of the kind turned by an ass, hung about his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 43And if your hand causes you to falter, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life maimed rather than, having two hands, to go away into the Vale of Hinnom, into the inextinguishable fire. [44‘Where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched.’] 45And if your foot causes you to falter, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life limping rather than, having both feet, to be cast into the Vale of Hinnom. [46‘Where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched.’] 47And if your eye causes you to falter, fling it away; it is good for you to enter one-eyed into the Kingdom of God rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into the Vale of Hinnom, 48‘Where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched.’ 49For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good; but if the salt loses saltiness, with what will you season it? Keep salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

CHAPTER TEN

1And rising up from there he comes into the region of Judaea [and] beyond the Jordan,l and again crowds gather to him, and again he taught them, as was his normal practice. 2And Pharisees approached and tested him, asking him whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. 3But in reply he said to them, 4“What did Moses command you?” And they said, “Moses permitted inscribing a writ of separation and divorcing.” 5And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardheartedness he wrote this commandment for you. 6But from the beginning of creation ‘male and female he created them’; 7‘For this cause a man shall leave father and mother, 8And they shall be two in one flesh’; thus they are no longer two, but rather one flesh. 9What therefore God joined together, let no man separate.” 10And when they were again in the house the disciples questioned him about this. 11And he says to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12And if she, having divorced her husband, marries another, she commits adultery.”

13And they brought small children to him that he might touch them; but the disciples scolded them. 14But seeing this Jesus was deeply annoyed and said to them, “Let the little children come to me, do not prevent them; for of such is the Kingdom of God. 15Amen, I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child certainly may not enter into it.” 16And, enfolding them in his arms and laying hands upon them, he blesses them.

17And, as he went forth into the roadway, someone came running to him and knelt and asked, “Good teacher, what may I do in order that I may inherit the life of the Age?” 18“Why do you call me good? There is no one good save one: God. 19You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.” 20And he declared to him, “Teacher, all of these I have kept since my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You lack a single thing: Go, sell whatever you possess and give to the destitute, and you shall have a treasury in the heavens, and come follow me.” 22But the young man, saddened by the counsel, went away in sorrow, for he was someone who had many possessions. 23And looking around Jesus says to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those possessing riches to enter into the Kingdom of God.” 24And the disciples were amazed at his words. And Jesus, speaking out again, says to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter into the Kingdom of God; 25It is easier for a camelm to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.” 26And they were greatly astonished, saying to themselves, “Can any of them then be saved?”n 27Looking directly at them, Jesus says, “For men this is impossible, but not for God; for all things are possible with God.” 28Peter began to say to him, “See: We gave up all things and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Amen, I tell you, there is no one who gave up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good tidings, 30Who does not—along with persecutions—receive a hundredfold, in the present time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, as well as, in the Age to come, the life of that Age. 31But many who are first will be last and last first.”

32And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them, and they were astonished, and those following along were afraid. And, again taking the twelve aside, he began to tell them the things that were about to happen to him: 33“Look: We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and they will hand him over to the gentiles, 34And they will mock him and spit upon him and flog and kill him, and after three days he will rise again.”

35And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approach him, saying to him, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we might request of you.” 36And he said to them, “What do you wish that I might do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant to us that, in your glory, we may sit one on your right and one on your left.” 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We can.” And Jesus said to them, “You shall drink the cup I drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized; 40But to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give, but is theirs for whom it has been prepared.” 41And hearing this the ten began to be irate about James and John. 42And, summoning them, Jesus says to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule the gentile peoples dominate them, and that their great men wield power over them. 43But it is not so among you; rather, whoever among you wishes to be great will be your servant, 44And whoever among you wishes to be first will be the slave of all; 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his soul as the price of liberation for many.”

46And they come into Jericho. And, as he was departing from Jericho along with his disciples and a considerable crowd, a blind beggar, bar-Timaeus—“son of Timaeus”—sat beside the road. 47And hearing that it is Jesus the Nazarene he began to cry out and to say, “Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me.” 48And many persons admonished him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” 49And coming to a standstill Jesus said, “Call to him.” And they call to the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart, arise, he calls to you.” 50So, throwing off his mantle and springing up, he came to Jesus. 51And, answering him, Jesus said, “What do you wish that I might do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbouni, that I might see again.” 52And Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.” And immediately he saw again and followed him upon the road.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1And when they come near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends forth two of his disciples, 2And tells them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it you will find a tethered colt upon which no one among men has yet sat; untie and bring it. 3And if anyone says to you, ‘Why do you do this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it, and he is sending it here again right away.’” 4And they went and found a colt tethered at a door, outside in the open street, and they untie it. 5And some of the bystanders there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they spoke to them as Jesus instructed, and they let them go. 7And they bring the colt to Jesus, and they place their cloaks upon it, and he sat on it. 8And many persons spread their cloaks in the road, but others stalks of straw, cutting them from the fields. 9And both those going ahead and those following after cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord; 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; hosanna in the highest places!” 11And he entered into Jerusalem, into the Temple; and on looking around at everything, the hour now being late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

12And as they went out from Bethany the next day he was hungry. 13And seeing from afar a fig tree bearing leaves he went over, seeing whether he will perhaps find something on it, and coming up to it he found nothing except leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14And speaking out he said to it, “May no one eat fruit from you again, throughout the age.”o And his disciples heard him. 15And they come into Jerusalem. And entering the Temple he began to throw out those selling and buying in the Temple, and he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling the doves, 16And did not permit anyone to carry a container through the Temple, 17And he taught and said to them, “Has it not been written that ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” 18And the chief priests and the scribes heard, and sought a way by which they might destroy him; for they were afraid of him, for all the crowd was awestruck at his teaching. 19And when it grew late they went forth outside the city. 20And passing by early in the morning they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter, remembering, says to him, “Rabbi, look: The fig tree that you cursed has been withered.” 22And in reply Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23Amen, I tell you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be caught up and flung into the sea,’ and is not divided in his heart, but rather has faith that what he says is happening, it will be his. 24Therefore I tell you, all such things as you might pray and ask for, have faith that you have received and they will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, forgive anything you might have against anyone, so that your Father in the heavens might also forgive you your transgressions. [26But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in the heavens forgive your transgressions.]”

27And they come again into Jerusalem. And, as he was walking about in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him, 28And said to him, “By what power do you do these things? Or who gave you this power, that you might do such things?” 29And Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one thing, and you answer me, and I will tell you by what power I do these things: 30John’s baptism, was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.” 31And they discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not trust him?’ 32But may we say, ‘From men’?” —They were afraid of the crowd, for all held that John truly was a prophet. 33And replying to Jesus they say, “We do not know.” And Jesus says to them, “Neither do I tell you by what power I do these things.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

1And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and ran a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and constructed a tower and leased it out to husbandmen and went abroad. 2And at the proper season he sent a slave to the husbandmen that he might receive from the husbandmen a share of the vineyard’s fruits. 3And seizing him they flogged him and sent him away empty. 4And again he sent another slave to them; and that one they struck on the head and treated with contempt. 5And he sent another—and that one they killed—then many others—some they flogged, some they killed. 6One he still had, a beloved son; he sent him to them last, saying: ‘My son they will treat with shamed deference.’ 7But those husbandmen said to themselves: ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8And seizing him they killed him, and flung him outside the vineyard. 9What will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and will destroy the husbandmen and will give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this scripture: ‘A stone that the builders rejected, this became the corner’s capstone; 11From the Lord this came to pass, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12They both desired to seize him by force and were also afraid of the crowd; for they knew that he told the parable in regard to them. And, leaving him be, they departed.

13And they send some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, in order that they might trap him in words. 14And approaching they say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you have no anxiety concerning anyone, for you do not regard men’s persons, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to render the poll-tax to Caesar or not? May we render it or may we not render it?” 15But he, recognizing their pretense, said to them, “Why do you try me? Bring me a denarius so that I see it.” 16And they brought it. And he says to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” And they say to him, “Caesar’s.” 17And Jesus said to them, “Render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar and the things that are God’s to God.” And they were utterly amazed at him.

18And Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, approach him and questioned him, saying, 19“Teacher, Moses wrote to us that ‘If the brother of anyone should die and leave behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should take his wife and should raise up seed for his brother.’ 20There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and, dying, left no seed; 21And the second took her and died, leaving no seed behind; and the third likewise; 22And the seven left no seed. Last of all, the wife died. 23In the resurrection, when they rise again, of which of them will she be the wife? For the seven had her as wife.” 24Jesus said to them, “Have you not been led astray, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise again from the dead they neither marry nor are married, but are as angels in the heavens.p 26But regarding the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses how at the bush God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob’? 27He is not a God of the dead, but of the living. You go far astray.”

28And one of the scribes, approaching, hearing them debating and perceiving that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is first among all?” 29Jesus answered: “The first is: ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord, 30And you shall love the Lord your God out of your whole heart and out of your whole soul and out of your whole reason and out of your whole strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is not another commandment greater than these.” 32And the scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher, you speak the truth in saying that there is One and there is no other beside him; 33And to love him out of the whole heart and out of the whole understanding and out of the whole of one’s strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself, is more than all holocausts and sacrifices.” 34And Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared interrogate him anymore.

35And Jesus, teaching in the Temple, spoke aloud: “How do the scribes say that the Anointed is the son of David? 36David himself, in the Holy Spirit, said, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit upon my right until I put your enemies beneath your feet.”’ 37David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ and how is he his son?”

And the large crowd heard him with delight. 38And in the course of his teaching he said, “Be wary of the scribes who desire to walk about in long robes, and desire salutations in the marketplaces, 39And chief seats in the synagogues, and chief couches at meals; 40Those devouring the homes of the widows and praying at great length for show, these shall receive condemnation in greater abundance.” 41And sitting opposite the treasury he watched how the crowd puts coin into the treasury; and many rich men put in a great deal; 42And one destitute widow came and put in two lepta, which is a quadrans. 43And summoning his disciples he said to them, “Amen, I tell you that this widow, the destitute woman, put in more than all those donating to the treasury; 44For all donated out of what they have in abundance, but out of her poverty this woman donated all she had whatsoever, her whole livelihood.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1And as he goes out of the Temple one of his disciples says to him, “Teacher, look: such stones and such buildings!” 2And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? By no means shall there be a stone left upon a stone that will not be thrown down.” 3And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, opposite the Temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him in private, 4“Tell us: When will these things be? And, when all these things are about to be completed, what will be the sign?” 5And Jesus began, saying to them, “Keep watch, so that no one causes you to go astray. 6Many will come in my name, saying: ‘I am he,’ and will cause many to go astray. 7But when you hear about wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; it is necessary that this occur, but the end is not yet. 8For nation will be raised against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. In places there will be earthquakes, there will be famines; these things are the beginning of birth pangs. 9But you, look to yourselves: They will deliver you over to councils and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will be arraigned before rulers and kings for my sake—in order to testify to them. 10And it is necessary first that the good tidings be proclaimed to all the nations. 11And when, on delivering you over, they lead you in, do not worry beforehand about what you are saying; rather, whatever is given to you in that hour, say that; for you are not the ones speaking, but rather the Spirit, the Holy one. 12And brother will deliver up brother to death, and father child, and children will rise up against parents and put them to death; 13And you will be hated by all on account of my name; but whoever endures to the end, that one will be saved. 14And when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not . . .” (Let the reader understand) “. . . then those in Judaea, let them flee into the mountains; 15He who is on the housetop, let him neither descend nor go in to collect things from his household; 16And he who is in the field, let him not turn back to fetch his cloak. 17And alas in those days for pregnant women and for women nursing. 18And pray that it may not occur in winter; 19For those days will be an affliction such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation that God created until now—nor indeed could occur. 20And, but that the Lord shortened those days, no flesh at all would have been saved; yet, because of the chosen whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21And if anyone says to you then, ‘Look: Here is the Anointed,’ ‘Look: There,’ do not believe; 22False Anointed Ones and false prophets will be raised up, and they will produce signs and prodigies, so as to lead astray—if possible—the chosen. 23But keep watch: I have told you all things in advance. 24And in those days, after that affliction, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, 25And the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; 27And then he will send forth the angels and they will gather together the chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky. 28But learn the parable from the fig tree: Now, when its branch softens and it produces leaves, you know that the summer is near; 29So you also, when you see these things happening, you know that he is near, at the doors. 30Amen, I tell you that this generation most certainly does not pass away until all these things happen. 31The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32But, as for the day and hour, no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—except the Father. 33Keep watch, be alert: For you do not know when the moment is. 34Just as a man gone abroad, leaving his household and giving power to his slaves—to each a task of his own—also commanded the doorkeeper that he should be vigilant. 35Be vigilant, therefore—for you do not know when the Lord of the household comes, whether at evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or in the morning—36So that, arriving suddenly, he does not find you sleeping. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Be vigilant.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1Now it would after two days be the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought a way in which, seizing him by deceit, they might kill him; 2For they said, “Not during the festival, so that there will be no unrest among the people.”

3And when he was in Bethany, in the home of Simon the leper, reclining at table, there came a woman who had an alabaster phial of pure, precious unguent of nard; breaking the alabaster phial, she poured it over his head. 4But there were some who expressed indignation to one another: “Why has there been this waste of the unguent? 5For this unguent could be sold for more than three hundred denarii, and that given to the destitute.” And they were angry at her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her be; why do you subject her to abuse? She has done me a beautiful deed; 7For you always have the destitute with you, and you can do good to them whenever you wish, but you do not always have me. 8She did what she could; she has anointed my body, in anticipation, for burial. 9Amen, I tell you, wherever the good tidings are proclaimed, in the whole world, what this woman did will also be told, as a memorial to her.” 10And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order that he might hand him over to them. 11And hearing this they were grateful and promised to give him silver. And he sought an opportune means by which he might hand him over.

12And on the first day of the Unleavened Loaves, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb,q his disciples say to him, “Where do you wish us to go make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 13And he sends out two of his disciples and says to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying an earthen vessel of water will meet you; follow him, 14And, wherever he goes inside, tell the master of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where are my quarters, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 15And he will show you a large upper room, already laid out; and prepare for us there.” 16And the disciples went out and came into the city, and found exactly what he had told them, and prepared the Passover. 17And when evening came he arrives with the twelve. 18And as they were reclined at table and eating, Jesus said, “Amen, I tell you that one of you will hand me over, one who is eating with me.” 19They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, “Surely not I?” 20And he said to them, “One of the twelve, the one who dips in the same dish along with me. 21Because indeed the Son of Man goes away, just as has been written concerning him; but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is handed over; a good thing for that man if he had not been born.” 22And as they were eating he took a loaf and, giving thanks, broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take it: This is my body.” 23And, taking a cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and all drank from it. 24And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is being shed for many. 25Amen, I tell you, henceforth I will most surely not drink of the yield of the vine until that day when I drink it with you, new, in the Kingdom of God.”

26And, having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27And Jesus says to them: “You will all be caused to falter, because it has been written, ‘I shall strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28But after I am raised, I shall precede you into Galilee.” 29But Peter declared to him, “Even if all will be made to falter, still I shall not.” 30And Jesus says to him, “Amen, I tell you that today, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31But he said more vehemently, “Even if it should be necessary for me to die with you, I most assuredly will not deny you.” And so said all.

32And they come to a place whose name is Gethsemane, and he says to the disciples, “Sit down here while I pray.” 33And he takes Peter and James and John along with him, and he began to be overwhelmed and to suffer distress. 34And he says to them, “My soul is in anguish, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35And going a little ahead he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it is possible, the hour might pass him by, 36And said, “Abba,”—Father—“for you all things are possible; take this cup away from me; yet not what I will, but rather what you will.” 37And he comes and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Keep watch and pray, that you might not come to trial; truly, the spirit is eager, but the flesh is frail.” 39And going again he prayed, speaking the same words. 40And on coming he again found them sleeping, for their eyes were becoming very heavy, and they did not know what answer they might give him. 41And he comes the third time and says to them, “Sleep some more and rest; it is far off . . .r—The hour has come. Look: The Son of Man is delivered over into the hands of sinners. 42Arise, let us be going. Look: The one handing me over has come near.” 43And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrives, and with him a crowd with swords and bludgeons from the chief priests and scribes and elders. 44Now the one handing him over gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I should kiss is he; seize him and lead him securely away.” 45And, coming, he immediately approaches and says to him, “Rabbi,” and kissed him affectionately. 46And they laid hands on him and forcibly seized him. 47But a certain one of those standing beside him, pulling out his sword, struck the chief priest’s slave and cut off his ear. 48And Jesus, speaking aloud, said to them, “You came out to arrest me, as though against a bandit, with swords and bludgeons? 49Each day I was with you in the Temple teaching, and you did not seize me—that thus, instead, the scriptures might be fulfilled.” 50And abandoning him all fled away. 51And a certain young man, wearing a linen garment over his bare flesh, followed along with him, and they seize him forcibly; 52And he, leaving the linen garment behind, fled away naked.

53And they led Jesus away to the chief priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes assemble. 54And Peter followed him from afar, until he was within, in the courtyard of the chief priest, and he was sitting together with the attendants and warming himself at the light. 55And the chief priests and the entire Council sought out evidence against Jesus, in order to put him to death, and found none. 56For many testified falsely against him, and the testimonies were not in agreement. 57And some, standing up, testified falsely against him, saying: 58“We heard him saying, ‘I will tear down this sanctuary made by hand and after three days I will erect another not made by hand.’” 59And, even so, their testimony was not in agreement. 60And, standing up amidst them, the chief priest asked Jesus, “Do you answer nothing to what these men attest against you?” 61But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the chief priest questioned him and says to him, “You are the Anointed, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62And Jesus said, “I am; and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of the sky.” 63And the chief priest, tearing his tunics, says, “What need do we still have for witnesses? 64You heard the blasphemy. How does it seem to you?” And they all adjudged him to be liable to death. 65And some began to spit upon him and to cover his face and strike him with their fists and say to him, “Prophesy!” And the attendants seized him with slaps. 66And, as Peter was below in the courtyard, there came one of the chief priest’s maidservants, 67And, seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him intently and says, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went outside into the forecourt; 69And the maidservant, seeing him again, began to say: “This man is one of them.” 70And again he denied it. And again, a little later, the bystanders said to Peter, “Truly you too are one of them; for you are a Galilaean.” 71And he began to curse and to swear: “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72And immediately a cock crowed for the second time. And Peter remembered the phrase as Jesus had spoken it to him: “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times”; and, cowling himself,s he wept.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1And immediately, early in the morning, the chief priests prepared a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council and, having bound Jesus, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2And Pilate asked him, “You are the king of the Judaeans?” And in reply he says, “You say it.” 3And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4And Pilate again asked him, “Do you give no answer? Look how many things they accuse you of.” 5But Jesus answered nothing more, so that Pilate was amazed. 6Now at a festival he released to them one prisoner, whomever they requested. 7And the one called bar-Abbas was bound together with the rebels, those who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8And the crowd went up and began to request he act toward them as he usually did. 9And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you wish that I might release to you the king of Judaeans?” 10For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over through malice. 11But the chief priests agitated the crowds, so that he might instead release bar-Abbas to them. 12And in reply Pilate again said to them, “What then should I do with him you call the king of the Judaeans?” 13And again they cried out, “Crucify him!” 14But Pilate said to them, “Why, for what evil did he commit?” But they cried out the more, “Crucify him!” 15And Pilate, deciding to appease the crowd, released bar-Abbas to them, but having flogged Jesus he handed him over that he might be crucified.

16Then the soldiers led him inside into the courtyard, which is to say the Praetorium, and they call together the whole cohort. 17And they clothe him in purple and, plaiting a thorn crown, they placed it around him, 18And they began to salute him: “Hail, King of the Judaeans”; 19And they battered his head with a rod and spat on him, and going down on their knees they made obeisance to him. 20And when they had mocked him they stripped off the purple and put his clothing on him. And they lead him away so that they might crucify him. 21And they press into service a certain passerby coming in from the field, Simon the Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, so that he might carry his cross. 22And they bring him to the place Golgotha—which, being interpreted, means Skull’s Place. 23And they gave him wine infused with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucify him, and portion out his garments, casting a lot upon them regarding who would take what. 25And it was the third hour and they crucified him. 26And the epigraph of the charge inscribed against him was: “THE KING OF THE JUDAEANS.” 27And they crucify two bandits with him, one at his right and one at his left. [28And the scripture was fulfilled that said, “And he was numbered with the lawless.”] 29And the passersby blasphemed against him, wagging their heads and saying, “Ah, the one tearing down the sanctuary and building it up in three days—30Save yourself by descending from the cross.” 31And the chief priests likewise, sharing in the mockery with the scribes, one with another, said, “He saved others, himself he cannot save; 32Let the Anointed, the king of Israel, descend from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Those crucified along with him upbraided him also. 33And, when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over all the land, until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which, being interpreted, means, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” 35And some of those who were standing there, hearing this, said, “Look, he calls Elijah.” 36And one of them—having filled a sponge with vinegar and placing it around a rod—ran and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave off, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.” 37But Jesus, letting out a great cry, expired. 38And the veil of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom. 39And the centurion who was standing by opposite him, seeing that he had thus expired, said, “Truly this man was a god’s son.” 40Now there were also women watching from afar, among whom were Mary the Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Small and Joses, and Salome, 41Who had followed him and attended on him when he was in Galilee, and many others who had come up with him into Jerusalem.

42And now that evening had come—since it was the day of Preparation, which is the day before the Sabbath—43There came Joseph from Arimathaea, an honored member of the Council who was himself also awaiting the Kingdom of God; taking courage, he went in to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. 44But Pilate was amazed that he should have died already and, summoning the centurion, asked whether he had died as yet; 45And learning it from the centurion he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46And, having purchased linen cloth, he took him down and wrapped him in the linen and placed him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the tomb’s door. 47And Mary the Magdalene and Joses’s Mary watched where he was laid.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1And when the Sabbath had passed, Mary the Magdalene and James’s Mary and Salome purchased spices so that they might come and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the Sabbath-week they come to the tomb, as the sun is rising. 3And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4And looking up they see that the stone has been rolled back—for it was extremely large. 5And entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting to the right, clothed in a white robe, and they were amazed. 6But he says to them, “Do not be amazed. You seek Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look: the place where they laid him. 7But go tell his disciples and Peter that he precedes you into Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” 8And, going out, they fled from the tomb, for trembling and bewilderment had taken hold of them; and they said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.

[9Now, rising early on the first day of the Sabbath-week, he appeared first to Mary the Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went and announced it to those who had been with him as they were mourning and weeping; 11And they, on hearing that he lives and was seen by her, did not believe. 12But thereafter he was made manifest in another form to two of them who were walking, as they were going into the countryside; 13And they, going away, announced it to the rest; they did not believe them either. 14Later he was made manifest to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he reproached their unbelief and the obduracy of their hearts, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had been raised. 15And he said to them, “Going forth into all the world, proclaim the good tidings to all creation. 16The one having faith and being baptized will be saved, but the one not having faith will be judged. 17And these signs will closely accompany those having faith: In my name they will exorcize demons, they will speak in new languages, 18They will take hold of snakes and, if they drink anything lethal, it will in no way harm them, they will lay hands upon the ill and they will be well.” 19So then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat to the right of God. 20And going forth they made their proclamation everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the signs accompanying them.]t

Notes
a. ἄγγελος (angelos), “angel.”

b. Actually, this quotation comes from Malachi 3:1; but the quotation in the following verse is indeed from Isaiah 40:3. In the Byzantine Text-type version of the text, the mention of Isaiah is omitted and replaced by a reference simply to “the prophets.”

c. An alternative version of the text, attested by a few ancient witnesses, describes Jesus as moved not by compassion but by anger or vexation (perhaps at the man, perhaps at his affliction).

d. Though “son of man” is simply a good Semitic idiom meaning “a man,” by the first century it had long served as the name of a mysterious apocalyptic or eschatological figure (as in the one “like a son of man” who rides in the chariot of God in Ezekiel), and as Christ uses it in the Gospels it should clearly be read as a distinctive prophetic title (though not one whose precise significance can be ascertained).

e. An obscure word, probably a Hellenized form of the Aramaic qannāyā, “zealot” (a reading confirmed by Luke’s Gospel), but some scholars see it as an eccentric form of “Canaanite.”

f. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

g. Or “until the Age [to come].”

h. An “aeonian transgression”: perhaps “answerable for an age-long transgression.”

i. ἐνεῖχεν (eneichen): “hold within,” “keep fast within” (among other meanings); here it seems to have the sense of χόλον ἐνέχειν (cholon enechein): “to harbor anger against,” “to resent.”

j. The text is obscure; the word here is the dative of πυγμή (pygmē), which generally means “fist,” and it has been taken variously to mean “with hands clenched together” (and therefore “vigorously” or “thoroughly”), or “with cupped hands,” or “palm against fist,” or “with a fistful of water.” Pygmē can also, however, mean a unit of measurement equivalent to the distance from knuckles to elbow: hence my (debatable) translation.

k. The Greek reads “τὰ μέρη Δαλμανουθά” (ta merē Dalmanoutha), “Dalmanoutha’s parts” or “the district of Dalmanoutha.” No place bearing this name is known to have existed, and many scholars suspect a corruption of an Aramaic phrase meaning nothing more than what the Greek ta merē already says: “the district of.”

l. This is geographically inaccurate, unless the (questionable) “and” found in some manuscripts is taken as indicating two separate journeys.

m. The text speaks of a κάμηλος (kamēlos, acc. kamēlon), “camel,” but from the early centuries it has been an open question whether it should really be the homophonous (but poorly attested) word κάμιλος (kamilos), “rope,” “hawser”: a more symmetrical but less piquant analogy.

n. καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι (kai tis dynatai sōthēnai): often translated as “Who then can be saved?” or “Can anyone then be saved?” but I take the import (specifically as regards the τίς) to be “Can any [rich man] then be saved?”

o. Or “until the Age [to come].”

p. See Acts 23:8; 1 Corinthians 15:40–54; and 1 Peter 3:18–19, 4:6, as well as the footnotes thereto.

q. Actually, the sacrifice of the paschal lamb occurs on the day before the feast.

r. ἀπέχει (apechei): a word that, in this context, is notoriously obscure. In the transitive, it would normally mean “keeps [something] away,” “holds [something] off,” or, alternatively, “desists from,” “abstains from,” “holds off from”; in the intransitive (which it appears to be here), it would normally mean “is far away from,” “is distant,” or even “extends from”; in the case of certain financial transactions it can mean “is paid in full.” Traditional translations, since Jerome, have taken it here to mean “it is enough,” “it suffices,” though that is a dubious reading. Some take it to be a question—“Is [the hour] far off?”—one that is immediately answered in the negative, or to be a statement—“It is (yet) far off”—one that is immediately contradicted. I have elected the last solution, though with no particular confidence.

s. ἐπιβαλὼν (epibalōn): a present participle that would normally mean “casting upon,” “laying upon,” “covering,” “setting over,” or, alternatively, “going directly toward,” “throwing [oneself] upon,” “eagerly desiring.” Many traditional renderings take it here to mean “thinking thereon,” but that is almost certainly wrong. Some scholars think that it may mean “throwing [himself] upon [the ground].” Others take it to mean “rushing away,” “driving [himself] out.” Still others, with whom I (hesitantly) concur, take it to mean “covering [his head with his mantle],” or some similar gesture, either as an expression of emotional turmoil or (as seems likely) so as to conceal his grief from bystanders who might yet accuse him of being one of Jesus’s followers.

t. The final twelve verses of the Gospel are set apart here because they are a somewhat later addition, absent from the text known to the earliest Church Fathers. Whether they were added to compensate for the abruptness of Mark’s conclusion (intentional or accidental) or to replace a lost original ending (which is not unlikely, given the hazards afflicting the transcription and preservation of manuscripts in late antiquity) we cannot say. That they were not written by Mark, however, is beyond serious doubt.

The Gospel According to Luke

CHAPTER ONE

1Since many have set their hands to laying out an orderly narrative regarding the events that have been brought to fulfillment among us, 2Just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning, and who became servants of the word, passed it on to us, 3It seemed a good thing that I also, having exactingly traced out everything from the beginning, should write it out in order for you, most exalted Theophilus, 4So that you might recognize the reliability of the accounts you have been taught.

5In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, Zacharias by name, from the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife came from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And both were upright before God, conducting themselves impeccably in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. 7And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were well advanced in their days. 8Now it happened that, when it was his order’s turn in the presence of God, and as he was serving as priest, 9It fell to him by lot—as was the custom of the priesthood—to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10And all the main body of the people was outside praying during the hour of the incense. 11And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of the incense. 12And seeing him Zacharias was alarmed, and fear descended upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your supplication has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall declare his name to be John; 14And for you there will be joy and delight, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15For he will be great in the Lord’s eyes; and he must not drink wine or fermented drink, and he will be filled with a Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, 16And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God; 17And he will go forth in his presence, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and to turn the wayward to the wisdom of the upright, to prepare a people made ready for the Lord.” 18And Zacharias said to the angel, “In what way shall I know this? For I am old and my wife is well advanced in her days.” 19And in reply the angel said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stand before the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and announce these good tidings to you; 20See then: You shall be silent and unable to speak till the day these things take place, because you did not trust my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” 21Now the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they were amazed that he was taking so much time in the sanctuary. 22And when he came out he was unable to speak to them and they knew he had seen a vision in the sanctuary; and he was gesturing to them, and remained mute. 23And it happened that when the days of his service were completed he departed to his house. 24And after these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and kept herself concealed, saying: 25“Thus the Lord has done for me, in the days when he looked to remove the censure that is mine among men.”

26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee whose name was Nazareth, 27To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And going in to her he said, “Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you.” 29And she was greatly distressed at his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And see: You will conceive in your womb and will bear a son, and you shall declare his name to be Jesus. 32This man will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33And he will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, as I have intimacy with no man?” 35And in reply the angel told her, “A Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence the offspring will be called holy also, a Son of God. 36And look at your kinswoman Elizabeth: She also conceived a son, in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who had been called barren; 37Because nothing, of all the things I have said, is impossible with God.” 38And Mary said, “See: the slave of the Lord; may it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel departed from her. 39And during those days Mary went up in haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40And entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with a Holy Spirit, 42And with a great cry she called out and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed the fruit of your womb. 43And is this happening to me—that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For look: As the sound of your greeting entered my ears, the baby in my womb leapt in joy. 45And how blissful she who has faith, for from the Lord will come fulfillment of what she has been told.” 46And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the Lord’s greatness, 47And my spirit rejoices in God my savior, 48Because he looked upon the low estate of his slave. For see: Henceforth all generations will bless me; 49Because the Mighty One has done great things to me. And holy is his name, 50And his mercy is for generations and generations to those who fear him. 51He has worked power with his arm, he has scattered those who are arrogant in the thoughts of their hearts; 52He has pulled dynasts down from thrones and exalted the humble, 53He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54He has given aid to Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, 55Just as he promised to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed, throughout the age.”a 56And Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her house.

57Now for Elizabeth her time of bearing reached its term, and she gave birth to a son. 58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had so lavishly bestowed his mercy on her, and they rejoiced with her. 59And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the little child, and they were calling him by the name of his father Zacharias. 60And speaking out his mother said, “No, he shall instead be called John.” 61And they said to her: “There is no one from your family who is called by this name.” 62And they gestured to his father concerning what he might wish him to be called. 63And, requesting a tablet, he wrote, “John is his name.” And all of them were amazed. 64And on the instant his mouth and tongue were set free, and he spoke, blessing God. 65And fear came upon all who dwelled around them, and all these stories were talked about throughout the whole hill country of Judaea, 66And all those hearing them took them to their heart, saying, “What then will this little child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” 67And his father Zacharias was filled with a Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, 68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited his people and bought their liberation, 69And raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant—70As he said through the mouth of his holy prophets of old—71Salvation out of the hands of our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us, 72To work mercy with our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73The oath he swore to Abraham our father, to grant that we, 74Having been delivered without fear from our enemies’ hands, might worship him, 75In holiness and justice before his presence for all our days. 76And now you, little child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you go forth before the presence of the Lord to prepare his ways, 77To give to his people a knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, 78Through our God’s inmost mercy, whereby a dawning from on high will visit us, 79To shine upon those sitting in darkness and death’s shadow, so to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

80And the little child grew and became mighty in spirit, and he was in the desert places till the days when he was openly proclaimed to Israel.

CHAPTER TWO

1Now it happened that in those days an edict went out from Caesar Augustus that all the inhabited world should be enrolled in a census. 2This, the first enrollment, took place when Quirinius was governing Syria.b 3And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4And so Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and lineage of David, 5To be enrolled with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and who was pregnant. 6And while they were there it came about that the days of her bearing reached their term, 7And she gave birth to her son, her firstborn, and she wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the lodge. 8And there were shepherds in the countryside there, dwelling out in the fields and keeping guard in the night over their flock. 9And an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were afraid, greatly afraid. 10And the angel said to them, “Do not fear; for see: I bring to you good tidings of a great joy, which will be for all the people, 11Because today, in David’s city, a savior was born to you who is the Anointed Lord. 12And this is a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a throng of the heavenly army, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest places and peace on earth among men of good will.” 15And it happened that, as the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this story that has unfolded, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And hastening they went and found both Joseph and Mary, and the baby lying in the manger as well; 17And seeing them they revealed what they had been told concerning this little child. 18And everyone who heard was amazed at the things reported to them by the angels. 19But Mary kept all these things in her heart, pondering them. 20And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.

21And when eight days had been completed it was time to circumcise him, and his name was declared to be Jesus, the name pronounced by the angel before his conception in the womb.

22And when the days of their purification were completed, in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present to the Lord—23As has been written in the Law of the Lord: that “Every male that opens the womb shall be declared holy to the Lord”—24And to offer a sacrifice—in keeping with what is stated in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two nestling pigeons.” 25And look: There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Symeon, and this was a man upright and pious, eagerly awaiting the consolation of Israel, and a Holy Spirit was upon him; 26And it had been made known to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he should see the Anointed of the Lord. 27And he came in the Spirit into the Temple; and as the parents brought in the little child Jesus, so that they could do for him what was customary according to the Law, 28He took him in his arms and blessed God and said, 29“Now you release your slave in peace, Master, in keeping with your word; 30For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31Which you have made ready before the face of all peoples, 32A light for a revelation to the gentiles and a glory for your people Israel.” 33And his father and mother were marveling at the things being said about him. 34And Symeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Look: This one is appointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and as a sign that will be spoken against—35And your own soul a sword will also pierce—so that the considerations of many hearts may be revealed.” 36And there was Anna, a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher—she was advanced in days, a great many—who had lived with her husband for seven years after her maidenhood, 37And for eighty-four years had been a widow: who did not leave the Temple, serving night and day with fasts and supplications. 38And, approaching at the same hour, she openly praised God and spoke about him to those awaiting the liberation of Jerusalem. 39And when they finished everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.

40And the little child grew and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

41And each year, at the feast of the Passover, his parents journeyed to Jerusalem. 42And when he had reached twelve years of age they went up for the feast as they were accustomed to do; 43And having finished their days there, and as they were on their way back, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and his parents were unaware he had done so. 44Rather, assuming him to be in the traveling party, they went on their way for a day, then sought him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45And, not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for him. 46And it happened that, after three days, they found him in the Temple, sitting amid the teachers, both listening to them and posing them questions; 47And those listening to him were astonished at his intelligence and at his responses. 48And seeing him they were struck with wonder, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us thus? Look! Your father and I are in horrible distress seeking you.” 49And he said to them, “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that it is necessary for me to be in the home of my Father?c 50And they did not understand what he had said to them. 51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. And his mother treasured all these sayings in her heart. 52And Jesus progressed in wisdom and age and favor before God and men.

CHAPTER THREE

1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governing Judaea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trochonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2While Annas and Caiaphas held the high priesthood, a word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the desert. 3And he went into all the region round about the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of the heart’s transformation, for the forgiveness of sins, 4As it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the Lord’s way, make straight his paths. 5Every ravine shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and whatever is crooked shall become straight, and the rough roads shall become smooth; 6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

7So he said to the crowds going out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers, who divulged to you that you should flee from the wrath that is coming? 8Bear fruits, then, worthy of a change of heart; and do not think to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father’; for I tell you that God has the power to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; and thus every tree not bearing good fruit is felled and thrown into fire.” 10And the crowds questioned him, saying, “What then should we do?” 11And in reply he said to them, “Whoever has two tunics must share with him who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12And tax-collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect nothing more than you are required to.” 14And men serving in the army also questioned him, saying, “And we too, what should we do?” And he told them, “Neither extort from, nor falsely accuse, anyone; and be contented with your wages.” 15And as all were waiting in expectation, and were debating in their hearts concerning John—whether “He might perhaps be the Anointed”—16John spoke aloud to everyone, saying, “I indeed baptize you in water; but there comes one mightier than I, regarding whom I am not fit to loosen the thong of his sandals; he will baptize you in a Holy Spirit and fire; 17Whose winnow is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor, and will gather his grain into the storehouse, and will burn away the chaff with inextinguishable fire.” 18Thus, then, with many and various exhortations, he proclaimed the good tidings to the people; 19But Herod the tetrarch, having been censured by him concerning Herodias, his brother’s wife, and concerning all the wicked things Herod had done, 20Crowned all those things with the addition of this: He shut John up in prison.

21And it happened that when all the people were being baptized, and Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened, 22And the Spirit, the Holy one, descended in the corporeal form of a dove, and a voice came out of heaven: “You are my Son, the beloved, in you I have delighted.” 23And, when he set out, Jesus was himself about thirty years old, being the son—so it was supposed—of Joseph, son of Heli, 24Son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, 25Son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, 26Son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, 27Son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, 28Son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadan, son of Er, 29Son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, 30Son of Symeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, 31Son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, 32Son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahshon, 33Son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, 34Son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, 35Son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, 36Son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, 37Son of Methusaleh, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, 38Son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.

CHAPTER FOUR

1And Jesus, full of a Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was guided in the wilderness by the Spirit, 2Being tempted for forty days by the Slanderer. And during those days he ate nothing, and when they had reached their end he was hungry. 3And the Slanderer said to him, “If you are God’s Son, command that this stone become a loaf of bread.” 4And Jesus answered him, “It has been written that ‘Man shall not live upon bread alone.’” 5And, leading him upward, he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a single instant of time. 6And the Slanderer said to him, “To you I will give all this power and the glory of these things, because it has been delivered over to me and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if you prostrate yourself before me, it will all be yours.” 8And in reply Jesus said to him, “It has been written, ‘You shall make obeisance to the Lord your God and him only shall you adore.’” 9And he led him to Jerusalem and stood him upon the pinnacle of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, cast yourself down from here, 10For it has been written that ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to keep guard over you,’ 11And that ‘Their hands will bear you up, that you may not strike your foot against a stone.’” 12And in reply Jesus said to him: “It has been said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13And, having exhausted every temptation, the Slanderer departed from him until an opportune time. 14And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and a rumor concerning him went forth through the whole region. 15And he taught in their synagogues, being praised by all.

16And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and, as he was accustomed to do, he entered the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath and stood up to read. 17And a scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and having opened the scroll he found the place where it was written: 18“A Spirit of the Lord is upon me; hence he has anointed me to announce good tidings to the destitute, he has sent me out to proclaim release to captives and sight to the blind, to send the downtrodden forth in liberty, 19To proclaim the Lord’s acceptable year.” 20And, having closed the scroll and returning it to the attendant, he sat; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were gazing at him. 21And he began by saying to them, “Today, in your ears, this scripture has been fulfilled.” 22And all professed their admiration for him and were amazed at the words of grace coming out of his mouth, and they said, “Is this man not Joseph’s son?” 23And he said to them, “Surely you will quote me this parable: ‘Physician, heal yourself’; the things we heard were happening in Capernaum, do them here as well, in your native country.” 24And he said, “Amen, I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25And I tell you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was sealed up for over three years and six months, as a great famine took place over all the land, 26And to none of them was Elijah sent except to a widowed woman of Sarepta in Sidon. 27And there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28And all in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things, 29And rising up they drove him outside the city, and led him to the edge of the mountain on which their city was built so as to throw him down; 30But he passed through their midst and went away.

31And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath; 32And they were astounded at his teaching, because his speech had power. 33And in the synagogue there was a man having the spirit of an impure demon, and he shouted out in a loud voice, 34“Ah, what is there between us and you, Jesus the Nazarene? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God.” 35And Jesus rebuked it, saying, “Be silent and come out from him.” And the demon, throwing him down in their midst, came out from him, doing him no injury. 36And amazement came over everyone, and they spoke to one another, saying, “What speech is this, that he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out?” 37And a rumor concerning him went forth into every place in the region. 38And rising to leave the synagogue he went into the home of Simon, and Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a great fever, and they appeal to him concerning her. 39And, standing over her, he rebuked the fever and it left her; and, immediately getting up, she waited on them. 40And, when the sun had set, all those who had persons ailing from various diseases brought them to him; and he, laying his hands on each one of them, healed them. 41And demons also came out from many, crying out and saying: “You are the Son of God.” And, admonishing them, he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew him to be the Anointed. 42And when day came he departed and went to a deserted place; and the crowds sought him out, and came to him, and detained him so that he would not go from them. 43And he said to them: “It is necessary for me to announce the good tidings of the Kingdom of God to the other cities as well, because for this I was sent forth.” 44And he was making his proclamation in the synagogues of Judaea.

CHAPTER FIVE

1And it happened that, as the crowd pressed in upon him and listened to God’s word, and as he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2He then saw two boats standing at the lake’s edge; and the fishermen, having disembarked from them, were washing the nets. 3And embarking in one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, he asked him to put out a little from the land; and sitting down he taught the crowds from the boat. 4And when he ceased speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let your nets down for a haul.” 5And in reply Simon said, “Master, we labored all through the night and took in nothing; but on your word I will let down the nets.” 6And when they did so they ensnared an immense multitude of fishes, and their nets were being torn. 7And they signaled to their fellows in the other boat that they should come to help them; and they came, and they filled both boats, so much so that they were sinking. 8And seeing this, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Go from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” 9For amazement had seized him and all those with him at the haul of fishes that they gathered—10And so likewise both James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be capturing men.” 11And, bringing the boats back onto the land, they abandoned everything and followed him.

12And it happened that he was in one of the cities, and look: a man covered with leprosy; and seeing Jesus he fell upon his face and implored him, saying, “Lord, if you wish it, you are able to cleanse me.” 13And stretching out his hand he touched him, saying, “I wish it, be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14And he enjoined him to tell no one: “Rather, go show the priest, and for your cleansing make an offering as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” 15But, instead, talk concerning him went about all the more, and many crowds came together to listen and to be healed of their infirmities; 16But he was withdrawn into the desert places and was praying.

17And it happened that, on one of those days, he was teaching, and seated there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law, coming from every village of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the Lord’s power of healing was with him. 18And look: men carrying on a pallet a man who had been paralyzed; and they sought to carry him in and lay him before him. 19And, not finding a way by which they could bring him in, on account of the crowd, they went up onto the roof and lowered him, along with his pallet, through the tiles and into their midst, right in front of Jesus. 20And seeing their faith he said, “Man, your sins have been forgiven you.” 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to ponder this, saying, “Who is this man who utters blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” 22But in reply Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, “Why do you reason over these things in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24But in order that you should know that the Son of Mand has power to forgive sins on the earth . . .” —He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise and take your pallet and go to your house.” 25And rising at once, picking up what he had been lying on, he went away to his house glorifying God. 26And bewilderment took hold of everyone, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen incredible things this day.”

27And after these events he went out and saw a tax-collector by the name of Levi sitting at the tax-collection house, and said to him, “Follow me.” 28And abandoning everything he rose and followed him. 29And Levi set a great banquet for him at his home; and there was a great crowd of tax-collectors and others who were reclining at table with them. 30And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax-collectors and sinners?” 31And in reply Jesus said to them, “Those who are hale have no need of a physician, but rather those who are ill; 32I have come to call not the upright, but sinners, to a change of heart.” 33And they said to him, “John’s disciples fast and pray frequently, as do also those of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; and then, in those days, they will fast.” 36And he also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment to put it on an old; otherwise, he tears what is new, while the patch from the new will not match the old. 37And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the wineskins, and will be spilled out, and the wineskins will perish. 38Rather, one must put new wine into new wineskins. 39And no one having drunk the old desires the new; for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

CHAPTER SIX

1Now it happened that he passed through fields of grain on the Sabbath, and his disciples plucked and ate the ears of grain, chafing them in their hands. 2And some of the Pharisees said, “Why do they do what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3And replying to them Jesus said, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, as well as those who were with him? 4How he entered the house of God and, taking the loaves of the bread of Presentation, which it is unlawful except for the priests to eat, he ate them and gave them to those with him?” 5And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 6And it happened that, on another Sabbath, he entered a synagogue and taught; and there was a man there and his right hand was withered; 7And the scribes and the Pharisees observed him closely to see if he heals on the Sabbath, that they might find a way to accuse him. 8And he knew their reasoning, and he said to the man with a withered hand, “Rise and stand up in our midst.” And, rising, he stood. 9And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is permissible on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a soul or to destroy it?” 10And, looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch forth your hand.” And he did, and his hand was restored. 11And they were filled with unthinking rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

12Now it happened that in those days he went out to the mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13And when day came he summoned his disciples, and chose twelve from among them whom he also named Apostles: 14Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip and bar-Tholomaus, 15And Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon—the one called Zealot—and Judas the son of James, 16And Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor. 17And descending with them he stood upon a level place, along with a large crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all of Judaea and Jerusalem and the coastal country of Tyre and Sidon, 18Who came to hear him and to be cured of their diseases; and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed. 19And all the crowd sought to touch him, because power went forth from him and healed all. 20And he, raising his eyes to his disciples, said:

“How blissfule the destitute, for yours is the Kingdom of God; 21How blissful those who are now hungry, for you shall feast; how blissful those now weeping, for you shall laugh; 22How blissful you when men hate you and when they exclude you and reproach you and reject your name as something wicked, for the Son of Man’s sake: 23On that day, rejoice and leap about; for look: Your reward in Heaven is great; for their fathers accordingly did the same things to the prophets.

24“But alas for you who are rich, for you have your comfort. Alas for you who are now replete, for you will be hungry. 25Alas for those now laughing, for you will mourn and lament. 26Alas for you when all men speak well of you, for in like fashion their fathers did the same things to the false prophets. 27But to you who listen I say, Love your enemies, do well by those who hate you, 28Bless those cursing you, pray for those reviling you. 29To him who strikes you on the cheek turn the other also, and from him who takes your cloak do not withhold your tunic as well. 30Give to everyone who asks and do not ask back from the one taking your things. 31And just as you wish men should do to you, do likewise to them. 32And if you love those who love you, what is your thanks? For even sinners love those who love them. 33For even if you do good to those who do good to you, what is your thanks? Even sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks have you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order that they may receive an equal return. 35But love your enemies and do good and lend without despairing of it; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Become compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. 37And do not judge, and you surely shall not be judged, and do not condemn, and you surely shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. 38Give, and you shall be given: Into your lap they will pour a goodly measure, pressed down, shaken together, and spilling over; for in whatever measure you measure it shall in turn be meted out to you.” 39And he spoke a parable to them as well: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher; but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41And why do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, yet do not perceive the beam in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the straw out of your eye,’ while not yourself seeing the beam in your eye? Charlatan, first pluck the beam out of your eye, and then you will see clearly how to pluck the straw out of your brother’s eye. 43For there is no good tree that produces diseased fruit, nor again any diseased tree that produces good fruit. 44For every tree is known by its own fruit; for they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pluck a bunch of grapes from brambles. 45The good man brings forth that which is good from the good treasury of the heart, and the wicked man brings forth that which is wicked from the wicked; for his mouth speaks out of what overflows from his heart. 46And why do you call out to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47Everyone coming to me and hearing my words and doing them, I will show you whom he is like. 48He is like a man building a home, who dug and delved and laid a foundation upon the rock; and a flood came and the river broke upon that home and could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one hearing and not doing is like a man who built his home atop the earth, without a foundation, upon which the river broke and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that home was a great one.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

1When he had entirely filled the ears of the people with these discourses of his, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a certain centurion’s slave, who was dear to him, was ill to the point of death. 3And hearing about Jesus he sent elders of the Judaeans to him, asking him that he might come and save his slave. 4And coming to Jesus they earnestly entreated him, saying: “He to whom you would grant this is worthy; 5For he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” 6And Jesus went with them. And, when he was not far away from the household, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof; 7Hence I did not think myself worthy to come to you; but declare it by a word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I am also a man set under authority, having soldiers under me, and to this one I say, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9And, hearing this, Jesus marveled at him and, turning to the crowd following him, said, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel.” 10And, returning to the house, those who had been sent found the slave in good health. 11And it happened that on the next day he went into a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12And as he drew near the city’s gate, look: A man who had died was being carried out, the only-begotten son of his mother, and she was a widow. 13And, seeing her, the Lord was moved inwardly with compassion for her and said, “Do not weep.” 14And approaching he touched the coffin, and those bearing it stood still, and he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. 16And fear gripped everyone, and they glorified God, saying: “A great prophet has been raised up among us, and God has visited his people.” 17And this story about him went out into the whole of Judaea and the surrounding region.

18And John’s disciples brought him word concerning all these things. And, summoning a certain pair of his disciples, John 19Sent to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is coming or should we expect another?” 20And coming to him the men said, “John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is coming or should we expect another?’” 21In that hour he healed many of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many who were blind. 22And in reply he said to them, “Go report to John the things that you have seen and heard: The blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are being cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are given good tidings, 23And how blissful is he who is not offended by me.” 24And when John’s messengers went away he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to gaze at? A reed being shaken by the wind? 25What rather did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Look: Those wearing splendid garments and living in luxury are in the houses of kings. 26What, rather, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. 27This is he concerning whom it has been written, ‘See: I send forth my messenger before your face, who will prepare your path before you.’ 28I tell you truly, among those born of women no one is greater than John; but a lesser man in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.” (29And all the people hearing this who had been baptized with John’s baptism, even the tax-collectors, spoke of God’s justice; 30But the Pharisees and the lawyers, not being baptized by him, rejected God’s will for them.) 31“To what, then, may I liken the men of this generation, and what do they resemble? 32They are like children sitting in a marketplace accosting one another, who say, ‘We played flutes for you and you did not dance; we wailed in lamentation and you did not weep.’ 33For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look: a gluttonous and wine-besotted man, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.’ 35And Wisdom has been vindicated by all her children.”

36Now a certain one of the Pharisees requested him to dine with him; and entering the Pharisee’s house he reclined at table. 37And look: There was a woman in the city who was a sinner, and knowing that he is reclining in the home of the Pharisee, and bringing an alabaster phial of unguent, 38And standing behind, weeping at his feet, she began to make his feet wet with her tears, and she wiped them off with the hair of her head, and fervently kissed his feet and anointed them with unguent. 39But, seeing this, the Pharisee who had invited him talked to himself, saying, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and of what sort this woman who touches him is, for she is a sinner.” 40And in reply Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he says, “Speak, teacher.” 41“There were two men indebted to a certain moneylender: The one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. 42As they had nothing with which to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more?” 43In reply Simon said: “The one to whom he freely forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44And turning to the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your home, you did not give me water for my feet; but she washed my feet with her tears and wiped them off with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss of friendship, but she from the time I entered has not ceased fervently kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil; but she anointed my feet with unguent. 47By virtue of which, I tell you, her sins—which are many—have been forgiven, because she loved much; but one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49And those reclining at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

1And afterward it happened that he journeyed through every city and village proclaiming and announcing the good tidings of the Kingdom of God, and the twelve along with him, 2As well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out, 3And Joanna, wife of Chuza the steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them from their own possessions. 4Now as a great crowd was gathering and those of every city were journeying to him, he spoke by way of a parable: 5“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed some of it fell beside the path and was trampled down, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6And other seed fell upon a rock and when it sprang up it withered because it had no moisture. 7And other seed fell amid thorns, and the thorns, springing up along with it, throttled it. 8And other seed fell into the good soil and when grown yielded fruit a hundredfold.” Having said these things, he called out, “Let him who has ears listen.” 9And his disciples asked him what this parable might mean. 10And he said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that seeing they may not see and hearing they might not understand. 11Now this is the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those beside the road are those hearing; then the Slanderer comes and seizes the word away from their heart, that they might not have faith and be saved. 13And those on the rock are those who hear and accept the word with joy; and these have no root and they have faith for a season and in the season of trial fall away. 14And that falling into the thorns, these are the ones who hear but who, in going on, are throttled by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and never reach ripeness. 15And that in the good soil, these are those who, hearing with a fine and good heart, hold fast to the word, and by their constancy bear fruit. 16Now no one, having lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or places it beneath a couch; rather he places it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17For nothing is hidden that will not become manifest, nor is anything secret that will not certainly be made known and come into the open. 18Take care, therefore, how you listen: For whosoever has, to him it will be given; and whosoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

19And his mother and brothers came to him, and were unable to come near to him because of the crowd. 20And it was reported to him: “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see you.” 21But in reply he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those hearing the word of God and doing it.”

22And it happened on one of those days that, as he and his disciples embarked in a boat, he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” And they set forth. 23And as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm descended upon the lake, and they were being overwhelmed and were in peril. 24And they went to him and roused him, saying, “Master, master we are perishing.” And he, having been awakened, rebuked the wind and the turmoil of the water; and they ceased, and a calm came about. 25Then he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And, being afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this man, that he commands even the wind and the water, and they obey him?” 26And they sailed down to the region of the Gerasenes, which lies opposite Galilee. 27And as he went onto land he was met by a certain man from the city who had demons in him, and who for a considerable time had worn no garment, and who dwelled not in a house but among the tombs. 28And seeing Jesus, and crying out, he fell prostrate before him and in a loud voice said, “What do I and you have to do with one another, Son of God Most High? I implore you, do not torment me.” 29For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For many times it had seized hold of him, and he had been bound with chains and fetters, and tearing the bonds apart he was driven by the demon into desert places. 30And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31And they implored him that he would not order them to depart into the Abyss. 32And there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the hill; and they implored him to let them enter into those; and he granted them permission. 33So the demons, on coming forth from the man, entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the precipice into the lake and was drowned. 34And, seeing what had happened, the herdsmen fled and reported it in the city and in the fields. 35And they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting clothed and in his right mind by the feet of Jesus, and they were afraid. 36And those who had seen it recounted how the demoniac had been healed. 37And the whole populace of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, because they were gripped with a great fear. So he, embarking in a boat, went back. 38And the man from whom the demons had departed begged that he might stay with him; but he sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your house and relate what God has done for you.” And he went off throughout all the city, proclaiming all the things Jesus had done for him.

40And when Jesus returned the crowd welcomed him, for all were expecting him. 41And look: There came a man whose name was Jairus, and this man was a ruler of the synagogue; and falling at the feet of Jesus he implored him to come into his house, 42Because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. And as he went with him the crowds pressed in upon him. 43And a woman who had suffered a discharge of blood for twelve years, [having squandered all her livelihood on physicians,] who could be healed by no one, 44Approaching from behind, touched the fringe of his mantle, and at once her discharge of blood stopped. 45And Jesus said, “Who touches me?” And, when everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds press in upon and are jostling against you.” 46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I was aware of power having gone forth from me.” 47And the woman, seeing that she was not hidden from view, came trembling and fell down before him, and declared before all the people for what reason she had touched him, and how she had been instantly cured. 48And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace.” 49As he was yet speaking, someone comes from the home of the ruler of the synagogue, saying: “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the teacher further.” 50But hearing this Jesus answered him, “Do not be afraid; only have faith and she will be saved.” 51And, on coming into the house, he permitted no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the girl’s father and mother. 52And all were weeping and beating their breasts for her. And he said, “Do not weep; she has not died, but sleeps.” 53And they scoffed at him, knowing that she had died. 54But he, taking hold of her hand, called to her, saying, “Little girl, arise.” 55And her spirit returned, and she at once arose, and he instructed that she be given something to eat. 56And her parents were astonished; but he enjoined them to tell no one what had happened.

CHAPTER NINE

1And having called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority, over all the demons and for curing diseases; 2And he sent them forth to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal diseases; 3And he said to them, “Take nothing for the road, neither staff, nor leather pouch, nor a loaf of bread, nor silver—nor have two tunics each. 4And into whatever household you enter, stay there and venture out from there. 5And whoever should not receive you, on leaving that city shake the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6And setting out they passed throughout the villages, everywhere proclaiming the good tidings and healing. 7Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things taking place, and he was perplexed because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8And by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. 9But Herod said, “I beheaded John; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

10And when they had returned the Apostles recounted to him the things they had done. And taking them aside he departed in private to a city called Bethsaida. 11But the crowds, knowing this, followed him; and, welcoming them, he spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and he cured those who had need of healing. 12And the day began to decline; and the twelve approached and said to him, “Send this crowd away so that, going to the surrounding villages and towns, they may find provisions, because here we are in a desert place.” 13But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish among us, unless we go out to buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them recline in parties of about fifty each.” 15And they did so and made everyone recline. 16And, taking the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke them; he gave them to the disciples to serve out to the crowd. 17And everyone ate their fill; and they took up twelve baskets of the fragments left over.

18And it happened that, as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19And in reply they said, “John the Baptist; but others Elijah, and others that a certain prophet of old has risen again.” 20And he said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?” And in reply Peter said, “The Anointed of God.” 21But, admonishing them, he enjoined them to tell this to no one, 22Saying: “It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 23And he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come along after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross each day, and let him follow me. 24For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose it; but whosoever loses his soul for my sake, this one will save it. 25For what profit is there for a man gaining the whole cosmos but losing—or being deprived of—himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of this one the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory, the glory of the Father and of his holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing in this place who most certainly would not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God.”

28And it happened that, about eight days after these exchanges, he took Peter and John and James and went up into the mountain to pray. 29And as he was praying the appearance of his face became different and his raiment became gleaming white. 30And look: Speaking with him were two men who were Moses and Elijah, 31Who—appearing in glory—spoke to him about his journey forth, which he was about to complete in Jerusalem. 32And Peter and those with him were weighed down by sleep; but waking thoroughly they saw the glory of him and of the two men standing with him. 33And it happened that, when they parted from him, Peter—not knowing what he is saying—said to Jesus, “Master, it is a good thing for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 34And as he was saying these things a cloud came and overshadowed them; and as they entered into the cloud they were afraid. 35And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the chosen one, listen to him.” 36And, when the voice had gone, Jesus was found alone, and they were silent, and during those days no one told any of the things they had seen.

37And the next day, as they came down from the mountain, it happened that a great crowd met him. 38And look: A man shouted out from the crowd, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, because he is my one and only child, 39And look, a spirit takes hold of him and suddenly cries out and throws him about frothing and, bruising him, scarcely leaves him. 40And I implored your disciples that they might exorcize it, and they were unable.” 41And in reply Jesus said, “O faithless and perverse generation, for how long shall I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.” 42But, while he was still approaching, the demon tore at him and convulsed him violently; but Jesus rebuked the impure spirit and healed the boy and restored him to his father. 43And all were utterly astonished at the greatness of God.

And, as everyone was marveling at all the things he had done, he said to his disciples, 44“Store these words deep in your ears; for the Son of Man is about to be delivered over into the hands of men.” 45But they did not understand this statement, and it was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to question him about this remark. 46And a debate began among them, concerning who among them might be the greater. 47And Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their heart, took a little child and stood him beside himself, 48And said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives the one having sent me. For he who remains the lesser among all, this one is great.” 49Then, speaking out, John said, “Master, we saw someone exorcizing demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” 50And Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for he who is not against you is for you.”

51And it happened, as the days leading to his being taken up above were being completed, that he turned his face to the journey to Jerusalem, 52And he sent out messengers before his face, and as they journeyed they entered a village of the Samaritans in order to prepare for him; 53And they did not receive him, because his face was turned toward the journey to Jerusalem. 54And the disciples James and John, seeing this, said, “Lord, do you wish that we should command fire to descend from heaven and to destroy them?” 55But turning he rebuked them. 56And they went to another village.

57And, as they went along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere he may lay his head.” 59And he said to someone else, “Follow me.” And he said, “Allow me first to go bury my father.” 60But he said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go announce the Kingdom of God.” 61And another also said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to bid farewell to those at my house.” But Jesus said, “No one putting his hand to the plow and then looking to the things behind him is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

CHAPTER TEN

1After these events, the Lord appointed seventy [-two] others, and sent them out two-by-two before his face, into every city and place to which he was about to come. 2And he said to them, “The harvest is great indeed, but the laborers are few; therefore implore the Lord of the harvest that he may cast laborers out into his harvest. 3Go; see, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4Do not carry a purse, or a leather pouch, or sandals; and do not greet anyone upon the road. 5And into whatever household you enter, say first, ‘Peace be upon this house.’ 6And if there is a son of peace there, your ‘Peace’ will rest upon him; otherwise, it will revert to you. 7And remain in that household, eating and drinking meals with them; for the laborer is deserving of his wages. Do not move about from home to home. 8And into whatever city you enter where they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you, 9And heal those therein who are ailing, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ 10And into whatever city you enter where they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust from your city, clinging to us on our feet, we shake off at you; nevertheless, know this: that the Kingdom of God has drawn near.’ 12I tell you that it will be more tolerable for Sodom on That Day than it will be for that city. 13Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power occurring in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon they would have changed their hearts long ago, sitting down in sackcloth and ashes. 14Nevertheless, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, have you not been exalted to heaven? You shall descend into Hades. 16Whoever hears you hears me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one having sent me forth.” 17And the seventy [-two] returned saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18And he said to them, “I was watching the Accuserf fall like lightning out of the sky.g 19Look: I have given you the power to tread upon snakes and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all shall harm you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been inscribed in the heavens.” 21In that same hour he became exultant in the Spirit, the Holy One, and said, “I praise you, Lord, because you concealed these things from the wise and clever, and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, because such was pleasing before you. 22All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and the one to whom he chooses to reveal him.” 23And turning privately to the disciples he said, “How blissful the eyes seeing the things you see, 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see the things that you see and did not see them, and to hear the things you hear and did not hear them.”

25And look: A certain lawyer stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, by what deeds may I inherit life in the Age?” 26And he said to him, “What has been written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And in reply he said, “You shall love the Lord your God out of the whole of your heart and in the whole of your soul and in the whole of your strength and in the whole of your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You answer correctly; do this and you shall live.” 29But he, wishing to vindicate himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Taking this up, Jesus said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem, and he fell among bandits, who stripped him and rained blows upon him and went away leaving him half dead. 31And by a coincidence a certain priest was going down by that road and, seeing him, passed by on the opposite side. 32And a Levite also, coming upon the place and seeing him, passed by on the opposite side. 33But a certain Samaritan on a journey came upon him and was inwardly moved with compassion, 34And approaching bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and setting him upon his own mount he brought him to a lodge and cared for him. 35And taking out two denarii on the following day he gave them to the keeper of the lodge and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend beyond this I shall repay you on my return.’ 36Who of these three does it seem to you became a neighbor to the man falling among bandits?” 37And he said, “The one treating him with mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

38And as they journeyed on he entered a certain village; and a certain woman by the name of Martha received him into her home. 39And she had a sister called Mary who, sitting also beside the Lord’s feet, listened to his speech. 40But Martha was distracted by serving so much; and she came and said, “Lord, does it not matter to you that my sister left me all alone to serve? Tell her, therefore, that she should assist me.” 41And in reply the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things, 42But there is need of one thing: for Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1And it happened that as he was praying, when he finished, a certain one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John too taught his disciples.” 2And he said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, let your name be held sacred; let your Kingdom come; 3Give us each day our bread for the day ahead, 4And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who are indebted to us; and do not bring us to trial.’”h 5And he said to them, “Among you, what man would have a friend, and would come to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6Since a friend of mine has just visited me from the road and I have nothing I might set before him,’ 7And the one inside would say in response, ‘Do not present me with difficulties; the door has already been closed, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even if he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, still on account of his persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone asking receives, and the one seeking finds, and to the one knocking it will be opened. 11And what father among you, if his son will ask for a fish, will hand him a snake instead of a fish? 12Or, again, if he will ask for an egg, will instead hand him a scorpion? 13If therefore you, being wicked, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give a Holy Spirit to those asking him.”

14And he was exorcizing a demon, and it was mute; and it happened that, as the demon departed, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed; 15But some of them said, “He exorcizes demons by Beelzebul, the Archon of the demons.” 16And others, testing him, sought from him a sign out of heaven. 17And he, perceiving their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falls. 18And, if even the Accuser has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I exorcize the demons by Beelzebul. 19But, if I exorcize the demons by Beelzebul, by what do your sons exorcize? Therefore, they will be your judges. 20But if I exorcize the demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When a strong man, well-armed, keeps guard over his own courtyard, his possessions rest peacefully; 22But, when someone stronger than he vanquishes him, he strips away his panoply, on which he had relied, and divides up the weapons despoiled from him. 23Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather together with me scatters. 24When the impure spirit departs from the man, it passes through all the dry places seeking rest, and finds none. [Then] it says, ‘I shall return to my house, from which I departed.’ 25And coming it finds it swept clean and furnished in good order. 26Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and entering in it dwells there, and the man’s last circumstances become worse than the first.” 27And it happened that as he was saying these things a certain woman raised her voice and said to him from the crowd, “How blissful the womb having borne you and the breasts from which you sucked.” 28But he said, “Blissful, rather, those hearing God’s word and keeping it.”

29And as the crowds pressed in upon him he began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgment along with this generation and will condemn them; because she came from the farthest reaches of this earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and see: Something greater than Solomon is here. 32Ninevite men will rise at the judgment along with this generation and will condemn it; because at the proclamation of Jonah they changed their hearts, and see: Something greater than Jonah is here. 33No one having lit a lamp sets it in a hidden place or under the dry-goods basket, but rather on the lampstand, so that those coming in may see the radiance. 34The body’s lamp is your eye. When your eye is pure, your whole body is luminous; but when it is baleful, your body is dark also. 35Keep watch, therefore, that the light in you is not darkness. 36If, therefore, your whole body is luminous, having no part dark at all, it will be wholly luminous, as when the lamp illuminates you with its shining.

37Now as he was speaking a Pharisee requests that he dine with him; and going in he reclined. 38But the Pharisee was astonished on seeing that before the dinner he did not first wash. 39But the Lord said to him, “But you, the Pharisees, cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of spoliation and wickedness. 40Fools, did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41Instead, give away the things that are within as alms, and look: All things are pure to you. 42But alas for you, the Pharisees, because you make the tithe of the mint and the rue and every herb, and neglect God’s judgment and love; but these it was necessary to practice, without neglecting those things also. 43Alas for you, the Pharisees, because you love the chief seat in the synagogues and the salutations in the marketplaces. 44Alas for you, for you are like unseen graves, and the people walking over them do not know it.” 45And in reply one of the lawyers says to him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46And he said, “Alas also for you, the lawyers, because you burden men with unbearable burdens, while you yourselves do not lay a single one of your fingers upon those burdens. 47Alas for you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48You, therefore, are witnesses that you consent to your fathers’ works, because they killed them and you do the building. 49Thus also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send prophets and Apostles to them, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50So that all the blood of the prophets shed since the foundation of the cosmos will be required of this generation, 51From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary; yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52Alas for you, the lawyers, because you carried away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter in, and those going in you prevented.” 53And when he had departed from there the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to interrogate him on a great many matters, 54Lying in wait for him to catch something out of his mouth.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Meanwhile, as the thousands in the crowd had congregated so that they were treading on one another, he began first to say to his disciples, “Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees, which is dissemblance. 2There is nothing thoroughly veiled that will not be unveiled, or hidden that will not be known. 3Thus the things you said in darkness will be heard in the light, and what you whisper in private rooms will be proclaimed on the rooftops. 4And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those killing the body and thereafter having nothing more that they can do. 5But I shall show you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after killing, has the power to cast one into the Vale of Hinnom. Yes, I tell you, fear this one. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7Rather, even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 8But I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God; 9And the one denying me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10And everyone who will speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be excused him; but the one blaspheming against the Holy Spirit will not be excused. 11And when they bring you in before synagogues and rulers and authorities do not be anxious about how or what you may answer in defense or may say; 12For in that hour the Holy Spirit will teach you the things it is necessary to say.” 13And someone spoke to him out of the crowd: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide his inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who appointed me judge or arbiter over you?” 15And he said to them, “Be wary and guard against all greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.” 16And he told them a parable saying, “The land of a certain rich man yielded well, 17And he reasoned with himself, ‘What shall I do? For I have nowhere to gather in my fruits?’ 18And he said, ‘I shall do this: I shall pull down my granaries and build larger ones and I shall gather there all my grain and goods, 19And I shall say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, make merry.”’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool, this night they demand your soul from you; the things you prepare, then, whose will they be?’ 21Thus is the one storing up treasure for himself but not being rich toward God.” 22And he said to the disciples, “I tell you, therefore, do not be anxious for the soul, what you might eat, or for the body, what you might wear. 23For the soul is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, they who have neither storehouse nor granary, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? 25And who among you can by being anxious add a cubit to the span of his life? 26If, therefore, you are incapable of the least of things, why are you anxious concerning the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they neither spin nor weave; but I tell you, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these. 28And if God thus clothes the grass, which is in the field today and tomorrow is flung into an oven, how much more so you, you of little faith? 29And you, do not seek after what you might eat and what you might drink, and do not fret. 30For these things all the gentile peoples of the world seek after; but your Father knows what you have need of. 31But seek after his Kingdom, and these things will be given you in addition. 32Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has delighted to give you the Kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not wear out, an unfailing treasury in the heavens, near which no thief comes and which no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. 35Let your loins be wrapped and lamps be burning. 36And you, be like men awaiting their lord, whenever he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may immediately open up for him. 37Happy those slaves whom the lord will find vigilant when he comes; amen, I tell you that he will gird himself, and will make them recline and will come and serve them. 38And if he comes in the second or third watch and finds them so, happy are they. 39But know this, if the master of the house knew in what hour the thief comes, he would not have allowed his house to be breached. 40And you, be prepared, because the Son of Man comes in an hour you do not expect.” 41And Peter said, “Lord, do you address this parable to us, or also to everyone?” 42And the Lord said, “Who is the faithful, the prudent steward, whom the lord will appoint over the household attendants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43How happy that slave whom his lord, on coming, will find doing so. 44I tell you truly that he will place him in charge over all his possessions. 45But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My lord takes a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and both to eat and to drink, and to become drunk, 46That slave’s lord will come on a day he does not expect and in an hour he does not know, and will cut him to pieces and assign him a portion with the faithless. 47And that slave who has known his lord’s will, and has not made preparations or acted according to his will, will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who has not known, but has done things worthy of a thrashing, will be beaten with few blows. And to everyone to whom much was given, from him much will be demanded, and from the one to whom much has been entrusted they will request far more. 49I came to fling fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. 50And I have a baptism in which to be baptized, and how hard-pressed I am till it is accomplished. 51Do you think that I came to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52For from now on there will be five in one house divided three against two and two against three; 53Father against son and son against father will be divided, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54And he also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising over the west, you immediately say a storm is coming, and so it happens, 55And when a south wind blows, you say it will be hot, and so it happens. 56Charlatans, you know how to discern the face of earth and sky, but how do you not discern this season? 57And why do you not judge what is right even for yourselves? 58For, as you are going with your adversary to a ruler, take pains to be reconciled with him out in the street, so that he does not drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59I tell you, you most surely will not come out from there until you pay the very last pittance.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1Now some were present at that time who told him about the Galilaeans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And in response he said to them, “Do you think that these Galilaeans surpassed all Galilaeans as sinners, because they suffered these things? 3No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts you will all perish likewise. 4Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they surpassed all men dwelling in Jerusalem in guilt? 5No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts you will all perish likewise.” 6And he spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and came seeking fruit on it, and did not find any. 7And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find nothing; cut it down. Why does it even waste the soil?’ 8But in reply he says to him, ‘Leave it this year too, until I can dig around it and spread manure, 9And see if indeed it produce fruit in future; but if not, you will cut it down.’”

10And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11And look: a woman suffering from a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years, and she was bent over and was entirely unable to stand up straight. 12And seeing her Jesus called her to him and said to her, “Madam, you have been released from your infirmity.” 13And he placed his hands upon her and at once she was raised up erect, and glorified God. 14But in response the ruler of the synagogue, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd: “There are six days when it is necessary to work; come, therefore, and be healed on those, and not on the day of the Sabbath.” 15But the Lord answered him and said, “Charlatans, does not each of you untie his ox or his ass from the manger on the Sabbath and lead it away to drink? 16And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham whom the Accuser has bound for—look!—eighteen years, should she not be released from bondage on this, the day of the Sabbath?” 17And when he had said these things all those opposing him were put to shame, and all the crowd exulted at all the glorious things occurring through him. 18He said, therefore, “What is the Kingdom of God like, and to what may I liken it? 19It is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and cast into his own garden, and it grew and became like a tree, and the birds of the sky took up lodging in its branches.” 20And again he said, “To what may I liken the Kingdom of God? 21It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened.”

22And he traveled on throughout cities and villages, teaching and making his journey to Jerusalem. 23And someone said to him, “Lord, is it the case that those being saved are few?” And he said to them, 24“Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not have the strength. 25From the time the master of the house rises and closes the door, you then begin to stand outside and to knock upon the door, saying, ‘Lord, open it for us,’ and in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you come from.’ 26Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank before you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27And, speaking to you, he will proclaim, ‘I do not know where you come from; stand away from me, all workers of injustice.’ 28There will be weeping and the grinding of teeth when you see Abraham and Israel and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but yourselves driven outside. 29And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. 30And look: ‘There are those who are last who will be first, and there are those who are first who will be last.’” 31In that same hour some Pharisees approached, saying to him, “Leave and journey away from here, for Herod wishes to kill you.” 32And he said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘See, I exorcize demons and accomplish healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I reach my destination.’ 33Moreover, it is necessary for me to journey on, today and tomorrow and the day following, because it is not allowed that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem. 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those sent to her, how often I have wished to gather your children as would a bird her nestlings beneath her wings. 35Look: Your house is abandoned. I tell you, you most surely will not see me till the time when you will say, ‘Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord.’”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1Now it happened that, as he went into the house of one of the chiefs of the Pharisees, they were observing him carefully. 2And look: Before him was a certain man with dropsy. 3And speaking out, Jesus addressed the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to heal or not?” 4And they were silent. And laying hold of him he healed him and sent him away. 5And he said to them, “Who is there among you whose son or ox will fall into a pit, and he will not immediately pull it up again on a Sabbath day?” 6And against this they were powerless to return an answer. 7And taking note of how they were choosing the chief places at the table, he addressed a parable to those who had been invited, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to wedding festivities, do not recline at the best place at the table, in case someone more honored than you has been invited by him, 9And the one who invited both you and him will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and you then will proceed to take the last place. 10Rather, when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, go up to a higher place’; then there will be glory for you before everyone reclining at table with you. 11For everyone exalting himself will be humbled, and the one humbling himself will be exalted.” 12And to the one who had invited him he said, “When you prepare a luncheon or dinner, do not call to your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they invite you in return and it becomes a recompense for you. 13Rather, when you prepare a celebration invite the destitute, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14And you shall be blissful, for they have nothing to repay you with; for it will be repaid you in the resurrection of the just.” 15And, hearing this, one of those reclining at table with him, said to him, “Blissful is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God.” 16And he said to him, “A certain man prepared a great banquet, and invited many, 17And sent out his slave at the hour of the banquet to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, because it is ready now.’ 18And as one they all began to decline. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and am forced to go out to see it; I ask you, have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I bought a yoke of five oxen, and I am going to make a test of them; I ask you, have me excused.’ 20And another said, ‘I have married a wife and therefore cannot come.’ 21And, approaching, the slave reported these things to his lord. Then, enraged, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly, into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the destitute and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22And the slave said, ‘Lord, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ 23And the Lord said to the slave, ‘Go out to the roads and palings and force them to come in, so that my house may be filled; 24For I tell you, not one of those men who have been invited shall taste of my banquet.’”

25And many crowds journeyed along with him, and turning he said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own soul as well, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down to estimate the cost: whether he has enough to complete it? 29So that when he has laid a foundation, and is unable to complete it, those watching him should not begin to mock him, 30Saying: ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, journeying to another king to engage him in war, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one who is coming upon him with twenty thousand? 32And, if not, he will while he is still far off dispatch an embassy to sue for peace. 33So, therefore, no one of you who does not bid farewell to all his own possessions can be my disciple. 34Salt is a good thing, then; but if salt too becomes insipid, with what will it be seasoned? 35It is fit neither for soil nor for manure; they throw it outside. Whoever has ears to listen, let him listen.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1Now drawing near to him to listen to him were all the tax-collectors and sinners. 2And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured a great deal, saying: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3And he spoke this parable to them, saying, 4“What man among you, owning a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that has been lost until he finds it? 5And finding it he joyfully places it on his shoulders, 6And entering the house he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I found my sheep that had been lost.’ 7I tell you that such will the joy be in heaven over one sinner changing his heart, more than over ninety-nine upright men having no need of a change of heart. 8Or what woman possessing ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently till she finds it? 9And finding it she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I found the drachma that I lost.’ 10Thus, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner changing his heart.” 11And he said, “A certain man had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property falling to me.’ And he divided his living between them. 13And not many days later, the younger son, having collected everything, departed for a far country, and dissipated his property by living prodigally. 14When he had spent everything a severe famine spread throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15And he went and attached himself to one of that country’s citizens, and he sent him into his fields to feed the pigs; 16And he longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17And coming to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men are overflowing with bread, but I am here perishing from famine. 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”’ 20And he rose and went to his own father. And while he was yet far away his father saw him and was inwardly moved with pity, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him fervently. 21And his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us sit and have good cheer, 24Because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again, was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25But his older son was in a field; and as he came and drew near the house he heard music and dancing, 26And calling one of the servants over he asked what all this might be. 27And he told him that ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has got him back in good health.’ 28But in his response he was indignant and did not wish to go in; and his father came out and pleaded with him. 29But in reply he said to the father, ‘Look, for so many years I am slaving for you, and I have never disobeyed a command of yours, and you never gave me a goat so that I could make merry with my friends, 30But when this son of yours came, he who has devoured your livelihood with whores, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31And he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and all my things are yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and came to life, and was lost and has been found.’”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1And he said to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and the complaint was made concerning him that he was wasting his property. 2And calling him he said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Render the account of your stewardship; for you can be steward no longer.’ 3And the steward said to himself, ‘What may I do? For my lord is taking the stewardship away from me. I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have realized what I may do, so that once I am removed from stewardship they might welcome me into their houses.’ 5And summoning each one of his lord’s debtors he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my lord?’ 6And he said, ‘A hundred baths of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill and quickly sit down and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred kors of grain.’ He tells him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’ 8And the lord praised the dishonest steward, because he acted prudently; for the sons of this age are more prudent in dealing with their own generation that are the sons of the light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves from the Mammon of unrighteousness, so that when it gives out they may welcome you into the tents of the Age.i 10Whoever is faithful in the least thing is also faithful in much, and whoever is dishonest in the least thing is also dishonest in much. 11If, therefore, you were not faithful with dishonest Mammon, who will entrust you with true wealth?’ 12And, if you were not faithful with what belongs to another, who will entrust you with what belongs to us?j 13No household slave can be a slave to two lords, for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will stand fast by the one and disdain the other. You cannot be a slave both to God and to Mammon.” 14Now all the Pharisees, being lovers of money, heard these things and sneered at him. 15And he said to them, “You are the ones who are offering justifications of yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; because that which is lofty among men is an abomination before God. 16Until John, there were the Law and the prophets; since then the good tidings of God’s Kingdom are being proclaimed, and everyone is being forcedk into it. 17But it is easier for sky and earth to pass away than for a single serif to fall away from the Law. 18Everyone divorcing his wife and marrying another commits adultery, and the woman divorced by her husband who marries commits adultery. 19Now there was a certain rich man, and he used to don a purple robe and fine linen and make merry every day in splendid fashion. 20And a certain destitute man by the name of Lazarus had been laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21And longing to have his hunger sated with the things falling from the rich man’s table; and instead, the dogs came and licked at his sores. 22And it happened that the poor man died and was carried off by the angels into the Vale of Abraham;l but the rich man also died and was entombed. 23And lifting up his eyes in Hades, being in torment, he sees Abraham far off and Lazarus in his vales. 24And calling out he said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he might dip the tip of his finger in water and might cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus in the same way the bad things; and now he is comforted here and you are in torment. 26And, besides all that, a great chasm has been firmly fixed between us and you, so that those wishing to pass to you from here cannot, nor may anyone cross over from there to here.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I ask you, father, that you might send him to my father’s house, 28For I have five brothers; thus he might bear witness to them, so they might not also come to this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham says, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone should go to them from the dead, they will change their hearts.’ 31But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should arise from the dead.’”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1And he said to his disciples, “It is impossible that causes of faltering should not come, but alas for the one through whom they come. 2Better for him that a millstone be placed round his neck and he be thrown into the sea rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to falter. 3Keep watch upon yourselves. If your brother sins, admonish him, and if he changes his heart, forgive him. 4And if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times turns back to you saying, ‘I change my heart,’ you shall forgive him.” 5And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6And the Lord said, “If you have as much faith as a grain of mustard, you might have said to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would have obeyed you. 7But which of you, having a slave plowing or shepherding, will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table,’ 8And will not instead say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to dine on, and gird yourself and wait on me while I eat and drink, and after that eat and drink yourself.’ 9Does he give thanks to the slave because he did the things he was commanded to do? 10So you too, when you do all the things commanded of you, say: ‘We are worthless slaves, we have done what we ought to do.’”

11And it happened that as he journeyed to Jerusalem that he also passed between Samaria and Galilee. 12And as he entered a certain village ten men with leprosy, who stood far off, met him, 13And they raised their voices saying, “Jesus, master, have mercy on us.” 14And seeing them he said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned glorifying God with a loud voice, 16And fell on his face at his feet, thanking him; and he was a Samaritan. 17And in reply Jesus said, “Were not ten of you cleansed? But where are the nine? 18Was none found returning to give glory to God except only this man of another people?” 19And he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has saved you.”

20And when he was asked by the Pharisees, “When is the Kingdom of God coming?” he answered them and said, “The Kingdom does not come as something one observes, 21Nor will persons say, ‘Look: Here it is’ or ‘There it is’ for look: The Kingdom of God is within you.”m 22And he said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. 23And they will say to you, ‘Look: There it is,’ ‘Look: Here it is’; do not go off or follow them. 24For just as the flashing lightning illuminates everything below heaven, from one end to the other, such will be the Son of Man on his day. 25But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26And, just as happened in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man: 27They were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, right up to the day when Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28Just as happened, likewise, in the days of Lot: They were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29But on the day Lot departed from Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed them all. 30It will be just so on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, whoever will be upon the roof while his goods are in his home, let him not come down to collect them; likewise, whoever is in the field, let him not turn back to the things behind. 32Remember Lot’s wife. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his soul, he will lose it; and whoever loses it will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night there will be two men upon one bed, the one will be carried off and the other spared. 35There will be two women grinding grain together, the one will be carried off and the other spared. [36There will be two men in the field, the one will be carried off and the other spared.]” 37And in response they say to him, “Where, Lord?” And he said to them, “Where the body is, there the eagles will also be gathered.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1And he told them a parable on the necessity of their always praying and not becoming remiss, 2Saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge who did not fear God and who had no concern for humankind. 3And there was a widow in that city, and she came to him saying, ‘Grant me justice over against my adversary.’ 4And for some time he would not; but thereafter he said within himself, ‘Though indeed I do not fear God, nor do I have any concern for humankind, 5I shall grant her justice simply because she bothers me, for fear that at the last she will entirely exhaust me with her visits.’” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says; 7Will not God then surely bring about justice for his chosen ones crying to him day and night, and not delay over them for long? 8I tell you, he will swiftly bring them justice. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he then find faith on the earth?”

9And he also spoke this parable to certain persons who were confident that they were upright while despising everyone else: 10“Two men went up to the Temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. 11The Pharisee stood up straight and prayed these things about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of mankind—rapacious, unjust, adulterous—or even like this tax-collector; 12I fast twice a week and tithe from everything whatsoever that I earn.’ 13But the tax-collector, standing a good distance off, would not lift his eyes to heaven, but beat upon his breast, saying, ‘God, grant mercy to me, a sinner.’ 14I tell you, the latter rather than the former went down to his house vindicated; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

15And they also brought babies to him, so that he might touch them; but seeing this the disciples admonished them. 16But Jesus called them forward, saying, “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not prevent them; for of such is the Kingdom of God. 17Amen, I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall most certainly not enter into it.”

18And a certain ruler inquired of him, “Good teacher, by doing what may I inherit life in the Age?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you say I am good? No one is good except one—God. 20You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.” 21And he said, “All of these I have kept from youth.” 22But hearing this Jesus said to him, “One thing is still lacking in you; sell everything, whatever you have, and distribute it to the destitute, and you will have a treasury in the heavens, and follow me.” 23And he, hearing these things, became very morose, for he was extremely rich. 24And, seeing him, Jesus said, “How hard for those possessing wealth to enter the Kingdom of God, 25For it is easier for a cameln to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.” 26And those hearing this said, “Can any of them then be saved?”o 27And he said, “Those things impossible for men are possible for God.” 28And Peter said to him, “Look: We have abandoned all that was ours and followed you.” 29And he said to them, “Amen, I tell you that there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 30Who does not surely receive many times as much in the present time and, in the Age to come, the life of that Age.”

31And taking the Twelve aside he said to them, “Look: We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished; 32For he will be handed over to the gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spat upon, 33And having flogged him they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” 34And they understood none of this, and this message was hidden from them, and they did not know what they were being told.

35And it happened that, as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting beside the road begging. 36And hearing a crowd passing through he inquired what this might be. 37And they explained to him: “Jesus the Nazorean is going by.” 38And he cried aloud, saying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” 39And those leading the way admonished him that he should be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” 40And, coming to a standstill, Jesus ordered that he be brought to him. And, when he came near, he asked him, 41“What do you wish I might do?” And he said, “Lord, that I might see again.” 42And Jesus said to him, “See again; your faith has saved you.” 43And on the instant he saw again, and followed him glorifying God. And all who saw this gave praise to God.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1And, having entered Jericho, he was passing through, 2And look: a man called by the name of Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax-collector, and he was wealthy; 3He wished to see “Who Jesus is,” and was not able on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. 4And having run ahead he climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he might see him, because he was just about to pass by there. 5And Jesus, as he came to the place, looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, be quick, come down, for it is necessary for me to stay in your house today.” 6And, making haste, he descended and welcomed him with joy. 7And seeing this everyone murmured, saying that “He went in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” 8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half my possessions to the destitute, and if I have taken anything from anyone by falsehood I restore it fourfold.” 9And Jesus said to him: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what has been lost.”

11And, as they were listening to these things, he added a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God was about to appear all at once; 12Therefore he said, “A certain man of noble birth went to a far country to assume a kingdom for himself and to return. 13And having called ten of his slaves he gave them two minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in trade until I come.’ 14But his fellow citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15And it happened that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered that those slaves to whom he had given the money be called to him, in order that he might learn what each had gained in trade. 16And the first came and said, ‘Lord, your mina earned ten minas.’ 17And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you were faithful in the least of things, take authority over ten cities.’ 18And the second came, saying, ‘Your mina, lord, made five minas.’ 19And to this one too he said, ‘And you shall be set over five cities.’ 20And the other came, saying, ‘See, lord, your mina, which I kept put away in a napkin; 21For I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.’ 22He says to him, ‘Out of your mouth I will judge you, wicked slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money on a banker’s table, and then on coming I would have withdrawn it with interest?’ 24And to those standing attendance he said, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas.’ 26‘I tell you that to everyone who has it will be given; and from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away. 27As for those enemies of mine, however, those not wishing me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

28And having said these things he journeyed on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29And it happened that, as he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Mount of Olives, he sent out two of his disciples, saying, 30“Go into the village opposite, on entering which you will find a tethered colt upon which no one among men has ever yet sat, and untie it and bring it. 31And, if anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will answer thus: ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’” 32And, going away, those who had been sent found it just as he had told them. 33And, as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34And they said, “Because the Lord has need of it.” 35And they led it to Jesus and, throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36And as he proceeded people spread their own cloaks on the road. 37And, as he drew near to the path descending from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began joyfully to praise God in a loud voice on account of all the deeds of power they had seen, 38Saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest places.” 39And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, admonish your disciples.” 40And in answer he said, “I tell you, if they should fall silent the stones would cry out.” 41And as he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42And said, “If you had known on this day, even you, the things that lead to peace—but now they have been hidden from your eyes, 43Because the days will come upon you when your enemies will erect a rampart against you and will encircle you and will press in upon you on every side, 44And will dash you to the ground, and your children within you, and will leave not a stone upon a stone in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” 45And entering the Temple he began expelling those who were selling there, 46Saying to them, “It has been written, ‘And my house shall be a house of prayer’; but you, you have made it a robbers’ den.”

47And he was teaching each day in the Temple; and the chief priests and the scribes, as well as the preeminent men of the people, sought to destroy him. 48And they found nothing they could do; for all the people hung upon him, listening.

CHAPTER TWENTY

1And it happened that, on one of the days when he was teaching the people in the Temple and proclaiming the good tidings, the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, descended upon him, 2And spoke to him, saying, “Tell us by what power you do these things, or who it is who has given you this power.” 3And in reply he said to them, “I will also ask you to say something, and tell me: 4The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from human beings?” 5And they debated among themselves, saying: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not have faith in him?’ 6And if we say, ‘From human beings,’ all the people are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7And they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8And Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what power I do these things.” 9And he began to tell this parable to the people: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it out to husbandmen and went abroad for a considerable time. 10And at the proper time he sent a slave to the husbandmen, so that they would yield him some of the vineyard’s fruit; but, beating him, they sent him away empty. 11And thereupon he sent another slave, but they, beating and humiliating that one as well, sent him away empty. 12And thereupon he sent a third; and this one they also wounded and threw out. 13And the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What may I do? I will send my son, my beloved; perhaps they will treat him with shamed deference.’ 14But on seeing him the husbandmen reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance might become ours.’ 15And, throwing him outside the vineyard, they killed him. What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and give the vineyard to others.” And those listening said, “Let this not happen!” 17But looking directly at them he said, “What then does this scripture mean: ‘The stone that those building rejected, this has become the capstone of the corner’? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be shattered; but on whomever it falls, him it will utterly crush.” 19And the scribes and the chief priests longed to lay their hands on him in that very hour, and were afraid of the people; for they knew he told this parable in regard to them. 20And, observing closely, they sent spies who pretended that they were upright, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to hand him over to the rule and authority of the governor. 21And they questioned him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak correctly and teach, and you are not a respecter of persons, but teach the way of God in truth; 22Is it lawful or not for us to render tribute to Caesar?” 23But, perceiving their wiliness, he said to them, 24“Show me a denarius; whose image and inscription does it have?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” 25And he said to them, “Then render Caesar’s things to Caesar and God’s things to God.” 26And they were powerless to seize upon any utterance of his in the presence of the people and, amazed at his answer, they were silent.

27And some of the Sadducees, those who speak against the reality of the resurrection, approached and questioned him, 28Saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if anyone’s brother dies having a wife, and this brother is childless, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; and the first, having taken a wife, died childless, 30And the second 31And the third took her, and in the same way the seven left no children behind and died. 32Lastly the woman died also. 33The woman, then, in the resurrection will become the wife of which of them?” 34And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35But those accounted worthy of sharing in that Age and in the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36For they cannot even die any more, for they are the equals of angels,p for they are God’s sons, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised even Moses reported in regard to the bush, as he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob, 38But he is God not of the dead but of the living; for to him all are alive.” 39And in reply some of the scribes said, “Teacher, you speak well.” 40For they did not again dare to ask him anything.

41And he said to them, “How is it that they say the Anointed is David’s son? 42For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right, 43Until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet.”’ 44David then calls him ‘Lord,’ so how is he his son?”

45And, while all the people were listening, he said to the disciples, 46“Be wary of the scribes, who wish to walk about in long robes and who cherish salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the chief couches at banquets; 47Who devour the houses of widows and as a pretense make long prayers; these shall receive a severer judgment.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

1And looking up he saw the rich putting their offerings into the treasury. 2And he saw a certain impoverished widow there putting in two lepta, 3And he said, “I tell you truly that this destitute widow put in more than all; 4For all of these donated their gifts out of their abundance, but this woman donated out of her poverty all the livelihood she possessed.”

5And as certain persons spoke about the Temple—that it had been made lovely with beautiful stones and votive gifts—he said, 6“As for these things you gaze upon, the days will come in which there will be left no stone upon a stone that will not be overthrown.” 7And they questioned him, saying, “Teacher, when will these things be, then? And what will the sign be when these things are about to happen?” 8And he said, “Be wary, so that you might not be led away; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has drawn near.’ Do not go after them. 9And when you hear of wars and upheavals, do not be terrified; for it is necessary that these things happen first, but the end will not come immediately.” 10Then he said to them, “Nation will be raised against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11And there will be great earthquakes and in various places pestilences and famines, terrible portents and great signs in the sky. 12But before all this they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons, led away to kings and governors for my name’s sake; 13It will result in you offering testimony. 14Therefore, put it into your hearts not to rehearse your defense in advance; 15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of those prosecuting you will be able to oppose or contradict. 16And you will be handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17And you will be hated by all because of my name. 18And by no means shall a hair of your head perish; 19By your endurance you will gain your souls. 20But, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by arms and encampments, then know that her desolation has drawn near. 21Then let those in Judaea flee into the mountains, let those inside her walls go out and away, and let those in the countryside not enter her, 22Because these are the days of retribution, when all the scriptures are fulfilled. 23Alas in those days for pregnant women and women nursing; for there will be great distress in the land and ire against this people, 24And they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led away captive to all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled upon by the gentiles, until the seasons of the gentiles are fulfilled. 25And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth the distress of nations, in bewilderment at the roar of sea and surf, 26While men faint away from fear and anticipation of the things coming upon the inhabited world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And, when these things begin to happen, stand up and lift your heads, because your liberation draws near.” 29And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30When they break now into leaf, you see for yourselves and know the summer is near; 31So too, when you see these things happening, you also know that the Kingdom of God is near. 32Amen, I tell you that this generation most certainly will not pass away until all things occur. 33The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words shall most certainly not pass away. 34And regarding yourselves take care, so that your hearts may not become burdened with carousing and heavy drinking and the anxieties of life, and That Day come upon you suddenly, 35Like a snare; for it will come in upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36But be on watch at every moment, imploring that you might be able to escape all the things about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

37Now during the days he was in the Temple teaching, and during the nights he departed and stayed upon the mountain called the Mount of Olives. 38And in the early morning all the people came to him in the Temple to listen to him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

1Now the feast of the Unleavened Loaves, which is called Passover, drew near: 2And the chief priests and the scribes sought a way to destroy him; for they were afraid of the people. 3And the Accuser entered into Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve’s number; 4And he went off to confer with the chief priests and officers regarding how he might hand him over to them. 5And they were elated, and agreed to give him silver. 6And he consented entirely, and sought an opportunity to hand him over to them away from any crowd.

7Now the day of Unleavened Loaves arrived, when it was necessary for the Passover lamb to be sacrificed; 8And he sent out Peter and John, saying, “Go prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat.” 9And they said to him, “Where do you wish that we should make preparations?” 10And he said to them, “Look: As you enter the city you will meet a man carrying a clay vessel of water; follow him into the house into which he enters; 11And you shall say to the master of the household, “The Teacher says to you, ‘Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? 12And that man will show you a large room already laid out; make preparations there.” 13And going forth they found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 14And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the Apostles with him. 15And he said to them, “With such longing I have yearned to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16For I tell you that I most surely will not eat it again until it has its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.” 17And taking a cup and having given thanks he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves, 18For I tell you, I most surely will not drink from the yield of the wine from now until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19And taking a loaf of bread, having given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is being offered for you; do this in my memory.” 20And after supping he did likewise with the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is being shed for you. 21But look: The hand of him who betrays me is on the table with mine. 22For the Son of Man does indeed proceed as has been determined; yet alas for that man by whom he is handed over.” 23And they began to ask one another who among them it might then be who was about to do this. 24And a dispute also arose among them regarding which among them seems to be greater. 25So he said to them, “The kings of the gentile peoples dominate them, and those having power over them are called benefactors. 26But not so you; rather let him among you who is greater become as though the junior, and the one governing as though the one serving. 27For who is greater, the one reclining at table or the one serving? Is not the one reclining? Yet I am in your midst as one serving. 28But you are those who have stayed with me through my trials; 29And to you I appoint—just as my Father appointed to me—a Kingdom, 30So that you might eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 31Simon, Simon, look: The Accuser has begged to sift you all like wheat. 32But I have prayed concerning you, that your faith might not fail; and you, when you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” 33And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go both to prison and to death with you.” 34And he said, “I tell you, Peter, a cock will not crow this day before you will deny you know me three times.” 35And he said to them, “When I sent you out, without purse and leather pouch and sandals, were you in want of anything?” And they said, “Of nothing.” 36And he said to them, “Now, however, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and a leather pouch likewise; and whoever lacks a sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one. 37For I tell you that it is necessary for this scripture to be brought to completion in me: ‘And he was reckoned with the lawless.’ For indeed that which concerns me has its fulfillment.” 38And they said, “Lord, look, we have two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

39And going out he went to the Mount of Olives, as was his habit; and his disciples followed him too. 40And coming to the place he said to them, “Pray that you do not enter into trial.” 41And he was withdrawn from them, about a stone’s throw away, and kneeling down he prayed, 42Saying, “Father, it if is your will, take this cup away from me; yet let not my will, but yours, come to pass.” 43And an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. 44And, being in anguish, he prayed more fervently; and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the earth. 45And rising from prayer, coming to the disciples, he found them asleep from sorrow, 46And he said to them, “Why do you sleep? Get up, pray that you might not enter into trial.” 47While he was still speaking, look: a crowd; and the one called Judas, one of the Twelve, led them forward, and drew near to Jesus to kiss him. 48But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49And seeing what was going to happen, those about him said, “Lord, should we strike out with a sword?” 50And one of them struck the chief priest’s slave and slashed off his right ear. 51And Jesus, speaking out, said, “Leave off, enough.” And touching the ear he cured him. 52And, to the chief priests and officers of the Temple and elders coming for him, Jesus said, “You come out with swords and bludgeons as though against a bandit? 53While I was with you each day in the Temple you did not stretch out your hands against me; but this is your hour, and the rule of darkness.”

54And having seized him they led him and brought him into the household of the chief priest; and Peter followed from afar. 55And, when they had lit a fire in the center of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56And a certain maidservant saw him seated near the light and, gazing at him, said, “This man was with him also.” 57But he denied it, saying, “I do not know him, woman.” 58And, a short time later, someone else saw him and announced, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59And after an interval of about an hour someone else quite emphatically asserted it, saying, “In truth this man was also with him, for he too is a Galilaean.” 60But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And all at once, while he was yet speaking, a cock crowed. 61And the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered what the Lord said when he told him: “Before a cock crows this day you will three times deny me.” 62And going outside he wept bitterly.

63And the men in charge of him ridiculed him, beating him, 64And covering him with a hood, interrogated him, saying, “Who is he who is sporting with you?” 65And, blaspheming, they said many other things against him, 66And when day arrived the people’s assembly of elders came together, both chief priests and scribes, and led him away to their Council, 67Saying, “If you are the Anointed, tell us.” And he said to them, “If I tell you, you most surely will not believe, 68And, if I ask you, you surely will not answer. 69But henceforth the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the Power of God.” 70And they said, “What further need have we of witnesses? For we ourselves have heard it from his mouth.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

1And, rising up, the whole group of them led him before Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man corrupting our nation and forbidding the paying of the poll-tax to Caesar, and claiming that he himself is an Anointed—a king.” 3And Pilate interrogated him, saying, “You are the king of the Judaeans?” And in answer he said, “You say so.” 4And Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no crime in this man.” 5But they were insistent, saying: “He agitates the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, starting even in Galilee, right to here.” 6And hearing this Pilate asked whether this man is a Galilaean; 7And, realizing that he is under Herod’s authority, he sent him up to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days. 8And Herod, on seeing Jesus, was overjoyed; for he had been wishing to see him for a long time, since he had heard about him and hoped to see some prodigy performed by him. 9And he questioned him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 10And the chief priests and the scribes stood there accusing him vehemently. 11And, holding him in contempt and mocking him, Herod, along with his soldiers, cast splendid garments around him and sent him back to Pilate. 12And on that very day Herod and Pilate became friends; for previously they were in enmity with one another. 13And Pilate, summoning together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14Said to them, “You brought this man to me as one corrupting the people, and look: I have examined him before you and in this man have found no element of the things you accuse him of. 15But neither has Herod; for he sent him back to us. And look: Nothing has been done by him deserving of death; 16Therefore I will punish him and release him.” [17For it was necessary for him to release one man to them for the festival.] 18But they shouted out, the whole crowd altogether, saying, “Take this man and release bar-Abbas to us!” 19—This man was in prison for an insurrection that had occurred in the city and for murder. 20But again Pilate called out to them, wishing to release Jesus. 21But they went on shouting, saying, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22But he said to them a third time, “But what evil has this man done? I have found in him no cause for death. I shall therefore punish and release him.” 23But they insisted with loud voices, asking that he be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24And Pilate decided that what they had demanded would happen; 25And he released the man thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they had asked, but Jesus he delivered over to their will.

26And as they led him away they seized Simon, a certain Cyrenian, coming from the field, and placed the cross on him to carry behind Jesus. 27And a large multitude of the people followed him, as well as of women who mourned and lamented for him. 28But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over me; weep rather for yourselves and for your children, 29For see: Days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ 30Then ‘They will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall down upon us,” and to the hills, “Cover us over,”’ 31For if they do these things when the tree is full of sap, what will happen when it is dry?” 32And two others, malefactors, were also led off with him to be executed. 33And, when they came upon the place called Skull, they crucified him there, as well as the criminals, one at his right and one at his left. 34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And dividing his garments they cast lots. 35And the people stood watching. And the rulers too derided him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if this man is the Anointed, God’s chosen one.” 36And the soldiers also mocked him, approaching, offering him vinegar, 37And saying, “If you are the king of the Judaeans, save yourself.” 38And there was also an epigraph above him: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JUDAEANS.” 39And one of the criminals hanging there insulted him: “Are you not the Anointed? Save yourself and us.” 40But the other, rebuking him, said, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence? 41And we have received a return of the things due for the things we did; but this man did nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Amen, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44And now it was about the sixth hour and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45Inasmuch as the sun was darkened; and the veil of the Temple sanctuary was torn down the middle. 46And crying out in a loud voice Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And, saying this, he breathed out his spirit. 47And the centurion, seeing this happen, gave glory to God, saying, “This truly was an upright man.” 48And all of the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned home beating their breasts. 49But all who had been his acquaintances stood at a distance, along with the women who had accompanied him from Galilee, watching these things.

50And look: A man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a man good and just—51This man had not agreed with the Council and their actions—from Arimathea, a city of the Judaeans, who was awaiting the Kingdom of God. 52Approaching Pilate, this man requested the body of Jesus, 53And, taking it down, wrapped it in linen, and placed him in a carven tomb where no one had yet been laid. 54And it was a day of preparation, and the Sabbath was approaching. 55And, following behind, the women who had come with him from Galilee saw the tomb and how his body had been laid out, 56And went back and prepared spices and ointment.

But they rested on the Sabbath, in keeping with the commandment.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

1But on the first day of the week, while it was still very early, they came to the tomb, having with them the spices they had prepared. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3And entering they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And while they were in confusion over this, look: Two men in clothing shining like lightning stood beside them; 5And, when they became terrified and turned their faces down to the ground, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living with the dead? 6He is not here, but has been raised. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7Saying, ‘It is necessary for the Son of Man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men and to be crucified and on the third day to rise again.’” 8And they remembered his words. 9And, returning from the tomb, they related all these things to the eleven and all the others. 10Now it was the Magdalene woman Mary, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, as well as the other women with them, who told these things to the Apostles. 11And in their eyes these reports seemed like nonsense, and they did not believe them. 12Then Peter rose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down he saw the linen cloths laid out by themselves; and he left, amazed within himself at what had happened.

13And look: On that very day two of them were journeying to a village sixty stadia away from Jerusalem, the name of which was Emmaus, 14And they were talking with each other about all these events. 15And it happened that, as they talked and debated, Jesus himself approached and journeyed along with them; 16But their eyes were constrained so as not to recognize him. 17And he said to them, “What are these remarks you exchange with one another while walking?” And they stood still with saddened expressions. 18And in reply one of them, Cleopas by name, said to him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and ignorant of the things happening in it these days?” 19And he said to them, “What things?” and they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, a man who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people. 20But the chief priests and our rulers both handed him over for condemnation to death and crucified him. 21But we had been hoping that he was the one about to liberate Israel; and, in addition to all this, it has reached the third day since these things occurred. 22But some women among us also astonished us, having come to the tomb early in the morning, 23And, not finding his body, came and told also of having seen a vision of angels, who say that he lives. 24And some of those with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but did not see him.” 25And he said to them, “O fools, and with hearts slow to believe in all the things of which the prophets spoke: 26Was it not necessary for the Anointed to endure these things and to enter into his glory?” 27And, beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he expounded to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. 28And they approached the village to which they were journeying, and he made as if to journey further on. 29And they urged him intently, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and this day has now set.” And he went inside to stay with them. 30And it happened that, as he reclined at table with them, he took the loaf and blessed it and, having broken it, he shared it with them; 31And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32And they said to one another, “Was not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the road, as he opened up the scriptures to us?” 33And, rising up in that same hour, they returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven gathered together, along with those who were with them, 34Saying: “The Lord truly has been raised and appeared to Simon.” 35And they related the things that had happened on the road, and how he had been recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. 36And as they were saying these things he stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37And, alarmed and terrified, they thought they were seeing a spirit. 38And he said to them, “Why are you disturbed, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet—that I am myself; touch me and look, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40And when he had said this he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they were yet in disbelief from joy, and were in amazement, he said to them, “Do you have any food here?” 42And they gave him a piece of broiled fish; 43And, taking it, he ate it before them. 44And he said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you when I was still with you: That it is necessary for everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms to be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their mind to understand the scriptures; 46And he said to them: “Thus it has been written that the Anointed will suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day, 47And in his name transformation of the heart and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see: I send forth the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

50And he led them out as far as Bethany and, raising his hands, he blessed them. 51And it happened that while he was blessing them he withdrew from them, and was taken up into the sky. 52And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53And they were in the Temple constantly, blessing God.

Notes
a. Or “until the Age.”

b. Quirinius was governor in Syria in AD 6–7, which would place Christ’s birth considerably later than Matthew’s Gospel claims (inasmuch as Herod the Great died in 4 BC).

c. Or “about my Father’s affairs,” or “among my Father’s own.”

d. Though “son of man” is simply a good Semitic idiom meaning “a man,” by the first century it had long served as the name of a mysterious apocalyptic or eschatological figure (as in the one “like a son of man” who rides in the chariot of God in Ezekiel), and as Christ uses it in the Gospels it should clearly be read as a distinctive prophetic title (though not one whose precise significance can be ascertained).

e. μακάριος (makarios): “blessed,” “happy,” “fortunate,” “prosperous,” but originally with a connotation of divine or heavenly bliss.

f. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

g. Although later Christian tradition would conflate this verse with Isaiah 14:12 (where the fallen King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon is apostrophized as Hêlêl ben Shahar, “Lucifer Son of the Morning”) to produce the idea of the fall of an angel called Lucifer before creation, the reference is actually far more limited. Jesus is simply employing a metaphor to say that the mission of his disciples had been so successful that it had inaugurated the end of the cosmic reign of the Satan (or Accuser); hence, as they were passing through the villages, it was as if Jesus could see Satan toppling from his seat on high.

h. In the Byzantine Text-type, Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer has been brought into much closer conformity with Matthew’s: “[Our] Father [who are in heaven], let your name be held sacred; let your Kingdom come; [your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth]; 3Give us each day our bread for the day ahead, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who are indebted to us; and do not bring us to trial [but rather rescue us from the wicked one].”

i. Aeonian. Perhaps, however, here meaning only “enduring a long time,” or “lasting through this age,” or “enduring for life.” This is an instance where the settled habit of translating aiōnios—here in the plural form, modifying “tents,” τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς (tas aiōnious skēnas)—simply as “eternal” or “everlasting,” except in cases where it absolutely cannot have that meaning, serves to veil an ambiguity of the text. It is traditional to read these words eschatologically, as referring to “everlasting abodes” (or some other ethereal phrase that somewhat dissembles the rather homely image of “tents”), and this may well be correct. But it is not at all clear that, at this point in the text, Jesus has taken leave of the “earthly level” of imagery, and he may be speaking literally of shelters in this world that will last a lifetime (one of the possible acceptations of aiōnios).

j. Other manuscripts read “what belongs to you.” In either case, this phrasing is somewhat obscure.

k. βιάζεται (biazetai): While it is traditional to translate this verse as saying that “everyone forces his way into” the Kingdom, the verb βιάζομαι (biazomai) much more typically has a passive force. In fact, this is true of its every other instance in either the New Testament or the Septuagint. The tendency to treat it here as active is almost certainly an attempt to bring it into conformity with the imagery (though not the syntax) of Matthew 11:11–12; yet, curiously enough, even there the same verb carries a passive force, only with “Kingdom” rather than “everyone” constituting its subject. It seems clearly better, then, to read this verse in continuity with 14:21–23 above (and perhaps as an analogue of John 12:32).

l. The word κόλπος (kolpos) can mean “bosom” or “womb,” but also a great many other things, among them “pocket” or “fold,” or “hidden places” or “inward parts,” or “bay” or “valley.” In the next verse, the noun shifts into the plural, which encourages me to translate the phrase as I have done here; that the place of peace set apart for the righteous in the realm of the dead (Hades) might be depicted as a place of sheltering valleys seems to make perfect sense.

m. ἐντὸς ὑμῶν (entos hymōn): it is occasionally argued that this phrase would be better translated “among you” or “in your midst,” especially by those who instinctively prefer social to mystical construals of Jesus’s teachings; but this is surely wrong. Entos really does properly mean “within” or “inside of,” not “among,” and Luke, in both his Gospel and the book of Acts, when meaning to say “among” or “amid,” always uses either the phrase ἐν μέσῳ (en mesōi) or just an ἐν (en), followed by a dative plural; and his phrase for “in your midst” is ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν (en mesōi hymōn), as in 22:27 below. He uses entos only here, with a distinct and special import.

n. The text speaks of a κάμηλος (kamēlos, acc. kamēlon), “camel,” but from the early centuries it has been an open question whether it should really be the homophonous (but poorly attested) word κάμιλος (kamilos), “rope,” “hawser”: a more symmetrical but less piquant analogy.

o. καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι (kai tis dynatai sōthēnai): often translated as “Who then can be saved?” or “Can anyone then be saved?” but I take the import (specifically as regards the τίς) to be “Can any [rich man] then be saved?”

p. See Acts 23:8; 1 Corinthians 15:40–54; and 1 Peter 3:18–19, 4:6, as well as the footnotes thereto.

The Gospel According to John

CHAPTER ONE

1In the origin there was the Logos, and the Logos was present with GOD,a and the Logos was god; 2This one was present with GOD in the origin. 3All things came to be through him, and without him came to be not a single thing that has come to be. 4In him was life, and this life was the light of men. 5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not conquer it. 6There came a man, sent by GOD, whose name was John; 7This man came in witness, that he might testify about the light, so that through him all might have faith—8But only that he might testify about the light; he was not that light. 9It was the true light, which illuminates everyone, that was coming into the cosmos. 10He was in the cosmos, and through him the cosmos came to be, and the cosmos did not recognize him. 11He came to those things that were his own, and they who were his own did not accept him. 12But as many as did accept him, to them he gave the power to become GOD’s children—to those having faith in his name, 13Those born not from blood, nor from a man’s desire, but of GOD. 14And the Logos became flesh and pitched a tent among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the Father’s only one, full of grace and truth. 15John testifies concerning him and has cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” 16For we all have received from his fullness, and grace upon grace; 17Because the Law was given through Moses, the grace and the truth came through Jesus the Anointed. 18No one has ever seen GOD; the one who is uniquely god, who is in the Father’s breast, that one has declared him.

19And this is John’s testimony when the Judaeans of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him, so that they might ask him, “Who are you?” 20And he avowed, and did not deny, and confessed that: “I am not the Anointed.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he says, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”b And he answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? So that we may give an answer to those who have sent us, what do you say concerning yourself?” 23He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24And some who had been sent were of the Pharisees. 25And they questioned him and said to him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Anointed or Elijah or the Prophet?” 26John answered them saying, “I baptize in water; among you there stands one whom you do not know, 27The one coming after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things occurred in Bethany beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing. 29The next day he sees Jesus coming toward him, and says, “See the lamb of Godc who is taking away the sin of the cosmos. 30This is he concerning whom I have said, ‘A man is coming after me who has surpassed me, for he was before me.’ 31And I myself did not recognize him, although I came baptizing in water so that he might be made manifest to Israel.” 32John also testified by saying: “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove from the sky, and he rested on him. 33And I did not recognize him; rather he who sent me to baptize in water, that one said to me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit descending, and resting upon him, this is he who baptizes in a Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this man is the Son of God.”

35The next day John again stood there, and two of his disciples as well. 36And, watching Jesus walking by, he says, “Look: the Lamb of God.” 37And the two disciples heard him saying this and followed Jesus. 38And turning around, and seeing them following, Jesus says to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi”—which is to say, when translated, “Teacher”—“where are you staying?” 39He says to them, “Come and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and stayed with him that day; it was about the tenth hour. 40One of the two men who had heeded John and were following him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter; 41The first thing he does is find his own brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (which, being translated, is “the Anointed”). 42He led him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated as “Peter” [Rock]). 43On the following day he wished to go away into Galilee, and he finds Philip. And Jesus says to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city from which Andrew and Peter came. 45Philip finds Nathanael and says to him, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46And Nathanael said to him, “Can there be anything good out of Nazareth?” Philip says to him, “Come and see.” 47Jesus saw Nathanael approaching him and says of him, “Look: truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” 48Nathanael says to him, “Where do you know me from?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw that you were beneath the fig tree.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.” 50Jesus replied and said to him, “You have faith because I told you I saw you below the fig tree? You shall see greater things than these.” 51And he says to him, “Amen, amen, I tell you, you shall see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”d

CHAPTER TWO

1And on the third day there was a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. 2And both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. 3And, when the wine was exhausted, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus says to her, “What, madam,e is this to me and you? My hour is not yet arrived.” 5His mother says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6Now six stone water jars, as prescribed for purification for the Judaeans, were set nearby, each containing two or three measures.f 7Jesus says to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. 8And he tells them, “Now pour out a draft and take it to the master of the festivities.” 9And when the master of the festivities tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew—the master of festivities calls out to the bridegroom, 10And says to him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, and the worse when they have been made drunk; you have saved the fine wine till now.” 11This inauguration of signs Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee, and made his glory manifest, and his disciples had faith in him.

12Thereafter he went down into Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and remained there for not many days.

13And the Passover of the Judaeans was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And in the Temple he found men selling oxen and sheep and doves, as well as installed moneychangers, 15And, having fashioned a stockwhipg out of cords, he drove all of both the sheep and the oxen out of the Temple; he also spilled out the coins and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, 16And said to those selling doves, “Take these away from here; do not make my Father’s house a house for merchandise.” 17His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18In reply, then, the Judaeans said to him, “What signs do you show us, since you do these things?” 19Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I shall raise it.” 20So the Judaeans said, “This sanctuary was built over forty-six years, and you will raise it in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body. 22Thus when he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the scriptures and this saying that Jesus had uttered.

23And when he was in Jerusalem during the Passover, at the feast, many had faith in his name, seeing the signs he was performing; 24But Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew everyone, 25And because he had no need that anyone should make attestation concerning humanity, for he knew what was in humanity.

CHAPTER THREE

1Now there was a man, one of the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Judaeans; 2This man came to him at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come as a teacher from God; for no one can produce these signs you perform unless God is with him.” 3In reply Jesus said to him, “Amen, amen, I tell you, unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus says to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?” 5Jesus replied, “Amen, amen, I tell you, unless a man is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. 6That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be amazed because I have told you it is necessary for you to be born from above. 8The spirit respiresh where it will, and you hear its sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; such is everyone born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can this happen?” 10Jesus replied and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not know these things? 11Amen, amen, I tell you that we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, and you people do not accept our witness. 12If you do not believe what I have told you of things upon the earth, how will you believe if I tell you of things in heaven? 13And no one has gone up into heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up, 15That everyone having faith in him might have the life of the Age. 16For God so loved the cosmos as to give the Son, the only one, so that everyone having faith in him might not perish, but have the life of the Age. 17For God sent the Son into the cosmos not that he might pass judgment on the cosmos, but that the cosmos might be saved through him. 18Whoever has faith in him is not judged; whoever has not had faith has already been judged because he has not had faith in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the cosmos, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were wicked. 20For everyone who does evil things hates the light and does not approach the light, for fear his deeds will be exposed; 21But whoever acts in truth approaches the light, so that his deeds might be made manifest—that they have been worked in God.”

22Thereafter Jesus and his disciples came into the territory of the Judaeans, and stayed on there with them and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing in Ainon, near Salim, because there were many waters there, and people came and were baptized; 24For John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25Thus there arose among John’s disciples a dispute with a Judaean over purification. 26And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the Jordan’s far side, concerning whom you gave testimony, look: This man is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” 27John answered and said, “A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him out of heaven. 28You yourselves bear witness for me, that I have said, ‘I am not the Anointed,’ but that ‘I have been sent out before that one.’ 29He who has a bride is a bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, standing by and listening for him, rejoices elatedly at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is therefore made complete. 30It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease. 31He who comes from above is above all; he who is out of the earth is out of the earth and speaks from out of the earth; he who comes out of heaven is above all; 32Whatever he has seen and heard, to this he attests, and no one accepts his testimony. 33He who accepts his testimony has set his seal that God is true. 34For he whom God sent speaks God’s words; for the Father gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son, and has placed all things in his hand. 36He who has faith in the Son has the life of that Age; and the one rejecting the Son will not see life, but God’s ire rests upon him.”

CHAPTER FOUR

1When therefore the Lord learned that the Pharisees had heard of Jesus making and baptizing more disciples than John—2Although in fact Jesus himself did not baptize, but rather his disciples did—3He left Judaea and departed into Galilee again. 4And it was necessary for him to pass through Samaria. 5Thus he comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar,i near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6And a font of Jacob’s was there. So then Jesus, wearied by the journey, sat down by the font; it was about the sixth hour. 7A woman comes from Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her, “Give me a drink.” 8For his disciples had gone away into the city so that they might buy food. 9So the Samaritan woman says to him, “How do you, being a Judaean, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” 10Jesus answered and told her, “If you recognized God’s gift and who it is saying to you ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”j 11She says to him, “Lord, you have no bucket and the well is deep; so where do you get the living water from? 12Surely you are not greater than our Father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons and livestock too?” 13Jesus answered and told her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14But whoever drinks from the water that I shall give him will most definitely never thirst, throughout the age;k rather the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain springing up to the life of the Age.” 15The woman says to him, “Lord, give me this water so that I am not thirsty and do not continually come here to draw.” 16He says to her, “Go call your husband and come here.” 17The woman replied and said, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus tells her, “You speak well to say, ‘I do not have a husband.’ 18For you have had five husbands, and he whom you have now is not your husband; this you have said truthfully.” 19The woman says to him, “Lord, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you people say that the place where it is necessary to worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus says to her, “Trust me, madam, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You people worship what you do not know, we worship what we know; because salvation is from the Judaeans; 23But an hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for indeed the Father looks for those worshipping him so; 24God is spirit, and it is necessary that those worshipping worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman says to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming”;—the one called Anointed—“when that one arrives he will announce all things to us.” 26Jesus say to her, “I am he: I who am speaking to you.”

27And at this point the disciples come to him and were astonished that he was conversing with a woman; but no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you speaking with her?” 28The woman, therefore, abandoned her water jar and departed into the city, and tells the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done; might this not be the Anointed?” 30They went out from the city and came to him. 31In the meantime, the disciples implored him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus says to them, “My food is that I may do the will of the one who has sent me and may bring his work to completion. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months yet, and then comes the harvest’? I tell you, Look, lift up your eyes and see the fields, because they are already white for harvesting. 36The reaper is receiving wages and gathering fruit for life in the Age, so that the one sowing and the one reaping may rejoice together. 37For in this the saying is true: ‘That one is the sower and another the reaper.’ 38I have sent you to reap that for which you have not labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39And many of the Samaritans of that city had faith in him on account of the woman testifying: “He told me all the things I had done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him they implored him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41And many more had faith as a result of his teaching. 42And they said to the woman: “We have faith no longer on account of your talk; for we ourselves have listened and we know that this man is truly the savior of the cosmos.”

43And after those two days he went from there to Galilee. 44For Jesus himself had attested that a prophet has no honor in his native land. 45So when he entered Galilee, the Galilaeans welcomed him, having seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem and at the feast. 46So he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. And in Capernaum there was a certain royal courtier whose son was ill; 47This man, hearing of Jesus coming out of Judaea into Galilee, went to him and implored him to come down and cure his son; for he was about to die. 48So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and prodigies, you most certainly do not have faith.” 49The courtier says to him, “Lord, come down before my little child dies.” 50Jesus says to him, “Go, your son is alive.” The man had faith in the words Jesus spoke to him and departed. 51And even as he was going down his slaves met him, saying that his boy lives. 52He therefore inquired of them the hour at which he became better; so they said to him, “Yesterday the fever left him, at the seventh hour.” 53So the father knew that it happened in that hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son is alive”; and he and his whole household had faith. 54And this was the second sign, which Jesus performed on having come from Judaea into Galilee.

CHAPTER FIVE

1After these things there was a festival of the Judaeans, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now at the sheep’s gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches. 3A great many of the ill lay in them—the blind, the lame, the withered [—waiting for the moving of the waters. 4For an angel descended into the pool at a certain time and bestirred the waters; whoever then, after the stirring of the waters, stepped in first was healed of whatever disease he had]. 5And there was a certain man there who had had an ailment for thirty-eight years; 6Jesus, seeing this man lying there and knowing he had already done so for a long time, says to him, “Do you wish to become healthy?” 7The sick man answered him, “Lord, I have no man who might place me in the pool when the water is stirred; rather, as I approach someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8Jesus says to him, “Arise, take your pallet and walk.” 9And immediately the man became well, and took his pallet and walked. And on that day it was a Sabbath. 10So the Judaeans said to the man who had been healed, “It is a Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry the pallet.” 11But he answered them, “The one making me well, that one told me, ‘Take your pallet and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man telling you, ‘Take and walk’?” 13But the man who had been healed had no idea who it was; for, there being a crowd in that place, Jesus had withdrawn. 14Afterward Jesus finds him in the Temple and said to him, “See, you have become well; sin no more, so that something worse may not happen to you.” 15The man went away and told the Judaeans that Jesus is the one who had made him well. 16And so the Judaeans persecuted Jesus for having done these things on a Sabbath day. 17But he answered them, “My Father is working right up to the present moment, and I am working too.” 18On account of this, therefore, the Judaeans sought all the more to kill him, for not only did he break the Sabbath, but he had also called God his own Father, making himself equal to God. 19So Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, the Son can do nothing from himself, except what he sees the Father doing; for whatever things that one does, these same things the Son likewise also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all the things he does, and will show him works greater than these, that you may be amazed. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them live, so the Son makes alive those whom he wishes; 22For the Father does not judge anyone, but has given the judgment of all to the Son, 23That all may honor the Son as they honor the Father who has sent him. 24Amen, amen, I tell you that whoever hears my word and has faith in the one who has sent me has life in the Age, and does not come to judgment, but rather has crossed out of death into life. 25Amen, amen, I tell you that an hour is coming—and now is—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, he also granted it to the Son to have life in himself. 27And he gave him power to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not be amazed at this, for an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice, 29And those who have done good things will come forth into a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil things into a resurrection of judgment. 30Of myself I can do nothing; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I see not my will, but rather the will of the one who has sent me. 31If I testify concerning myself, my testimony is not true; 32There is another testifying concerning me, and I know that the testimony he gives concerning me is true. 33You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth; 34But I do not take the testimony of a man; rather, I say these things that you might be saved. 35That man was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you were willing to exult in his light. 36But I have a greater testimony than John’s; for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works I am performing, testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37And, the Father having sent me, that one has testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38Nor do you have his Logosl abiding in you, for this one whom he sent, in him you do not have faith. 39Because you think to take hold of the life of the Age, you search through the scriptures; and those are what testify concerning me; 40Yet you do not wish to come to me in order to take hold of life. 41I do not receive glory from men, 42But I have known you: that you do not have God’s love in yourselves. 43I have come in my Father’s name and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, that one you will receive. 44How are you able to have faith, receiving glory from one another, yet you do not receive the glory coming from the one God? 45Do not think that I shall accuse you before the Father; the one accusing you is Moses, in whom you have hoped. 46For if you had had faith in Moses, then you would have had faith in me; for that one wrote concerning me. 47But if you do not have faith in that one’s writings, how will you have faith in my utterances?”

CHAPTER SIX

1Thereafter Jesus went away across the Sea of Galilee, which is to say the Sea of Tiberias, 2And a large crowd followed him because they saw the signs he had performed upon those who were ill. 3And Jesus went up upon the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4And the Passover, the feast of the Judaeans, was near. 5Raising his eyes, therefore, and seeing a large crowd approaching him, Jesus says to Philip, “Where might we buy loaves of bread, so that they might eat?” 6But this he said to test him; for he knew what he was about to do. 7Philip replied to him, “Two hundred denarii’s worth of bread is not enough for them, even if each take only a morsel.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, says to him, 9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two dried fish; but what is that among so many?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people settle themselves.” Now there was plenty of grass in that place. So the men, numbering about five thousand, reclined. 11Jesus, therefore, took the loaves and, having given thanks, distributed them to those reclining, and the fish in the same manner, as much as they desired. 12And when they were sated, he tells his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing is lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14Therefore the people, seeing the sign he had performed, said: “This is surely the Prophet who is coming into the cosmos.” 15So Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and seize hold of him so that they might make him king, again went away by himself to the mountain. 16And when evening came his disciples went down to the sea, 17And, embarking in a boat, they went across the sea toward Capernaum. And darkness had now come and Jesus still had not joined them; 18And, as a great wind was blowing, the sea was roused. 19So, having rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia,m they see Jesus walking upon the sea and coming near to the boat, and they were afraid. 20But he says to them, “It is I, do not fear.” 21So they were willing to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the shore to which they had been going.

22The following day, the crowd standing on the sea’s other side saw that there had been only the one boat there and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had departed alone; 23Then some small boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread [when the Lord had given thanks]. 24When, therefore, the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they embarked in the small boats and came to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25And finding him on the other side of the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come to be here?” 26Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I tell you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were fully filled. 27Do not labor for perishable food, but for the food that abides unto life in the Age, which the Son of Man will give you; for God has placed his seal on this one.” 28So they said to him, “What may we do so that we may perform the labors of God?” 29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the labor of God, that you have faith in him whom that one sent.” 30So they said to him, “What sign, then, do you perform, so that we may see it and have faith in you? 31Our fathers ate manna in the desert as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” 32So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but rather my Father gives you the true bread from heaven; 33For the bread of God is the one descending out of heaven and imparting life to the cosmos.” 34So they said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me most assuredly does not hunger, and whoever has faith in me most assuredly does not thirst—forever. 36But I have told you that, though you have seen, 37All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I most certainly will not cast out. 38Because I have descended from heaven so that I might do not my will, but rather the will of the one having sent me. 39And this is the will of the one who has sent me: that I shall lose nothing out of all that he has given me, but shall instead raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and has faith in him might have life in the Age, and I shall raise him up on the last day.” 41So the Judaeans murmured about him because he had said, “I am the bread having descended out of heaven”; 42And they said, “Is this man not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say that ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” 43Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not murmur with one another. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me should draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be instructed by God’; everyone who listens to the Father and takes instruction comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father. 47Amen, amen, I tell you, the one who has faith has life in the Age. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died; 50This is the bread descending out of heaven so that one might eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that has descended out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live throughout the age;n and the bread I shall give for the life of the cosmos is my flesh.” 52The Judaeans therefore quarreled with one another, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you. 54Whoever feeds upon my flesh and drinks of my blood has life in the Age, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds upon my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sends me forth and I live through the Father, whoever also feeds upon me, that very one will live through me. 58This is the bread that has descended out of heaven, not such as the fathers ate and then died; whoever feeds upon this bread will live throughout the age.”o 59He said these things while teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum. 60Thus many of the disciples, hearing this, said, “This word is hard; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples are murmuring about this, said to them, “This causes you to falter? 62If then you see the Son of Man ascending to where he originally was . . . ? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no worth; the words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not have faith.” For Jesus had known from the outset which are those not having faith and which is the one betraying him. 65And he said, “Thus I have told you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”

66At this many of his disciples departed, going back, and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you not wish to depart also?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go away? You have the words of life in the Age. 69We have both trusted and known that you are the holy one of God.” 70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose the twelve of you? And one of you is a slanderer.”p 71He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot; for this one, one of the Twelve, was about to betray him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1And after this Jesus walked about in Galilee, for he did not wish to walk about in Judaea, because the Judaeans were seeking to kill him. 2Now the Judaeans’ feast of the Tabernacles was near. 3Therefore his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go into Judaea, so that your disciples will see these works of yours that you do; 4For no one does something in secret and expects to be in public view; if you do these things, reveal yourself to the cosmos.” 5For his brothers did not have faith in him. 6So Jesus says to them, “My proper time is not yet arrived; but it is always already the proper time for you. 7The cosmos cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify regarding it: that its works are wicked. 8You go up to the festival; I am not [yet] going up to this festival because my proper time has not fully come.” 9And saying these things to them he remained in Galilee. 10But, when his brothers went up to the festival, he then went up also, not openly but in secret. 11So the Judaeans looked for him at the festival and said, “Where is that man?” 12And there was a great deal of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some said, “He is a good man”; but others said, “No, rather he deceives the crowd.” 13But no one talked of him openly, for fear of the Judaeans.

14But, when the feast was at its midpoint, Jesus went up to the Temple and taught. 15The Judaeans were amazed therefore, saying, “How is this man so lettered, not having studied?” 16So Jesus answered them and said, “This teaching of mine is not mine, but rather that of him who sent me; 17If anyone wishes to do his will, he will recognize, as far as this teaching is concerned, whether it is from God or whether I speak from myself. 18Whoever speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but whoever seeks the glory of the one who has sent him, this man is true, and in him is no injustice. 19Did not Moses give you the Law? And none of you keeps the Law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20The crowd answered, “You have a demon; who seeks to kill you?” 21Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work and you all marvel. 22Thus Moses gave you circumcision (not that it comes from Moses; rather it comes from the Patriarchs); even on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath day in order that the Law of Moses might not be broken, are you angry because I made a whole man healthy on a Sabbath day? 24Do not judge by appearances, but instead pass a just verdict.” 25So some of the Jerusalemites said, “Is not this the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26And look, he speaks openly and they say nothing to him. Did the rulers perhaps know, then, that he truly is the Anointed? 27But we know where this man is from. But when the Anointed comes no one knows where he is from.” 28So Jesus spoke aloud in the Temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me and know where I come from; and I have not come on my own behalf; but he who sent me, whom you do not know, is true; 29I know him, because I am from him, and that one sent me.” 30So they sought to seize him, yet no one laid a hand upon him, for his hour had not yet arrived. 31But many from the crowd had faith in him, and said, “When the Anointed comes, will he perform more signs than this man has performed?” 32The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent Temple guards, in order that they might seize him. 33So Jesus said, “I am with you but a little time, then I go to the one who sent me. 34You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.” 35So the Judaeans said to themselves, “Where is this man about to go so that we cannot find him? Is he about to go to the Diaspora among the Greeks, to teach the Greeks as well? 36What is this remark he uttered, ‘You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

37Now on the feast’s final day—its great day—Jesus stood up and called out loudly, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink. 38Whoever has faith in me, just as scripture has said, ‘Out of his inner parts streams of living water will flow.’” 39Now he said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who had faith in him were about to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40Some from the crowd, therefore, hearing these words, said: “Truly this man is the Prophet.” 41Others said, “This man is the Anointed.” Yet others said, “Could the Anointed then come out of Galilee? 42Has not the scripture said that the Anointed comes out of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David dwelt?” 43So a division arose in the crowd on account of him, 44And some of them wished to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. 45So the Temple guards came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and these men said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46The Temple guards replied, “No man ever spoke in such a way as this man speaks.” 47The Pharisees therefore answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48Has any one from among the rulers or of the Pharisees had faith in him? 49But this crowd, who are ignorant of the Law, are cursed.” 50Nicodemus, the one who had come to him earlier, being one of them, says, 51“Does our Law judge the man without first hearing from him and knowing what he is doing?” 52They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that a prophet is not raised up out of the Galilee.”

[53And each one went to his house,

CHAPTER EIGHT

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2And at daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him, and sitting down he gave them instruction. 3And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and, making her stand before everyone in the open, 4Say to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery; 5Now, in the Law Moses enjoined us to stone such a person; so what do you say?” 6(And they said this to test him, so that they might have some accusation to bring against him.) Jesus, however, bending down, wrote upon the ground with his finger. 7But, when they continued to question him, he stood up straight and said to them, “Let whosoever among you is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” 8And again, bending down, he wrote on the ground. 9And, hearing this, they departed one by one, beginning with the older of them, and he was left alone with the woman before him. 10And Jesus, standing up straight, said to her, “Madam,q where are they? Does no one condemn you?” 11And she said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, from now on sin no longer.”]r

12Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the cosmos; whoever follows me most surely will not walk in darkness, but rather will possess the light of life.” 13So the Pharisees said to him, “You yourself testify concerning yourself; your testimony is not valid.” 14Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I myself testify concerning myself, my testimony is valid; because I know where I come from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15You pass judgment according to the flesh; I pass judgment on no one. 16But, even if I judge, my judgment is valid because it is not only I, but rather I and the one who has sent me. 17And in your Law it has been written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am the one testifying concerning myself, and the Father, who has sent me, testifies concerning me.” 19So they said to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would have known my Father as well.” 20He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury of the Temple; still no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

21Again, therefore, he said to them, “I am going and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin; where I am going you are not able to come.” 22So the Judaeans said, “Will he kill himself, and that is why he says, ‘Where I am going you are not able to come’?” 23And he said to them, “You are from that which is below, I am from that which is above; you are from this cosmos, I am not from this cosmos. 24Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not have faith that I AM,s you will die in your sins.” 25So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “To begin with, why am I even speaking to you? 26I have many things to say and many judgments to make regarding you; but he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him, this I speak to the cosmos.” 27They did not know that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you know that I AM, and I do nothing from myself; but, just as the Father taught me, I speak these things. 29And the one who has sent me is with me; he did not leave me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

30As he was saying these things, many had faith in him. 31So Jesus said to the Judaeans who had faith in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33And they replied to him, “We are seed of Abraham, and we have never been anyone’s slaves; how is it you say we will become free?” 34Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I tell you that everyone committing sin is a slave to sin. 35But the slave does not remain in the household for life; the son remains for life. 36If, therefore, the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know you are seed of Abraham; but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. 38I speak what I have seen by the Father’s side, so do what you have heard from the Father.” 39They answered and said to him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus says to them, “If you are children of Abraham, perform the works of Abraham; 40But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. 41You perform the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born from whoring; we have one Father: God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father you would have loved me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God; for I have come not from myself; rather that one sent me. 43Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are unable to hear my word. 44You come from a father who is the Slanderer; and you wish to do your father’s wishes. That one was a killer of men from the beginning, and did not stand upon the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from what is proper to him, because he is a liar and the liar’s father. 45But I, because I speak the truth, me you do not trust. 46Who among you arraigns me for sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not trust me? 47Whoever listens to the words of God listens to God; the reason you do not listen is that you are not of God.” 48The Judaeans answered and said to him, “Do we not speak well in saying you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon in me, but rather I honor my Father, while you dishonor me. 50But I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks and judges. 51Amen, amen, I tell you, if anyone keeps my word he shall most certainly not see death, throughout the age.”t 52The Judaeans said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, the prophets too, and you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word he shall most certainly not taste death throughout the age.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too. Who are you making yourself out to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I give myself glory, my glory is nothing. It is my Father—of whom you say, ‘He is our God’—who gives me glory; 55And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I say I do not know him I shall be a liar like you; rather, I know him and keep his word. 56Your father Abraham was eager to see my day, and he saw and rejoiced.” 57The Judaeans therefore said to him, “You have not quite reached fifty, and you have seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” 59So they took up stones, in order to cast them at him; but Jesus was hidden and departed from the Temple.

CHAPTER NINE

1And, as he was passing along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples questioned him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but rather that the works of God might be made manifest in him. 4It is necessary for us to perform the works of the one who has sent me while it is day; the night comes, when no one can work. 5While I am in the cosmos, I am the light of the cosmos.” 6Having said these things he spat on the ground and made clay from the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay, 7And said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam,”—which means, when interpreted, “Sent Forth.” So he went and washed and came back with sight. 8So the neighbors and those who earlier had seen him and seen that he was a beggar said, “Is this not the one who was sitting and begging?” 9Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “No, but he resembles him.” But that man said, “I am he.” 10So they said to him, “How [then] were your eyes opened?” 11That man answered, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me: ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so, going and washing, I saw.” 12And they said to him, “Where is that man?” He says, “I do not know.” 13They lead him—the man formerly blind—to the Pharisees. 14Now, on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes, it was a Sabbath. 15So the Pharisees again asked him how it was he saw, and he said to them, “He anointed my eyes with clay, and I washed, and I see.” 16So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17So again they say to the blind man, “Since he opened your eyes, what do you say regarding him?” And he said, “He is a prophet.” 18So, regarding him, the Judaeans did not trust that he had been blind and had then seen, until they had called the parents of the man who had received sight, 19And interrogated them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, 21But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age, he will speak for himself.” 22The parents said these things because they feared the Judaeans; for the Judaeans had agreed that anyone who might acknowledge him to be the Anointed would be expelled from the synagogue. 23For this reason his parents had said: “He is of age; question him.” 24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know this is a sinful man.” 25So the man answered, “Whether he is a sinful man I do not know; I know one thing: that, having been blind, I now see.” 26So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He replied to them, “I already told you and you did not listen; why do you wish to hear it again? Do you wish to become his disciples?” 28And they deprecated him and said, “You are a disciple of that man, but we are disciples of Moses; 29We know that God has spoken through Moses, but we do not know where this man comes from.” 30The man answered and said to them, “Why then, there is something amazing in this: that you do not know where he comes from, and he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinful men, but if anyone reveres God and does his will, to this man he listens. 32From the beginning of the age it has not been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind; 33If this man were not from God he could not do anything.” 34They answered and said to him, “You were born utterly in sin and you lecture us?” And they expelled him. 35Jesus heard that they had expelled him and, finding him, said, “Do you have faith in the Son of Man?” 36The man answered and said, “And who is he, Lord, that I may have faith in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “It so happens that you have seen him and also that the one who is speaking to you is he.” 38And he said, “Lord, I have faith”; and he prostrated himself before him. 39And Jesus said, “I came into the cosmos for judgment, that those without sight may see, and those with sight might become blind.”

40Some of the Pharisees who were nearby to him heard these things and said to him, “Are we blind also?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind you would not have sin; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

CHAPTER TEN

1“Amen, amen, I tell you, someone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a bandit; 2But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To this man the gatekeeper grants entry, and the sheep hearken to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has herded out all of his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice; 5And by no means will they follow a stranger, but rather will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus pronounced this proverb for them, but they did not understand what the things he was telling them were. 7So Jesus spoke again: “Amen, amen, I tell you that I am the sheeps’ gate. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not hearken to them. 9I am the gate; if anyone enters in through me he will be saved, and he will go in and will go out and will find pasture. 10The thief does not come except so that he may steal and slaughter and destroy; I came that they might have life and might have it in abundance. 11I am the good shepherd. The shepherd, the one who is good, lays down his soul for the sake of the sheep. 12He who is the hireling and not the shepherd, to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees—and the wolf seizes and scatters them—13Because he is a hireling and the sheep are no concern of his. 14I am the shepherd who is good, and I know my own and my own know me, 15Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my soul for the sake of the sheep. 16And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; it is necessary for me to lead those also, and they will hearken to my voice, and there will come to be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me: that I lay down my soul, so that I may take it up again. 18No one has taken it from me; rather I lay it down, and I have power to take it up again; this command I received from my Father.” 19Again there was a division among the Judaeans on account of these words. 20And many of them said, “He has a demon in him and is deranged; why do you listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of a demoniac; can a demon open a blind man’s eyes?”

22Then came Hannukah in Jerusalem; it was winter; 23And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s portico; 24So the Judaeans encircled him and said to him, “For how long are you going to keep a grip on our soul? If you are the Anointed, tell us forthrightly.” 25Jesus replied to them, “I have told you, and you do not have faith; the works that I perform in my Father’s name, these testify concerning me; but you do not have faith, 26Because you are not from among my sheep. 27My sheep hearken to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, 28And I give them life in the Age, and they most certainly do not perish throughout the age,u and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” 31Again the Judaeans picked up stones so that they could stone him. 32Jesus replied to them, “I have displayed to you many good works from the Father; for which work among them do you stone me?” 33The Judaeans answered him, “We stone you not on account of a good work, but rather on account of blasphemy, and because you who are a man make yourself out to be God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35If he called gods those to whom God’s Logosv came, and the scripture cannot be dissolved, 36How is it that, because I have said I am the Son of God, you say, ‘You blaspheme’ to one whom the Father sanctified and sent out into the cosmos? 37If I do not do the works of my Father, do not have faith in me; 38But if I do, even if you do not have faith in me, have faith in the works, so that you may know and continue to know that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39So they again sought to seize him; and he slipped out of their hands.

40And he departed again, across the Jordan to the place where John had earlier been baptizing, and there he remained. 41And many came to him and said: “John may have performed no sign, but everything whatsoever that John said about this man was true.” 42And many there had faith in him.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1Now there was a man who was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, from the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was the Mary who had anointed the Lord with unguent, and had wiped off his feet with her hair, whose brother was ill. 3So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, look: He whom you cherish is ill.” 4And on hearing this Jesus said, “This illness is not unto death, but rather is for the glory of God, so that the Son might be glorified through it.” 5Now Jesus loved Martha and also her sister and Lazarus. 6Even so, having heard that he was ill he then stayed on in the place where he was for two days; 7After this he then says to the disciples, “Let us go into Judaea again.” 8The disciples say, “Rabbi, the Judaeans were lately seeking to stone you, and you are going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If one walks by day, he will not stumble, because he sees the light of this cosmos; 10But if one walks by night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11He said these things, and thereafter says to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I might awaken him.” 12Therefore the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep he will be saved.” 13But Jesus had been speaking about his death; yet they thought him to be talking about sleeping in the sense of slumbering. 14So then Jesus told them forthrightly, “Lazarus has died, 15And for your sakes I rejoice that I was not there, so that you may have faith; but let us go to him.” 16So Thomas, the one called Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go as well, so that we may die with him.” 17On arriving, therefore, Jesus found he had been in the tomb for four days already. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away. 19And many of the Judaeans had come to Martha and Mary so that they might offer them consolation over their brother. 20So Martha, hearing that Jesus is coming, met him; but Mary sat in the house. 21So Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died. 22Even now, I know that whatever things you ask of God, God will give you.” 23Jesus says to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha says to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever has faith in me, even if he should die, shall live, 26And whoever lives and has faith in me most certainly does not die, throughout the age;w do you have faith in this?” 27She says to him, “I have had faith that you are the Anointed, the Son of God who is coming into the cosmos.” 28And saying this she went away and called Mary, secretly telling her, “The teacher is here and he is calling you.” 29And she, when she heard this, quickly arose and came to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31Therefore the Judaeans who had been with her in the house consoling her, seeing that Mary arose quickly and went out, followed her, thinking: “She is going to the tomb so that she may mourn there.” 32So Mary, when she arrived where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died.” 33Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, he groaned in his spirit and yielded himself to his turmoil, 34And said, “Where have you laid him?” They say to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Judaeans said, “See how he cherished him.” 37But some of them said, “Is not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, able to bring it about that this man also might not die?” 38So Jesus, again groaning within himself, comes to the tomb; and it was a cavern, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus says, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the man who had died, says to him, “Lord, by now it gives off a bad odor; for this is the fourth day.” 40Jesus says to her, “Have I not told you that if you have faith you will see God’s glory?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “I give you thanks that you have heard me; 42And I knew that you always hear me; but I have spoken on account of the crowd standing all around, so that they might have faith that you have sent me.” 43And saying these things he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44The one who had died came forth, feet and hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus says to them, “Unbind him and let him go.”

45Thus many among those Judaeans who had come to Mary and seen what he had done had faith in him, 46But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a Council and said, “What do we do now that this man is performing many signs? 48If we allow him to continue thus, everyone will have faith in him, and the Romans will come and will take away both our holy place and our nation.” 49But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was that year’s chief priest, said to them, “You know nothing; 50You do not realize that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.” 51Yet he did not say this from himself, but being that year’s chief priest he was prophesying that Jesus was about to die for the nation—52And not only for the nation, but also that he might gather the scattered children of God into one. 53From that day, therefore, they took counsel so that they might kill him. 54So Jesus no longer openly walked about among the Judaeans, but departed from there to a region near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and remained there with the disciples.

55Now the Passover of the Judaeans was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the countryside before the Passover so that they might purify themselves. 56So they looked for Jesus and, standing in the Temple, they said to one another, “How does it seem to you? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57And the chief priests and Pharisees had issued orders that, should anyone know where he is, he should report it, so that they might seize him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. 2So they prepared a supper for him there, and Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. 3So Mary, taking a pint of unguent of pure nard, which was very expensive, anointed the feet of Jesus, and with her hair she wiped his feet off; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the unguent. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was about to betray him, says, 5“Why was this unguent not sold for three hundred denarii, and that donated to the destitute?” 6But he said this not because he was concerned for the poor, but because he was a thief and, being keeper of the purse, drew on what was deposited in it. 7Jesus therefore said, “Leave her, so that she might keep it for the day of my burial; 8For you always have the poor with you, but me you do not always have.” 9So a large crowd of the Judaeans knew that he is there and they came, not only on account of Jesus, but also that they might see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 10And the chief priests conspired so that they might kill Lazarus also, 11Because on his account many of the Judaeans were going over to Jesus and having faith in him.

12The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast, hearing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13Took branches from the palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried out, “Hosanna, blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord, and the king of Israel!” 14And Jesus, having found a young ass, mounted it, just as it is written: 15“Fear not, daughter of Zion; see, your king comes seated on the foal of an ass.” 16His disciples at first did not understand these things, but when Jesus was glorified they then remembered that these things had been written concerning him, and also that they did these things to him. 17So the crowd that had been with him when he had called Lazarus forth from the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. 18Hence the crowd also met him, because they heard that he had performed this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to themselves, “You see that this avails us nothing—look: The world has gone after him.”

20Now there were some Greeks among those going up so that they might worship at the feast; 21These men therefore approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and begged a favor of him, saying, “Lord, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip comes and tells Andrew; and Philip and Andrew tell Jesus. 23And Jesus answers them, saying, “The hour has arrived when the Son of Man is glorified. 24Amen, amen, I tell you, unless the grain of wheat falling to the ground dies, it remains alone; but if it die it bears plenteous fruit. 25Whoever cherishes his soul destroys it, and whoever hates his soul in this cosmos will preserve it for life in the Age. 26If anyone serves me let him follow me, and where I am there my servant will be as well; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27Now my soul has been troubled, and what might I say? Father, rescue me from this hour? But for this I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” A voice, therefore, came out of the sky: “I both have glorified and will glorify again.” 29So the crowd standing there and hearing this said it was a thunderclap; others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered and said, “Not on account of me has this voice come, but on account of you. 31Now is the judgment on this cosmos; now shall the Archon of this cosmos be cast out; 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will drag everyone to me.” 33And he said this signifying by what kind of death he was about to die. 34So the crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Anointed abides until the Age,x so how is it you say it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35So Jesus said to them, “For only a little time longer is the light among you. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you; and he who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36While you have the light, have faith in the light, so that you might become sons of light.” Jesus said these things and, departing, was hidden from them.

37But, though he performed so many signs before them, they did not have faith in him, 38So that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has trusted our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39For this reason they could not have faith, because again Isaiah said, 40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that with their eyes they might not see and with the heart they might not understand and turn, and I will heal them.” 41Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke concerning him. 42But, nevertheless, even many of the Pharisees did not confess it for fear they should be expelled from the synagogue; 43For they loved the glory of men better than the glory of God. 44But Jesus spoke aloud and said, “Whoever has faith in me has faith not in me but in him who has sent me, 45And whoever sees me sees him who has sent me. 46I have come as a light into the cosmos, so that everyone who has faith in me might not remain in darkness. 47And if anyone hears my words and does not keep them I do not judge him; for I came not that I might judge the cosmos, but that I might save the cosmos. 48Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has one who judges him: the word that I uttered—that will judge him on the last day. 49For I did not speak from myself, but rather the Father who has sent me, he has commanded what I should say and what I should speak. 50And I know that his command is life in the Age. Thus, whatever things I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come—that he might pass from this cosmos to the Father—having loved his own in the cosmos, he loved them to the end: 2And, as the evening meal was taking place—now that the Slanderer had put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, that he should betray him—3Knowing that the Father had placed all things in his hands, and that he came forth from God and is under way to God, 4He rises from the supper, and places his mantle aside and, taking up a towel, wrapped it around his loins; 5Then he pours water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and began to wipe them off with the towel wrapped about his loins. 6Thus he comes to Simon Peter; he says to him, “Lord, are you washing my feet?” 7Jesus answered and said to him, “You do not yet understand what I am doing, but hereafter you will understand.” 8Peter says to him, “Most surely, throughout the age,y you will not wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you have no portion with me.” 9Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and head.” 10Jesus says to him, “One who has been bathed has no need to wash [except for his feet], but is entirely clean; and you are clean, but not all among you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he had said, “Not all among you are clean.” 12Therefore, when he had washed their feet and taken up his mantle and again reclined at table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and well you speak, for such I am. 14So if I, the Lord and the teacher, have washed your feet, you are obliged to wash one another’s feet; 15For I have given you an example so that, just as I have done for you, you may do as well. 16Amen, amen, I tell you, a slave is not superior to his lord, nor is a messenger superior to the one sending him. 17If you know these things, how blissful you are if you do them. 18I do not speak in regard to all of you; I know those I have chosen; but so that scripture might be fulfilled: ‘He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’ 19I tell you from this moment, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. 20Amen, amen, I tell you, he who welcomes whomever I might send welcomes me, and he who welcomes me welcomes the one who has sent me.” 21Having said these things, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified and said, “Amen, amen, I tell you that one of you will betray me.” 22The disciples looked at one another, confused as to whom he means. 23One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close beside Jesus. 24So Simon Peter nods his head at this one and says to him, “Ask who it is that he is talking about.” 25So that one, leaning back on Jesus’s chest, says to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26So Jesus answers, “It is the one for whom I shall dip a morsel of food and give it to him.” So, dipping the morsel, he gives it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 27And then, following behind the morsel, the Accuserz entered into that one. So Jesus says to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28But none among those reclining at table knew why he told him this; 29For some thought that, inasmuch as Judas kept the purse, Jesus is telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the destitute. 30So, having received the morsel, that one immediately departed; and it was night.

31When, therefore, he had departed, Jesus says, “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and God has been glorified in him; 32[If God has been glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately. 33I am with you yet a little while, little children; you will seek me, and just as I said to the Judaeans I now also say to you: Where I am going you cannot come. 34A new commandment I give you: that you love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are disciples to me, if you have love for one another.” 36Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37Simon Peter says to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my soul for you.” 38Jesus answers, “Will you lay down your soul for me? Amen, amen, I tell you most assuredly, a cock will not crow before you deny me three times.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1“Do not let your heart be troubled; have faith in God and have faith in me. 2In my Father’s house there are many places of rest. Would I otherwise have told you that I am going to make a place ready for you? 3And if I go and make a place ready for you, I am coming again and will take you along with me, so that where I am you might be also. 4And you know the way to where I am going.” 5Thomas says to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How do we know the way?” 6Jesus says to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you had known me you would also have recognized my Father. From this moment you know and have seen him.” 8Philip says to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and for us that suffices.” 9Jesus says to him, “I am with you for such a long time, Philip, and you have not known me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The words that I utter to you I do not speak from myself; but the Father, abiding in me, performs his works. 11Have faith in me, that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me; or else have faith on account of the works themselves. 12Amen, amen, I tell you, whoever has faith in me, the works I perform he will perform also, because I am going to the Father. 13And whatever you request in my name, this I will do, so that the Father might be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. 15If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I shall entreat the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you throughout the age,aa 17The Spirit of truth, which the cosmos cannot receive because it neither sees nor knows it; you know it because it abides with you and will be within you. 18I shall not leave you orphans; I am coming to you. 19Just a little while and the cosmos no longer sees me, but you see me; because I live, you too will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, that one is the one who loves me, and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.” 22Judas—not Iscariot—says to him, “Lord, what has happened then, that you are about to manifest yourself to us and not to the cosmos?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine but rather that of the Father who has sent me. 25These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you; 26But the advocate, the Spirit, the Holy One, which the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you; I give to you not as the cosmos gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28You heard that I told you that I am going away and am coming to you. If you had loved me you would have rejoiced that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens you might have faith. 30I will no longer speak much with you, for the Archon of the cosmos is coming—and he has no hold in me—31But so that the cosmos may know that I love the Father, and that just as the Father has commanded me so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1“I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit he trims clean so that it might bear more fruit. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me—and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches; the one remaining in me and I in him, this one bears plentiful fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Unless someone remain in me he is like the branch that has been cast outside and has withered, and they gather them up and cast them in the fire, and they are burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall happen for you. 8By this my Father has been glorified: that you bear plentiful fruit and will become my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me I have also loved you; remain in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11I have spoken these things to you that my joy may be in you and your joy may be made full. 12This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this: that he should lay down his soul for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I call you slaves no longer, because the slave does not know what his lord is doing; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, so that you should go and should bear fruit, and your fruit will last, so that whatever you might ask in my name he might give you. 17These things I command you so that you love one another. 18If the cosmos hates you, you know that it has hated me before you. 19If you were of the cosmos, the cosmos would have loved its own; but since you are not of the cosmos, the cosmos therefore hates you. 20Remember the word that I spoke to you: A slave is not superior to his lord. If they persecuted me they will persecute you as well; if they kept my word they will keep yours as well. 21But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who has sent me. 22Had I not come and spoken to them they would have borne no sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me also hates my Father. 24If I had not performed among them the works that no one else had performed, they would have borne no sin; but they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25And thus might the passage written in the Law be fulfilled: 26When the advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes forth from the Father, he will testify concerning me; 27And you too must testify, for you are with me from the beginning.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1“I have spoken these things to you so that you might not be caused to falter. 2They will make you exiles from the synagogue; and an hour is coming in which everyone who kills you thinks he is offering a service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have known neither the Father nor me. 4But I have spoken these things so that when their hour arrives you may remember that I told them to you. At first I did not tell you these things, since I was with you. 5But now I am going away to the one who has sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6But, because I have spoken to you, grief has filled your heart. 7But I tell you the truth, it is for your own good that I should go away. For if I do not go away the Advocate surely is not coming to you; but if I go I shall send him to you. 8And when he comes he will prove the cosmos wrong concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment: 9Concerning sin, because they do not have faith in me; 10And concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you no longer see me; 11And concerning judgment, because the Archon of this cosmos has been judged. 12I still have many things to tell you, but right now you cannot bear them; 13But when that one comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you on the way to all truth; for he will not speak from himself, but will speak what he hears, and he will announce to you things to come. 14That one will glorify me, because he will receive from what is mine and will announce it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that he receives from what is mine and will announce it to you. 16A little while and you see me no longer, and a little while again and you will see me.” 17Therefore some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is telling us: ‘A little while and you see me no longer, and a little while again and you will see me’? And: ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18So they said, “What is this that he is saying, this ‘little while’? We do not know what he is saying.” 19Jesus knew that they wished to question him and said to them, “Are you asking one another this, because I said, ‘A little while and you do not see me, and a little while again and you will see me’? 20Amen, amen, I tell you that you will weep and will lament, and the cosmos will rejoice; you will feel anguish but your anguish will become joy. 21The woman, when she is giving birth, feels anguish because her hour has come; but, when she produces the child, she no longer remembers the suffering on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the cosmos. 22And so now indeed you feel anguish; but I shall see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you. 23And on that day you will not ask me any question. Amen, amen, I tell you, whatever you request of the Father he will give you in my name. 24Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, that your joy might be complete. 25I have spoken these things to you figuratively; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will make open proclamation to you concerning the Father. 26On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not saying to you that I will implore the Father on your behalf; 27For the Father himself loves you because you have cherished me and have had faith that I come forth from God. 28I came forth from the Father and have come into the cosmos; I am leaving the cosmos again and am going to the Father.” 29His disciples say, “See, now you speak openly, and utter no figure of speech. 30Now we know that you know all things and have no need that anyone should question you. By this we have faith that you came forth from God.” 31Jesus answered them, “Now you have faith? 32See: An hour is coming—has indeed come—when you are scattered, each one to his own home, and you leave me alone; and I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in me. In the cosmos you have suffering; but take heart—I have conquered the cosmos.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1Jesus spoke these things and, lifting up his eyes to the sky, said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that the Son might glorify you, 2Just as you gave him power over all flesh, so that you have given everything to him, that he might give them life in the Age. 3And this is life in the Age: that they might know you, the sole true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus the Anointed. 4On earth I glorified you by completing the work that you have given me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me by your side with that glory I had by your side before the cosmos was. 6I disclosed your name to the men whom you gave to me out of the cosmos. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that all the things you have given me, however many, are from you. 8Because the words that you gave me I have given to them, and they accepted them, and knew truly that I came forth from you, and they had faith that you sent me forth. 9I make supplication on their behalf; I do not make supplication on behalf of the cosmos, but rather on behalf of those you have given to me, because they are yours. 10And all that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the cosmos, and they are in the cosmos, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one just as we are. 12When I was with them, I protected them in your name, which you gave me, and guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of perdition, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and in the cosmos I speak these things so that they might have the joy that is mine made full within them. 14I have given them your word, and the cosmos hated them, because they are not of the cosmos, just as I am not of the cosmos. 15I pray not that you should take them out of the cosmos, but that you should keep them away from the wicked one. 16They are not of the cosmos, just as I am not of the cosmos. 17Make them holy in the truth; the word that is yours is truth. 18Just as you sent me forth into the cosmos, I sent them also forth into the cosmos. 19And on their behalf I make myself holy, so that they also may be made holy in truth. 20But I make supplication not for them only, but also for those having faith in me on account of their word, 21That all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they too might be in us, so that the cosmos may have faith that you sent me forth. 22And I have given to them the glory you have given me, that they may be one just as we are one: 23I in them and you in me, that they might be brought to completion in one, so that the cosmos might know that you sent me forth, and loved them just as you loved me. 24Father, I wish that they too, those you have given to me, might be with me where I am, that they might see my glory, which you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the cosmos. 25Righteous Father, the cosmos also did not know you, but I knew you, and these know you have sent me forth; 26And your name I have made known, and will make known to them, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them also.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1Having said these things, Jesus went forth with his disciples across the Kedron, which flows in the winter, to where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2Now Judas, who was handing him over, also knew the place, because Jesus often met with his disciples there. 3So Judas, taking a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with torches and lamps and weapons. 4Jesus, therefore, knowing about all the things descending upon him, went forth and says to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He says to them, “I AM.” 6Thus, when he said “I AM” to them, they stepped backward and fell to the ground. 7So again he inquired of them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” 8Jesus replied, “I have told you that I AM; so, if you are seeking me, allow these to go.” 9—So that the word that he had spoken might be fulfilled: “Those whom you have given me, I lost none of them.” 10Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave and hacked off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. 11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword in its sheath; the cup that the Father has given me, shall I not most surely drink it?”

12So the detachment of soldiers and the chiliarch, along with the officers of the Judaeans, seized Jesus and bound him, 13And led him first to Annas; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was that year’s chief priest; 14Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Judaeans: “It is expedient that one man die on behalf of the people.” 15And Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. And that disciple was known to the chief priest and entered along with Jesus into the chief priest’s courtyard, 16But Peter stood outside at the gate. So the disciple who was known to the chief priest went out and spoke to the girl keeping the gate, and conducted Peter in. 17So the maidservant keeping the gate says to Peter, “Are you not also one of this man’s disciples?” He says, “I am not.” 18And the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing there and warming himself. 19So the chief priest interrogated Jesus concerning his disciples and concerning his teaching. 20Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the cosmos; I always taught in synagogue and in the Temple, where all the Judaeans congregate, and I spoke nothing in secret. 21Why do you question me? Question those who have listened to what I told them; look: They know the things I have said.” 22And, as he said these things, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus a blow to the face, saying, “This is how you answer the chief priest?” 23Jesus answered him, “If I spoke amiss, bear witness to the wrong; but, if well, why do you beat me?” 24So Annas sent him bound to the chief priest Caiaphas. 25Now Simon Peter was standing there warming himself. So they said to him, “Are you not also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26One of the chief priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off, says, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27So again Peter denied it, and immediately a cock crowed.

28So they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium; and it was just before dawn; and they did not enter the Praetorium, so that they should not be defiled but might instead eat the Passover. 29So Pilate went outside to them and says, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30They answered and said to him, “If this man were not doing evil we would not have handed him over to you.” 31So Pilate said to them, “You take him and judge him according to your Law.” The Judaeans said to him, “It is not legal for us to kill anyone.” 32—So that the word spoken by Jesus, indicating by what death he was about to die, might be fulfilled. 33So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “You are the king of the Judaeans?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own, or did others speak to you about me?” 35Pilate answered, “Am I a Judaean? Your nation and your chief priests handed you over to me; what have you done?” 36Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this cosmos; if my Kingdom were of this cosmos my subjects would have struggled so that I should not be handed over to the Judaeans; but for now my Kingdom is not from here.” 37So Pilate said to him, “Are you then a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and for this have I come into the cosmos: that I might testify to the truth; everyone who belongs to the truth hearkens to my voice.” 38Pilate says to him, “What is truth?” And, having said this, he went outside again to the Judaeans and tells them, “I find absolutely no case against him. 39But it is a custom among you that I should release one of you at the Passover; do you want me to release the king of the Judaeans, therefore?” 40So again they cried out, saying, “Not this man, but bar-Abbas!” (And bar-Abbas was a bandit.)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1So Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him. 2And the soldiers, having plaited a crown from thorns, placed it on his head, and threw a purple cloak around him, 3And went up to him and said, “Hail, king of the Judaeans!” And they gave him blows to the face. 4And Pilate went outside again and says to them, “Look: I am bringing him out to you, so that you might know that I find no case against him.” 5So Jesus came outside, wearing the thorn crown and the purple cloak. And he says to them, “Look at the man.” 6When, therefore, the chief priests and officers saw him they cried out, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate says to them, “You take him and crucify him; for I find no case against him.” 7The Judaeans answered him, “We have a Law, and according to the Law he ought to die because he has made himself out to be God’s Son.” 8When, therefore, Pilate heard this statement he was more afraid, 9And again went into the Praetorium and says to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. 10So Pilate says to him, “Do you not know that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?” 11Jesus answered, “You had no power over me whatsoever were it not given you from above; for this reason he who handed me over to you bears the greater sin.” 12Thereafter Pilate sought to release him; but the Judaeans cried out, “If you release this man you are not a friend of Caesar.” 13So Pilate, hearing these words, brought Jesus outside and sat upon a tribune’s seat at a place called Stone Pavement, or rather Gabbatha in Hebrew. 14Now it was the Preparation day of the Passover, and was around the sixth hour; and he says to the Judaeans, “Look at your king.” 15So they cried out, “Take him, take him, crucify him!” Pilate says to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king other than Caesar.” 16So then he handed him over to them, so that he might be crucified.

So they took Jesus, 17And bearing the cross for himself he went out to what was called Skull’s Place, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha, 18Where they crucified him, and with him two others—one on this side, one on that, and Jesus in between. 19And Pilate also inscribed a titular notice and affixed it to the cross; and what was written was: “JESUS THE NAZOREAN THE KING OF THE JUDAEANS.” 20Many of the Judaeans, therefore, read this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Judaeans said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Judaeans,’ but rather that ‘That man said, I am king of the Judaeans.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23So the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four shares, one share for each soldier, with the tunic left over. For the tunic was seamless, woven as a whole from the top down. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but rather cast lots over whose it shall be”—this that the scripture might be fulfilled: “They divided my garments among themselves, and over my raiment they cast a lot.” 25Now beside the cross of Jesus there stood his mother, and his mother’s sister Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary the Magdalene. 26Therefore Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, says to his mother, “Madam, look at your son.” 27Then to the disciple he says, “Look at your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her for his own. 28After this, Jesus, knowing that everything had now been completed, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, says, “I am thirsty.” 29A vessel full of diluted wine was placed there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine around a hyssop, they brought it up to his mouth. 30When, therefore, Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It has been completed.” And lowering his head he delivered up his spirit.

31So that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath—for, since it was the day of Preparation, that Sabbath’s day was a high holy day—the Judaeans asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken down. 32So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first and of the other crucified with him; 33But when they came to Jesus, seeing that he had already died, they did not break his legs. 34But one of the soldiers jabbed at his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And the one having seen this has testified, and his testimony is true, and that man knows that he is speaking truthfully, in order that you might have faith. 36For these things happened in order that the scripture might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of his shall be broken.” 37And, again, another scripture says, “They shall gaze on him whom they pierced.” 38Now, after these things, Joseph of Arimathea—being a disciple of Jesus, but in secret out of fear of the Judaeans—requested of Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus away; and Pilate permitted this. So he came and took away his body. 39And Nicodemus came as well—the one who had first come to him by night—bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litraab in weight. 40So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the aromatic spices, as is the custom for interment among the Judaeans. 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever yet been laid; 42So, on account of the Judaeans’ day of Preparation, they put Jesus there, because the tomb was nearby.

CHAPTER TWENTY

1Now early on the first day of the Sabbath-week, while it is still dark, Mary the Magdalene comes to the tomb and sees that the stone has been removed from the tomb. 2So she runs away and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, him who Jesus loved, and says to them, “They took the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they put him.” 3So Peter and the other disciple went forth and came to the tomb. 4And the two of them were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead more quickly than Peter and came to the tomb first, 5And bending down he sees the winding sheets lying there, but he did not enter. 6And so Peter comes following after him and entered the tomb; and he sees the winding sheets lying there, 7And the kerchief that had been on his head not lying together with the sheets, but apart, folded up in a place of its own. 8So the other disciple, the one having come first to the tomb, also entered, and he saw and had faith; 9For as yet they did not know the scripture: that it is necessary for him to rise again from the dead. 10So the disciples went away home again. 11But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. As she was weeping, then, she bent down into the tomb, 12And sees two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet of where the body of Jesus had lain. 13And they say to her, “Madam, why are you weeping?” She says to them: “They took away my Lord and I do not know where they put him.” 14Saying these things, she turned back around and sees Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus says to her, “Madam, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” She, thinking that he is the gardener, says to him, “My lord, if you have carried him off, tell me where you put him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus says to her, “Mary.” Turning, she says to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni” (which means “Teacher”). 17Jesus says to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and tell them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” 18Mary the Magdalene comes to the disciples, announcing: “I have seen the Lord,” as well as the things he told her.

19When, therefore, it was early evening of that first day of the Sabbath-week, and where the disciples were the doors had been sealed for fear of the Judaeans, Jesus came and stood in their midst and says to them, “Peace to you.” 20And, saying this, he showed them both his hands and his side. Thus, on seeing the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. 21So [Jesus] again said to them, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22And, saying this, he breathed upon them and says to them, “Receive a Holy Spirit. 23For those whose sins you let go, they are let go; those you hold fast, they have been held fast.”

24But one of the Twelve, Thomas (which meant “Twin”),ac was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my hand into his side, I will most certainly not have faith.” 26And eight days later his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. The doors being sealed, Jesus comes and stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.” 27Then he says to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and look at my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and cease to be faithless, but be faithful instead.” 28Thomas answered and said to him, “My LORD and my GOD.”ad 29Jesus says to him, “You have faith because you have seen me? How blissful those who do not see and who have faith.”

30Of course, Jesus performed many other signs as well before the disciples, which have not been recorded in this book; 31But these ones have been recorded so that you might have faith that Jesus is the Anointed, the Son of God, and that in having faith you might have life in his name.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEae

1Thereafter Jesus again manifested himself to the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias; and this was the manner in which he manifested himself: 2Simon Peter, and Thomas (which means “Twin”),af and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples were together. 3Simon Peter says to them, “I am going to fish.” They say to him, “We are coming with you as well.” They went out and embarked in the boat, and they caught nothing during the night. 4But now, as it was becoming early morning, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5So Jesus says to them, “Little children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6So he said to them, “Cast the net out on the starboard side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it out, and they were no longer able to haul it in on account of the great number of fish. 7Hence that disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So Simon Peter, hearing that it is the Lord, tied his coat round his waist, for he was undressed,ag and flung himself into the sea; 8But the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits away, hauling along the net full of fish. 9When, therefore, they had disembarked onto the land, they see a charcoal fire laid out and a fish lying on it, as well as a loaf of bread. 10Jesus says to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11Simon Peter went up and dragged along the net, full of a great many fish—a hundred and fifty-three; and, though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus says to them, “Come, break your fast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?”—knowing it is the Lord. 13Jesus comes and takes the bread and gives it to them, and likewise the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples as having been raised from the dead.

15When, therefore, they had breakfasted, Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”ah He says to him, “Yes, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Feed my little lambs.” 16A second time, he again says to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He says to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Shepherd my flocks.” 17The third time he says to him, “Simon son of John, do you cherish me?” Peter was aggrieved that this third time he had said, “Do you cherish me?” and he told him, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I cherish you.” Jesus says to him, “Feed my flocks. 18Amen, amen, I tell you, when you were younger you tied your clothes about yourself and went walking about wherever you wished; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie your clothes about you and will take you where you do not wish.” 19And he said this signifying by what death he will give glory to God. And, saying this, he tells him, “Follow me.” 20Turning, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following behind—he who also had leaned on his chest at supper and said, “Lord, who is he who betrays you?” 21So, seeing this one, Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, and what of this one?” 22Jesus says to him, “If I wish him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me.” 23Thus it is that the claim went forth to the brethren that this disciple is not to die; but Jesus did not say to him that he is not to die, but rather: “If I wish him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25And there are many other things that Jesus also did, which, were they written down one by one, I think the cosmos itself would not contain the books that would be written.

Notes
a. To understand my translation of the first eighteen verses of the Gospel, the reader should refer to “A Note on the Prologue of John’s Gospel” in my postscript to this volume. Here in the Gospel’s prologue, as well as in the closing verses of chapter twenty below, I adopt the typographical convention of the capital G followed by small capitals to indicate where the Greek speaks of ὁ θεός (ho theos), which clearly means God in the fullest and most unequivocal sense, and I use one capital letter followed by two lowercase letters to indicate where the Greek speaks only of θεός (theos) without the article; but, to make the matter more confusing, I have indicated three uses of the word without article (vv. 6, 12, and 13), all concerning the relation between the divine and the created, in all small capitals, to indicate that it is not clear in these instances whether the distinction in forms is still operative, and whether the inarticular form of the noun is being used simply of God as related to creatures through his Logos. And then, in v. 18, I assume the first use of the inarticular form of theos still refers to God in the fullest sense, God the Father, though again the clause in question concerns the relation of creatures to the divine.

b. That is, the great prophet “like unto Moses” supposedly predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15–20.

c. Here, ho theos (in the genitive: τοῦ θεοῦ [tou theou]) is used to indicate God the Father, who is clearly God in the fullest sense (allowing me to dispense with typographical devices to indicate different usages); and this rule holds throughout the Gospel, right up to 20:28, where the designation is at last used as a proper address to the Son. Again, see my remarks in my postscript.

d. Though “son of man” is simply a good Semitic idiom meaning “a man,” by the first century it had long served as the name of a mysterious apocalyptic or eschatological figure (as in the one “like a son of man” who rides in the chariot of God in Ezekiel), and as Christ uses it in the Gospels it should clearly be read as a distinctive prophetic title (though not one whose precise significance can be ascertained).

e. γυνή (gynē): “woman” (as distinct from “maiden,” “virgin”), “wife.” As denoting a married woman and mother rather than an unmarried girl or maidservant, it is a perfectly polite term of respect, a fact that is somewhat obscured in traditional translations that render its vocative use here simply and curtly as “woman.”

f. Approximately fifteen to twenty-five gallons.

g. φραγέλλιον (phragellion): “whip,” “scourge,” “lash,” “riding-whip,” or a drover’s “stockwhip”—here, definitely the last. In the Greek it is clear that Jesus uses the braided or tied cords simply to herd the sheep and oxen out of the compound, not to thrash the moneychangers.

h. τὸ πνεῦμα . . . πνεῖ (to pnevma . . . pnei): “the spirit breathes,” “the wind blows,” “the breath respires”: the wordplay of the Greek is irreproducible in English, so I have elected uniformity of translation, at least for the noun, despite the awkwardness, simply to make it clear that the same word is used at both the beginning and the end of the verse.

i. In all likelihood, Shechem.

j. ὕδωρ ζῶν (hydōr zōn): “living water” has something of a multiple meaning here; it means the water of life as well as water that continues to live within one so that one no longer thirsts, but it is also a way of speaking of flowing water.

k. Or “until the Age [to come].”

l. Or “word.” I have chosen this rendering of the verse, somewhat diffidently, because the very concept of the divine Logos in Jewish and Christian thought of late antiquity is of that mediating divine principle in and by whom the invisible and silent God is seen and heard. See my footnote to 10:35 below, and my remarks on the word logos in my postscript.

m. Roughly three to four miles.

n. Or “until the Age [to come].”

o. Or “until the Age [to come].”

p. διάβολος (diabolos): “slanderer,” “devil.”

q. γυνή (gynē): “woman” (as distinct from “maiden,” “virgin”), “wife.” As it can denote a married woman and mother, it is a polite term, neither dismissive nor condescending; even here it is a form of address that is perfectly gentle.

r. There is little doubt among scholars that the episode of the woman taken in adultery was not written by the same hand that produced the surrounding text. It is not found in the earliest manuscripts of John, or in any Greek or Latin text still extant from before the late fourth century. It is written in a more polished style than the rest of the text, far closer to that of Luke’s Gospel than that of John’s; and, in fact, in certain Greek and Armenian families of manuscripts the story appears in Luke—where it seems to fit better for a great many reasons—rather than in John. It is also a passage that, in both its Lucan and Johannine exemplars, shifts between different locations in the texts; as placed here in John, it clearly interrupts Jesus’s discourse. This does not mean, however, that the episode is some late invention inserted into the text to make Jesus appear more compassionate (not necessarily his most conspicuous characteristic in the fourth Gospel). For one thing, in late antiquity—Jewish, Christian, or pagan—it would have been far more scandalous than commendable in most eyes for Jesus to have allowed an adulteress to go away not only unpunished, but entirely without rebuke. For another, there is good reason to think the episode may in fact be drawn from an older narrative source than the Gospel itself: there is a tale of a very sinful woman that the early second-century Christian Papias mentioned as being part of the lost Gospel of the Hebrews; the Syrian Didascalia (from the third century) cites “the story of the adulteress”; the Constitutions of the Apostles (in a portion probably also from the third century) relates a similar story of a sinful woman whom Jesus refused to condemn; and both Didymus the Blind and Jerome mention the tale as appearing in many manuscripts before the end of the fourth century. Moreover, the earliest texts of John do not merely lack the story; in its place are diacritical marks indicating that something (maybe the same story, maybe something else) has been omitted. Augustine, in fact, aware of the story’s absence from many texts of the Gospel, opined that perhaps it had been removed because of the offense it might give to pious souls unable to understand how Christ could excuse so grave a transgression with no more than an exhortation to sin no more. It seems that the story was something of a freely floating tradition, perhaps with very deep roots in Christian memory, one that was not originally firmly associated with any particular Gospel text, but that was inserted in various versions of Luke or John because it was too beautiful and too illuminating of Christ’s ministry and person to be left out of the church’s lectionary cycle (and hence out of scripture).

s. The somewhat abbreviated and enigmatic use here and below of the phrase ἐγώ εἰμι, ego eimi, which can usually be rendered simply as “it is I,” seems clearly meant to echo God’s words to Moses out of the burning bush, and so functions as a somewhat veiled but still nearly unmistakable divine name.

t. Or “until the Age [to come]” (here and in the next verse).

u. Or “until the Age [to come].”

v. Or “to whom God’s word came,” or “to whom God’s word happened,” or “with whom God’s Logos was.” It was a belief among many Jewish and Christian thinkers of late antiquity that the Logos of God—which is to say, that mediating divine principle or agency whereby the Father expressed himself in created reality—was the direct subject of all the theophanies and divine visitations narrated in Hebrew scripture; for God in his proper, “Most High” reality was beyond all immediate contact with the created order. For Christians, this meant that these Old Testament revelations of God, from Genesis through Ezekiel and beyond, were acts of the divine Son before his incarnation, as the one who is the “express image” of the Father, and so the one in whom the Father is seen. I have therefore translated the verse as a reference to the Logos of the theophanies. See my remarks on the word “logos” in my introduction.

w. Or “until the Age [to come].”

x. Or “throughout the age”—or “Age.” It is difficult to say what is being asserted here, since no such prophecy seems to be advanced in Hebrew scripture. It could, perhaps, mean that the Anointed, in the sense of the king of the restored Davidic line (or at least his posterity), will never disappear from a restored Israel. Or it could mean that the Anointed, in the sense of the Messiah who ushers in the Age to come or the Kingdom of God, will abide until the Age or the Kingdom arrives, or will abide in the Age or Kingdom perpetually.

y. Or “unto the Age [to come].”

z. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

aa. Or “until the Age [to come].”

ab. Roughly seventy-five pounds, an enormous quantity.

ac. Δίδυμος (Didymos).

ad. ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου (ho kyrios mou kai ho theos mou): Here, Thomas addresses Jesus as ho theos, which unambiguously means “God” in the absolute sense (see my remarks on John’s prologue in the postscript). He addresses him also as ho kyrios, again with the honorific article, which also happens to be the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Adonai in the Septuagint, the preferred textual circumlocution for God’s unutterable name, the tetragrammaton (YHWH). Thomas’s words here, then, appear to be the final theological statement of the Gospel at its “first ending.”

ae. The Gospel clearly reaches a natural conclusion at the end of chapter twenty; chapter twenty-one is, most scholars believe, a slightly later addition to the text, a sort of theological (and rather dreamlike and lovely) coda.

af. Δίδυμος (Didymos).

ag. The Greek γυμνός (gymnos) means “naked” or “lightly clad,” and here almost certainly means wearing only a loin covering or an inner tunic. No observant Jew would have entirely disrobed out of doors.

ah. Often read as meaning “Do you love me more than you do these others?” or even “Do you love me more than these others do?,” it is equally (and perhaps more) likely that it means “Do you love me more than these things?”—that is, the things of this age.

The Acts of the Apostles

BY LUKE

CHAPTER ONE

1I produced an earlier treatise, O Theophilus, concerning everything Jesus initiated, both as a practice and as a teaching, 2Until the day when he was taken above, having issued instructions through a Holy Spirit to the Apostles he had chosen, 3To whom, after he had suffered, he showed himself alive by many irrefutable proofs, being seen by them over a period of forty days and telling them things about the Kingdom of God; 4And, meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but rather to “Await the promise of the Father, which you heard from me: 5Because John indeed baptized of water; but you will be baptized in a Spirit, the Holy one, not many days hereafter.” 6So, then, coming together they questioned him, saying, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom of Israel at this time?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority, 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, even to the end of the earth.” 9And saying these things, as they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud took him from their eyes. 10And as they were staring at him ascending into the sky, look: Standing beside them were two men in white garments, 11Who said, “Galilaean men, why do you stand looking at the sky? This Jesus who has thus been taken up from you into the sky will come in the way you saw him going to the sky.” 12They then returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Mount of the Olive Grove, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath’s walk away. 13And when they came in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, bar-Tholomaeus and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James. 14These devoted themselves constantly to prayer, with a shared intensity of feeling, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

15In those days Peter, standing in the midst of the brethren (and the crowd of names, taken all together, was about a hundred and twenty), said, 16“Men, brothers, it was necessary that the scripture be fulfilled, which the Spirit, the Holy one, spoke beforehand through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus—17For he was numbered among us, and had a share in this ministry—18So that from the reward for his injustice this man purchased a field and, having fallen prone in the middle of it, he burst apart and all his entrails were poured out; 19And this came to be known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field came to be called Akeldama”—which, in their language, means “Field of Blood”— 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘Let his estate be deserted, and let there be no one dwelling therein,’ and ‘Let another take over his office’ . . . 21So it is necessary that, out of those men who accompanied us during the whole time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—22Beginning with John’s baptizing until the day he was taken up from among us—one of these should become a witness to his resurrection.” 23And they proposed two: Joseph, called bar-Sabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24And, praying, they said, “You, Lord, knowing the hearts of all, show us which one of these two you have chosen 25To take a place in this ministry and apostolate, which Judas deserted for a place of his own.” 26And they cast lots over them, and the lot fell to Matthias, and he was reckoned together with the eleven Apostles.

CHAPTER TWO

1And, when the day arrived that completed the fifty after Passover, they were all gathered together in one place; 2And suddenly there came a noise like a turbulent wind borne out of the sky, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, 3And there appeared before them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest, one each upon each one of them, 4And they were all filled with a Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter. 5Now dwelling in Jerusalem were devout Judaeans from every nation under the sky; 6And on the advent of this noise the multitude gathered, and were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7And they were amazed and astounded, saying, “Look, are not all of these who are speaking Galilaeans? 8And how is it that each of us hears his own language, the languages in which we were raised—9Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those living in Mesopotamia, both Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia; 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya abutting Cyrene, and visitors from Rome; 11Both Judaeans and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them declaring the great deeds of God in our tongues?” 12And all were amazed and entirely at a loss, saying to one another, “What does this portend?” 13But others, ridiculing them, said: “They are full of sweet new wine.” 14But Peter, standing up along with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them:

“Judaean men, and all of you staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and lend your ears to my words, 15For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, as it is the third hour of the day; 16Rather, this is what was declared through the prophet Joel: 17‘And in the last days it shall happen, says God, that I will pour forth from my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall dream dreams; 18Yes, in those days, I will pour forth from my Spirit even upon my male slaves and upon my female slaves, and they shall prophesy, 19And I will send prodigies in the sky above and signs in the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and resplendent day of the Lord arrives. 21And it shall happen that everyone, whosoever it is, who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 22Israelite men, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazorean, a man validated by God among you by feats of power and prodigies and signs that God performed in your midst through him, as you yourselves know— 23This man—delivered up by the determined counsel and with the foreknowledge of God—you killed, affixing him with nails, employing the hands of men without the Law: 24Him whom God raised up, releasing him from the torments of death, because it was not possible for him to be restrained by it. 25For David says of him, ‘I saw this Lord always before me, because he is on my right, so that I might not be shaken. 26Therefore my heart was gladdened and my tongue rejoiced, and now my flesh will also raise its tent upon hope, 27Because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your hallowed one to see decay. 28You have made known to me the paths of life, with your face you will fill me with delight.’ 29Men, brothers, it is permissible to speak openly to you about the patriarch David: that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day; 30So, being a prophet and knowing that God swore him a pledge that one from the fruit of his loins would sit on the throne, 31He saw it in advance and spoke about the resurrection of the Anointed: that neither was he abandoned to Hades nor did his flesh see decay. 32God raised this Jesus up, of which we are all witnesses: 33Having therefore been exalted to God’s right side, and receiving from the Father the promise of the Spirit, the Holy one, this he poured out—which you both see and hear. 34For David did not ascend into the heavens, yet he says, ‘The Lord said to my lord, sit down at my right side, 35Until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet.’ 36Therefore let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Anointed—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37And, hearing this, they were pierced in heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “What may we do, men, brothers?” 38And Peter said to them, “Change your hearts, and let each of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus the Anointed, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children and to those far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40And with many words more he testified to them and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41So those who accepted his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added, 42And they devoted themselves steadfastly to the Apostles’ teachings and communal life, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. 43And reverence came to every soul; and through the Apostles came many wonders and signs. 44And all those who had faith were at the same place and owned all things communally, 45And they sold their properties and possessions, and distributed to everyone, according as anyone had need. 46And from day to day they steadfastly remained in the Temple in concord of spirit and, breaking bread in one house after another, they shared their food in gladness and simplicity of heart, 47Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And day by day the Lord added those who were being saved to their company.

CHAPTER THREE

1Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 2And a certain man was being carried in, one blind from his mother’s womb, whom they used to place at the door of the Temple called “Lovely” each day to beg alms from those entering the Temple: 3Who, on seeing Peter and John about to enter the Temple, asked for a gift of alms. 4And Peter gazed at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5And he turned his attention to them, expecting to get something from them. 6And Peter said, “I possess no silver or gold; but what I do have, this I give you: In the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazorean, walk.” 7And grabbing him by the right hand he raised him; at once, his feet and ankles were made firm, 8And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the Temple along with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10And they recognized him—that this was the one sitting by the Temple’s “Lovely Gate” to receive alms—and they were filled with astonishment and bewilderment at what had happened to him. 11And, as he clung to Peter and John, the people rushed to them all together in utter astonishment, at the colonnade known as “Solomon’s.” 12And, seeing this, Peter spoke out to the people: “Men, Israelites, why are you amazed at this man? Or why do you stare at us, as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety? 13The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and disowned before the face of Pilate when that man had resolved to release him; 14But you disowned the holy and upright one, and asked for a man who was a murderer to be released to you, 15And you killed the leader on the Way of Life,a whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16And his name, through faith in his name, gave strength to this man—whom you see and recognize—and the faith that comes through it gave him this perfect health, right here in front of you all. 17And now, brothers, I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders as well; 18But thus God fulfilled that which he announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets: that his Anointed would suffer. 19So change your hearts and turn about, so that your sins may be expunged, 20So that times of renewal may come from before the face of the Lord, and he may send the Anointed who was appointed for you beforehand, Jesus, 21Whom heaven must hold until the times of that Restoration of all thingsb of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets an age ago. 22Indeed, Moses said that ‘the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers; you must listen to him concerning everything, whatsoever he shall say to you. 23And it shall be that every soul, whoever it is, who does not listen to that prophet will be eradicated from the people.’ 24And all the prophets—all who spoke from Samuel onward—also announced these days. 25You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with our fathers, telling Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26And God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

CHAPTER FOUR

1And, while they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them, 2Immensely disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming resurrection from the dead in Jesus, 3And laid hands upon them and put them under guard until the following day; for it was now evening. 4But many of those who had heard the discourse had faith, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

5Now the following day it happened that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, 6As well as Annas the chief priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as there were of the chief priest’s family; 7And, having made them stand in their midst, they asked, “By what power or in what name did you do this?” 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9If today, on account of a good deed done to an infirm man, we are being interrogated as to how he has been healed, 10Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazorean—whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands before you completely healed. 11This is the stone despised by you, the builders, which has become the capstone of the corner. 12And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name given among men under the sky by which we must be saved.” 13And, seeing the audacity of Peter and John, and perceiving them to be unlettered and common men, they were amazed, and recognized that they had accompanied Jesus, 14And, seeing the man who had been healed standing beside them, they had no demurral to make. 15So, having commanded them to go outside from the Council, they conferred with one another, 16Saying, “What may we do with these men? For it is obvious to everyone inhabiting Jerusalem that a remarkable sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it; 17But, so that it should not be any further spread about among the people, let us warn them under threat no longer to speak in this name to any men.” 18And, summoning them, they enjoined them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus at all. 19But, in reply, Peter and John said to them, “Judge for yourselves whether it is upright before God to listen to you rather than to God; 20For we are unable not to speak of the things we have seen and heard.” 21And they, having made additional threats, released them, finding that—on account of the people—they had no way to punish them; for everyone gave God the glory for what had happened; 22For the man upon whom this sign of healing had come was over forty years old. 23And, on being released, they went to their own company and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24And they, having listened, lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “Master, you are he who made the sky and the land and the sea and all the things that are in them, 25Who spoke by a Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David, saying, ‘Why did the gentiles rage and the peoples devise vain intrigues? 26The kings of the earth drew up ranks and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed.’ 27For in truth both Herod and Pilate, along with the gentiles and peoples of Israel, conspired in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28To do what your hand and your counsel designated should happen in advance; 29And now, Lord, consider their threats and grant it to your slaves to speak your word with all boldness, 30By stretching forth your hand so that healing and signs and wonders may occur through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31And, as they were making their supplications, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

32And both the heart and the soul of the multitude of those who had come to have faith were one, and no one said that any of the possessions belonging to him was his own, but everything was owned among them communally. 33And the Apostles of the Lord Jesus bore witness to the resurrection with great power, and great grace was upon all of them. 34For neither was anyone among them in need; for as many as were proprietors of lands or households were selling them and bringing the profits of the things sold, 35And laying them at the feet of the Apostles, and there was a redistribution, to each according as anyone had need. 36And Joseph, who was called bar-Nabas by the Apostles (which, translated, means “Son of Consolation”),c a Levite and a Cypriot by birth, 37Owned a field, and when he had sold it he brought the proceeds and placed them at the Apostles’ feet.

CHAPTER FIVE

1But a certain man by the name of Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2And he kept some of the proceeds for himself (his wife also being aware of this), and brought along a certain portion of it and placed it at the feet of the Apostles. 3But Peter said, “Ananias, why did the Accuser so fill your heart that you lie to the Spirit, the Holy One, and keep some of the proceeds from the land for yourself? 4So long as it remained unsold, did it not belong to you? And once sold was it not in your power? Why was such a deed put into your heart? You did not lie to men, but to God.” 5And, on hearing these words, Ananias fell down and yielded up his soul; and great fear came over all who heard of it. 6And the young men rose and shrouded him and, carrying him out, buried him. 7Then an interval of about three hours elapsed and his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. 8And Peter spoke aloud to her: “Tell me whether you sold the land for this much.” And she said, “Yes, for this much.” 9And Peter to her: “Why was it agreed between you to try the Spirit of the Lord? Look: at the door, the feet of those who have buried your husband; they will carry you out also.” 10And at once she fell down at his feet and yielded up her soul; and, coming in, the young men found her dead and, carrying her out, buried her beside her husband. 11And great fear came over the entire assembly and over everyone hearing of these things.

12And many signs and wonders occurred among the people through the hands of the Apostles; and all, in a common spirit, were in Solomon’s Portico, 13But no one else dared to join them; rather, the people praised them; 14And more were added to those having faith in the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15So that they even brought the ailing out into the streets and laid them on pallets and mats, in order that at least Peter’s shadow might be cast over some of them as he went by. 16And a multitude also gathered from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing the ill and those tormented by impure spirits, all of whom were healed.

17And, rising up, the chief priest and all who were with him—those constituting the sect of the Sadducees—were filled with jealousy, 18And laid hands on the Apostles and put them in the public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and, leading them out, said, 20“Go, stand in the Temple, and speak all the words of this Life to the people.” 21And, having heard this, they entered the Temple around dawn. And, when the chief priest and those with him arrived, they convened the Council and all the assembly of the elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the jail to have them brought in. 22But, on arriving there, the Temple guards did not find them in the prison; and when they returned they reported this, 23Saying: “We found the jail shut quite fast, and the prison guards stationed at the doors, but on opening it we found no one inside.” 24And, on hearing these words, both the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were utterly at a loss over them, unable to say what would come of this. 25But someone came and alerted them: “Look: The men whom you put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people.” 26At that the captain, along with the Temple guards, brought them in—not by force, because they were afraid of the people and feared that they might be stoned—27And, leading them in, they made them stand before the Council. And the chief priest interrogated them, 28Saying, “Did we not issue you an order, commanding you not to teach in this name? And look: You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you wish to impute this man’s blood to us.” 29And in reply Peter and the Apostles said, “It is necessary to obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him upon a tree; 31God exalted this man to his right side as a prince and a savior, that he might give Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins. 32And we and the Spirit, the Holy one that God gave to those obeying him, are witnesses to these things we say.” 33And those listening were cut to the core, and resolved to kill them. 34But, standing up in the Council, a certain Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law revered by all the people, ordered that the men be put outside for a little while, 35And said to them, “Men, Israelites, consider among yourselves what you intend to do to these men. 36For before, in days past, Theudas arose claiming to be someone, to whom about four hundred men became attached—who was killed, and all of those who obeyed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37After that, in the days of the census, Judas the Galilaean arose and drew people along behind him; and that man perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered. 38And now I say to you, stand back from these men and leave them; for if this movement or this work is from men it will be destroyed; 39But if it is from God you will not be able to destroy them; you might even turn out to be men who are battling against God.” And they were persuaded by him. 40And, having summoned the disciples, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. 41Thus they departed from before the face of the Council, elated because they had been deemed worthy to suffer disgrace on behalf of the name; 42And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and proclaiming the good tidings of Jesus the Anointed.

CHAPTER SIX

1Now in those days, as the disciples were growing in number, a murmur of complaint arose against the Hebrews from the Hellenists,d because their widows were being neglected in the daily ministry. 2And the Twelve, having summoned the whole company of the disciples, said, “It is not acceptable for us to neglect the word of God to serve at tables. 3Now, brothers, seek out seven men attested to be full of spirit and wisdom, whom we will assign to this task; 4But we will keep to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5And this counsel was pleasing in the eyes of the whole company, and they elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of a holy spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch, 6Whom they stood before the Apostles; and, having prayed, they laid hands on them.

7And the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was enormously multiplied, and a large group from among the priests submitted to the faith.

8And Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great marvels and signs among the people. 9And certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen—including Cyrenians and Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and Asia—rose up in argument with Stephen, 10And were powerless to withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. 11Then they suborned some men to say: “We have heard him uttering blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12And they agitated the people and the elders and the scribes; and, confronting him, they seized him and led him to the Council, 13And they produced false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly makes pronouncements against [this] holy place and the Law; 14For we have heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15And all those sitting on the Council, gazing upon him, saw his face to be like the face of an angel.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1And the chief priest said, “Is this how things are?” 2And he said:

“Men, brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelled in Haran, 3And said to him, ‘Depart from your land, you and your kin, and come into the land that I shall show you.’ 4Then, departing from the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelled in Haran. And, after his father died, he removed himself to this land in which you now dwell, 5And gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length of it, and promised to give it as a possession to him and to his seed after him—when he had no child. 6And God spoke thus: that his seed ‘will be a sojourner in a land belonging to others, and they will enslave and mistreat it for four hundred years; 7And, the nation for which they will slave,’ said God, ‘I shall judge; and thereafter they will depart and will worship me in this place.’ 8And he gave him a covenant by circumcision; and so he sired Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. 9And the patriarchs, moved to envy, sold Joseph away into Egypt; and God was with him, 10And rescued him from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and before his whole household. 11But a famine descended upon the whole of Egypt and Canaan, and a great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12But Jacob, having heard there was grain in Egypt, first sent out our fathers; 13And on the second occasion Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s kin were revealed to Pharaoh. 14And Joseph sent and called for his father Isaac and his kin, seventy-five souls in all. 15And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he died, and our fathers too, 16And they were translated into Sychem and were placed in the tomb Abraham had bought for a sum in silver from the sons of Emmor in Sychem. 17And, as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18Until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19This man, deceitfully outwitting our race, forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not survive. 20At which juncture Moses was born, comely to God, who for three months was reared in his father’s house; 21And, when he had been exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter picked him up and reared him as her own son. 22And Moses was indoctrinated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his utterances and works. 23But, when he had fully attained forty years of age, it came upon his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24And, seeing one of them being treated unjustly, he came to his defense, and exacted justice for him by striking down the Egyptian. 25Now, he assumed his brothers would understand that God would grant them salvation by his hand; but they did not understand. 26And on the succeeding day he appeared to them as they were fighting, and would have reconciled them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you mistreat each other?’ 27But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you as a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you intend to kill me just as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29And at this word Moses fled and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he sired two sons. 30And when fully forty years had passed there appeared to him in the wilderness an angel within a flame of fire, in a thorn bush. 31And, seeing this, Moses was amazed at the vision, and as he approached to investigate it there came a voice from the Lord: 32‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ But Moses, growing tremulous, dared not look. 33And the Lord said to him, ‘Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground. 34I have looked and seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; come now, then, I will send you forth to Egypt.’ 35This Moses—whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent, by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush, as both a ruler and a liberator. 36This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you, from among your brothers, a prophet like me.’ 38This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers—he who received living oracles to give to you, 39He to whom our fathers had no intention of becoming obedient, but whom rather they pushed away, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40Saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will lead the way before us; for Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, what has become of him we do not know.’ 41And in those days they made a calf and led a sacrifice up to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. 42And God turned and delivered them to the worship of the army of the sky, as has been written in the book of the prophets: ‘House of Israel, have you offered me slaughtered offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness? 43And you took along the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the figures that you made in order to prostrate yourselves before them; and I will exile you beyond Babylon.’ 44Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses also commanded him to fashion it, according to the model that he had seen: 45Which our fathers, who inherited it, also brought in with Joshua at the conquest of the gentiles, whom God drove out from before the face of our fathers, until the days of David, 46Who found favor before God, and sought to find a tabernacle for the house of Jacob. 47And Solomon built a house for him. 48But the Most High does not dwell in something made by hands; as the prophet says: 49‘To me the sky is a throne, and the earth my feet’s footstool; what house will you build for me?’ says the Lord, ‘Or what place of rest for me? 50Has not my hand made all these things?’ 51You who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always oppose the Spirit, the Holy One: as your fathers, so also you. 52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who made proclamations in advance regarding the righteous one, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers: 53You, who received the Law through ordinances of angels,e and did not keep it.”

54And, hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts, and ground their teeth at him. 55But, being full of a Holy Spirit, gazing into the sky, he saw God’s glory, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand, 56And he said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand.” 57And crying out with a loud voice they covered their ears and rushed upon him, all in one mind, 58And throwing him outside the city they stoned him, and the witnesses shed their robes at the feet of a young man called Saul, 59And they stoned Stephen, who prayed and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60And going down on his knees he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And saying this he fell asleep.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1And there was Saul, approving of his destruction.

And on that day a great persecution broke out against the assembly in Jerusalem. And all but the Apostles were dispersed throughout the territories of Judaea and Samaria. 2And devout men helped to bear Stephen away and performed loud lamentations over him. 3But Saul wreaked havoc upon the assembly, entering house after house, hauling off both men and women and delivering them to prison.

4So those who had been scattered went all about, proclaiming the word of the good tidings. 5And Philip, going down to the city of Samaria, proclaimed the Anointed to them. 6And, with one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip, as they listened to him and saw the signs that he performed. 7For many of those having impure spirits in them, shouting out in a loud voice, came out;f and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed; 8And there was a great deal of rejoicing in that city. 9Now, previous to this, a certain man by the name of Simon had been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, presenting himself as someone great, 10To whom everyone, from small to great, gave heed, saying, “This man is the Power of God, which is called Great.” 11And they gave him their attention because, for a considerable time, he had amazed them with his feats of magic. 12But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good tidings concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus the Anointed, they were baptized, men and women both. 13And Simon himself also had faith, and having been baptized he attached himself to Philip and, seeing the signs and the great feats of power taking place, he was amazed. 14And the Apostles in Jerusalem, hearing that Samaria welcomed the word of God, sent Peter and John to them, 15Who went down and prayed over them, so that they might receive a Holy Spirit; 16For as yet it had not descended upon any of them, and they had been baptized only in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then they laid hands on them, and they received a Holy Spirit. 18And Simon, seeing that the Spirit is imparted by the laying on of the Apostles’ hands, offered them money, saying, 19“Give me this power too, so that whomever I lay my hands upon, he might receive a Holy Spirit.” 20But Peter said to him, “To perdition with your silver, and with you, because you imagined you could procure God’s gift with money. 21You have no part or lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22So turn your heart away from this wickedness of yours, and implore the Lord that this design in your heart might be forgiven you; 23For I see you are galled with bitterness and fettered in iniquity.” 24And in reply Simon said, “Implore the Lord for me, that none of the things you have said may befall me.” 25So, when they had finished bearing witness and speaking the Lord’s word, they returned to Jerusalem and declared the good tidings to many villages of the Samaritans.

26But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go southward on the road leading down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is wilderness. 27And, arising, he went. And look: An Ethiopian man, a eunuch—a courtier of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, one who was in charge of all her treasury—had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28And was returning, and was seated in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Approach this chariot and accompany it.” 30And, running up, Philip heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you really understand the things you are reading?” 31And he said, “Unless someone will guide me, how indeed could I?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now this was the passage of scripture he was reading: “He was led like a sheep to slaughter; and just as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33In his humiliation, he was robbed of a fair hearing. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34And, speaking directly to Philip, the eunuch said, “I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else?” 35And opening his mouth Philip, beginning with this scripture, announced to him the good tidings of Jesus. 36And, as they were traveling along the road, they came upon some water, and the eunuch says, “Look, water. What prevents me being baptized?” [37And Philip said, “It is possible, if you have faith with all your heart.” And in reply he said, “I have faith that Jesus the Anointed is God’s Son.”] 38And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down to the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water a Spirit of the Lord seized Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself in Azotus and, passing through it, he proclaimed the good tidings to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

CHAPTER NINE

1But Saul, still snorting out menaces and slaughter at the Lord’s disciples, approaching the chief priest, 2Requested letters from him to Damascus for the synagogues, so that if he discovered any persons belonging to the Way he might lead them in bonds to Jerusalem, men and women alike. 3Now, as he journeyed, it happened that he drew near Damascus, and suddenly there flashed around him a light from the sky, 4And falling upon the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5And he said, “Lord, who are you?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute; [it is hard for you to kick against the prods.” 6And, trembling and amazed, he said, “Lord, what do you will that I should do?” And the Lord said to him, “] Arise, however, and go into the city, and you will be told what it is necessary to do.” 7And the men journeying with him stood speechless, clearly hearing the voice, but seeing no one. 8And Saul was lifted up from the ground, but when his eyes were opened he saw nothing; and, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9And he was blind for three days, and neither ate nor drank.

10Now in Damascus there was a certain disciple by the name of Ananias, and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Ananias.” And he said, “See, Lord, it is I.” 11And the Lord to him: “Rise, go to the street called Straightway and, in the household of Judas, inquire after a Tarsean by the name of Saul; for, see, he is praying, 12And [in a vision] he has seen a man by the name of Ananias entering and laying hands upon him, so that he may see again.” 13But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many persons about this man: how many offenses he committed against your holy ones in Jerusalem; 14And here he has authorization from the chief priests to put all those who invoke your name in bonds.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is a vessel chosen for me, to bear my name before [the] gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16For I shall show him how many things it is necessary for him to suffer on behalf of my name.” 17And Ananias went off and entered the household and, laying hands on him, said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus has sent me, he who appeared to you on the road by which you came, so that you may see again and be filled with a Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately scales, as it were, fell away from his eyes, and he saw again, and getting up he was baptized, 19And accepting food he grew stronger.

And he was with the disciples in Damascus for some days, 20And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues: that “This man is the Son of God.” 21And all those who heard him were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who wreaked such carnage in Jerusalem on those invoking this name, and who had come here for just that, so that he could put them in bonds and bring them before the chief priests?” 22But Saul was infused with more power, and confounded the Judaeans living in Damascus, marshaling arguments that this man is the Anointed. 23And, when a good many days had passed, 24The Judaeans conspired to kill him; and their intrigue was known to Saul. But they also kept close watch on the gates, both day and night, so that they could destroy him. 25But his disciples took him by night and lowered him through the wall in a basket. 26And on arriving in Jerusalem he attempted to become an associate of the disciples; and everyone was afraid of him, not believing him to be a disciple. 27But bar-Nabas, taking hold of him, led him to the Apostles, and he recounted to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28And he was with them in Jerusalem, coming in and going out, speaking boldly in the Lord’s name, 29And he both spoke to and debated with the Hellenists; and they attempted to kill him. 30But, knowing this, the brethren took him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

31So the assembly throughout the whole of Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up and advancing in the fear of the Lord, and it grew in numbers by calling on the Holy Spirit.

32Now it happened that Peter, going about everywhere, went down as well to the holy ones dwelling in Lydda. 33And there he found a certain man by the name of Aeneas who was paralyzed, prostrate on a pallet for eight years. 34And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Anointed heals you; get up and smooth out your beddings for yourself.” And at once he got up. 35And all those living in Lydda and Saron who saw him turned to the Lord. Now in Joppa there was a certain disciple by the name of Tabitha—36Which, translated, means “Gazelle”;g she was full of good works and of the giving of alms. 37And it happened during those days that, being ill, she died; and having washed her they placed her in an upper room. 38Now, Lydda being near Joppa, the disciples—hearing Peter is there—sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming over to us.” 39And Peter, rising up, went with them; when he arrived they led him up into the upper room, and all the widows were standing by, weeping and showing him the tunics and robes that Gazelle had made when she was with them. 40And, thrusting them all outside, Peter went down on his knees and prayed, and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, sat up. 41And, giving her his hand, he raised her up and, calling to the holy ones and to the widows, he presented her alive. 42And it came to be known throughout the whole of Joppa, and many had faith in the Lord. 43And it happened that he remained in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner, a good many days.

CHAPTER TEN

1Now a certain man in Caesarea by the name of Cornelius—a centurion from a military cohort called the Italic, 2A devout man and one who along with all his household revered God, donating many alms to the people and always supplicating God—3Clearly saw in a vision, around about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, “Cornelius.” 4And, gazing at him and growing terrified, he said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your almsgiving have risen up as a memorial offering before God. 5And now send men to Joppa and summon back a certain Simon, who is also called Peter; 6This man is lodged with a certain Simon, a tanner whose household is by the sea.” 7And as the angel who was speaking to him departed he called two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from among those in constant attendance on him, 8And, explaining everything to them, sent them to Joppa. 9And the next day, as they were journeying and approaching the city, Peter ascended around the sixth hour up to the roof to pray. 10And he became hungry, and wished to taste some food; and as they were preparing it an ecstasy came upon him, 11And he beholds the sky opened, and an object descending, like a great sheet being let down to the ground by four corners, 12On which were all the quadrupeds and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky. 13And a voice came to him: “Arise, Peter, sacrificeh and eat.” 14But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything profane and impure.” 15And again, for a second time, there came a voice to him: “Do not deem profane what God has made pure.” 16And this happened three times, and at once the object was taken up into the sky. 17And, as Peter was wondering within himself what the vision he had seen might be, look: The men who had been sent by Cornelius, inquiring after the household of Simon, were standing at the gate, 18And calling out they asked, “Is Simon, also called Peter, perhaps lodged here?” 19And as Peter was pondering the vision the Spirit said, “See, two men are seeking you; 20But rise and go down, and go with them, hesitating over nothing, for I have sent them.” 21And descending Peter said to the men, “See here, I am he whom you are seeking; what are you here for?” 22And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a just man and one who reveres God, and one in high repute with the whole nation of the Judaeans, was enjoined by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to listen to words from you.” 23So, calling them in, he gave them lodging. And the next day he arose and departed with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 24And the next day he entered Caesarea; and Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relations and intimate friends. 25And, as Peter was coming in, Cornelius came to meet him, fell at his feet, and prostrated himself. 26But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27And, conversing with him, he went in, and finds a gathering of many persons, 28And said to them, “You understand how impermissible it is for a Judaean man to associate with or approach a person of foreign extraction; God also showed me that I must not call any man profane or impure; 29So in fact, on being summoned, I came without raising any objection. I ask, therefore, for what reason did you summon me?” 30And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, at this, the ninth hour, I was in my house praying, and see: A man was standing before me in shining raiment, 31And he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgivings have been remembered before God. 32Send to Joppa, therefore, and call for Simon, who is also called Peter; this man is lodged by the sea in the household of Simon, a tanner.’ 33So I sent to you at once, and you have been so good as to come. So now here we all are in the presence of God, to listen to all the commands you have been given by the Lord.” 34And, opening his mouth, Peter said, “In truth, I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons; 35Rather, in every people, whoever reveres him and performs works of righteousness is accepted by him; 36The word that he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good tidings of peace through Jesus the Anointed—this one is Lord of everyone . . . 37You know the story of what took place throughout the whole of Judaea, starting out from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38Jesus, the man from Nazareth, how God anointed him with a Holy Spirit and with power—who went about doing good and healing all those under the power of the Slanderer, because God was with him; 39And we are witnesses of all the things that he did, both in the country of the Judaeans and in Jerusalem—whom in fact they killed, hanging him up upon a tree. 40This one God raised up on the third day, and granted that he become manifest, 41Not to all the people, but to us, witnesses previously appointed by God, who ate and drank with him after he rose again from the dead; 42And he commanded us to proclaim to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the one marked out by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43To this one all the prophets bear witness: Everyone having faith in him is to receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44While Peter was still uttering these words, the Spirit, the Holy One, fell upon all those listening to the discourse, 45And the faithful among the circumcised, as many as had accompanied Peter, were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out even upon the gentiles; 46For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God’s greatness. Then Peter spoke up: 47“Can anyone forbid the water for baptizing these persons, who have also received the Spirit, the Holy One, just as we did?” 48And he instructed them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Anointed. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1Now the Apostles and brethren living throughout Judaea heard that the gentiles too were receiving the word of God. 2And when Peter went up to Jerusalem some of the circumcised disputed with him, 3Saying, “You went indoors with men who have foreskins, and ate along with them.” 4And Peter explained it to them from the beginning, saying, 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in an ecstasy I saw a vision, a certain shape descending like a great sheet having been let down from the sky by four corners, and it came right up to me, 6Gazing into which I perceived and saw the quadrupeds of the earth, and the wild beasts and the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, sacrificei and eat.’ 8And I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing profane or impure has ever entered my mouth.’ 9And a voice answered a second time out of the sky, ‘Do not deem profane what God has made pure.’ 10And this happened three times, and everything was lifted into the sky again. 11And see: All at once three men were standing at the household where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. 12And the Spirit told me to go with them, hesitating at nothing. And these six brethren came with me as well, and we went into the man’s house. 13And he recounted to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter, 14Who will speak words to you by which you may be saved, you and all your household.’ 15And as I began to speak the Spirit, the Holy One, fell upon them, as upon us also at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in a Holy Spirit.’ 17So, if God gave them a gift equal to the one he also gave us when we had faith in the Lord Jesus the Anointed, who was I that I might hinder God?” 18And, hearing these things, they quieted down and gave glory to God, saying, “Then God has also given the gentiles a turning of the heart toward life.”

19Therefore those who had been dispersed by the persecution that had occurred in connection with Stephen journeyed on to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the message to Judaeans only, and to no one else. 20But some of them were Cypriot and Cyrenian men who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good tidings of the Lord Jesus. 21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great many had faith and turned to the Lord. 22And word regarding these things reached the ears of the assembly that was in Jerusalem, and they sent out to Antioch bar-Nabas, 23Who, on arriving and observing the grace of God, was exultant and exhorted all of them to remain with the Lord with firm purpose of heart, 24For he was a good man, and full of a Holy Spirit and faith; and a considerable throng was added to the Lord. 25And he went out to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26And on finding him brought him to Antioch. And it happened that they too gathered together with the assembly and gave instruction to a considerable throng of people, and that in Antioch the disciples assumed the title “Christians” for the first time.j

27And in those days prophets came down to Antioch from Jerusalem; 28And one of them, by the name of Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit gave a sign that a great famine was about to occur all over the entire inhabited world (which did happen, in the time of Claudius). 29So each of the disciples, insofar as any had the resources, decided to send supplies for ministering to the brethren dwelling in Judaea—30Which indeed they did, sending them to the elders by the hand of bar-Nabas and Saul.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Now at that time Herod the king applied his hands to oppressing certain members of the assembly. 2And he executed James, the brother of John, by the sword. 3And, seeing that this was pleasing to the Judaeans, he made the additional move of arresting Peter—and these were days of Unleavened Bread—4Whom he seized and placed in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four quarternia of soldiers, intending to bring him up before the people after the Passover. 5So Peter was held in the prison. But prayer was being offered up to God ardently on his behalf by the assembly. 6And, on the night just before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was sleeping, bound with chains between two soldiers, and sentries were set before the doors, guarding the prison. 7And look: An angel of the Lord descended upon it, and a light shone within the building; and, striking Peter’s side, he roused him, saying, “Rise up, quickly.” And the chains fell away from his hands. 8And the angel said to him, “Tie your clothes about you and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he says to him, “Throw your robe about yourself and follow me.” 9And, going out, he followed him, and he did not realize that what was going on with the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10And, passing through the first prison enclosure and then the second, they came upon the gate of iron leading into the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out and along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11And, having come to himself, Peter said, “Now I know that the Lord truly did send out his angel and did rescue me from Herod’s hand, and from everything the Judaean people anticipated doing.” 12And, having realized this, he came upon the household of Mary the mother of John (also called Mark), where many were gathered together and praying. 13And when he knocked at the door of the outer gate a maidservant by the name of Rhoda approached to listen, 14And, in her joy at recognizing Peter’s voice, she failed to open the gateway, and instead ran inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15And they said to her, “You are raving.” But she insisted emphatically that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” 16But Peter persisted in knocking; and when they had opened up they saw him and were amazed. 17And, gesturing with his hand for them to be silent, he related to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” And going out he went off elsewhere. 18Now when day had come there was no little commotion among the soldiers: “So what has become of Peter?” 19And Herod, looking for him and not finding him, interrogated the guards and ordered that they be disposed of;k and, going down from Judaea to Caesarea, he stayed there. 20Now he was in a hostile frame of mind toward Tyrians and Sidonians; but they came to him in a united spirit and, having won over the royal chamberlain Blastos, they sued for peace, because their territory was fed by the royal territory. 21And on an appointed day Herod, clad in royal raiment and seated on the tribunal, delivered a public address to them; 22And the local inhabitants cried out, “A god’s voice, and not a man’s!” 23And at once, since he had not given God the glory, an angel of the Lord struck him a blow; and, being devoured by worms, he expired.

24And the message of the Lord spread and became more abundant. 25And bar-Nabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having completed their ministration, bringing with them John (also called Mark).

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1Now in Antioch, among the assembly that was there, there were prophets and teachers: both bar-Nabas and Symeon (who was called Black);l also Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had grown up along with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2And, as they were conducting a religious service to the Lord and fasting, the Spirit, the Holy One, said to them, “Now set bar-Nabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them.” 3Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands upon them, they sent them off.

4So, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down into Seleucia, and from there sailed off to Cyprus, 5And coming into Salamis they proclaimed God’s word in the synagogues of the Judaeans; and they also had John with them as an aid. 6And passing through the entire island to Paphos they found a certain Judaean man, a sorcererm and false prophet, whose name was bar-Jesus, 7Who attended the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man, summoning bar-Nabas and Saul, wished to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for such is his name when translated)n opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul (who was also “Paul”),o filled with a Holy Spirit, gazed at him and said, 10“O you, full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the Slanderer, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease twisting the Lord’s straight paths crooked? 11And now see the Lord’s hand upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.” And at once a mist and a darkness descended on him, and he went about seeking for those who would lead him by the hand. 12Then, seeing what had occurred, the proconsul had faith, being moved to wonder by the Lord’s teaching.

13And, setting sail from Paphos, those in Paul’s party came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14And, passing on from Perga, they arrived in Psidian Antioch and entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and seated themselves. 15And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue leaders sent to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if among you there is any word of exhortation for the people, speak.” 16And Paul, rising and gesturing with his hand, said, “Men, Israelites, as well as you Godfearers,p listen! 17The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people during the sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with arm upraised led them out of it, 18And bore with them for a period of about forty years in the wilderness, 19And having overthrown seven nations in the land of Canaan he ceded them the land as an inheritance, 20For about four hundred and fifty years. And thereafter he gave them judges, until Samuel the prophet. 21And from that point they requested a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22And, on removing him, he raised up David as king over them, in testimony to whom he also said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all the things I have willed.’ 23From this man’s seed God, according to his promise, brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, 24When John, going before his face, in advance of his advent, had preached a baptism of the heart’s transformation to all the people of Israel. 25And as John came to the end of his course he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not he. But look: He comes after me, the sandal of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26Men, brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, as well as those Godfearers among you, the word of this salvation was sent to us. 27Because those living in Jerusalem and their rulers, not recognizing this man and putting him on trial, fulfilled the utterances of the prophets that are read aloud every Sabbath, 28And finding no case for his death they petitioned Pilate for him to be destroyed; 29And when they had brought all the things written about him to completion, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead: 31He who over a course of many days appeared to those who had accompanied him up from the Galilee to Jerusalem, who are [now] his witnesses to the people. 32And we proclaim to you the good tidings, that the promise made to our fathers—33That God has fulfilled it for us the children, raising Jesus up, as is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you.’ 34And, since he raised him up from the dead, never again to return to decay, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give to you the hallowed things assured to David.’ 35For which reason he also elsewhereq says, ‘You will not allow your holy one to see decay.’ 36For indeed David, having served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleepr and was added to his fathers and saw decay; 37But he whom God has raised has not seen decay. 38Therefore let it be known to you, men, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39And by this man everyone who has faith is made righteous,s in everything regarding which you could not be made righteous by the Law of Moses. 40So beware, lest what the prophets said should happen to you: 41‘Look, you contemptuous ones, and marvel, and perish, because I am performing a work in your days, a work in which you will certainly not have faith, though someone declare it to you.’” 42And, as they were leaving, they begged them that these matters be explained to them during the period before the next Sabbath.t 43And, when the synagogue had dispersed, many of the Judaeans and the proselytes worshipping there followed Paul and bar-Nabas, who spoke to them and persuaded them to hold fast in the grace of God. 44And on the coming Sabbath nearly the whole city was gathered to hear God’s word. 45And on seeing the crowds the Judaeans were filled with a sense of rivalry, and abusively contradicted the things Paul was saying. 46Both Paul and bar-Nabas, speaking up boldly, said, “It was necessary for God’s word to be spoken first to you; since you reject it, and pass judgment on yourselves, as being not worthy of the life of the Age, look: We are turning to the gentiles. 47For the Lord has commanded us thus: ‘I have set you up to be a light for the gentiles, for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48And hearing this the gentiles were elated and gave glory to the Lord’s word, and as many as were disposed to the life of the Age had faith; 49And the Lord’s word was borne through the whole country. 50But the Judaeans incited those women worshippersu who were of high degree, as well as the city’s leading men, and started a persecution against Paul and bar-Nabas, and expelled them from their borders. 51But they, shaking off the dust of their feet at them, came into Iconium, 52And the disciples were filled with joy and a Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1Now in Iconium they happened to enter the synagogue of the Judaeans together, and they spoke, and thus a great number of Judaeans and Greeks had faith. 2But the Judaeans who were resistant aroused and poisoned the souls of the gentiles against the brethren. 3So for some considerable time they continued on, speaking boldly about the Lord who—allowing signs and wonders to happen by their hands—testified to the message of his grace. 4But the population of the city was divided, and some were with the Judaeans, but others with the Apostles. 5And, when there was a sudden rush on the part of both gentiles and Judaeans, as well as of their leaders, to abuse and stone them, 6They became aware of it and escaped to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region; 7And they were there, proclaiming the good tidings. 8And in Lystra there sat a certain man incapacitated in his feet who, lame from his mother’s womb, had never walked. 9This man listened to Paul speaking—who, gazing at him and seeing he had the faith to be saved, 10Said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight upon your feet.” And up he leapt and walked. 11And the crowds, seeing what Paul had done, raised their voice, saying in Lycaeonian, “The gods, transformed into the likenesses of men, have descended to us”; 12And they called bar-Nabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes (since he was the principal speaker). 13And the priest of Zeus, situated just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the crowds. 14But on hearing this the Apostles bar-Nabas and Paul rent their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying aloud, 15And saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are human beings too, subject to the same feelings as you, proclaiming the good tidings to you so that you will turn from these empty things to a living God, who made the sky and the land and the sea and everything in them, 16Who in generations past let all nations go on their own ways; 17And yet he did not leave himself unwitnessed to—acting benevolently, giving us rain from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with nourishment and with joy.” 18And in saying these things they just barely restrained the crowds from sacrificing to them. 19And Judaeans from Antioch and Iconium came up and won over the crowds, and they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he had died. 20But when the disciples gathered around him he arose and went into the city. And the next day he departed with bar-Nabas for Derbe. 21And, proclaiming the good tidings to that city and having made a good many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22Strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to persist in faith, and telling them that “We must endure many afflictions to enter the Kingdom of God.” 23And, having appointed elders for them in every assembly, they committed them with prayer and fasts to the Lord in whom they had had faith. 24And passing through Pisidia they came to Pamphylia, 25And speaking the word in Perga they came down to Attalia, and from there sailed off to Antioch, 26From where they had been committed to God’s grace for the task they had accomplished. 27And, having arrived and bringing the assembly together, they reported the things God had done with them, and reported that he had opened faith’s door to the gentiles. 28And they stayed not a little while with the disciples.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1And some, coming down from Judaea, taught the brothers that “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved.” 2And, when Paul and bar-Nabas had no small measure of contention and argument with them, they appointed Paul and bar-Nabas, along with some others among them, to journey up to the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question. 3So, having been sent on their way by the assembly, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, relating at length how the gentiles had been converted and exciting great joy in all the brethren. 4And, having arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the assembly and the Apostles and the elders, and reported the things that God had done with them. 5But some of those who had come to have faith who were from the sect of the Pharisees stood up from among them, saying: “It is necessary to circumcise them and charge them to keep the Law of Moses.”

6And the Apostles and the elders gathered together to look into this matter. 7And, when a great deal of examination had taken place, Peter rose and said to them, “Men, brothers, you are aware that, from days long past, God chose the gentiles among you to hear the word of the good tidings through my mouth, and to have faith. 8And the God who knows hearts bore witness, giving them the Spirit, the Holy One, just as he did us, 9And made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts through faith. 10Why, therefore, do you now put God to the test, so as to place upon the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor we were strong enough to bear? 11Rather, we have faith we shall be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the way that they too will be.” 12And the whole company became silent and listened to bar-Nabas and Paul relate the signs and wonders God had performed among the gentiles through them. 13And, after remaining silent, James spoke up, saying, 14“Men, brothers, listen to me. Simon has declared how God first saw to it that he would take a people for his name from the gentiles. 15And the words of the prophets agree with this, just as has been written: 16‘“After these things, I will return and rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David, and will rebuild its ruins and erect it again, 17So that the rest of humankind might seek out the Lord, even all the nations, those upon whom the name of the Lord has been invoked,” says the Lord who does these things, 18Known from an age ago.’ 19Hence my verdict is not to cause difficulties for those among the gentiles turning to God, 20But rather to write them, telling them to abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from whoring, and from anything strangled, and from blood. 21For Moses has men who preach him in every city, being read aloud in the synagogue every Sabbath since the times of generations long past.” 22Then it was resolved by the Apostles and elders, together with the whole assembly, to send some men chosen from their midst—Judas (the one called bar-Sabbas) and Silas, leading men among the brethren—to Antioch along with Paul and bar-Nabas, 23By whose hand they sent a letter: “The Apostles and the elder brethren send greetings to those brethren throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who come from among the gentiles. 24Since we have heard that some of our number, to whom we gave no orders, have troubled you with teachings unsettling to your souls, [saying you must be circumcised and be observant of the Law,] 25It occurred to us, having reached a common accord, to send chosen men to you, along with our beloved bar-Nabas and Paul, 26Men having handed over their souls for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, and they will communicate the same to you verbally. 28For it was resolved by the Holy Spirit and by us to impose upon you no greater burden than these necessities: 29To abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from whoring, by keeping yourselves from which you will be doing well. Farewell.”

30They therefore, being dismissed, went down to Antioch and, assembling the community, delivered the letter. 31And having read it they were elated at the encouragement. 32And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, encouraged and fortified the brethren with a good deal of teaching; 33And when they had labored for a while they were dismissed by the brethren with a “Peace” to those who had sent them out. [34Nevertheless, it pleased Silas still to remain there.] 35But Paul and bar-Nabas stayed in Antioch teaching and, along with many others, proclaiming the good tidings of the word of the Lord.

36And after some days Paul said to bar-Nabas, “Let us return, then, and visit the brethren throughout all the cities in which we announced the word of the Lord—how are they holding on?” 37But bar-Nabas wished also to take along John (the one called Mark); 38Paul did not think it fitting, however, to take someone along with them who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not accompanied them in their labor. 39And it became a discord so sharp as to separate them from one another; and, taking Mark, bar-Nabas sailed off to Cyprus. 40Having chosen Silas, however, Paul departed, commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord; 41And he went through Syria and Cilicia, fortifying the assemblies.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1And he also came down to Derbe and to Lystra. And look: There was a certain disciple there—a son of a Judaean woman who was a believer, but with a Greek father—by the name of Timothy, 2Who was well spoken of by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. 3Paul wanted this man to journey forth with him, so he took him and, on account of the Judaeans living in those places, circumcised him; for all of them knew that a Greek was his father. 4Now, as they passed through the cities, they delivered the teachings that the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem had decided they should keep. 5Thus the assemblies were fortified in the faith and increased daily in numbers.

6And they passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, being prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia; 7And coming to Mysia they attempted to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them to do so; 8So, passing Mysia by, they came down to Troas. 9And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: A certain Macedonian man was standing there and supplicating him and saying, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us.” 10So, when he saw the vision, we immediately sought to depart for Macedonia, concluding, “God has called us to proclaim the good tidings to them.”

11And setting sail from Troas we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the next day to Neapolis, 12And from there to Philippi, a colonyv that is the principal city of that part of Macedonia. 13And on the day of the Sabbath we went outside the gate, beside a river where we supposed there was a place for prayer, and sitting down we spoke to the women gathering there. 14And a certain woman by the name of Lydia, a dealer in purples from the city of Thyatiraw who worshipped God,x listened to us—one whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things spoken by Paul. 15And when she and her house were baptized she extended an invitation, saying, “If you have adjudged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay there.” And she urged us. 16And it happened that, as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl who had a Python spirity in her met us, one whose soothsaying brought considerable profit to her masters. 17Following behind Paul and us she cried aloud, saying, “These men are slaves of God Most High, who are proclaiming a way of salvation to you.” 18And she did this over many days. But Paul, becoming quite perturbed and turning around to the spirit, said, “I command you in the name of Jesus the Anointed to come out of her.” And it came out at that very hour. 19And her masters, seeing that their hope of gain had departed, seized hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before the rulers in the marketplace, 20And bringing them to the generalsz said, “These men, being Judaeans, are causing enormous havoc in our city, 21And they are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, either to accept or to practice.” 22And the crowd joined in against them, and the generals tore the garments from them and ordered their flogging, 23And, laying many strokes upon them, threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them there securely— 24Who, having received such a charge, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in wooden stocks. 25And at about midnight, as they were praying, Paul and Silas sang hymns to God, and the prisoners listened to them; 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the jail’s foundation was shaken; and at once all the doors were opened, and everyone’s fetters came loose. 27And the jailer, having wakened from sleep and seeing the doors of the prison opened, had drawn his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to have escaped. 28But Paul shouted in a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!” 29And calling for lights he rushed in, and becoming tremulous he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30And conducting them outside he said, “My lords, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your house shall be saved.” 32And they spoke the word of God to him, along with all those of his household. 33And at that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and at once he and all his people were baptized, 34And bringing them up to the house he set out a table for them, and rejoiced along with the whole household at having come to have faith in God. 35And when day had come the generals sent over staff officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36And the jailer announced these words to Paul: “The generals have sent for you to be released. So depart now, and go in peace.” 37But Paul said to them, “Having publically beaten us, who are Roman men, without a conviction in court, they threw us into prison; and now they surreptitiously expel us? No indeed; rather, let them come and escort us out themselves.” 38And the staff officers reported these words to the generals. And, on hearing that these men are Romans, they were afraid, 39And came and implored them, and escorted them out and asked them to leave the city. 40And departing from the prison they entered Lydia’s home and, seeing the brethren, gave them encouragement and departed.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1And, traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonika, where there was a synagogue of the Judaeans. 2And, as was his custom, Paul went into them, and on three Sabbaths discussed the scriptures with them, 3Explaining and demonstrating that “It is necessary for the Anointed to suffer and to rise again from the dead,” and that “This man is the Anointed: Jesus, whom I proclaim to you.” 4And some of them were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, as well as both a large complement of Greek worshippers and not a few of the most prominent women. 5But the Judaeans [who did not have faith]—becoming jealous and bringing along some loutish men from among the idlers in the marketplace, and gathering together a horde—set the city in riot and, marching to the household of Jason, demanded they be brought before the people; 6But, not finding them there, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the city rulers, crying: “These men, having turned the entire inhabited world upside down, have arrived here as well—7Whom Jason has welcomed; and all these men act in defiance of the decrees of Caesar, saying that Jesus is another king.” 8And they put the crowd in a turmoil, as well as the city rulers who heard these things; 9But, exacting a fee from Jason and the rest as surety, they released them. 10And immediately the brethren dispatched both Paul and Silas to Beroia by night, and when they arrived they went into the synagogue of the Judaeans. 11And these were of nobler birth than those in Thessalonika and received the word with complete eagerness, examining the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12Many of them had faith, therefore, as did also many Greek noblewomen, and not a few men. 13But, when the Judaeans from Thessalonika learned that the word of God was being proclaimed by Paul in Beroia also, they came and agitated the crowds and stirred them up. 14And at that point the brethren immediately sent Paul away, to journey as far as the sea. But both Silas and Timothy remained there. 15And those escorting Paul led him as far as Athens and departed, taking instructions to Silas and Timothy that they should join him as quickly as possible.

16And, while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit within him was incensed, for he saw the city full of idols. 17So he debated with the Judaeans and the worshippersaa in the synagogue, and every day in the marketplace with those who chanced to be there. 18And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers came across him as well, and some said, “What would this seed-pecking ditherer like to say?” But others said, “He seems to be a herald for foreign daemons”;ab for he was proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection. 19And they laid hold of him and led him to the Areopagus,ac saying, “Can we learn this new teaching expounded by you? 20For you are introducing some things strange to our ears; so we would like to learn what these things are.” 21Now, all the Athenians and the local resident aliens have leisure for nothing but discussing or listening to the latest thing. 22And Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “Athenian men, I observe how exceedingly reverent you are toward the daemonianad in everything; 23For as I was walking along and looking over the objects of your devotions I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘TO A GOD UNKNOWN.’ What you revere in ignorance, therefore, this I announce to you. 24The God who made the cosmos and everything in it, this one—being Lord of heaven and earth—does not dwell in sanctuaries made by hand; 25Needing nothing, neither is he aided by human hands—he who gives life and breath to all things; 26And he made every race of men out of one, to live all over the face of the earth, appointing them their epochs and setting the boundaries of their habitations, 27So that they might seek God—though they might perhaps grope their way toward him to find him, even though he is not far from any one of us. 28For in him we live and move and are, as indeed some of the poets among you have said: ‘For we too are his offspring.’ae 29So, being God’s offspring, we ought not to suppose the divine to be like gold or silver or stone, a graven product of human craft and concept. 30Thus God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now calls aloud to all human beings everywhere to change their hearts, 31Because he has set a day on which he will soon judge the inhabited world through a man whom he marked out, offering an assurance to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32But on hearing of resurrection from the dead some scoffed; others however said, “We will listen to you again concerning this.” 33So Paul departed from their midst. 34But some men stayed with him and had faith, among them Dionysius the Areopagiteaf and a woman by the name of Damaris, and others along with them.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1Thereafter, departing from Athens, he came to Corinth. 2And discovering a certain Judaean by the name of Aquila—a native of Pontus who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all Judaeans to leave Rome—he approached them; 3And since he practiced the same trade he stayed with them, and they engaged in their work (for they were skilled tentmakers). 4And he discoursed in the synagogue on every Sabbath, and persuaded both Judaeans and Greeks. 5But, when both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was pressed upon by the word, testifying to the Judaeans that Jesus was the Anointed. 6And, when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and said, “Your blood on your head; I am clean; henceforth I shall go to the gentiles.” 7And departing from there he entered the home of a certain reverer of Godag by the name of Titius Justus, whose household was next door to the synagogue. 8And the synagogue’s ruler Crispus, along with his whole household, had faith in the Lord, and many of the Corinthians listened, had faith, and were baptized. 9And in a vision in the night the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but speak out and do not keep silent, 10Because I am with you, and no one shall set upon you and do you harm, for in this city I have a good many people.” 11And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching God’s word among them. 12But, when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Judaeans with one accord set upon Paul and brought him to the tribunal, 13Saying, “This man is urging people to worship God outside the Law.” 14But as Paul was about to open his mouth Gallio said to the Judaeans, “O you Judaeans! If it were actually some malfeasance or some criminal wickedness, it would be reasonable for me to bear with you; 15But if it is a question concerning a teaching and terminologies and a Law of yours, you shall deal with it yourselves; I have no intention of being a judge in these matters.” 16And he expelled them from the tribunal. 17And everyone seized hold of Sosthenes, the synagogue’s ruler, and thrashed him before the tribunal; but none of this was of concern to Gallio. 18And Paul, having stayed on for many days yet, took leave of the brethren and sailed off to Syria—and Priscilla and Aquila with him—having shorn his head in Cenchria (for he took a vow). 19And they went down to Ephesus, and there he left them and entered the synagogue and debated with the Judaeans. 20But when they asked him to remain a while longer he refused, 21And took his leave, saying, “God willing, I shall return to you”; and he set sail from Ephesus, 22And disembarking at Caesarea he went up and paid a call on the assembly, then went down to Antioch; 23And when he had spent some time there he departed; and, passing through the Galatian region and Phrygia in an orderly sequence, he gave encouragement to all the disciples.

24And a certain Judaean by the name of Apollos, Alexandrian by birth, an eloquentah man with a great command of the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25This man had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately about things regarding Jesus, while knowing of only the baptism of John; 26And this man began boldly speaking out in the synagogue. And, on hearing him, Priscilla and Aquila took him to their place and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. 27And, when he wished to proceed onward into Achaia, the brethren, feeling encouraged, wrote to the disciples to welcome him—who, when he got there, made a great contribution to those who by grace had come to have faith; 28For he confounded the Judaeans in public debate with great rhetorical power, demonstrating through the scriptures that Jesus is the Anointed.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1Now while Apollos was in Corinth it happened that Paul, having traversed the upland region, came to Ephesus and found some disciples there, 2And said to them, “When you came to faith, did you receive a Holy Spirit?” And they said to him, “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what, then, were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4And Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of the heart’s transformation, telling the people that they should have faith in the one coming after him—which is to say, in Jesus.” 5And on hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And, as Paul laid hands on them, the Spirit, the Holy One, came upon them and they both spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7And they were about twelve men in all. 8And joining the synagogue he spoke boldly, discoursing upon the Kingdom of God, and persuasively, over a period of three months. 9But when certain persons grew obdurate and restive, maligning the Way before the main congregation, he withdrew, restricting the disciples from them, debating every day in the schoolai of Tyrannus. 10And this continued for two years, and thus all the inhabitants of Asia, both Judaean and Greek, heard the word of the Lord. 11And God, through Paul’s hands, performed extraordinary deeds of power, 12So that kerchiefs and aprons were even brought away from contact with his skin and placed upon the ill and they were ridded of their diseases, and the spirits, the wicked ones, departed from them. 13And some among the itinerant Judaean exorcists also attempted invoking the name of the Lord over those having wicked spirits in them, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14And there were seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Judaean chief priest, who were doing this. 15And in reply the spirit, the wicked one, said to them, “Jesus I [indeed] know of, and Paul I recognize; but who are you?” 16And the man in whom the wicked spirit dwelt leapt upon them and, overmastering them both,aj thoroughly defeated them, so that they escaped naked and wounded. 17And this came to be known to all those living in Ephesus, Judaeans and Greeks alike, and fear descended upon all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to command great force. 18And many of those who believed came forward confessing and openly acknowledging their deeds. 19And a considerable number of those practicing occult arts gathered up their books and burned them in front of everyone; they reckoned their value and found it to be five thousand silver pieces. 20So the word of the Lord spread mightily and prevailed.

21Now, these things having been accomplished, Paul resolved in his spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying: “After I get there I must also see Rome.” 22And sending two of those attending him, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, Paul delayed for a time in Asia. 23Now, at about that time there arose no small turmoil in regard to the Way. 24For a certain silversmith by the name of Demetrius, who fashioned silver shrines to Artemis, provided no little trade for artisans—25Whom he convened, along with workers in related trades, and said, “Men, you are aware that our earnings come from this trade, 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of Asia, has persuaded and perverted a considerable throng, saying that they whom hands bring into being are not gods. 27Now, the danger is not only that our business might come into disrepute, but that the Temple of the great goddess Artemisak might be esteemed as nothing, and that it is even about to be deprived of the magnificence proper to her whom the whole of Asia and the inhabited earth adores.” 28And hearing this, and filled with passion, they cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29And the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed into the theater with one accord, clutching Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s Macedonian traveling companions. 30But when Paul wanted to go into the mob the disciples would not permit him; 31And even some of those Asiarchsal who were his friends sent him word, urging him not to present himself at the theater. 32Various persons were shouting out different things; for the assemblyam was in a state of confusion, and most of them had no idea for what reason they had gathered. 33And, as the Judaeans were pushing Alexander forward, some in the crowd offered him suggestions; and Alexander, waving his hand, wanted to offer a defense before the people. 34But, as they knew him to be a Judaean, a united outcry of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” rose from them for roughly two hours. 35But when he had quieted the crowd the municipal clerk said, “Men, Ephesians, who is there among men who does not in fact know that the city is warden of the Temple of the Great Artemis, and of that which fell from Zeus? 36These things being indisputable, then, you must be quiet and do nothing rash. 37For you have brought here these men who are neither temple thieves nor blasphemers of your goddess. 38If indeed Demetrius and the artisans with him have a suit against anyone, the assizes are open and there are proconsuls; let them plead their case against one another. 39But if you seek anything further it will be resolved in the legally constituted assembly. 40For, indeed, because of today we are in peril of being arraigned for insurrection, there being no rationale by which we shall be able to explain this mass dissension.” 41And saying this he dissolved the assembly.

CHAPTER TWENTY

1Now when the disturbance had ceased Paul, summoning the disciples and giving them encouragement, took his leave and departed on his journey to Macedonia. 2And, having passed through those parts and given them many words of encouragement, he came into Greece, 3And he made his home there for three months. When he was about to set sail for Syria, a conspiracy was formed against him by the Judaeans, and he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4And accompanying him were Sopater the son of Pyrrhus, a Beroean; and Aristarchus and Secundus, who came from among the Thessalonikans; and Gaius, a Derbean; and Timothy; and the Asians Tychicus and Trophimus. 5And these men, going on ahead, waited for us in Troas; 6And after the days of Unleavened Bread we sailed away from Philippi and in five days came to them in Troas, where we stayed seven days. 7And on the first day of the Sabbath week, as we were gathered together to break bread, Paul addressed them and—as he was about to leave the next day—continued his discourse until midnight. 8Now there were a considerable number of lamps in the upper room where we were assembled. 9And a certain young man by the name of Eutychus, sitting on the window ledge and being carried down into deep sleep as Paul’s disquisition went on and on, was upended in his sleep and fell from the third floor, and was lifted up a corpse. 10But Paul went down and fell upon him and, holding him close, said, “Do not be horrified; for his soul is in him.” 11And, going back up and breaking bread and talking at great length until it was light, he thus departed. 12And they led the boy away alive, and were comforted in no small measure. 13And we, going on ahead to the boat, set sail for Assos, intending to collect Paul there; for so it had been arranged, as he intended to go there by foot. 14And when he met us at Assos we brought him on board and came to Mitylene; 15And sailing away from there on the following day we arrived off Chios, and on the next day crossed over to Samos, and came to Miletus on the day after that. 16For Paul had chosen to sail past Ephesus, so as not to lose time in Asia; for he was making haste to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if it was possible for him.

17And sending word from Miletus to Ephesus he summoned the elders to the assembly. 18And when they came to him he told them, “You know that, from the first day I set foot in Asia, I was with you the entire time, 19Slaving for the Lord with all humility and with tears and with the trials befalling me on account of the intrigues of the Judaeans, 20While holding back nothing of benefit to you; by preaching to you and teaching you, publically and in one house after another, 21I gave full testimony, to Judaeans and Greeks alike, concerning a change of the heart toward God, and concerning faith in our Lord Jesus. 22And now look: I am going to Jerusalem, bound by the Spirit, knowing nothing of what will meet me there, 23But only that in every city the Spirit, the Holy One, testifies to me, saying fetters and afflictions await me. 24But I do not count my soul precious to me, so long as I may finish my race and the ministry to bear witness to the good tidings of God’s grace that I received from the Lord Jesus. 25And now look: I know that all of you, among whom I have traveled about proclaiming the Kingdom, will see my face no more. 26Therefore, today I attest to you that I am clean of everyone’s blood; 27For I did not hold back in declaring God’s will to you. 28Watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Spirit, the Holy One, has set you as supervisors, to shepherd God’s assembly, which he purchased by his own blood. 29I know that after my departure baleful wolves will come in among you, and will not spare the flock, 30And that there will arise from among you men who will say perverse things in order to drag away the disciples after themselves. 31So take heed, remembering that for three years I did not cease admonishing each of you, night and day, with tears. 32And now I commend you to the Lord and to the word of his grace, which has the power to establish a house and bequeath the inheritance to all who have been made holy. 33I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing; 34You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs and for those who are with me. 35I have revealed all to you: how, laboring in this very way, you must care for the infirm, and must remember the words of the Lord—that he said, ‘It is a blissful thing to give rather than to receive.’” 36And, having said these things, he went down on his knees and prayed with all of them. 37And there was considerable weeping on everyone’s part, and they draped themselves over Paul’s neck and kissed him, 38And their greatest suffering came from his having stated that they will see his face no more. And they escorted him to the boat.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

1Now, having torn ourselves away from them, we at last set sail and, taking a direct course, came to Cos, and to Rhodes the next day, and to Patara from there; 2And having found a ship making the crossing over to Phoenicia we embarked and set sail. 3And, sighting Cyprus and keeping it off the port side, we sailed to Syria and came down to Tyre, since the ship was unloading cargo there. 4And, finding the disciples, we remained there for seven days; and they, through the Spirit, told Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 5But when we completed our days there we left and went on our way, and all of them, along with their wives and children, escorted us all the way out of the city; and, going down on our knees and praying, 6We exchanged our farewells with one another; then we embarked on the ship and they returned to their homes. 7And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre we arrived at Ptolemais and, greeting the brethren, stayed with them a single day. 8And setting off the next day we came to Caesarea and entered the house of the evangelist Philip, who was one of the Seven,an and stayed with him. 9Now this man had four virgin daughters given to prophesying. 10And we remained for several days. And a certain prophet by the name of Agabus came down from Judaea, 11And approached us and took Paul’s cincture and, having bound his own feet and hands, said, “The Spirit, the Holy One, says these things: In Jerusalem the Judaeans will bind the man to whom this cincture belongs and hand him over to the gentiles.” 12And, having heard this, both we and those residing there implored him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am prepared not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14And when he was not persuaded we—having said, “Let the Lord’s will be done”—fell silent.

15And, when those days had passed, we readied ourselves and went up to Jerusalem; 16And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us as well, bringing along a certain Mnason, a Cypriot and a disciple from early on, with whom we would be able to lodge. 17And when we were in Jerusalem the brethren welcomed us joyously. 18And the next day Paul went along with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19And having greeted them he related one by one the things God had done among the gentiles through his ministry. 20And hearing this they gave glory to God, but also said to him, “Brother, you see what myriads of believers there are among the Judaeans, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21And regarding you they have been told that you teach apostasy from Moses to all the Judaeans living among gentile peoples, instructing them not to circumcise their children or to follow his customs. 22So what to do? [A crowd will doubtless gather,] For they will at all events hear that you have come. 23So do this, as we advise you: There are four men among us who have taken a vow; 24Take these men, be purified along with them, pay for them to have the head shaved, and then everyone will know that there is nothing to the rumors as far as you are concerned, and that instead you follow and safeguard the Law as well. 25And as regards the believers among the gentiles we have written to them with our decision that they should abstain from anything sacrificed to an idol, and from blood, and from anything strangled, and from whoring.” 26Then Paul, the next day taking the men and having been purified with them, went into the Temple and declared what the full term of the days of purification would be, at which time the offering would be made for each of them.

27Now, when the seven days were nearly at an end, the Judaeans from Asia, seeing him in the Temple, roused the entire crowd and laid hands on him, 28Crying out, “Men, Israelites, help! This is the man who is giving everyone everywhere teachings against the people and the Law and this place, and who has also even brought Greeks into the Temple and profaned this sacred site.” 29(For earlier they had seen in his company Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they assumed Paul had brought into the Temple.) 30And the whole city was stirred up, and the people came running together and laid hands on Paul and dragged him outside the Temple, and the doors were immediately shut. 31But as they were trying to kill him word reached the chiliarch of the cohort that the whole of Jerusalem was in turmoil; 32And he immediately took soldiers and centurions and went running down to them; and on seeing the chiliarch and soldiers they ceased battering Paul. 33Then the chiliarch approached him and placed him under arrest and ordered him bound with two chains, and inquired, “Who might this be, and what is it he has done?” 34But different members of the crowd were shouting out different things, and such was the tumult that he could discern nothing trustworthy; so he commanded that he be brought into the garrison. 35And when he was on the steps he was carried by the soldiers, on account of the crowd’s violence; 36For the mass of the people was following after, crying out, “Take him away!” 37But Paul, when about to be led into the garrison, says to the chiliarch, “Is it licit for me to say something to you?” And he said, “You know Greek? 38Are you not the Egyptian, the one who in days past created unrest and led four thousand men from the assassinsao out into the desert?” 39And Paul said, “I am actually a Judaean man, a Tarsian, a citizen of no mean city in Cilicia; and I request that you allow me to address the people.” 40And, when he gave him permission, Paul stood on the steps and beckoned to the people with his hand; and, when a great hush descended, he addressed them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

1“Men, brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2And on hearing that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect they comported themselves more quietly. And he says: 3“I am a Judaean man, having been born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was reared in this city; having been trained in the Law of the fathers with exacting precision at the feet of Gamaliel, I was—just as all of you are today—a zealot for God, 4One who persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering men and women alike to prison: 5As is attested for me by even the chief priest and the Council of elders as a whole, from whom I secured letters to the brethren and journeyed to Damascus, in order to bring those there to Jerusalem in chains so they could be punished. 6But it so happened that, as I was journeying along and approaching Damascus, a great light from the sky shone about me, at about midday, 7And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 8And I replied, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean, whom you persecute.’ 9Now those who were with me did in fact see the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10And I said, ‘What may I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that has been arranged for you to do.’ 11And, as I could not see on account of the glory of that light, I went into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me. 12And a certain Ananias, a man devout in his adherence to the Law, having heard reports of me from all the Judaeans living there, 13Came to me and stood by me and said, ‘Saul, brother, look up.’ And in that hour I looked up at him. 14And he said, ‘The God of our fathers foreordained you to know his will and to see the righteous one and to hear a voice from his mouth, 15For you will be a witness for him to all men regarding the things you have seen and heard. 16And why do you delay now? Arise, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling upon his name.’ 17And it happened that, having returned to Jerusalem and praying in the Temple, I fell into an ecstasy, 18And I saw him speaking to me: ‘Be quick and leave Jerusalem, for they will not accept your testimony concerning me.’ 19And I said, ‘Lord, they are aware that throughout the synagogues I have been imprisoning and beating those who have faith in you; 20And even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed I myself kept an eye on the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ 21And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you out to nations far away.’” 22And they listened to him as far as this statement, but then raised their voice, saying, “Rid the earth of such a man! For it is not fitting for him to live!” 23And, as they were crying out and casting off their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, 24The chiliarch commanded that he be led into the fort, directing that he be interrogated with scourges, so that he could properly determine for what crime they were crying out against him in this manner. 25But, as they were stretching him out with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal to flog a man who is a Roman and who has not been convicted?” 26And on hearing this the centurion approached the chiliarch, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27And the chiliarch approached and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28And the chiliarch replied, “I purchased that citizenship at an enormous price.” And Paul said, “But I in fact was born with it.” 29Immediately, therefore, those who had been about to interrogate him stood back; and the chiliarch, on realizing that he was a Roman and had been put in chains, also became frightened.

30So the following day, wishing to ascertain what it was he was being denounced for by the Judaeans, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council to assemble; and, having led Paul in, he set him in their midst.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

1And, gazing at the Council, Paul said, “Men, brothers, up to this very day I have lived for God in all good conscience.” 2And Ananias, the chief priest, ordered those standing beside him to strike his mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall; and you sit passing judgment on me according to the Law while you, transgressing the Law, order me to be struck?” 4And those standing by said, “You insult the chief priest?” 5And Paul said, “I did not know that he is the chief priest, brothers; for it is written, you shall not speak evil of a leader of your people.” 6And Paul, recognizing that there was one party from the Sadducees and another from the Pharisees, cried out in the Council, “Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees, and I am on trial for hope in resurrection of the dead.” 7And when he said this there arose a discord between Pharisees and Sadducees, and the whole assembly was divided. 8For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection—neither as angel nor as spirit—while the Pharisees profess both.ap 9And a great uproar arose, and some of the scribes from the Pharisees’ party stood up and created strife, saying, “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit spoke to him, or an angel? [Let us not strive against God.]” 10And when a great dissension broke out the chiliarch, fearing Paul might be torn apart by them, commanded the soldiery to go down and seize him out of their midst and bring him to the fort. 11And, coming to him the following night, the Lord said, “Take heart. For just as you bore witness to me in Jerusalem, so too must you bear witness in Rome.” 12And when day came the Judaeans made a compact, placing themselves under bane, saying they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul. 13And there were more than forty who took this shared oath, 14Who approached the chief priests and elders and said, “We have placed ourselves under bane, cursing ourselves to eat nothing till we should kill Paul. 15Now you, then, along with the whole Council, inform the chiliarch that he should bring him down to you because you intend to examine his case in greater exactitude; and we are prepared to kill him before he gets close.” 16But Paul’s sister’s son, hearing of the intrigue, came and entered the fort and told Paul about it. 17And Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man up to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him.” 18So, taking him, he led him up to the chiliarch and says, “The prisoner Paul summoned me and asked me to bring you this young man, who has something to say to you.” 19And, taking hold of his hand and retiring into private, he asked, “What have you to report to me?” 20And he said, “The Judaeans have conspired to ask you whether you would bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow, as though intending to make more exact inquiries concerning him. 21So do not let them persuade you, for, from among those who have placed themselves under bane neither to eat nor to drink till they kill him, more than forty men are lying in wait for him, and are now ready, and are awaiting this promise from you.” 22So the chiliarch dismissed the young man, enjoining him, “Divulge to no one that you have reported these matters to me.” 23And summoning two of the centurions he said, “Get two hundred infantry and seventy cavalry and two hundred pikemen ready to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night, 24With beasts standing by as well, so that they can get Paul mounted and convey him safely to the governor Felix.” 25He wrote a letter of this sort: 26“Claudius Lysias to his excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. 27This man having been seized by the Judaeans and about to be killed by them, I came with my soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman; 28And, wanting to understand fully for what cause they arraigned him, I took him down to their Council; 29I found him to be under accusation in regard to questions of their Law, but charged with nothing meriting death or chains. 30And when it was disclosed to me that there was a plot against the man I immediately sent him to you, and commanded that his accusers make their case against him before you.” 31So the infantrymen, as they had been appointed, took Paul and led him through the night to Antipatris, 32And the next day returned to the fort, leaving the cavalrymen to proceed onward with him—33Who, entering Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor and presented him with Paul. 34And, having read, he asked what province he comes from and, learning it was Cilicia, 35Said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive,” and commanded he be kept under guard in Herod’s praetorium.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

1And after five days the chief priest Ananias came down, along with some elders and a certain trial lawyer, Tertullus, who briefed the governor against Paul. 2And, when he was called, Tertullus began to make allegations against Paul, saying, “Because of you we have enjoyed a great deal of peace, and on account of your foresight restorations of order have come to this nation, 3Which we welcome, in everything and everywhere, with all gratitude, most excellent Felix. 4But so as to detain you no further I beseech you, in your forbearance, to grant us a brief hearing. 5For we having found this man pestilential, and provoking insurrections among all the Judaeans throughout the inhabited world, and a ringleader of the heresy of the Nazoreans—6Who also attempted to desecrate the Temple, and whom we seized [7—But the chiliarch Lysias arrived in great force and conducted him out of our hands—], 8From whom, when you have examined him, you will be able to ascertain everything of which we accuse him.” 9And the Judaeans joined in too, asserting that these things were true. 10And, when the governor had signaled him to speak, Paul answered, “Knowing you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I gladly offer my apology for myself. 11You can verify that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12And neither in the Temple, nor in the synagogues, nor anywhere throughout the city did they find me debating or drawing a crowd; 13Nor can they provide you evidence concerning the things they accuse me of. 14But this I confess to you: that, in keeping with the Way—which they call a heresy—so I worship the ancestral God, believing everything in accord with the Law and written in the prophets, 15Keeping hope in God that—as they themselves anticipate—a resurrection of both the just and the unjust is about to occur. 16In this too I myself strive always to keep a conscience void of offense against God and human beings. 17And after many years I came, bringing along alms to my people and offerings, 18In the course of which—having been purified, and with neither crowd nor commotion—I was discovered in the Temple 19By some Judaeans from Asia, who ought to be present and accuse me before you if they have anything against me. 20Or let these men themselves tell what malfeasance they found when I stood before the Council—21Unless it concerns that single protest I cried out as I stood among them: ‘I am being tried before you today in regard to resurrection of the dead!’” 22But Felix, who had a fairly accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When the chiliarch Lysias comes down I will make my determination on your case.” 23He commanded the centurion to keep him and to allow him license, and to forbid no one among his own acquaintances to attend him. 24And arriving after some days with his wife Drusilla, who was a Judaean woman, Felix sent for Paul and listened to him regarding faith in Jesus the Anointed. 25And as he held forth concerning justice and temperance and the judgment about to come, Felix grew anxious and replied, “Go away for now; and later, when I find an occasion, I shall send for you.” 26At the same time, he was also hopeful that he might receive money from Paul; and so he sent for him fairly frequently and conversed with him. 27And, when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and, wanting to appear gracious to the Judaeans, he left Paul in bondage.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

1So Festus, having arrived in the eparchy, went after three days up to Jerusalem and Caesarea, 2And the chief priests and premier men among the Judaeans presented him with charges against Paul and entreated him, 3Asking him as a favor that he summon him to Jerusalem (plotting to kill him on the road). 4Festus, therefore, replied that Paul was to be held in Caesarea, and that he was himself about to depart: 5“So,” he said, “those of you able to do so go along with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man let them accuse him.” 6And, having stayed with them no more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, took a seat on the tribunal the following day, and commanded Paul be brought. 7And when he arrived the Judaeans who had come down to Jerusalem stood around, bringing numerous and grave charges against him, which they were unable to prove, 8While Paul offered his defense: “I have committed no sin, either against the Law of the Judaeans, or against the Temple, or against Caesar.” 9But Festus, wishing to grant the Judaeans a favor, said in reply to Paul, “Do you want to go up to Jerusalem and be judged before me there concerning these things?” 10And Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I should be judged. I have done the Judaeans no wrong, as you are in fact very well aware. 11So if I have done any wrong, and done anything deserving of death, I do not protest dying; but, if there is nothing to these things they accuse me of, no one can surrender me to them. I appeal to Caesar.” 12Then Festus, having consulted with the Council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

13And, when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, greeting Festus. 14And, when they had stayed there some days more, Festus laid the matter of Paul out before the king, saying, “There is a certain man whom Felix left behind in bonds, 15Concerning whom, when I came to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Judaeans preferred charges, requesting a verdict against him—16To whom I replied that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused has faced his accusers and been given an occasion for a defense concerning the charge. 17Thus, when they had come here with me, I made no delay; the next day I took a seat on the tribunal and commanded the man to be brought—18Concerning whom the accusers stood and charged him with none of the wicked things I anticipated, 19But rather had certain questions for him regarding their own superstition, and about a certain Jesus who had died and whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20And I, being at a loss regarding how to conduct an examination concerning these matters, asked if he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be judged there regarding these things. 21But, when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Augustus,aq I commanded he be held till I might send him to Caesar.” 22And Agrippa said to Festus, “I have been inspired also to listen to this man for myself.” “Tomorrow,” he says, “you will hear him.” 23So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience chamber along with chiliarchs and the city’s leading men, and when Festus had given the order, Paul was brought. 24And Festus says, “King Agrippa, and all you men who are present here with us, you see this man concerning whom the better part of the Judaeans all petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, crying out that he should live no longer. 25And I found him to have done nothing deserving of death; but when this man himself appealed to the Augustus I decided to send him—26Concerning whom I have nothing definite to write to the lord. Hence I have brought him out before you—and before you especially, King Agrippa—so that when there has been an examination I might have something I could write; 27For to me it seems unreasonable, when sending a prisoner, not also to give some sign of the charges against him.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

1And Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak on your own behalf.” Then, stretching forth a hand, Paul offered his defense: 2“Concerning the things of which I am accused by Judaeans, King Agrippa, I consider myself blessed in being about to offer my defense today before you, 3Especially as you are an expert regarding all of the customs and the controversies peculiar to the Judaeans; hence I beseech you, magnanimously, to listen to me. 4So, then, all the Judaeans know the manner of my life since youth, which from the first has been in my nation and in Jerusalem, 5Having known me in the past—if they are willing to attest to it—to have lived as a Pharisee from the first, according to the most exacting sect of our religion; 6And now I stand being judged on account of hope in the promise made to our fathers by God—7To which our twelve tribes hope to attain, earnestly worshipping night and day—in regard to which hope, O king, I am accused by Judaeans. 8Why is it judged incredible by you that God raises the dead? 9Thus indeed I used to think within myself that I should do many things to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazorean—10Which in fact I did in Jerusalem, and I also sealed up many of the holy ones in prisons, having received that authority from the chief priests, and I cast a vote for their execution, 11And often, throughout all the synagogues, I punished them, coercing them to blaspheme, and—raging against them exorbitantly—I persecuted them all the way into foreign cities—12In the course of which, while journeying to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, 13I saw upon the road at midday, O king, a light from the sky brighter than the sun, shining around me and those journeying with me; 14And, when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? How hard for you to kick against goads.’ 15And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. 16But stand on your feet; for it is for this that I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness, both of the things you have seen of me and of the things I shall make appear to you, 17Rescuing you from the people and from the gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18To open their eyes, to turn them away from darkness toward light, and away from the power of the Accuser toward God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those made holy by faith in me.’ 19Whereupon, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20But I exhorted first those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, as well as in all the territory of Judaea and the nations, to change their hearts and to turn to God, performing works worthy of the heart’s transformation. 21On account of these things Judaeans, having seized me in the Temple, tried to kill me. 22Thus, having up to this day received aid from God, I stand bearing witness to small and great alike, saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said to be about to happen: 23That the Anointed would suffer, and that he—as the first in the resurrection of the dead—is about to proclaim a light to the people and to the gentiles alike.” 24But, as he was offering these apologies, Festus says in a loud voice, “You are raving, Paul! So much learning is driving you mad!” 25“Your excellency Festus,” he says, “I am not raving, but speaking words of truth and sense. 26For the king understands all about these things, and I speak before him with confidence; because I am convinced none of this escapes his notice, for it has not been done in a corner. 27Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.” 28And Agrippa to Paul: “You persuade me that in a little while you will make me a Christian.” 29And Paul: “Would to God, I pray, that—in a little while and for a great while—not only you but all those hearing me today would become even such as I am—except for these bonds.” 30Both the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them, 31And went out and spoke to one another, saying: “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or fetters.” 32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released had he not appealed to Caesar.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

1And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy they delivered Paul, as well as some other prisoners, to a centurion from the Augustan Cohortar by the name of Julius. 2And, embarking in a ship from Adramyttium about to launch out for ports along the coast of Asia, we set sail; with us was Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonika; 3And on the next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with kindness and allowed him to visit friends to get his needs provided for. 4And putting to sea from there we sailed alee of Cyprus, since the winds were countervailing, 5And sailing the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia we came down to Myra in Lycia. 6And, having there found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, the centurion embarked us in it. 7And over several days, sailing slowly and coming off the coast of Cnidus with difficulty—inasmuch as the wind did not abate for us—we sailed alee of Crete, opposite Salmone, 8And sailing past it with difficulty we arrived at a certain place called Fair Havens, near which lay the city of Lasea. 9And when considerable time had passed, and the voyage was now perilous because the fast had gone by as well, Paul offered a warning, 10Saying to them, “Men, I see that the voyage will soon be accompanied by violence and great loss, not only for the cargo and ship, but for our souls.” 11But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the ship’s master rather than by Paul’s words. 12And, since the port was an inhospitable one for wintering in, the counsel taken by the majority was to sail on from that place, in hope of somehow reaching Phoenix—a port of Crete facing southwest and northwest—in order to winter there. 13And, believing they had achieved their purpose when a south wind gently blew in, they weighed anchor and sailed along the coast of Crete. 14But not much later a turbulent wind called the Nor’easter beat down 15And, the ship being taken hold of and unable to run in the face of the wind, we gave way and were carried along; 16And running alee of a certain islet called Clauda we were hardly able to secure the skiff; 17Having hoisted it, they employed stays to undergird the ship; and, fearing they might be driven into the shoals, they lowered tackle; and thus they were borne along. 18And, as we were violently storm-wracked, the next day they jettisoned freight, 19And on the third day they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. 20And when over the course of many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and with no small storm setting in, all hope that we might be saved was now taken away. 21And then, when they had abstained from food for a long while, Paul stood up among them and said, “O men, you should have heeded me and not sailed to Crete, and not come to this disaster and deprivation. 22And now I exhort you to be in good spirits: for the ship will be lost, but not one soul. 23For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24Saying, ‘Do not fear, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and see: God has given you all those who sail with you.’ 25So take heart, men; for I have faith in God that it shall be just as was told me. 26But we shall need to run aground on some island.” 27When the fourteenth night of our being carried about the Adriatic came, the sailors came around midnight to suspect that they were approaching some country. 28And on taking soundings they read twenty fathoms; and having moved a little further along, and taking soundings again, they read fifteen fathoms; 29And, fearing they might at some point run upon hard reefs, they dropped four anchors astern and prayed for day to come. 30And when the sailors sought to flee from the ship and lowered the skiff into the sea, pretending that they intended to drop anchors off the bow, 31Paul said to the centurion and soldiers, “If these men do not remain aboard ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut off the skiff’s ropes and let it fall away. 33And, as day was about to come, Paul implored everyone to take some food, saying, “This is the fourteenth day that you have continued on without food, anxious, eating nothing. 34So I beg you to take some food; for this is the beginning of your rescue; for no hair on the head of any of you shall perish.” 35And saying these things, and taking a loaf of bread, he gave thanks to God before them all and broke it and began to eat. 36And, their spirits improving, all of them took food as well. 37Now, those of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six souls in all. 38And, when they were sated with food, they lightened the ship, jettisoning the grain into the sea. 39And when day came they did not recognize the land, but they did make out a certain bay that had a strand, onto which they resolved to drive the ship if they could. 40And, cutting loose the anchors, they abandoned them to the sea, at the same time cutting the rudder’s cords and raising the foresail into the wind, and held course for the strand; 41But, entering a stretch where the two tides met, they drove the vessel on; and the prow, having run upon the bar, remained fixed, and the stern was shattered by the blast. 42Now the soldiers were of a mind to kill the prisoners, so that none of them could swim off and escape; 43But the centurion, determined to save Paul, forbade them their purpose, and commanded those who were able to swim to dive out and be the first to make for the land—44And the rest either on planks or on items from the ship. And thus it happened that everyone escaped to land.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

1And, having been saved, we then discovered that the island is called Malta.as 2And the barbarians extended us extraordinary kindness; for when they had lit a fire they welcomed all of us, on account of the rain that had set in and on account of the chill. 3And when Paul had gathered a load of kindling and was placing it on the fire a viper came out of it as a result of the heat and fastened onto his hand. 4And when the barbarians saw the creature dangling from his hand they said to one another, “This man is surely a murderer whom—even though he was saved from the sea—Justice has not permitted to live.” 5But, shaking the beast off into the fire, he suffered no harm; 6And they expected that he would soon swell up or fall down dead; but, waiting in suspense a considerable time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. 7Now, in the vicinity of that place were estates belonging to the island’s chief man, Publius by name, who welcomed us in and lodged us hospitably. 8And it so happened that Publius’s father was prostrate from fevers and dysentery; Paul went in to him and, praying and placing hands on him, cured him. 9And when this occurred the rest of those on the island who were suffering from ailments also came forward and were healed—10Who lavished plenteous honors on us as well, and supplied the ship with our needs when we put out to sea.

11And after three months we embarked on a ship that had wintered at the island: an Alexandrian craft with the Dioscuriat as its ensign. 12And landing at Syracuse we remained there three days, 13From which we tacked away and arrived at Rhegium. And, with a south wind rising after the first day, we arrived at Puteoli on the second, 14Where we found some of the brethren and were prevailed upon to stay with them for seven days; and thus we went to Rome. 15And from there the brethren—having heard of our affairs—came as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernaeau to meet us; seeing them, Paul thanked God and became encouraged. 16And when we came to Rome [the centurion handed over the prisoners to the garrison; but] Paul was allowed to lodge by himself, with a soldier guarding him.

17And it happened that, three days afterward, he summoned the leading men of the Judaeans; and, when they had gathered, he said to them, “Men, brothers, having done nothing contrary to the people or customs of the fathers, I was delivered in bonds from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans—18Who, having examined me, were of a mind to release me, since there was in me no guilt warranting death; 19But when the Judaeans demurred I was forced to appeal to Caesar—not that I have any charge to lay against my nation. 20For this reason, therefore, I called for you, to see and speak to you; I bear this chain about me on account of the hope of Israel.” 21And they said to him, “We have not received letters concerning you from Judaea, nor has any of the brothers come to report or speak anything wicked regarding you. 22And we consider it worth hearing from you what you think; for what is known to us regarding this sect is that it is denounced everywhere.” 23And, arranging a day with him, they came to him in his lodgings in greater numbers, to whom he bore witness, expounding the Kingdom of God, and arguing from both the Law of Moses and the prophets, from morning to evening, to persuade them concerning Jesus. 24And some were persuaded by what was said, 25And others did not have faith; and they were sent away disagreeing with one another, after Paul had made one statement: “The Spirit, the Holy One, spoke well to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet, 26Saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “Hearing, you shall hear but most certainly not understand; and, looking, you will look but most certainly not perceive; 27For this people’s heart has grown obdurate, and with their ears they have listened ponderously, and they have shut their eyes: lest they should ever see with the eyes and hear with the ears and understand with the heart and turn about, and I should heal them.”’ 28So let it be known to you that this saving thing of God’s has been sent to the gentiles; and they will listen.” [29When he said this, the Judaeans departed, debating among themselves a great deal.]

30And he remained a whole two years in his own rented lodgings and received all who came to him, 31Proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning Jesus the Anointed, with all boldness and without hindrance.

Notes
a. According to Acts, believers in Christ, before coming to be known as “Christians,” spoke of themselves simply as followers of “the Way,” or as those who had chosen the Way of Life.

b. ἄχρι χρόνων ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων (achri chronōn apokatastaseōs pantōn): this trope of the “universal apokatastasis” or “Restoration of all things” appears also at Matthew 17:11, where it is depicted as the work of Elijah, who must precede the appearance of the Son of Man (and who, says Jesus, has already come in the person of John the Baptist). Here, the phrase may have acquired a more cosmic dimension. In later Christian thought it would come to refer not only to the final reconstitution of the cosmos, but also (for some) to the final salvation and glorification of all of creation and of everyone therein.

c. In fact, the name has no such meaning, nor is there any plausible etymology suggesting such a meaning, in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, or Latin.

d. That is, Jews who spoke Greek rather than Aramaic, being children of the Diaspora.

e. εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων (eis diatagas angelōn): perhaps “by angelic ordinances,” or “by [God’s] commands to angels,” or “through [God’s] deputations of angels.” The phrase is strange, and interpretation is complicated by the reality that, in late antique Judaism, it was common to understand all of God’s dealings with creation as conducted not immediately, but only through angels who seemingly enjoyed a certain autonomy or defectibility in regard to how they discharged their missions, and who perhaps delivered the Law to Israel in a form proportional to their own limited powers. Thus for Paul, in Galatians 3:19–20, the Law “having been ordained by angels” (διαταγεὶς δι᾽ ἀγγέλων [diatageis di’ angelōn]), “in the hand of an intermediary [Moses],” is holy but still inferior to God’s direct promises. And in Hebrews 2:2–4 the Law merely spoken through angels is not yet equal to, or as final as, the word spoken directly by the Lord.

f. Whether intentionally or by inadvertence, the Greek text speaks of those possessed by impure spirits (or, really, those “possessing” such spirits) as the ones who “came out” as a result of exorcism.

g. Δορκάς (Dorkas).

h. θῦσον (thyson): often translated here, somewhat less disturbingly, as “slay” or “slaughter”; but the verb θύειν (thyein) always means “to sacrifice” to the gods or to God, “to offer up” or “to slay” the sacrificial victim. Jews and Christians alike may have been reluctant to eat meats offered to pagan gods; but every animal slain for the table was still consecrated to God.

i. θῦσον (thyson): see the note to 10:13 above.

j. χρηματίσαι τε πρώτως ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τοὺς μαθητὰς Χριστιανούς (chrēmatisai te prōtōs en Antiocheiai tous mathētas Christianous). The followers, that is, or party, or representatives of the Christ, the Anointed. The grammar is slightly obscure here. The verb chrēmatisai is an active infinitive, as are the two preceding verbs, all dependent upon the dispositive intransitive ἐγένετο (egeneto): “it happened that . . .” It could possibly, therefore, be translated as “they [bar-Nabas and Saul] first called the disciples ‘Christians’ in Antioch,” though there is sound palaeographical evidence that the active voice of the verb could carry a passive sense, so that the sentence might be rendered “the disciples were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch” (by others, presumably). Others argue, and I have chosen here to take this line, that the active was often used as a tacit reflexive, meaning something like “to style oneself” or “to give oneself the title,” in the way that a business concern might name itself. And a very few—noting that the verb χρηματίζω (chrēmatizō) was used classically to mean “to deliver an oracle,” as the Pythia or some other prophet or prophetess might do when consulted by a suppliant, and that even in the New Testament it is occasionally used specifically to mean a divine revelation or admonition (e.g., Matthew 2:12; Luke 2:26; Acts 10:22)—have suggested that the phrase means something like “the disciples were first named ‘Christians’ by divine revelation in Antioch”; this, however, is something of a stretch. It should be noted that there is a certain oddity to the very word Christianos, since it is not a natural Greek nominalization; rather, it is a Latin nominalization transliterated into Greek, and Latin was certainly not the common tongue of first-century Antiochenes.

k. ἀπαχθήναι (apachthēnai): “be led away,” “be taken off”: a verb Luke uses of those being sent off to execution, such as Christ (Luke 23:26).

l. Νίγερ: the Latin name Niger, which means “black,” transcribed into Greek.

m. μάγος (magos): the same word Matthew used to described the Magians from the East who visited the child Jesus, but here with what had become the more common meaning in the Greek-speaking world.

n. The claim here, as written, seems to be that the name Ἐλύμας (Elymas) means “sorcerer,” but neither the Greek name itself nor any known Semitic root of which it might be a homonym or paronym has such a meaning. It certainly cannot mean that Elymas is the Greek “translation” of bar-Jesus.

o. This may simply mean “who was also known as Paul,” and Luke may merely be casually mentioning Paul’s “Christian name” for the first time; but it may also mean that he has the same name as the proconsul.

p. οἱ φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν (hoi phoboumenos ton theon): “those revering God” or “Godfearers” were gentile proselytes who attended the synagogues as “hearers” of scripture, but who had not as yet been circumcised or fully initiated into the community.

q. Literally, “in another [Psalm].”

r. Or “having served in his own generation by the will of God, he fell asleep,” or “having served God’s purpose, he fell asleep with his own generation.”

s. Or “vindicated.”

t. εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ σάββατον (eis to metaxy sabbaton): this is oddly phrased, and is usually translated as “on the next Sabbath”; on the other hand, since metaxy really means “in between,” and “Sabbath” can simply mean “week,” it may be read as “during the intervening week [till the next Sabbath],” and the next verse might be taken as the congregation encouraging Paul and bar-Nabas to continue their discourse in the present.

u. That is, again, gentile proselytes of Judaism.

v. A colony of Rome, that is.

w. That is, Tyrian purples: cloth richly colored with Tyrian porphyry dye, of which Thyatira was one of the major producers.

x. That is to say, she was, in all likelihood, a gentile “Godfearer.”

y. Python was the dragon or great serpent slain by Apollo at Mount Parnassus, at whose southwestern spur Delphi is located; and the prophetess who delivered the oracle at Delphi was known as the Pythia. By the time of the writing of Acts, a “python” was a common name for a spirit of clairvoyance.

z. An honorific title given the two chief magistrates of Philippi, who enjoyed the full powers of a self-governing colonial authority.

aa. That is, again, gentile “hearers” of the Law.

ab. That is, “divine spirits” or “gods.”

ac. The Ἄρειος πάγος (Areios pagos), the “Hill of Ares,” “Mars Hill,” an elevation west and somewhat north of the Acropolis that was often used for public assemblies.

ad. Again, the reference is to δαίμονες (daimones), “divine spirits” or “gods,” a word that would become opprobrious in Christian usage as the gods of the nations were progressively demoted to the status of “demons.”

ae. A quotation from the Phaenomena of the Stoic poet Aratos (c. 315–240 BC).

af. That is, a member of the Council of the Areopagus, a public juridical tribunal.

ag. That is, again, a gentile adherent of Judaism.

ah. Λόγιος (logios): “eloquent,” “cultured,” “learned.”

ai. σχολή (scholē): literally, “leisure,” which is to say, “those with leisure,” gathering as a rule for lecture and debate in an open hall. The identity of Tyrannus is otherwise unknown; he may have been either a teacher or the patron of the hall, and so in all likelihood a pagan.

aj. κατακυριεύσας ἀμφοτέρων (katakyrievsas amphoterōn). Whether Luke really means to say “both” (either to suggest that only two of the seven brothers were present at the time or to suggest that the demoniac assaulted only two of the seven), or is instead using the word catachrestically to mean “the lot of them,” is impossible to determine.

ak. The Artemision (Temple of Artemis) in Ephesus—here in its third and most glorious iteration—was indeed one of the ancient world’s “seven wonders,” and according to Antipater of Sidon the most impressive among them. The sacred site long antedated the Greco-Roman syncretism that would convert the resident “Great Goddess” or “Great Mother” of Ephesus into a special manifestation of the lunar goddess Artemis (or Diana), and so did the sacred iconography of the Temple idol that, according to Luke—but to no other extant ancient source—the Ephesians believed to have fallen from Zeus on high (see v. 35 below).

al. Perhaps these are members of the Common Assembly of Asia in Ephesus; but the word’s generally attested meaning is that of priests of the imperial cult of Roma installed in Asia.

am. ἐκκλήσια (ecclēsia), which would usually mean a legislative assembly, but may here refer simply to the crowd as a whole; it might also mean that an official municipal assembly was seated in the theater, or was summoned there by the public demonstration, since in v. 39 the municipal clerk uses the word again with the clear meaning of a legal deliberative body, while in v. 41 he brings the episode to an end by, it seems, an official dissolution of the session.

an. That is, one of the “deacons” or “ministers” chosen to serve at table so that the Apostles would be free for other things.

ao. That is, violent Judaean zealots, here called Sicarii (dagger-bearers, assassins).

ap. Σαδδουκαῖοι μὲν γὰρ λέγουσιν μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν μήτε ἄγγελον μήτε πνεῦμα, Φαρισαῖοι δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν τὰ ἀμφότερα (Saddoukaioi men gar legousin mē einai anastasin mēte angelon mēte pnevma, Pharisaioi de homologousin ta amphotera): usually translated as meaning that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection or in angel (s.) or in spirit (s.), while the Pharisees believed in “all of these.” There are both historical and grammatical grounds for doubting this reading. The existence of a Jewish sect in the first century that did not believe in resurrection makes perfect sense, inasmuch as the very idea of resurrection was a fairly late aspect of Jewish thought, almost certainly imported from Persia; but the existence of a Jewish sect that did not believe in angels and spirits is certainly an historical impossibility (though Luke was a Greek and might not have known this). The phrasing also somewhat discourages the conventional translation. Not only are the words “angel” and “spirit” in the singular (which could perhaps mean “any angel or spirit” or “angel and spirit as an abstract principle,” but which would still not be the most felicitous way of phrasing the matter in Greek), but the final word of the sentence, ἀμφότερα (amphotera), really does mean “both [of two],” and there are not many examples of Luke using Greek words catachrestically (then again, just four chapters above, at 19:16, the text may misuse the same word). Also, even though μή is sometimes paired with μήτε (in place of the more common pairing of one μήτε with another) to mean “neither . . . nor . . . ,” here it seems natural to read the more typical formula of “μήτε . . . μήτε . . .” as forming a couplet distinct from the subject of the immediately preceding μή (“to be no resurrection”), as an elucidation thereof. On the other hand, the repeated mention of “a spirit or an angel” in the next verse may be intended to emphasize again the difference between Pharisaic and Sadducaic beliefs, and the cause of dissension between them. So my translation here is offered only tentatively. Whatever the case, though, this passage may be read as reinforcing a point that is made at several other places in the New Testament (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:36; 1 Corinthians 15:40–54; 1 Peter 3:18, 4:6): that those late antique Jews and early Christians who believed in resurrection did not, as a rule, think of it as simply the “reanimation” of—a restoration of psychē to—a “fleshly” corpse, but saw it as an emergence into a new life beyond the fragile “animal” bond of soul and flesh, life in a spiritual or even “angelic” form. In Hellenistic Jewish and much early Christian usage, the word “spirits” is often used to refer to angels and demons, as distinct from disembodied human souls, precisely because these former are creatures who do not subsist in an “animal” or “psychical” manner, comprising soul and flesh.

aq. ὁ Σεβαστός (ho Sebastos), the Greek equivalent of Augustus, which here is simply a formal title of the emperor (in this case, Nero).

ar. The Cohors Augusta (σπεῖρα σεβαστή [speira sebastē], in Greek) was principally stationed in Syria and was largely composed of Syrian recruits.

as. Μελίτη (Melitē).

at. That is, the Gemini or Celestial Twins, Kastor and Polydeukes (Castor and Pollux in Latin), sons of Zeus by Leda, according to the dominant legend, and brothers of Helen. The Gemini were patron protectors of travelers—sailors and seaborne travelers especially—and their cult was particularly popular in Alexandria.

au. “The Forum of Appius” and “Three Taverns” were two towns along the Appian Way, roughly forty and thirty miles from Rome, respectively.

The Letter to the Romans

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, a slave of the Anointed One Jesus, called an Apostle, having been set apart for God’s good tidings, 2Which he promised in advance through his prophets in sacred writings 3Concerning his Son—born from David’s seed according to the flesh, 4Marked out by resurrection of the dead as God’s Son in power according to a spirit of holiness—Jesus the Anointed, our Lord,a 5Through whom we have received grace and, for his name’s sake, a mission for consent to faith among all the gentiles, 6Among whom you too are included, you who are called Jesus the Anointed’s own—7To all in Rome, who are beloved of God and called to be holy: grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from Lord Jesus the Anointed.b

8Firstly, I give thanks to my God through Jesus the Anointed for all of you, because your faithfulness is proclaimed in all the cosmos. 9For God—whom I worship in my spirit, in the good tidings of his Son—is my witness to how unceasingly I remember you 10Always in my prayers, asking whether now somehow, by God’s will, I might have a clear path to come to you. 11For I long to come to you, that I might give you some spiritual gift so that you may be made firm—12That is, rather, to be comforted along with you, through one another’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that often I have intended to come to you—and have been prevented right up to the present—so that I might gather some fruit among you too, just as among the other gentile peoples. 14Both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to sages and to fools, I am a debtor; 15So, as far as is possible for me, I am eager to proclaim the good tidings to you who are in Rome too. 16Because I am not ashamed of the good tidings; for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone having faith, to the Judaean first, then also to the Greek. 17For in it God’s justice is revealed, from faith to faith, as has been written: “And the upright shall live by faithfulness.”

18For God’s vehemence against all the impiety and injustice of human beings, who by injustice suppress the truth, is revealed from heaven, 19Because what is known of God is manifest among them; because God made it manifest to them. 20For from the creation of the cosmos his invisible things are clearly descried, understood from the things made: both his everlasting power and his deity; so they are without defense, 21For, knowing God, they did not give him glory and thanks as God, but instead grew inane in their reasoning, and their witless heart was darkened. 22Having pretensions to be wise, they became imbeciles, 23And exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for a likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of quadrupeds, and of reptiles; 24Hence God handed them over in the desire of their hearts to impurity, the disgracing of their bodies amongst themselves—25They who exchanged God’s truth for a lie, and adored and worshipped the creation rather than the Creator who is blessed unto the ages; amen. 26Thus God delivered them to the passions of disgrace; for even their females exchanged natural use for what is contrary to nature, 27And the males also, in the same way, abandoning natural use with the female, burned in their longing for one another, males performing shameful acts among males, and receiving in turn within themselves the requital befitting their deviancy. 28And, as they did not deem it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God surrendered them to a reprobate mind, to do indecent things, 29Having been filled with every injustice, wickedness, avarice, vice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, boorishness; whisperers, 30Slanderers, haters of God,c licentious, overweening, braggarts, contrivers of evils, defiant of parents; 31Witless, faithless, ruthless, merciless—32Though knowing God’s decree that those who do such things are deserving of death, they not only do them, but give approval to those engaging in these same practices.

CHAPTER TWO

1So you are without defense, O man—everyone who judges—for in that you judge another you condemn yourself; because you who judge engage in the same practices. 2But we know that God’s judgment on those doing such things is in accord with truth. 3And do you, O man—you who judge those doing such things while also doing them—reckon that you will escape God’s judgment? 4Or do you disdain the abundance of his kindness and forbearance and magnanimity, ignorant that God’s kindness leads you to the heart’s transformation? 5Yet you store up indignation for yourself—in accord with your obduracy and impenitent heart—on a day of indignation and of a revelation of the just judgment of God, 6Who will requite everyone according to his deeds: 7To those who by perseverance in good work seek after glory and honor and incorruption—the life of the Age;d 8But to those of selfish ambition, who are also defiant of truth and yet compliant with injustice—indignation and vehemence. 9Distress and anguish upon the soul of everyone applying himself to what is evil—Judaean first, then Greek; 10But glory and honor and peace to everyone applying himself to what is good—Judaean first, then Greek. 11For with God there is no respecting of persons. 12For as many as have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law; and as many as have sinned within the Law will be judged by the Law; 13For those who hear the Law are not upright before God; rather doers of the Law will be proved upright. 14For, whenever gentiles who do not have a law do the things of the Law by nature, they who do not have Law are a Law to themselves: 15They who exhibit the work of the Law inscribed in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness with them, and the thoughts between one another making accusation or even offering defensee 16On the day that, according to my good tidings, God judges men’s secrets through the Anointed One Jesus. 17But if you bear the name of Judaean and rely on Law and boast in God, 18And know what is willed, and attempt exceptional things, having received instruction from the Law, 19And having also persuaded yourself to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having in the Law the very shape of knowledge and of the truth . . . 21Do you who teach another not therefore teach yourself? You who preach not to steal, do you steal? 22You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abominate idols, do you rob temples? 23Do you who boast in the Law dishonor God by transgressing the Law? 24For “God’s name is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you,” as has been written. 25For circumcision does indeed have value if you happen to practice the Law; but if you happen to be a transgressor of the Law your circumcision has become a foreskin. 26If, therefore, “Foreskin” keeps the just requirements of the Law, will not his foreskin be reckoned as circumcision? 27And “Foreskin” (physically speaking), fulfilling the Law, will adjudge you—on account of scripture and circumcision—the transgressor of Law. 28For he is not a Judaean who appears to be so, neither is circumcision something apparent in the flesh—29Rather, the Judaean is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart—in spirit, not letter—whose praise is not from human beings but from God.

CHAPTER THREE

1What then the Judaean’s advantage, or what “Circumcision’s” profit? 2A great deal, in every way! Firstly, indeed, they were entrusted with God’s oracles. 3What then? If some were unfaithful, will their infidelity annul God’s fidelity? 4Let it not be so! But let God be truthful and every man a liar, as has been written: “So that you might be vindicated in your words and may prevail when you are judged.” 5And if our injustice secures God’s justice, what shall we say? That the God who enforces this indignation is unjust? (I speak in human terms.) 6Let it not be so! Else how will God judge the cosmos? 7Yet, if through my falsehood God’s truth overflowed to his glory, why am I still also judged as a sinner? 8And why not (as we are slandered, and as some claim we say): “Let us do evil things that good things may come?”—on them the verdict is just . . .f 9What then? Are we more excellent?g Not at all. For we have already charged both Judaeans and Greeks, all alike, with being under sin. 10As has been written: “There is none just, not one; 11There is none who understands, there is none who seeks God; 12All turned away—together became useless; there is no one practicing kindness, there is not even one”; 13“Their throat is an opened grave, with their tongues they worked deceit, the venom of asps behind their lips”; 14“They whose mouth is gorged with curses and bitterness”; 15“Swift their feet to shed blood, 16Ruin and misery in their paths, 17And they knew no path of peace”; 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19And we know that the Law, whatsoever it says, speaks to those within the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped up and all the cosmos might become accountable to God. 20For all flesh will be vindicated before him not by observances. For through Law—full knowledge of sin.

21But now God’s justice has been manifested apart from Law, being attested by the Law and the prophets, 22And, by the faithfulness of [Jesus] the Anointed, God’s justice is for everyone [as well as upon everyone] keeping faith; for there is no distinction: 23For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, 24Being made upright as a gift by his grace, through the manumission fee paid in the Anointed One, Jesus: 25Whom God set forth as a place of atonementh through faith in his blood, as a demonstration of his justice through the dismissal of past sins 26In God’s clemency—for the demonstration of his justice in the present season—that he might be just and show him who is of Jesus’s faith to be upright.i 27Where, therefore, the boasting? It has been excluded. By what law? That of observances? No, rather by faith’s law. 28For we reckon a man as vindicatedj by faithfulness, apart from observances of Law. 29The God of Judaeans only, and not also of gentiles? Yes, of gentiles also, 30Since the God who both vindicatesk “Circumcision” from faith and “Foreskin” by faith is one. 31Do we then abolish Law through faith? Let it not be so! Rather, we establish it.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Then what shall we say that Abraham—our forefather according to flesh—discovered? 2For, if Abraham was vindicated by observances, he has a boast—although not before God. 3For what does scripture say? “And Abraham had faith in God, and it was accounted to uprightness on his part.” 4But to someone who labors the reward is reckoned not according to grace but according to what is owed; to someone not laboring, however, 5But placing faith upon him who makes the impious upright, his faithfulness is accounted to uprightness, 6Just as David says concerning the bliss of the man for whom God takes account of uprightness apart from observances: 7“How blissful they whose Lawless ways are excused and whose sins are covered over; 8How blissful the man whose sin the Lord in no way takes into account.” 9Does this bliss pertain to those of the circumcision, then, or to those of the foreskin also—since we say that faithfulness was accounted to uprightness for Abraham? 10How then was it taken account of? When he was in circumcision or with a foreskin? Not in circumcision, but with a foreskin; 11And he received a sign of circumcision, a seal of the uprightness of his faithfulness during the time when he had had a foreskin, so that he might be the father of all those who have faith while in possession of a foreskin, so that [this] uprightness might be accounted to them, 12And a father of circumcision not only to those coming from circumcision, but also to those who walk in the steps of our father Abraham’s faithfulness when he had a foreskin. 13For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir to the world came not through Law, but through the uprightness of faithfulness. 14For, if the heirs are so by Law, faithfulness has been evacuated and the promise annulled; 15For the Law brings wrath; but, where there is no Law, neither is there transgression. 16Hence it is from faithfulness, and thus according to grace, so that the promise should be firm for all seed: not only for that of the Law, but for that of the faithfulness of Abraham (who is father to us all, 17As has been written: “I have appointed you father of many nations”) before him in whom he had faith—God, who gives the dead life and calls forth the things having no existence as having existence—18Who, against hope, placed his faith upon hope, so that he might become father of many nations, in keeping with what had been said: “Such shall be your seed.”l 19And, without weakening in faith, he recognized that his body had died (being about a hundred years old), and recognized the death of Sarah’s womb, 20Yet he did not falter through infidelity to God’s promise, but rather was made strong by faith, giving glory to God, 21Being fully persuaded as well that what he has promised he is also able to do. 22Therefore it was accounted to uprightness on his part. 23And not only in regard to him was it written that it was accounted to him, 24But also in regard to us, to whom it is to be accounted—for those being faithful to him who has raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, 25He who was delivered over on account of our transgressions and raised on account of our vindication.m

CHAPTER FIVE

1Having, therefore, been vindicatedn by faithfulness, we have peace before God through our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 2Through whom we have also gained access [by faithfulness] to this grace wherein we have stood, and boast on the hope of God’s glory—3Though not only that: rather, we boast in afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about endurance; 4And endurance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5And hope does not prove an embarrassment, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through a Holy Spirit that has been given to us; 6The Anointed, indeed, when we were yet weak, died in due season on behalf of the impious. 7For rarely will one die on behalf of an upright man; or no, perhaps on behalf of a good man one does indeed risk dying; 8But God shows his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, the Anointed died on our behalf. 9So much the more, therefore, shall we—having now been vindicatedo by his blood—be saved from the indignation. 10For if, being enemies, we were reconciled with God through his Son’s death, so much the more shall we—having been reconciled—be saved through his life—11Though not only that: rather, boasting also in God through our Lord Jesus [the Anointed], through whom we have received reconciliation.

12Therefore, just as sin entered into the cosmos through one man, and death through sin, so also death pervaded all humanity, whereupon all sinned;p 13For prior to the Law there was sin in the cosmos, but when there is no Law sin is not taken account of. 14Yet death reigned from Adam till Moses, even over those who did not commit sin similar to the transgression of Adam, who is a figural type of the one about to come. 15As the transgression, however, not so the grace bestowed: for if by the transgression of one the many died, so much the more did God’s grace and the gift in grace of the one man Jesus the Anointed overflow to the many. 16The gift, moreover, comes not as though through one who sins; for, from one—the verdict for condemnation; from many transgressions, however—the grace bestowed for rectification.q 17For if, by the one’s transgression, death reigned through the one, so much more will those receiving grace’s abundance and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Jesus the Anointed— 18So, then, just as by one transgression unto condemnation for all human beings, so also by one act of righteousness unto rectification of life for all human beings;r 19For, just as by the heedlessness of the one man the many were rendered sinners, so also by the obedience of the one the many will be rendered righteous.s 20But Law was introduced in order that the transgression might abound; and, where sin was abundant, grace was superabundant, 21In order that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign by righteousness for life in the Age through Jesus the Anointed, the Lord.

CHAPTER SIX

1What shall we say then? Should we persist in sin so that grace might abound? 2Let it not be! We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it? 3Or are you unaware that we—as many as were baptized into the Anointed One, Jesus—were baptized into his death? 4Thus, by baptism into death we were buried with him in order that, just as the Anointed was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For, if we have become of a kindred naturet in the similitude of his death, we shall at least also be of the resurrection;u 6Knowing this: that our old man was co-crucified, in order that the body of sin might be destroyed so that we should be enslaved to sin no longer; 7For the one who has died is absolved from sin. 8And, if we died with the Anointed, we have faith that we shall live together with him; 9Knowing that the Anointed, having been raised from the dead, dies no more: his death no longer dominates. 10For in that he died he died to sin once and for all; but in that he lives he lives to God. 11So also we reckon ourselves to be dead to sin, yet also living for God in the Anointed One, Jesus. 12So do not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, for the purpose of obeying its lusts; 13Neither present your bodily members to sin as weapons of iniquity; rather, present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your bodily members to God as weapons of justice, 14For sin shall not dominate; for you are not under Law, but rather under grace. 15What then? Should we sin because we are not under Law but under grace? Let it not be! 16Do you not know that, to whomever you give yourselves as slaves in obedience, to him you are slaves, whether of sin for the sake of death, or of obedience for the sake of uprightness? 17But grace be to God that you were slaves to sin, but that you were obedient from the heart to the pattern of the teaching to which you had been entrusted. 18And having been liberated from sin you were enslaved to righteousness. 19I speak in human terms on account of the frailty of your flesh; for, just as you presented your bodily members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness for lawlessness’ sake, so now present your bodily members as slaves of righteousness for the sake of sanctification. 20For when you were slaves of sin you were free from righteousness. 21So what fruition did you have back then? Over which things are you now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22Yet now, having been liberated from sin and enslaved to God, you have your fruition, for the sake of sanctification, and the end is life in the Age. 23For sin’s wages are death; but God’s bestowal of grace is the life of the Age in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1Or are you unaware, brothers—for I speak to those knowing the Law—that the Law dominates the man for whatever time he lives; 2For the wife who is subject to a husband has been bound by Law to the living man;v but if the husband dies she has been released from the husband’s Law. 3Hence, if she takes up company with another man while the husband is alive, she will be styled an adulteress; but if the husband dies she is free from the Law, so that in having taken up company with another man she is not an adulteress. 4Thus, my brothers, you too were made dead to the Law through the body of the Anointed so that you might come to be with another, the one who has been raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5For when we were in the flesh the passions of sin, which came through the Law, acted in our bodily members for the purpose of bearing fruit for death; 6But now we have been released from the Law, having died wherein we were imprisoned, so that we slave in newness of spirit and not in scripture’s obsolescence.

7So what shall we say? The Law is sin? Let it not be! Rather, I did not know sin except through Law; for I did not even know about covetousness except that the Law said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin was seizing an opportunity through the commandment, for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9Now, once I was alive apart from Law; but when the commandment came sin sprang to life 10And I died; and the Law that is for life—this I found to be for death; 11For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, thereby deceived and killed me. 12Thus the Law is holy; and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13So the good became death for me? Let it not be so! Rather, sin, so that it might be made manifest as sin, was bringing me death through the good, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful to the point of excess. 14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, having been sold in subjection to sin. 15Because I do not know what it is that I accomplish; because what I wish, this I do not do; instead, what I hate, this I do. 16But so long as I do not do this, what I wish, I am in agreement with the Law—that it is good. 17But now no longer am I at work, but rather the sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that in me—that is, in my flesh—dwells nothing good; for it is present in me to will, but not to accomplish, the good; 19For I do not do the good I wish; instead, the evil I do not wish, this I do. 20But if what I do not wish, this I do, then no longer am I operating, but rather the sin that dwells within me. 21Thus I discover the law that, when I am desirous of doing the good, 22The evil presents itself to me. For I delight in God’s Law according to the inner man, 23But I see a different law in my bodily members warring against the Law of my mind and taking me captive by the law of sin that is in my members. 24I am a man in torment—who will deliver me from the body of this death? 25Grace to God through Jesus the Anointed, our Lord. So then I myself am a slave in mind to God’s Law, and yet in flesh to the law of sin.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1So now: no condemnation for those in the Anointed One, Jesus. 2For the law of the spirit of life in the Anointed One Jesus freed you from the law of sin and death. 3For the thing that is impossible for the Law, in which it was weak on account of the flesh—God, having sent his own Son in a semblance of the flesh of sin, also (as regards sin) condemned sin in the flesh, 4In order that the Law’s just ordinance might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to spirit. 5For those who exist according to flesh incline the mind to the things of the flesh; but those according to spirit, the things of the spirit. 6For the mental inclination of the flesh is death; but the mental inclination of the spirit is life and peace; 7Hence the mental inclination of the flesh is enmity to God; for it is not subordinated to the Law of God, nor indeed can it be; 8For those existing in flesh cannot be pleasing to God. 9But you are not in flesh, but rather in spirit, since God’s Spirit dwells in you. But if one does not have the Spirit of the Anointed, this one is not his. 10But, if the Anointed is in you, the body is dead on account of sin, and yet the spiritw is life on account of uprightness. 11But if the Spirit of the one who has raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised the Anointed One Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies live through the indwelling of his Spirit in you.

12So then, brothers, we are indebted to the flesh, to live according to flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you are about to die; but, if you put the deeds of the body to death by spirit, you will live. 14For as many as are led by God’s Spirit, these are God’s sons. 15For you did not receive again a spirit of slavery to fear, but rather received a spirit of adoption in which we cry, “Abba, Father!” 16The Spirit itself testifies along with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17And, if children, heirs as well; on the one hand, God’s heirs and, on the other, co-heirs of the Anointed, since we co-suffer in order that we may be co-glorified. 18For I reckon the sufferings of the present time to be of no worth before the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19For the earnest expectation of creation anxiously awaits the revelation of the sons of God. 20For creation was made subordinate to pointlessness, not willingly but because of the one who subordinated it, in the hope 21That creation itself will also be liberated from decay into the freedom of the glory of God’s children. 22For we know that all creation groans together and labors together in birth pangs, up to this moment; 23Not only this, but even we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the spirit, groan within ourselves as well, anxiously awaiting adoption, emancipation of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but a hope seen is not hope; for why hope for what one sees? 25But, if we hope for what we do not see, we anticipate by perseverance. 26And likewise the spirit also gives us aid in our infirmity; for we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit itself makes intercession with unutterable groans, 27And he who searches out the heart knows what the spirit’s mind is, for in accord with God it makes intercession on behalf of the holy ones. 28And we know that, for those loving God, all things work together for good to those called according to a purpose. 29Because those he knew in advance he thenx marked out in advance as being in conformityy to the image of his Son, so that he might be firstborn among many brothers;z 30And those he marked out in advance, these he then called; those he called, these he then proved righteous;aa and those he proved righteous, these he then glorified. 31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not even spare his own Son, 32But rather delivered him over on behalf of all of us, how shall he not grace us with all things along with him? 33Who will make an accusation against God’s chosen ones? God is the one who vindicates: 34Who is the one who condemns? The Anointed One, Jesus? He who has died—or, rather, he who was raised? Who is at God’s right hand? Who also intercedes for us? 35Who will separate us from the love of the Anointed? Affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword? 36As has been written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we were reckoned as sheep for slaughter.” 37Rather, in all these things we more than conquer through the one who has loved us. 38For I have been persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor Archonsab nor things present nor things imminent nor Powers, 39Nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.

CHAPTER NINE

1In the Anointed, I speak truth, I do not lie, my conscience testifying along with me in a holy spirit 2That I harbor immense sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart; 3For I have been praying that I myself be something accursed by the Anointed for the sake of my brothers, my kindred according to flesh, 4They who are Israelites: theirs the filial adoption and the glory and the covenants and the Lawgiving and the worship and the promises, 5Theirs the fathers, and from them—according to the flesh—the Anointed; blessed unto the ages the God over all things, amen.ac 6Not, of course, that God’s word has proved ineffectual. For not all of those who come from Israel are Israel, 7Nor are all of them children because they are Abraham’s seed. Rather: “Through Isaac will seed be named for you.” 8That is: not the children of the flesh, these children of God; rather, the children of the promise are reckoned as seed. 9For this is the word of promise: “I will come in due time, and there will be a son for Sarah.” 10And not only this, but Rebecca also, having conceived by one man, our father Isaac—11For they, not yet having been born, or having engaged in any good or bad practices, so that God’s purpose in electing might remain, 12Coming not from observances but from the one calling—it was told her, “The greater shall be slave to the lesser”; 13Just as has been written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? Let it not be so! 15For he tells Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will pity whomever I pity.” 16So, then—neither of the one willing nor of the one running, but of the God showing mercy. 17For scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very thing I raised you forth, so that in you I might display my power, and so that my name might be proclaimed abroad in all the earth.” 18So, then, he has mercy on whom he wishes, and hardens whom he will. 19So you will say to me, “Why does he still assign blame? For who has thwarted his purpose?” 20But no, O man, who are you who argue against God? Will the thing molded say to the molder, “Why did you make me thus?” 21Or does the potter not have the power to make from the same mass of clay both the vessel for honor and the one for dishonor? 22And what if God, though disposedad to display his indignation and make known what is possible for him, tolerated with enormous magnanimity vessels of indignation, suitable for destruction, 23In order that he might also make known the wealth of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he had already prepared for glory, 24Whom—us—he called not only from the Judaeans but from the gentiles as well? 25As he also says to Hosea, “I will call the people not mine ‘my people,’ and her who is not loved ‘Beloved’”; 26And, “It shall be in the place where it was said [to them], ‘You are not a people of mine’: there they will be called sons of a living God.” 27But, on Israel’s behalf, Isaiah cries, “Though the number of Israel’s sons be as the sands of the sea, the remainder will be saved. 28For the Lord will execute a decree, completing it and abbreviating it [—in justice, because a decree abbreviated—] upon the earth.” 29And just as Isaiah has previously said, “Had not the Lord Sabaoth left us a seed, we should have become as Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.”

30What then shall we say? That gentiles, not chasing after righteousness, seized hold of righteousness—albeit a righteousness coming from faithfulness—31While Israel, chasing after a Law of righteousness, failed to catch up to the Law? 32Why? Because not out of faithfulness, but rather out of observances, they stumbled over the “stone of stumbling,” 33Just as has been written, “See: I set in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock for faltering, and whoever has faith on him will not be put to shame.”

CHAPTER TEN

1Brothers, my heart’s fond desireae and prayer to God on their behalf is for salvation. 2For I testify of them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; 3For, not knowing God’s justice and seeking to set up their own, they did not become subject to God’s justice. 4Because the end of the Law is the Anointed, for the purpose of uprightness for everyone having faith. 5For Moses writes of the Law’s uprightness that: “The man who does these things will live by them.” 6But the uprightness coming from faithfulness speaks thus: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”—that is, to bring the Anointed down—7“Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’”—that is, to bring the Anointed up from the dead. 8What does it say, rather? “The utterance is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the utterance of the faith that we proclaim. 9Because, if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”af and have faith in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10For one has faith in the heart for uprightness and confesses with the mouth for salvation. 11For the scripture says, “No one who has faith in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Judaean and Greek. For the same one is Lord of all, with riches for all who call on him. 13For “Everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14How may they invoke one in whom they did not have faith? And how may they have faith in one of whom they have not heard? And how may they hear apart from someone proclaiming? 15And how may they proclaim unless they were sent forth? Just as has been written: “How lovely the feet of those [announcing glad tidings of peace and] proclaiming glad tidings of good things.” 16But not all heeded the good tidings. For Isaiah says, “Who had faith in our report?”ag 17So, faith is from hearing, and hearing is by the utterance of the Anointed. 18But I say, “Did they not hear?” No indeed: “Their speech went out to all the earth, and their utterances to the ends of the inhabited world.” 19But I say, “Did Israel not know?” First, Moses says, “I will provoke you to envy against a non-nation, I will provoke you to anger against a witless nation.” 20And Isaiah grows bold and says, “I was found by those not seeking me, I became manifest to those not asking after me.” 21And to Israel he says, “The whole day long, I stretch out my hands to an intractable and gainsaying people.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1Therefore I say, “Did God reject his people?” Let it not be so! For I too am an Israelite, of Abraham’s seed, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he knew in advance. Or do you not know what scripture says regarding Elijah, how he made a plea with God against Israel? 3“Lord, they killed your prophets and razed your altars to the ground, and I was left behind alone and they seek my soul.” 4Yet what does the divine oracle tell him? “I reserved seven thousand men for myself, those who did not bend the knee to Baal.” 5So, then, in the present time too a remnant has arisen according to the election of grace. 6And if by grace, then no longer from observances, since grace were then no longer grace. [And if from observances, it is no longer grace, since then observance were observance no longer.] 7What then? The mark Israel aims at, this it did not hit, but “Election” did hit it; and the rest were hardened. 8As has been written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear”—right up to the present day. 9And David says, “Let their table come to serve as a snare and as a net and as a stumbling-block and as retribution for them, 10Let their unseeing eyes be darkened, and their back forever bent down.”

11So I say: Did they stumble that they might fall? Let it not be so! Rather, through their error comes salvation for the gentiles, so as to provoke them to envy. 12But if their error is enrichment for the cosmos and their discomfiture enrichment for the gentiles, how much more so the full totalityah of them? 13But I speak to you, the gentiles: insofar as I am indeed Apostle of the gentiles, I extol my ministry, 14In case I might somehow provoke my flesh to envy and might save some of them. 15For if their rejection is reconciliation for the cosmos, what is their acceptance except life from the dead? 16And if the firstfruits is holy, the whole mass of dough is too; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 17But if some of the branches were broken off and you, being wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a partaker in the richness of the olive-tree’s root, 18Do not exult over the branches; rather, if you do exult, you do not support the root, but rather the root you. 19Therefore you will say, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20Fair enough. They were broken off by faithlessness and you have stayed in place by faithfulness. Do not be haughtily minded, but fearful. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22See, then, God’s kindness and severity: severity upon those who have fallen, but God’s kindness upon you if you abide in that kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And they too, if they do not persist in faithlessness, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut from an olive wild by nature and, contrary to nature, grafted into a cultivated olive, how much rather will these, in keeping with nature, be grafted into their own proper tree. 25For I do not want you, brothers, to be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be arrogant in yourselves: that a hardness has come upon one part of Israel until the full totalityai of the gentiles enter in, 26And thus all of Israel shall be saved, just as has been written, “The one who delivers will come out of Zion, he will turn away impiety from Jacob, 27And this is the covenant on my part with them, when I take away their sins. 28On your account, as regards the good tidings, they are enemies; and yet, on account of the fathers, as regards election, they are beloved. 29For God’s bestowals of grace and vocation are not subject to a change of heart. 30For, even as you once did not trust in God but have now received mercy through their mistrust, 31So they now also have not trusted, to the end that, by the mercy shown you, they now also might receive mercy. 32For God shut up everyone in obstinacy so that he might show mercy to everyone.aj

33O the depth of God’s richness and wisdom and knowledge! How inscrutable his judgments and untraceable his paths! 34For “Who has known the Lord’s mind? Or who has become a counselor to him?” 35Who has given him anything in the past and will have it repaid him? 36Because from him and through him and to him is everything; to him the glory, unto the ages, amen.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Therefore I implore you, brothers, by God’s mercies, to present your bodies as a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice to God, your rational worship; 2And do not be configured to this age, but be transformed by renewal of the intellect, so you may test the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect.

3For, by the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to be more haughtily minded than your thinking ought to be, but rather let your thinking conduce to sober-mindedness, as God has apportioned a measure of faithfulness to each. 4For, just as we have many members in one body, yet the members do not all have the same function, 5So we who are many constitute one body in the Anointed, and are members each one of one another; 6And having different gracious gifts, according to the grace given us: if prophecy, according to the proportion of faithfulness; 7If service, in serving; if a teacher, in teaching; 8If one who exhorts, in exhortation; one who distributes, in liberality; one who directs, in diligence; one who engages in acts of mercy, in joyousness. 9Love is without dissemblance. Abhorring wickedness, clinging to the good, 10Devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference of honor to one another, 11Not slothful in zeal, fervent in spirit, slaving for the Lord, 12Rejoicing in hope, enduring in affliction, persevering in prayer, 13Providing for the needs of the holy ones, pursuing hospitality—14Bless those who persecute, bless and do not curse—15To rejoice with those rejoicing, to weep with those weeping—16Being of the same mind toward one another, not loftily minded, but instead associating with the lowly—do not fancy yourselves sages—17Repaying no one evil for evil, providing things in good countenance with all human beings. 18If possible for you, be at peace with all human beings. 19Do not exact justice for yourselves, beloved, but yield place before anger; for it has been written, “‘The exacting of justice is mine, I will requite,’ says the Lord.” 20But rather, “If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21Do not be vanquished by evil, but vanquish the evil with the good.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1Let every soul be subordinate to higher authorities. For there is no authority except under God, and such as exist are subordinated to God. 2So he who opposes authority has opposed God’s ordination; and those who have made opposition will invite a verdict upon themselves. 3For the rulers are a terror not for the good deed, but for the evil. Do you wish not to dread authority, then? Do what is good, and you will receive its praise; 4For it is God’s servant to you for the good. If, however, you do evil, be afraid; for not without a purpose does it carry around a short-sword. For it is God’s servant, exacting justice against the practitioner of evil, on account of outrage. 5So, to become subordinate is a necessity, not only on account of outrage, but on account of conscience as well. 6So, then, pay taxes also: For they who attend constantly to this very matter are God’s ministers. 7Render to everyone the things owed: to whom tax, tax; to whom dues, dues; to whom reverence, reverence; to whom honor, honor. 8Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for whoever loves the other fulfills the Law. 9For “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” along with every other commandment whatsoever, are summed up in this saying: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does not work evil against the neighbor; hence love is the full totalityak of the Law. 11—This, moreover, knowing the time: Now is the hour for you to be roused from sleep, for our salvation is nearer now than when we came to faith. 12The night is far advanced, and the day has drawn near. So let us cast away the deeds of the darkness and don the armaments of the light. 13Let us walk becomingly, as in daylight, not in revels and inebriations, not in copulations and debaucheries, not in strife and envy; 14Rather, array yourselves in the Lord Jesus the Anointed, and take no forethought for the lusts of the flesh.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1Now welcome the one who is weak in faith, not in order to reach verdicts on disputes. 2One man believes in eating all things, while one who is weak eats vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats hold the one who does not eat in disdain, and let not the one who does not eat judge the one who does eat. 4Who are you to judge another’s house-servant? He stands or falls by his own lord; and he shall stand because that lord is able to make him stand. 5One man esteems one day above another day, but another esteems every day; let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6Whoever is mindful of the day minds it for the Lord’s sake; [and whoever is not mindful of the day is unmindful of it for the Lord’s sake;] 7For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for himself; 8For if we live we live for the Lord; or if we die we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end the Anointed died and lived, that he might be Lord of both dead and living, 10And why do you judge your brother? Or, indeed, why do you hold your brother in contempt? For we shall all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11For it has been written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall joyfully praiseal God.’” 12Therefore each of us will give an account of himself [to God].

13So let us no longer judge one another, but let us arrive at this judgment instead: to place before the brother no stumbling-block, or a snare that causes one to trip. 14I know and have been persuaded by the Lord that nothing is profane in itself except to the one who reckons something to be profane—it is profane for him. 15For, if your brother is caused distress on account of food, then you are no longer proceeding in accord with love. 16So do not let the good be blasphemed by you. 17For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but rather justice and peace and joy in a holy spirit; 18For the one who slaves for the Anointed in this is delightful to God and approved of by human beings. 19Let us therefore pursue the things belonging to peace and the things belonging to mutual edification. 20Do not ruin the work of God for the sake of food. Indeed, all things are pure; yet for the one who eats it is something evil because a stumbling-block—21A good thing neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor anything upon which your brother stumbles [or is caused to fall or is weakened]. 22The belief you hold to for yourself, hold it before God. How blissful he who does not judge himself by what he approves of. 23But the one who has doubt has been judged, whether he eats or not, because it is not out of faithfulness; and everything that is not out of faithfulness is sin.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1Now we who are able ought to give support to the infirmities of those who are incapable, and not please ourselves. 2Let each of us please his neighbor for the sake of what is good, for edification; 3For even the Anointed did not please himself; rather, as has been written, “The reproaches of those reproaching you fell upon me.” 4For whatever things were written in the past were written for our instruction, so that we might have hope through endurance and through the scriptures’ consolations. 5And may the God of endurance and consolation grant that you be of the same mind one with another, according to the Anointed One Jesus, 6In order that, in sameness of feeling, you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed with a single mouth.

7For this reason, welcome one another, just as the Anointed One welcomed us also, for the glory of God. 8For I say that the Anointed became “Circumcision’s” servant on behalf of God’s truth, for the purpose of confirming the promises of the fathers, 9And so that the gentiles might glorify God on mercy’s account, as has been written: “I will therefore joyfully praise you among the gentiles, and will sing psalms to your name.” 10And again it says, “Rejoice, gentiles, with his people.” 11And again: “Praise the Lord, all the gentiles, and let all peoples sing him praises.” 12And again Isaiah says, “There will be Jesse’s root, and one rising up to rule gentiles; on him the gentiles will hope.” 13And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in hope by the power of a Holy Spirit.

14But concerning you I have been persuaded, my brothers—even I myself—that you, having been filled with all knowledge, are yourselves replete with goodness also, and are able to admonish one another. 15And I have written in part more boldly so as to give a reminder to you, by the grace granted me by God, 16So that I might be a minister of the Anointed One Jesus to the gentiles, making the sacrifice of God’s good tidings, so that the offering up of the gentiles might be acceptable, having been consecrated by a Holy Spirit. 17I have, therefore, a boast in the Anointed One Jesus regarding the things pertaining to God. 18For I shall not dare to speak of things not accomplished by the Anointed through me for the gentiles’ submission in word and deed, 19By power of signs and wonders, by power of [God’s] Spirit; thus I have fulfilled the good tidings of the Anointed, from Jerusalem and in a circuit as far as Illyricum, 20Thus earnestly striving to announce the good tidings where the Anointed has not been called by name, so that I should not build upon another’s foundation, 21But rather, as has been written, “They, to whom nothing concerning him was announced, shall see; and they who have not heard shall understand”; 22For which reason I have been hindered so many times from coming to you; 23But now, having nowhere left in these regions, and for several years having had a longing to visit you, 24[I shall come to you] whenever I journey to Spain; for I hope to look upon you as I pass through, and there to be sent onward by you, if I might be replenished by you first. 25But for now I am journeying to Jerusalem, ministering to the holy ones, 26For Macedonia and Achaia thought it good to make some communal contributionam for the destitute among the holy ones in Jerusalem. 27For they thought it good, and they are indebted to them; for, if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obliged to minister to them in fleshly things. 28Having finished this, then, and having delivered them these fruits under seal, 29I shall depart for Spain by way of you; and I know that, in coming to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the Anointed. 30Now I implore you, [brothers,] through our Lord Jesus the Anointed and through the Spirit’s love, to strive along with me in prayers to God on my behalf, 31So that I might be delivered from those in Judaea who are distrustful, and my ministry to Jerusalem might be acceptable to the holy ones, 32In order that, coming to you in joy by God’s will, I might rest with you. 33And the God of peace be with all of you; amen.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is [also] a ministeran of the assembly in Cenchrae, 2So that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the holy ones, and may assist her regarding whatever thing she may need from you; for she has been a protectressao of many, myself included.

3Give greetings to Prisca and Aquila—my fellow laborers in the Anointed One Jesus, 4Who risked their own neck on my behalf, to whom not only I, but all the assemblies of the gentiles also, give thanks—5As well as to the assembly at their home. Greet my beloved Epenetus, Asia’s firstfruits for the Anointed. 6Greet Mary, who has undertaken many labors for you. 7Greet my kinsfolk and fellow prisoners Andronicus and Junia,ap who are especially notable among the Apostles, and who were in the Anointed before I was. 8Greet my beloved Ampliatus in the Lord. 9Greet Urbanus, our fellow laborer in the Anointed, and my beloved Stachys. 10Greet Apelles, proved in the Anointed. Greet those coming from Aristobulus’s household. 11Greet my kinsman Herodotus. Greet those from Narcissus’s household who are in the Lord. 12Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor strenuously in the Lord. Greet beloved Persis, she who has undertaken many labors in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord, and also his mother and mine. 14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers along with them. 15Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the holy ones along with them. 16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the assemblies of the Anointed greet you.

17I implore you, brothers, watch out for those who create divisions and stumbling-blocks opposed to the teaching you have learned, and avoid them; 18For men of that sort do not slave for our Lord the Anointed, but rather for their own guts, and by blandishments and flatteries deceive the hearts of the guileless. 19For your submission has gone abroad to everyone; so I rejoice over you, but I wish you to be wise in respect of what is good, but guileless in respect of what is evil. 20And the God of peace will soon crush the Accuser beneath your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

21Timothy, my fellow laborer, greets you, as do Lucius and Jason and my kinsman Sosipater. 22(I, Tertius, who am writing out this letter in the Lord, greet you.) 23Gaius, host to me and to the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus the city’s treasurer greets you, and also brother Quartus.aq

[24The grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed be with all of you; amen.]

[25Now to him who is able to establish you firmly in accord with my good tidings and the proclamation of Jesus the Anointed, according to a revelation of the mystery held in silence through time’s ages,ar 26But now made manifest by prophetic scriptures and by the ordination of the God of the ages,as made known to all the gentiles for the purpose of the submission of faith, 27God alone wise, through Jesus the Anointed—to him be the glory, unto the ages. Amen.]

Notes
a. The syntax of verses 3 and 4 (the latter especially) is somewhat confusing in the Greek, though clearly Paul is attempting a parallel construction: born from David’s seed (ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυίδ [ek spermatos David]) according to the flesh (κατὰ σάρκα [kata sarka]) yet marked out from resurrection of the dead (ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν [ex anastaseōs nekrōn]) according to a spirit (or Spirit) of holiness (κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσυνης [kata pnevma hagiōsynēs]). It is not clear, however, precisely what the phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dynamei) modifies or how it should be construed: Does it refer to an attribute of Christ’s Sonship, to the manner in which he is marked out, or to the special power that comes from the Spirit of holiness? And is it better taken, then, as “in,” or “by,” or “with” power? And the phrase ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν (ex anastaseōs nekrōn) is often rendered as if we may presume an ἐκ (“out of,” “from”) before the νεκρῶν, which would yield the traditional construction “resurrection from the dead (pl.)”; but the literal translation is “resurrection of the dead (pl.),” and various critics have read it as meaning either that Jesus has been marked out as God’s Son “by” the eschatological sign of universal resurrection, or that he has been marked “out from” the universal resurrection by being raised in the present, or that he has been marked out “since” the resurrection—and then, if the last of these, it could mean either “since [his] resurrection [from] the dead” or “since [the general] resurrection of the dead [began with him].”

b. Or perhaps “from God, Father of us and of Lord Jesus.”

c. θεοστυγεῖς (theostygeis): a θεοστυγής (theostygēs) (s.), originally—and technically—was someone hated by God or the gods; by the Hellenistic period, however, the term had acquired an active connotation as well and could be used as a synonym for μισόθεος (misotheos), a hater of God or the gods.

d. The grammar of this verse is peculiar in that all the nouns and the single modifier are in the accusative, and hence it might be natural to read “life of the Age” (ζωὴν αἰώνιον [zōēn aiōnion]) as the object of the “seeking”; the syntax, however, is roughly parallel to that of the following verse, where the two nouns at the end are in the nominative and so clearly represent God’s requital of sin.

e. Paul’s syntax here is less than perspicuous.

f. In the Greek, the syntax of the verse is a barely distinguishable blur and might more literally be rendered as follows: “And why not as we are slandered, and as some claim we say that ‘Let us do evil things that good things may come?’ on whom the verdict is just[?]” Those on whom the verdict is just are, presumably, the slanderers.

g. προεχόμεθα (proechometha): this could mean either “do we excel over (others)?” or “are we excelled over (by others)?” Either interpretation could be defended from Paul’s argument.

h. ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion): technically, a word that could mean either “expiation” or something “expiatory,” but that in the standard Greek rendering of Hebrew scripture had the special meaning of the Mercy Seat covering the Ark of the Covenant (hence “place of atonement”).

i. In vv. 21–26 what is rendered here by the words “righteousness” and “justice” (or by “upright” and “just”) are in the Greek the same word; there is no single term in English that quite captures both dimensions of the word’s meaning simultaneously. See my remarks on dikē and dikaios in my postscript.

j. Or “rectified.”

k. Or “rectifies.”

l. The syntax of vv. 14–18 possesses a tenuous coherence at best.

m. ὃς παρεδόθη διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα καὶ ἠγέρθη διὰ τὴν δικαίωσιν ἡμῶν (hos paredothē dia ta paraptōmata kai ēgerthē dia tēn dikaiōsin hēmōn): a difficult verse. Generally, in a case like this, the word διά (dia)—when followed by an accusative, as it is here in both instances, in a clearly parallel construction—would be translated “because of,” “on account of”; but theological tradition has been reluctant to treat the two sides of the parallel as equivalent, preferring to believe that Paul is saying in the former instance that Christ was delivered over to death “as a result of” our transgressions, but in the latter instance that Christ was raised from the dead “for the purpose of” our “justification.” In English, the convenient solution is simply to translate διά as “for,” which can be taken in either sense. But this obscures the problem of the original text, because this second sense of “for” does not correspond to the typical use of the word διά. It is quite possible, therefore, that Paul—unaware of the fastidious theological concerns that would be attributed to him in later centuries—meant the parallelism to be taken in what appears to be its plain sense: to wit, that the death and resurrection of Christ do full justice to both sides of our condition: his death to our transgressions, his resurrection to our faith’s righteousness.

n. Or “rectified.”

o. Or “rectified.”

p. Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι᾽ ἑνος ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτὶα εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θὰνατος, καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θὰνατος διῆλθεν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πὰντες ἥμαρτον (Dia touto hōsper di’ henos anthrōpou hē hamartias eis to kosmon eisēlthen kai dia tēs hamartias ho thanatos, kai houtōs eis pantas anthrōpous ho thanatos diēlthen, eph’ hōi pantes hēmarton). A fairly easy verse to follow until one reaches the final four words, whose precise meaning is already obscure, and whose notoriously defective rendering in the Latin Vulgate (in quo omnes peccaverunt) constitutes one of the most consequential mistranslations in Christian history. The phrase ἐφ᾽ ᾧ (eph’ hōi) is not some kind of simple adverbial formula like the διὰ τοῦτο (dia touto) (“therefore”) with which the verse begins; literally, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ means “upon which,” “whereupon,” but how to understand this is a matter of some debate. Typically, as the pronoun ᾧ is dative masculine, it would be referred back to the most immediate prior masculine noun, which in this case is θάνατος (thanatos), “death,” and would be taken to mean (correctly, I believe) that the consequence of death spreading to all human beings is that all became sinners. The standard Latin version of the verse makes this reading impossible, for two reasons: first, it retains the masculine gender of the pronoun (quo) but renders θάνατος by the feminine noun mors, thus severing any connection that Paul might have intended between them; second, it uses the preposition in, which when paired with the ablative means “within.” Hence what became the standard reading of the verse in much of Western theology after the late third century: “in whom [i.e., Adam] all sinned.” This is the locus classicus of the Western Christian notion of original guilt—the idea that in some sense all human beings had sinned in Adam, and that therefore everyone is born already damnably guilty in the eyes of God—a logical and moral paradox that Eastern tradition was spared by its knowledge of Greek. Paul speaks of death and sin as a kind of contagion here, a disease with which all are born; and elsewhere he describes it as a condition like civil enslavement to an unjust master, from which we must be “redeemed” with a manumission fee; but never as an inherited condition of criminal culpability. It has become more or less standard to render ἐφ᾽ ᾧ as “inasmuch as” or “since,” thus suggesting that death spread to all because all sinned. But this reading seems to make little sense: not only does it evacuate the rest of the verse of its meaning, but it is contradicted just below by v. 14, where Paul makes it clear that the universal reign of death takes in both those who have sinned and those who have not. Other interpretations take the ἐφ᾽ ᾧ as referring back to Adam, not as in the Latin mistranslation but in the sense that all have sinned “because of” the first man; this, though, fails to honor the point Paul seems obviously to be making about the intimate connection between the disease of death and the contagion of sin (and vice versa). The most obvious and, I think, likely reading is that, in this verse, a parallelism (something for which Paul has such a marked predilection) is given in a chiastic form: just as sin entered into the cosmos and introduced death into all its members, so the contagion of death spread into the whole of humanity and introduced sin into all its members. This, as we see in Romans and elsewhere, is for Paul the very dynamism of death and sin that is reversed in Christ: by his triumphant righteousness he introduced eternal life into the cosmos, and so as that life spreads into the whole of humanity it makes all righteous (as in vv. 15–19 below, or as in 1 Corinthians 15:20–28).

q. Or “vindication.”

r. This is one of those many verses in Paul more honored in the paraphrase than in the literal rendering. From the context, one can tell what he is saying: that just as one transgression (or the transgression of one man) brought condemnation to all human beings, so by one rectifying act (or the rectifying act of one man) all human beings receive a rectification of life (meaning either a rectification of their lives or a rectification imparted by the life of the risen Christ). The actual Greek text, however, is not only so terse as to be practically a shorthand jotting, but ungrammatical as well; if anything, my translation here somewhat veils the rushed brokenness of the original. The strict proportionality of the formulation, however, is quite clear, here and in the surrounding verses: just as the first sin brought condemnation and death to absolutely everyone, so Christ’s act of righteousness brings righteousness and life to absolutely everyone. Whether intentional or not, the plain meaning of the verse is that of universal condemnation annulled by universal salvation.

s. The use of the definite article here and elsewhere must be scrupulously observed, in keeping with the traditional way of formulating the distinction between the unique singular and the comprehensive plural in Greek (which a language without articles, like Latin, cannot reflect): not, that is, “one” (in the sense of “someone”) and “many” (in the sense of a mere plurality of “someones”), but “the one” (in the sense of the unique and irreplaceable, an irreducible singular) and “the many” (in the sense of all and everyone, the indivisible totality of all particulars). As in the prior verse, the proportion uniting both halves of the formulation is that of the particular and the universal, both in sin and in salvation.

t. Or “planted together,” “grown together.”

u. Paul’s Greek so condenses the consequent second half (the apodosis) of this verse that its correspondence to the conditional first half (the protasis) becomes extremely grammatically elliptical. He means, it seems obvious, that “if we have become of kindred nature in the image of his death, we shall at least also be [of kindred nature in the image] of [his] resurrection.”

v. In this and the following verse, the word translated variously as “wife” and “woman” is γυνή (gynē), while that translated as either “husband” or “man” is ἀνήρ (anēr); in the ancient world, full adulthood and the married state were very nearly interchangeable concepts, especially for women, as, to a great degree, were the concepts of marriage and sexual union. The word ὕπανδρος (hypandros) can be rendered “married,” but its literal meaning is “under a husband” or “under a man.”

w. Or “Spirit.”

x. καί (kai) (here and in the rest of vv. 29–30): “also,” “even”; but, in a consecutive series or consequent construction, properly read as indicating sequence: “then . . . and then . . .”

y. Generally interpreted as “to be conformed to,” a reading that much theological tradition has ratified; but, if this is Paul’s meaning, he has somewhat too hastily elided a preposition, or verb, or both; as it stands, the phrase seems equally well (or more naturally) to mean that those whom God foreknew he then marked out as persons already conformed or conformable to the image of his Son. Much depends upon whether the prior “delineation” or “demarcation” of this conformity is understood as determining it or merely setting it apart.

z. Compare 1 Peter 1:1–2.

aa. Or “made righteous,” in both instances.

ab. ἀρχαί (archai): “rulers,” “principalities,” “archons,” perhaps “archangels”; the reference is not to earthly rulers but to celestial spirits or angelic beings governing the nations, in whom most of the peoples of late antiquity believed in one form or another, and who were quite prominent in Jewish apocalyptic tradition (influenced by Persian thought). The same is true almost certainly of the δύναμεις (dynameis), “Powers” also mentioned in this verse (in some manuscripts directly following ἀρχαί). Here, moreover, the text is full of associations with the complicated angelology and demonology of late antique Judaism and Christianity, dependent to a large degree on such intertestamental texts as 1 Enoch and the book of Jubilees. One should not assume, incidentally, that these superterrestrial powers were understood simply as fallen beings; elsewhere in Paul’s thought (Galatians 3:19 in particular) there seems to be a mention of angels who function as deputies of God, and yet perhaps do so ineptly or recalcitrantly; and there is even a suggestion (not necessarily intended as irony) that an angel might deliver a false gospel (Galatians 1:8). Moreover, central to Paul’s eschatology is the certainty that in the Age to come creation will be freed from subjection to all celestial powers and ruled solely by Christ and, through Christ, the Father (see, especially, 1 Corinthians 15:24–28).

ac. A verse whose syntax and uncertain punctuation make it liable to a variety of interpretations. It can be read, as it is here, as if the “Anointed” comes at the end of a sentence or clause, followed by a doxology. Or it could be read: “the Anointed, who is God over all things, blessed unto the ages, amen.” Or (though less plausibly), “the Anointed, over all things; blessed be God unto the ages, amen.” Or (less plausibly still), if a scribal error transformed the plural genitive pronoun ὧν (hōn) (“of whom”) into the present participle ὤν (ōn) (“being”), the last phrase may complete the list of Israel’s special prerogatives begun in v. 4: “theirs the God over all things, blessed unto the ages, amen.” Theological tradition favors the first of these alternate renderings; but, though Paul in Philippians speaks of Christ’s equality with God, and though Christ’s divinity is obviously indubitable for him, he nowhere else speaks of Christ simply as ὁ θεός (ho theos), “God” specified by the definite article, which it seems likely was for him (as for most of his contemporaries) a privileged name for the Father. Moreover, the concluding “amen” seems to indicate a doxological, not a predicative, formulation.

ad. θέλων (thelōn), “wishing,” “intending”: the present participle here taken as a “participle of concession,” which both the syntax and the logic of Paul’s argument make the most plausible reading. Hence, the verse should be translated as if Paul were asking not whether God perhaps wished to display his indignation, and therefore prepared vessels of wrath, but rather whether God, although inclined to show his indignation against sin, nevertheless tolerates vessels suitable for destruction, so that he will instead be able to display his mercy when the time comes for raising up vessels of mercy to fulfill his purposes. The other reading is often abetted by taking the past participle κατηρτισμένα (katērtismena), which modifies “vessels of indignation,” as meaning “prepared” or “fashioned” for the purpose of destruction, as though equivalent to something like προκατασκευαστά (prokataskevasta), “fashioned in advance [for]”; but really it should probably be taken here as “suited to,” “perfect for,” “fit for.” In a sense, however, as this whole passage is conditional in form, and is finally negated as a counterfactual below in 11:32, perhaps it is not a matter of crucial moment exactly how one reads it.

ae. εὐδοκία (evdokia): “good pleasure,” “good will,” “delight,” here (as in a few Septuagintal usages) meaning “fond desire,” “a thing dearly wished” (as, of course, the phrase “good pleasure” once meant in English).

af. Or “confess the Lord Jesus.”

ag. ἀκοή (akoē) can mean both a “spoken report” and an “act of hearing,” and Paul uses the same word in both v. 16 and v. 17 (which might just as well be rendered “. . . faith is from a report . . .”). The word is echoed by the verb ὑπακούω (hypakouō) (“heed,” “obey,” “submit to what is said and heard”) in v. 16.

ah. πλήρωμα (plērōma): “plenitude,” “full number,” “entirety,” “whole complement,” “totality.”

ai. Again, πλήρωμα (plērōma): “the total number,” “the entirety.”

aj. This is the conclusion to the question of 9:14 above, which prompts the long, difficult series of reflections that end here, and which is posed in its most troubling conditional form at 9:22 (what if those who have erred or stumbled are merely vessels of wrath, whose only function is to provide a contrast to vessels of mercy?). At 11:11, however, Paul affirms that those not elected for service on the basis of divine foreknowledge, though they have stumbled, nevertheless will never fall; and at 11:12 and 25 he affirms that the estrangement of the elect and “those who stumble” is a temporary providential arrangement that allows the “full totality” of Jews and gentiles alike to enter in; and here, finally, he affirms that there is then no actual distinction of vessels of wrath from vessels of mercy: rather, all are bound in sin and all will receive mercy.

ak. πλήρωμα (plērōma).

al. ἐξομολογήσεται (exomologēsetai): the verb ἐξομολογέομαι (exomologeomai) means “confess openly,” “acknowledge,” with the additional connotation (especially in biblical Greek, as here in Paul’s use of the Septuagintal text of Isaiah 45:23) of “praise gladly,” “give fullest thanks,” “joyfully proclaim.”

am. κοινωνία (koinōnia): literally, “communion,” “commonality,” “common sharing”; here and in 2 Corinthians 9:13, Paul uses the word to mean a charitable donation from one Christian assembly to another, in a way that seems to invoke the apostolic church’s community of goods described in the book of Acts.

an. διάκονος (diakonos): “servant,” “minister,” “attendant,” “deacon.”

ao. προστάτις (prostatis): “protectress,” “champion,” “leader,” “someone at the forefront.”

ap. Ἰουνιᾶν (Iounian), the accusative form of the name Junia, of whom nothing is known beyond this passing reference, but whose sex was uncontentiously acknowledged throughout the patristic period (tradition assumed that Andronicus and Junia were husband and wife). John Chrysostom, for instance, opined that Junia must have been a woman of superlative wisdom, inasmuch as Paul accords her the title Apostle. In later centuries, however, some anxiety was occasioned by that title being attached to a woman; and, in projecting later, more rigidly precise understandings of apostolate and episcopacy back upon Paul, some writers started claiming that the reference was actually to a man named Junias or Julias (supposedly a diminutive of Julianus). As far as we can tell, the first to make this argument was Giles of Rome (c. 1243–1316), who probably knew no Greek; but the argument remains popular to this day among those eager to make the church safe for misogyny. It can safely be dismissed as nonsense, however, inasmuch as there is no instance anywhere in the vast literary remains of antiquity, or of any period within the Greek or Latin tongues, of Junias as a masculine name. Junia the Apostle was a woman.

aq. The most trustworthy manuscripts end the letter here, and most scholars regard the verses that follow (in part because of certain linguistic anomalies) as later additions.

ar. “Aeonian times.” The phrase χρόνοις αἰωνίοις (chronois aiōniois) could mean “during times ages past” or “during times ages long.”

as. “The aeonian God.”

The First Letter to the Corinthians

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, by the will of God called Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus, and brother Sosthenes, 2To God’s assembly that is in Corinth, to those sanctified by the Anointed One Jesus, called holy ones, along with all of those who in every place call upon the name of Jesus our Lord—theirs and ours: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed.

4I give God thanks always concerning you for the grace of God given you in the Anointed One Jesus, 5Because you have been enriched in everything by him, in all discourse and all knowledge, 6Just as the testimony of the Anointed was confirmed in you, 7So that you should not be wanting in any gracious gift, waiting upon the revelation of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 8Who will also, on the day of our Lord Jesus [the Anointed], confirm you as blameless till the end. 9God is faithful, by whom we were called into communion with his Son Jesus the Anointed, our Lord.

10Now, brothers, I implore you by the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed that you all profess the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you, but that you might be joined together, in the same mind and of the same purpose. 11For concerning you, my brothers, it has been disclosed to me by Chloe’s people that there are dissensions among you. 12Now I say this: that each of you says either “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos” or “I am of Cephas” or “I am of the Anointed.” 13Is the Anointed portioned out? Was Paul crucified on your behalf, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14I give thanks that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15So that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16And I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. 17For the Anointed gave me a mission not to baptize, but rather to proclaim the good tidings—not in sophisticated speech, lest the cross of the Anointed be made void.

18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, while to those who are being saved it is God’s power for us. 19For it has been written: “I will bring ruin to the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.” 20Where is the wise man? Where the scribe? Where the dialectician of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the cosmos? 21For since, in God’s wisdom, the cosmos did not know God by wisdom, God thought it well to save the faithful by the foolishness of a proclamation. 22Since Judaeans ask for signs while Greeks seek wisdom, 23And we proclaim the crucified Anointed One—both a stumbling-block to Judaeans and a folly to the gentiles, 24But to those who are called, Judaeans and Greeks alike, the Anointed One, God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25Because God’s foolish thing is wiser than human beings, and God’s weak thing stronger than human beings. 26For look at your vocation: that not many are wise according to flesh, not many powerful, not many well-born; 27Rather, God chose the foolish things of the cosmos in order that he might shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the cosmos in order that he might shame the mighty, 28And God chose the lowborn things of the cosmos and the things treated as nothing, the things that have no being, in order that he might nullify the things that do have being, 29So that no flesh at all might boast before God. 30And you are his in the Anointed One Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, uprightness and sanctification and the fee for emancipation, 31So that, as has been written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

CHAPTER TWO

1And on coming to you, brothers, I came announcing God’s testimony to you not according to some preeminent discourse or wisdom.a 2For I decided when among you to know of nothing except Jesus the Anointed, and him crucified. 3And I came to be with you in frailty and in fear and in considerable trembling, 4And with my speech and my proclamation not in persuasive words of wisdom, but rather in a demonstration of spirit and of power, 5So that your faith might be not in men’s wisdom but rather in God’s power.

6But we speak wisdom among the perfected, though not wisdom of this age or of this age’s Archons, who have been brought to nothing; 7Rather, we speak of God’s wisdom in a mystery, which has been hidden away, which God has marked out in advance for our glory before the ages, 8Which none of this age’s Archons knew; for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9Rather, as has been written, “Things that eye has not seen and that ear has not heard and that have not risen up upon the heart of a human being, whatsoever God has prepared for those who love him.” 10For God has given us revelation by the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11For who knows the things of men except the man’s spirit, which is within him? So also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12And we received not the spirit of the cosmos, but rather the Spirit that is from God, so that we might know the things graciously given us by God. 13Which things we also speak not in words taught from human wisdom, but rather in those taught by a Spirit, combining things spiritual with things spiritual. 14But a Psychical manb does not receive the things of God’s Spirit; for to him it is folly, and he is unable to know them, since they are discerned spiritually. 15The Spiritual man,c moreover, discerns all things, yet is discerned by no one. 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord, who will give him instruction?” And we have the mind of the Anointed.

CHAPTER THREE

1And I was able to speak to you, brothers, not as to Spiritual men but rather as to fleshly men, as to infants in the Anointed. 2I gave you milk to drink, not food; for you were not capable then. But neither now are you [yet] able, 3For you are still fleshly. For, wherever there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and proceeding in a human manner? 4For whenever someone says, “I am Paul’s” while another says, “I am Apollos’s,” are you not being human beings? 5So what is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to faith, even as the Lord gave it to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. 7Hence neither the one planting nor the one watering is anything, but rather the God causing the growth. 8Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward, in keeping with his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers;d you are God’s tilth, God’s building. 10According to the grace of God given to me, I laid a foundation like a wise master builder; but another builds upon it. But let each one be vigilant of how he builds. 11For no one can lay another foundation beside the one laid down, which is Jesus the Anointed. 12Now, if on this foundation one erects gold, silver, precious stones, woods, hay, straw, 13Each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire will prove what kind of work each person’s is. 14If the work that someone has built endures, he will receive a reward; 15If anyone’s work should be burned away, he will suffer loss, yet he shall be saved, though so as by fire. 16Do you not know that you are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit dwells within you? 17If anyone ruins God’s Temple, God will bring him to ruin; for God’s Temple—which you are—is holy.

18Let no one deceive himself: If anyone among you thinks to be a wise man in this age, let him become foolish in order to become wise. 19For the wisdom of this cosmos is folly before God. For it has been written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20And again: “The Lord knows the ponderings of the wise, that they are vapid.” 21Hence let no one boast in human beings; for all things are yours, 22Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or cosmos or life or death or things past or things imminent—all yours—23And you the Anointed’s, and the Anointed God’s.

CHAPTER FOUR

1So let a man account us servants of the Anointed and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2Here, moreover, it is required that among stewards one be found faithful. 3And for me it is a very small thing that I am judged by you, or subject to a human day;e but I do not judge myself. 4For I am conscious of nothing against myself; yet not by this have I been shown to be righteous; rather, the one judging me is the Lord. 5So then do not judge anything before the proper time, till the Lord come, he who will both shed light upon the things that are hidden and make the counsels of hearts manifest; and then the praise will come to each from God.

6Now, brothers, for your sake I have reshaped these matters in the direction of myself and of Apollos, in order that in us you may learn not to vaunt beyond what has been written, so that no one, on one man’s behalf, bluster at another. 7For who regards you as exceptional? And what do you have that you did not receive? And, if in fact you received it, why did you boast like someone not receiving it? 8Now you are surfeited; now you have been made rich; without us, you reigned—and a profitable thing indeed that you reigned, so that we also might reign with you. 9For I think God has demonstrated that we Apostles are the very last, doomed to death, because we became a spectacle to the cosmos, to men and angels alike. 10We are fools for the Anointed’s sake, but in the Anointed you are sages; we are weak, but you are mighty; you are admired, but we are without honors. 11Right up to the present hour we hunger and thirst, and are denuded and buffeted about and have no place of rest, 12And labor on, working with our own hands; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13When slandered, we politely entreat. We have become like the refuse of the cosmos, like the scurf of all things, right up till now.

14I write these things not to make you abashed, but rather as though admonishing my beloved children. 15For although in the Anointed you have ten thousand schoolboys’ chaperons, yet you do not have many fathers; for in the Anointed, by the good tidings, I sired you. 16Therefore I implore you, become my imitators. 17For this very reason I have sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will in the Anointed One [Jesus] remind you of my ways, just as I teach them everywhere in every assembly. 18Now some have been blustering as though I might not be coming to you; 19But I shall come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and will ascertain not what the blusterers say, but instead what their power is. 20For the Kingdom of God is not in speech, but rather in power. 21Which do you want? That I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

CHAPTER FIVE

1It is generally reported that there is whorishness among you, and whorishness of a kind not found among the gentiles—such as a certain man taking his father’s wife. 2But you are huffish, and not instead mournful, so that the one committing this deed might be removed from among you; 3For I indeed, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged the one who brought this about, just as though I were present: 4When you and my spirit have assembled in the Lord’s name with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5To deliver such a man to the Accuserf for destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord. 6Your boasting is not a seemly thing. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Purge away the old leaven, so that you might be a new batch, just as though you are unleavened. For indeed the Anointed, our Passover, has been sacrificed. 8So let us keep the feast not with the old leaven or with a leaven of evil and wickedness, but with unleavened loaves of unmixed purity and of truth. 9I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with the whorishg—10Not entirely meaning with the whorish of this cosmos—or with the acquisitive and rapacious, or idolaters, since you ought to go out from the cosmos. 11But now I have written to you that, if anyone bearing the name of brother is a whoring or acquisitive man, or an idolater, or vituperative, or a drunkard, or rapacious, not to keep his company—not to eat with such a man. 12For what is it for me to pass judgment on outsiders? Do you not judge insiders? 13But God will judge the outsiders. “Expel the wicked man from your midst.”

CHAPTER SIX

1Does anyone among you who has a case against another dare to be judged before the unjust, and not before the holy ones? 2Or do you not know that the holy ones will judge the cosmos? And, if the cosmos is judged by you, are you not worthy to pass judgment in minimal matters? 3Do you not know that you will judge angels, to say nothing of the things of this life? 4So, if indeed you obtain court adjudications on this life’s affairs, do you install on the bench those who have no standing in the assembly? 5Shame on you, I say. Is there then not one wise man among you—not one—who will be able to reach a decision upon his brother in your midst? 6Instead, a brother obtains judgment over against a brother—and this before unbelievers? 7In fact, then, it is already a total defeat on your part that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not instead suffer injustice? Why not instead be deprived? 8Rather, you practice injustice and you deprive, and you do this to brothers. 9Or do you not know that the unjust will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Do not be led astray. Neither the whoring, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor feckless sensualists,h nor men who couple with catamites,i 10Nor thieves, nor the acquisitive, nor drunkards, nor the vituperative, nor the rapacious will inherit God’s Kingdom. 11And some of you were these very things; yet you were washed—yet you were made holy—yet you were made upright in the name of the Lord Jesus the Anointed and by the Spirit of our God.

12All things are lawful to me—but not all are beneficial. All things are lawful to me—but I will not be overpowered by any of them. 13Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods—but the Lord will reduce both it and them to nothing. And the body is not for whoring but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body; 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are the Anointed’s members? Shall I then take the Anointed’s members and make them a prostitute’s members? Let it not be! 16Or do you not know that the man joined to a prostitute is one body? “For the two,” he says, “will become one flesh.” 17And the one joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18Flee from prostitution. Every sort of sin is external to the body; but the one who whores sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price, so glorify God in your body.

CHAPTER SEVEN

1Now, concerning those matters of which you wrote: It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman; 2But, on account of prostitution, let each man have a woman of his own, and let each woman have a man of her own.j 3Let the man render to the woman what is owed, and likewise also the woman to the man. 4The wife does not exercise authority over her own body, but rather the husband; and likewise too the husband does not exercise authority over his own body, but rather the wife. 5Do not deprive one another, except by common consent for an appropriate period, so that you might have leisure for prayer, and then come together again so that the Accuser might not test you through [your] incontinency. 6Now I say this as a lenient concession, not as an ordinance. 7I want all human beings to be just like me; but each has his own gracious gift from God: one thus, another thus.

8Now, to the unmarried and the widows I say: good for them if they also remain as I am; 9But, if they cannot remain continent, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to be afire. 10And regarding the married, I enjoin—or, rather, not I, but the Lord—a woman not to be separated from her husband 11(Though, if she is in fact separated, let her either remain unmarried or reconcile with her husband), and a man not to divorce his wife. 12And to the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, let him not divorce her; 13And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not leave the man. 14For the unbelieving husband has been made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been made holy by the brother; else your children are impure—yet they are now holy. 15But, if the unbeliever separates, let the separation happen; in such circumstances, the brother or the sister is not enslaved; for God has called you in peace. 16For how do you know, woman, whether you will save the man? Or how do you know, man, whether you will save the woman?

17Only as the Lord has apportioned it to each one, as God has called each one, so let one walk. And thus I ordain in all the assemblies. 18Let no one who was circumcised when he was called have it covered over by stretching;k let no one who had a foreskin when he was called be circumcised. 19The circumcision is nothing, the foreskin is nothing—but rather keeping God’s commandments. 20Each one in the calling by which he was called, let him abide therein. 21If a slave when called, do not accustom yourself to it; rather, if you can indeed become free, make the most of it. 22For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord’s freeman; likewise, the freeman who has been called is the Anointed’s slave. 23You were purchased at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24Each whereby he was called, brothers, therein let him abide by God’s side.l

25Now, concerning the virgins, I have no ordinance from the Lord, but I offer an opinion as someone who has received from the Lord the mercy to be faithful. 26This, then, I suppose to be a good thing on account of present necessity: that it is good for a man to be as is. 27Have you been bound to a wife? Do not seek divorce. Have you been divorced from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you do indeed marry you do not sin, and if the virgin marries she has not sinned; but such persons will have great affliction in the flesh, and I am sparing you. 29But I say this, brothers: The time has been made short; so that, henceforth, even those who have wives might be like those having none, 30And those who weep like those not weeping, and those who rejoice like those not rejoicing, and those who buy like those possessing nothing, 31And those who make use of the cosmos like those who do not exploit it; for the frame of the cosmos is passing away. 32But I want you to be free from care. The unmarried man cares about the Lord’s things: how he might please the Lord. 33But the married man cares about the things of the cosmos: how he might please his wife. 34And he is torn. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares about the Lord’s things, in order that she might be holy in both body and spirit; but she who is married cares about the things of the cosmos: how she may please her husband. 35But I say this for your convenience: not in order to throw a halter over you, but for the purpose of what is seemly, and for the purpose of unwavering attendance upon the Lord without distraction. 36But, if someone is considering behaving in an unseemly manner toward his virgin, if she is past pubescence and it ought to happen, let him do what he wills; he is not sinning, let him marry.m 37But he who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, but who has authority concerning his own will and has reached this decision in his own heart to keep his virgin, will do well. 38Thus he who marries his virgin does well, and he who does not marry does better. 39A wife has been bound for however long a time her husband lives; but, if the husband is laid to rest, she is free to be married to whomever she wants, so long as it is in the Lord. 40But she is more blessed, in my opinion, if she remains as is; and I also think I have God’s Spirit.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1Now, as regards sacrifices to idols, we know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge inflates, but love builds; 2If someone thinks he has known something, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. 4As regards eating from sacrifices made to idols, we know that an idol within the cosmos is nothing, and that none is God except the One. 5For even though there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many gods and many lords), 6Yet for us there is one God, the Father—out of whom come all things, and we for him—and one Lord, Jesus the Anointed—through whom come all things, and we through him.n

7But the knowledgeo is not within everyone; and some, because of habitual association with the idol right up to the present moment, eat such food as is sacrificed to the idol, and their conscience—being weak—is defiled. 8But food will not remand us over to God; neither are we wanting if we do not eat, nor do we abound if we eat. 9But be watchful, so that this license of yours should not become a stumbling-block to the weak. 10For if someone sees you, who possess knowledge, sitting down in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, being weak, be encouraged to eat the sacrifices offered to idols? 11For the one who is weak is destroyed by your knowledge, the brother for whose sake the Anointed died. 12So, when you sin against the brothers and wound their conscience, you sin against the Anointed. 13Hence, if a food causes my brother to falter, I will eat no flesh at all, throughout the age,p so that I might not cause my brother to falter.

CHAPTER NINE

1Am I not a free man? Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen our Lord Jesus? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an Apostle to others, I nevertheless surely am to you; for you are the seal of my mission in the Lord. 3This is my defense to those who interrogate me. 4Do we not have license to eat and drink? 5Do we not have license to bring along a sister as wife, as the rest of the Apostles do also, as well as the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 6Or do only I and bar-Nabas have no license not to labor? 7Who ever serves as a soldier while paying his own wages? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not partake of the milk? 8I say these things not as a human being—or does not the Law say these things too? 9For in the Law of Moses it is written: “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading the grain.” Is God preoccupied with the oxen? 10Or does it speak of all cases generally, for our sake? For it was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope—as well as the creature treading grain in hope—of partaking. 11If we sowed spiritual things among you, is it a great matter if we should reap fleshly things from you? 12If others partake of your license, how much more so we? Yet we did not exploit this license, but rather tolerated everything, so that we might not impose an obstacle to the Anointed’s good tidings. 13Do you not know that those who perform the Temple rites eat from the Temple? That those attending at the altar are partakers from the altar? 14So also the Lord ordained that those proclaiming the good tidings live from the good tidings. 15But I have exploited not a single one of these things. And I did not write these things so that it might thus be done for me; for it is good to die rather than that anyone make my boast empty. 16For, if I proclaim the good tidings, no boast belongs to me. Because a necessity is laid upon me; for it is a woe to me if I do not proclaim the good tidings. 17Because, if I do this willingly, I have a reward; if unwillingly, however, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18What then is my reward? That, when proclaiming the good tidings, I may propose the good tidings free of charge, so as not to exploit my license in the good tidings.

19For, being free from all, I enslaved myself to all, that I might gain yet more. 20And to the Judaeans I became as a Judaean, that I might gain Judaeans; to those subject to the Law, as one subject to the Law—while not being subject to the Law—that I might gain those subject to the Law; 21To those without the Law, as one without the Law—though being not without God’s law, but rather subject to the law of the Anointed—that I might gain those without the Law; 22To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I became all things to all persons, that in every case I might gain some of them. 23But I do everything for the sake of the good tidings, that I might become a co-partaker thereof.

24Do you not know that all of those racing in a stadium do indeed run, yet one receives the prize? Run, then, so that you might win. 25But all those who compete exercise self-control in all things: they so that they might receive thereby a perishable crown, while we an imperishable one. 26Thus, accordingly, I do not run aimlessly; thus I do not box as if thrashing the air; 27Rather, I beat my body down, and lead it about slavishly, so that in proclaiming to others I myself might not be disqualified.

CHAPTER TEN

1For I do not intend you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud and passed through the sea, 2And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3And all ate the same spiritual food, 4And all drank the same spiritual drink—for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed behind, and the rock was the Anointed. 5Nevertheless, God was not delighted with most of them, for they were scattered in the desert. 6Now these things have become typological figures for us, so that we should not lust after evil things, as indeed those men lusted. 7Neither let us become idolaters, like some of them; as has been written, “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and stood up to revel.” 8Neither let us go whoring, as some of them whored—and in a single day twenty-three thousand fell. 9Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted—and they were destroyed by serpents. 10Neither murmur, as some of them murmured—and were destroyed by the Slayer. 11Now these things happened to them figuratively, and were written for the purpose of our admonition,q for whom the ends of the ages have arrived. 12Hence let him who thinks he stands be watchful lest he fall. 13No temptation has seized you other than what is human; but God is faithful, he who will not let you be tempted beyond your capacity, but who along with the temptation will furnish the way out, so that you may be able to endure.

14Therefore, my beloved ones, flee from idolatry. 15I speak as to sagacious men; judge what I am saying. 16The cup of blessing that we bless—is it not communion with the blood of the Anointed? The loaf of bread that we break—is it not communion with the body of the Anointed? 17Because of one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. 18Look at Israel according to the flesh:r are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19What then am I to say? That a sacrifice made to an idol amounts to anything? Or that an idol amounts to anything? 20Or rather that the things they sacrifice [they sacrifice] to daemonic beings,s and not to God? I do not intend you to become communicants of daemonic beings. 21You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and the cup of daemonic beings; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of daemonic beings. 22Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we mightier than he?

23All things are lawful—but not all are expedient; all things are lawful—but not all edify. 24Let one seek not what is his own, but rather what is for the other. 25Eat everything sold in the meat market, without making inquiry into anything out of conscientiousness; 26For “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” 27If any of the unbelievers issues you an invitation and you intend to go, eat everything set before you, making no inquiry into anything out of conscientiousness. 28But should anyone say to you, “This is a temple sacrifice,” do not eat, for the sake of the one alerting you as well as for conscience’s sake— [For “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”] 29Not, I mean, one’s own conscience, but that of the other person; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30If I am by grace a partaker, why am I maligned because of what I give thanks for? 31So, whether you eat or drink, or do anything whatever, do all things to God’s glory, 32Just as I too am conciliatory to all persons in all matters, seeking not my own advantage but rather that of the many, so that they might be saved.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1Become my imitators, just as I am the Anointed’s.

2And I praise you because you have remembered me in all things and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. 3But I want you to know that every man’s head is the Anointed, and a wife’s head the husband, and the Anointed’s head God. 4Every husband who has his head covered when he is praying or prophesying shames his head. 5But every wife who has her head uncovered when she is praying or prophesying shames her head;t for it is one and the same thing as its being shaven. 6So if a wife is not covered let her be shorn as well; but, if it is a hideous thing for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. 7For a man ought not to be covered at the head, as he exists as the image and glory of God; but the wife is a husband’s glory. 8For man is not out of woman, but woman out of man.u 9For indeed man was not created on account of the woman, but rather woman on account of man. 10Therefore a woman ought to keep ward upon her head on account of the angels.v 11Then again, in the Lord there is neither woman apart from man nor man apart from woman; 12For, just as the woman is out of the man, so too is the man through the woman, and all things are out of God. 13Judge among yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? 14Does not nature herself teach you that if in fact a man lets his hair grow luxuriant it is a dishonor to him? 15But if a woman lets her hair grow luxuriant it is a glory to her? Because her hair has been given to her instead of a mantle. 16But, if anyone is inclined to be argumentative, we do not have such an established custom, and neither do God’s assemblies.

17And in delivering this message I do not offer praise, because you convene not for the better, but for the worse. 18For in fact I hear, firstly, that there are schisms among you when you convene in assembly, and some part of this I believe. 19For indeed there must be sects among you, so that those that are approved might become manifest among you [as well]. 20When you convene in the same place, therefore, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper; 21For, in eating, each proceeds with his own supper, and one man goes hungry while another is besotted. 22For do you not, in fact, have households for eating and drinking in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this matter, I offer no praise. 23For from the Lord I received what I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, 24And, having given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body, which is [being broken] for your sake; do this for my remembrance.” 25Likewise, after supping, the cup also, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this as often as you drink, for my remembrance.” 26For as often as you eat the loaf and drink the cup, you announce the Lord’s death until he come. 27Thus, whoever eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be answerable for the Lord’s body and blood. 28But let a man prove himself and so eat of the loaf and drink of the cup; 29For the one who eats and drinks while not discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30Thus among you many are weak and infirm, and a considerable number have fallen asleep, 31But if we examined ourselves we should not be judged; 32But, in being judged by the Lord, we are corrected by the Lord, so that we might not have a verdict passed upon us along with the cosmos. 33So, brothers, when convening to eat, wait for each other. 34Should anyone be hungry, let him eat at home, so that you not convene for judgment. And the remaining matters I shall set in order whenever I come.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Now, brothers, as regards spiritual things, I do not intend you to be ignorant. 2You know that, when you were gentiles, in whatever way you were led, you were being guided away to voiceless idols. 3Hence I am letting you know that no one speaking in God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed,” and no one is able to say “Jesus is Lord” except in a Holy Spirit.

4Now there are differences in the graces bestowed, but the same Spirit; 5And there are differences of ministries, and the same Lord; 6And there are differences of operations, and the same God who makes active all things in all persons. 7But to each is given the Spirit’s manifestation for some benefit. 8For to one a word of wisdom is given by the Spirit, and to another a word of knowledge by way of the same Spirit, 9To another faith, by the same Spirit, and to another graces and healings bestowed by the same Spirit, 10And to another realizations of deeds of power, to another prophecy, and to another the discernment of spirits, to another varieties of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues: 11And one and the same Spirit makes all of these active, distributing to each appropriately, as it will. 12For—just as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members, while being many, are one body—so also the Anointed; 13For indeed, by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Judaeans or Greeks, whether slaves or freemen, and all of us were given one Spirit to drink. 14For indeed the body is not a single member, but many: 15If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” it is not for this reason not of the body. 16And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” it is not for this reason not of the body. 17If the whole body is an eye, where is hearing? If the whole is hearing, where the scenting? 18But now God has situated the members, each one of them, in the body as he has willed. 19And if all were one member, where the body? 20Yet now, in fact, many members but one body. 21And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22Rather, much more necessary are the members of the body that seem weaker, 23And those that we think less honorable to the body we wrap about in more abundant honor, and our unseemly parts wear a more abundant decorum, 24But our presentable parts have no need. Rather, God assembled the body, giving more abundant honor to that which is in want, 25So that there be no division in the body, but that instead the members have the same care one for another. 26And if one member suffers, all the members co-suffer; if a member is glorified, all the members co-rejoice. 27And you are the Anointed’s body and partial members, 28And God has indeed assigned persons their place in the assembly: Apostles first, prophets second, teachers third, then powers, then the gracious gifts of healings, aids, governances, varieties of tongues. 29Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all powers? 30Do all have graces bestowed for healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But be zealous for greater gifts of grace.

And to you I show a yet more excellent path:

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1If I speak in the tongues of human beings and of the angels, but do not have love, I have become resounding brass and a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophecy and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge,w and if I have all faith, of such a sort as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I distribute all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may be burned, and do not have love, I am profited nothing. 4Love is magnanimous, love is kind, is not envious, love does not boast, does not bluster, 5Does not act in an unseemly fashion, does not seek for things of its own, is not irascible, does not take account of the evil deed, 6Does not rejoice in injustice, but rejoices with the truth; 7It tolerates all things, has faith in all things, hopes in all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails; but if there are prophecies, they will be made ineffectual; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be made ineffectual. 9For we know partially and we prophesy partially; 10But, when that which is complete comes, what is partial will be rendered futile. 11When I was an infant, I spoke like an infant, I thought like an infant, I reckoned like an infant; having become a man, I did away with infantile things. 12For as yet we see by way of a mirror, in an enigma, but then face to face; as yet I know partially, but then I shall know fully, just as I am fully known. 13But now abide faith, hope, love—these three—and the greatest of these is love.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1Pursue love, and be zealous for spiritual things, and especially that you may prophesy. 2For whoever speaks in a tongue is speaking not to humans, but rather to God; for no one hears him with understanding, but he speaks mysteries in spirit; 3But whoever prophesies speaks to human beings, with edification and encouragement and solace. 4Whoever speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but whoever prophesies edifies the assembly. 5Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but would prefer that you should prophesy; and the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interpret, so that the assembly might receive edification. 6But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what profit do I provide you if I do not speak to you either in a revelation or in knowledge or in prophecy or [in] teaching? 7Yet inanimate things that emit a voice—whether a pipe or a lyre—if they do not yield a distinction among the voices, how will what is being piped or what is being played on the lyre be recognized? 8For, indeed, if a trumpet emits an obscure voice, who will get himself ready for battle? 9So you also, unless by the tongue you provide an utterance that is easily discerned, how will what is being said be recognized? For you will be speaking to air. 10There are, as it happens, so many kinds of voices in the cosmos, and nothing is voiceless; 11If, therefore, I do not know the voice’s force, to the speaker I shall be a barbarian and to me the speaker will be a barbarian. 12So you also, since you are zealous for spirits, seek that you may abound for the edification of the assembly. 13So let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15Which is it, then? I shall pray with the spirit and I shall also pray with the mind; I shall hymn with the spirit and I shall also hymn with the mind. 16Otherwise, if you bless [in] spirit, how will the one who occupies the station of the novice say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, inasmuch as he does not know what you are saying? 17For you are indeed doing well at giving thanks, but the other is not edified. 18I thank God, I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19Yet in assembly I elect to speak five words with the mind, in order that I may give instruction to others, rather than tens of thousands of words in a tongue. 20Brothers, do not become children in your minds; rather, as regards malice be as infants, but in your minds become fully formed. 21In the Law it has been written that: “‘By those of other tongues and by the lips of others I will speak to this people, and even so they will not hear me,’ says the Lord.” 22Thus tongues are for the purpose of a sign, not to the believers but to the unbelievers, but prophecy not to the unbelievers but to the believers. 23If, therefore, the whole assembly should convene, and all speak in tongues, and novices or unbelievers come in, will they not say you are maniacs? 24But if all are prophesying, and some unbeliever or novice enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all, 25The hidden things of his heart become manifest, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is actually among you. 26So what is it, brothers? Whenever you convene, each has a psalm, each has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation; let all things be for edification. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue—by two or at most three, and each in turn, and let one interpret; 28But, if there is no interpreter, let him keep silence in assembly and let him speak to himself and to God. 29And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others discern; 30But if there is revelation to another who is sitting down, let the first be silent. 31For you can all prophesy singly, in order that all may learn and all may be consoled. 32And prophets’ spirits are subordinate to prophets, 33For he is the God not of disorders but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the holy ones. . . .

[34Let the women in the assemblies be silent, for it is not entrusted to them to speak; rather let them be subordinate, as the Law also says. 35But, if they want to learn anything, let them inquire of their own husbands at home, for it is an unseemly thing for a woman to speak in an assembly.]x

36. . . . Or did God’s word come from you, or has it reached you only? 37If anyone thinks himself a prophet or a Spiritual One,y let him recognize that the things I am writing to you are a commandment; 38But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39Therefore, my brothers, be zealous to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; 40But let all things be done becomingly and in orderly fashion.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1Now, brothers, I apprise you of the good tidings I proclaimed to you, and which you received and in which you stand, 2Through which you are also saved if you hold fast to the word of those good tidings I proclaimed to you; otherwise you have believed in vain. 3For, among the very first things, I delivered to you what I had also received: that the Anointed died because of our sins, in accord with the scriptures, 4And that he was entombed, and that he was raised on the third day in accord with the scriptures, 5And that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve; 6Thereafter he was seen by over five hundred brothers at one time, of whom the majority remain till now, though some have fallen asleep; 7Thereafter he was seen by James, then by all the Apostles; 8And last of all, as if by a miscarried baby, he was seen by me also. 9For I am the least of the Apostles, who am inadequate to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted God’s assembly; 10And I am what I am by God’s grace, and his grace to me did not become void; rather, I labored more abundantly than all of them—though, rather, not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11So, whether I or they, as we proclaim so also you have believed.

12But if the Anointed is proclaimed—that he has been raised from the dead—how is it some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13Now, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has the Anointed been raised; 14And if the Anointed has not been raised then our proclamation is vain, and your faith vain; 15And also we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that he raised the Anointed, whom he did not raise if the dead are not raised; 16For, if the dead are not raised, then the Anointed has not been raised either; 17And if the Anointed has not been raised your faith is futile: you are still in your sins. 18And then those who have fallen asleep in the Anointed have perished. 19If we have had hope in the Anointed only within this life, we are the most pitiable of men. 20But now the Anointed has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For, since death comes through a man, resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22For just as in Adam all die, so also in the Anointed all will be given life.z 23And each in the proper order: the Anointed as the firstfruits, thereafter those who are in the Anointed at his arrival, 24Then the full completion, when he delivers the Kingdom to him who is God and Father, when he renders every Principality and every Authority and Poweraa ineffectual. 25For he must reign till he puts all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy rendered ineffectual is death. 27For “He subordinated all things beneath his feet.” But, when it says “all things” have been subordinated beneath his feet, it is clear that this does not include the one who has subordinated all things to him. 28And, when all things have been subordinated to him, then will the Son himself also be subordinated to the one who has subordinated all things to him, so that God may be all in all.ab 29Otherwise, what will they be doing who are being baptized on behalf of the dead?ac If the dead are not raised at all, why are those baptized on their behalf? 30And for what are we imperiled at every hour? 31I die daily, as surely, brothers, as the boast I have regarding you in the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord. 32If for human ends I fought wild beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33Do not go astray: “Bad associations corrupt good customs.” 34Become sober, in upright fashion, and do not sin; for some harbor ignorance of God. Shame on you, I say.

35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come?” 36Ridiculous man, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies; 37And, whatever it is you sow, you are not sowing the body that is going to come into being, but a naked grain—perhaps of wheat, or of something else; 38But God gives it a body as he has willed, and to each one of the seeds a body of its own. 39Not all flesh is the same flesh; rather, indeed, one is that of human beings, another is flesh of beasts, another is flesh of birds, and another is flesh of fishes. 40Both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies—but the glory of the heavenly is different, while that of the earthly is different again. 41One glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42Thus also the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in perishability, it is raised in imperishability; 43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44It is sown a psychical body, it is raised a spiritual body.ad If there is a psychical body, there is also a spiritual. 45So it has also been written, “The first man Adam came to be a living soul,” and the last Adam a life-making spirit. 46But not the spiritual first, but rather the psychical, the spiritual thereafter. 47The first man out of the earth—earthly; the second man out of heaven. 48As the earthly man, so also those who are earthly; and, as the heavenly, so also those who are heavenly; 49And, just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. 50And I say this, brothers: that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does perishability inherit imperishability. 51Look, I tell you a mystery: Not all of us shall fall asleep, but all of us shall be changed, 52In an instant, in a glance of an eye, at the final trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable thing must clothe itself in imperishability, and this mortal thing must clothe itself in immortality. 54And, when this perishable thing shall clothe itself in imperishability and this mortal thing clothe itself in immortality, then will the saying that has been written come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?” 56Now death’s sting is sin, and sin’s power is the Law; 57But thanks to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 58So, my beloved brothers, become steadfast, immovable, ever abounding in the Lord’s work, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1Now, concerning the collection for the holy ones—just as I ordained for the assemblies of Galatia, so you do as well. 2On the first day of the week, let each of you place in treasury whatever profit has accrued to him, so that there be no collecting at the time when I arrive. 3And, whenever I arrive, whatever men you give approval to in your letters, these I shall send to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem; 4And, if it is suitable for me to go as well, they shall journey with me. 5And I shall come to you whenever I come through Macedonia; for I am passing through Macedonia, 6And perhaps I shall stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me onward to wherever I might go. 7For I do not intend to see you yet, in passing, because I hope to remain with you for some time if the Lord permits. 8But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9For a great and effectual door has opened for me, and many oppose me. 10Now, if Timothy comes see that he comes to be with you without fear; for he labors at the Lord’s work, as I also; 11So let no one despise him. But send him onward in peace, so that he might come to me; for I am awaiting him along with the brothers. 12Now, concerning brother Apollos, I implore him a great deal that he should come to you along with the brethren; and he has not been at all disposed to come to you now, but he will come to you whenever he has an opportunity. 13Keep watch, stand in the faith, be manly, be strong, 14Let all your affairs be in love.

15Now I implore you, brothers, consider the household of Stephanas—that it constitutes Achaia’s firstfruits, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the holy ones—16So that you might also be subordinate to such persons, and to everyone who joins in the work and labors. 17And I rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaiachus, that they supplied what you were lacking. 18For they refreshed my spirit and yours. So give such persons recognition.

19The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca, along with the assembly at their household, send you many greetings in the Lord. 20All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 21The greeting of Paul (in my own hand). 22If anyone does not cherish the Lord, let him be accursed. Marana-Tha!ae 23The grace of the Lord Jesus with you. 24My love with all of you in the Anointed One Jesus.

Notes
a. καθ᾽ ὑπεροχὴν λόγου ἢ σοφίας (kath’ hyperochēn logou ē sophias): or “vaunting” or “masterfully persuasive” language or wisdom, of the sort practiced by Sophists or masters of rhetoric.

b. ψυχικός (psychikos): here is the first appearance of an antithesis, crucial to Paul’s larger argument, especially in chapter fifteen, between “psychical” life (which comes from psychē or, in Latin, anima: hence also “animate” or “animal” life) and “pneumatic” or “spiritual” life (which is of a radically different nature).

c. πνευματικός (pnevmatikos): not “spiritual” in the vague sense in which we use that term, but referring to a special condition—and perhaps special status within the early church—probably that of someone filled with and transformed by God’s Spirit, and so living according to pnevma rather than psychē.

d. συνεργοί (synergoi): This distinctively Pauline teaching of a “synergism” between God and humans, and of a final trial by fire of the works thus produced, leading either to condign rewards or to salvation by way of that purging fire (vv. 10–17 below), is the fullest picture provided in Paul’s writings of the criteria and nature of eschatological judgment.

e. A human day of judgment, that is.

f. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

g. πόρνοις (pornois): a pornos was often a catamite, or boy prostitute, but here Paul is clearly using the term to mean anyone guilty of sexual wantonness.

h. μαλακοί (malakoi). A man who is malakos is either “soft”—in any number of opprobrious senses: self-indulgent, dainty, cowardly, luxuriant, morally or physically weak—or “gentle”—in various largely benign senses: delicate, mild, congenial. Some translators of the New Testament take it here to mean the passive partner in male homoerotic acts, but that is an unwarranted supposition.

i. ἀρσενοκοῖται (arsenokoitai). Precisely what an arsenokoitēs is has long been a matter of speculation and argument. Literally, it means a man who “beds”—that is, “couples with”—“males.” But there is no evidence of its use before Paul’s text. There is one known instance in the sixth century AD of penance being prescribed for a man who commits arsenokoiteia upon his wife (sodomy, presumably), but that does not tell us with certainty how the word was used in the first century (if indeed it was used by anyone before Paul). It would not mean “homosexual” in the modern sense of a person of a specific erotic disposition, for the simple reason that the ancient world possessed no comparable concept of a specifically homoerotic sexual identity; it would refer to a particular sexual behavior, but we cannot say exactly which one. The Clementine Vulgate interprets the word arsenokoitai as referring to users of male concubines; Luther’s German Bible interprets it as referring to paedophiles; and a great many versions of the New Testament interpret it as meaning “sodomites.” My guess at the proper connotation of the word is based simply upon the reality that in the first century the most common and readily available form of male homoerotic sexual activity was a master’s or patron’s exploitation of young male slaves.

j. Again, the words for “man” and “woman” are the same as those for “husband” and “wife.”

k. A painful operation undergone by some Hellenized Jews who wanted to hide their circumcision (which was apparently regarded as an unseemly form of self-exposure) so that they could participate in nude athletic contests, public exercise, or public bathing.

l. Vv. 20–24 are usually read as continuing the preceding verses’ theme of remaining in the condition one was in (either circumcised or uncircumcised) when called by God, rather than as describing the new situation that makes circumcision or uncircumcision a matter of indifference. Thus, in v. 20, the phrase ἐν τῇ κλήσει ᾗ ἐκλήθη . . . μενέτω (en tēi klēsei hēi . . . menetō), which means “let him remain . . . in the calling by”—or “in”—“which he was called,” is taken as meaning that one should remain in the social station one occupied before being called by God, rather than (as I have taken it) that one should now live according to the divine calling by which one was called. Similarly, in v. 21, the phrase μή σοι μελέτω (mē soi meletō) is usually taken as meaning simply that the slave should not “care about”—fret or concern himself over—his slavery; but the verb typically means “care” more in the sense of “exercise,” “apply oneself to,” “become practiced at,” “become accustomed to” (which is how I read it). Moreover, the rest of the verse is usually read as a counterfactual or hypothetical parenthesis, ending with an admittedly obscure injunction (μᾶλλον χρῆσαι [mallon chrēsai]: “make more use” or “rather, use [it]”), rather than as the completion of the positive instruction of the verse’s first part; thus it is often taken to mean something like either “make yourself even more useful when free” or even “rather than become free, work harder as a slave.” Then v. 22 is taken not as an explanation of why Christians are beyond mastery and slavery, but of why masters and slaves need not be concerned over their relative stations in the unredeemed world. But then the final injunction of v. 23 must be read as either a strange non sequitur or a singularly feeble admonition against emotional or spiritual subservience. My rendering of these verses is based on the assumption that they unfold a continuous line of reasoning about the new reality in which Christians are called to live—a line of reasoning echoed in Paul’s letter to Philemon, enjoining the latter to welcome his former slave Onesimus no longer as a slave, but as a brother.

m. This verse is a thicket of grammatical and syntactical ambiguities. It is not certain whether the adjective ὑπέρακμος (hyperakmos) refers to the virgin or her potential husband, as its gender is indeterminate. Nor is it certain that it means “post-pubescent,” rather than “past her [or his] youth,” or “sexually mature”; some interpreters even take it to mean a state of being erotically excitable. Nor, indeed, is it certain that the phrase I have rendered as “it ought to happen” does not really mean something like “so [she or he] ought to become.” The phrase “his virgin” is also obscure; usually taken to mean the man’s fiancée—the young woman to whom he has been betrothed by arrangement of the parents—a few interpreters believe that the man in question is the father and that “his virgin” means his daughter, in which case the end of the verse should be read not as “let him marry” but as “let him give her in marriage.” This seems unlikely; the first verb in the verse, ἀσχημομεῖν (aschēmonein), could perhaps be read as “to fail to do right by” or something of the sort, but its typical connotation is “to disgrace oneself” or “to behave in a shameful way.”

n. Paul should be taken fairly literally in these two verses: He really means that, in a sense, there are such things as “gods” in heaven and earth, though as a pious Jew and Christian he would more naturally call them angels or demons. Most Jews, Christians, and educated pagans of late antiquity drew an absolute distinction between, on the one hand, the spiritual or divine powers that rule the nations and inhabit the cosmos and, on the other, the one God who is the source of existence from whom everything comes forth (gods no less than other limited beings). For Paul, these “powers on high,” “archons,” and so on are the gods worshipped by the several nations, but are ultimately only angelic governors of the cosmos, often either rebellious or incompetent; this seems to include even the angel governing Israel, who, according to Galatians, delivered a defective version of the Law to Moses. In Paul’s time, the idea of angelic “gods of the nations” would have been, for instance, an unproblematic interpretation of Deuteronomy 32:8–9, which describes God as dividing the nations among the “sons of God [El],” as well as 32:43, in which these same sons of God, along with the nations they govern, are called to make obeisance to God (in the Rabbinic Masoretic Text of the Hebrew, which is a later synthetic redaction, the phrase in v. 8 becomes “sons of Israel,” but in the Septuagint—the favored text of Paul and much of the Greek-speaking Diaspora—it was still “sons of God” or perhaps, in some copies, “angels of God”; and in v. 43 the Masoretic Text omits the reference to the sons of God and the angels of the nations altogether, though, again, they are still present in the Septuagintal version). As will emerge in chapter fifteen below, it is a large part of Paul’s understanding of the gospel that these cosmic “gods” have been conquered and placed in proper order by Christ and will, at the end of time, be handed over in proper subordination to the Father so that God may be “all in all.”

o. γνῶσις (gnōsis). Here, Paul reflects on the difference between those who possess gnosis, therefore understanding that they need not fear contamination from heathen sacrifices, and those who do not, therefore still in thrall to fear of the cosmic powers. This distinction between “gnostic” and less fully enlightened members of the church was not at all uncommon in Christian and para-Christian circles in the early centuries; but, as v. 1 above makes clear, for Paul this is not some sort of ontological distinction among believers.

p. Or “until the Age [to come].”

q. As should be obvious, Paul frequently allegorizes Hebrew scripture; the “spiritual reading” of scripture typical of the Church Fathers of the early centuries was not their invention, nor just something borrowed from pagan culture, but was already a widely accepted hermeneutical practice among Jewish scholars. So it is not anachronistic to read Paul here as saying that the stories he is repeating are not accurate historical accounts of actual events, but allegorical tales composed for the edification of readers.

r. Readings or practices “according to the flesh” are those to which Paul opposes interpretations according to the spirit, which is to say, allegorical readings.

s. The Greek word δαίμων (daimōn) originally meant a heavenly “god” or a lesser “divine spirit” presiding (generally from above) over certain areas of natural or human life. By late antiquity, δαίμονες (daimones) were often understood as divine beings inhabiting the heavens and mediating between this world and the highest divine reality. In biblical Greek the word generally has an opprobrious connotation, and refers to wicked divinities or powers. The δαιμονίοι (daimonioi) (“daemonic powers,” “daemonic beings”) to which Paul here refers are probably those superterrestrial angelic governors who are the “gods” of the nations. Or, if he is drawing on intertestamental angelology and demonology (of the sort found in 1 Enoch or the book of Jubilees), he may be referring to the “spirits” of the nefilim—the gigantic children of the fallen angels or “Watchers” who coupled with human women—that haunt this world as “demons” until the day of judgment.

t. Paul is addressing a situation that had evidently arisen specifically in the church of Corinth, where certain women, when publically praying or prophesying in the assembly, removed their cover from their heads and exposed their hair. There have been many elaborate discussions of these verses (4–16), but both the issue and the energy with which Paul addresses it may be easily understood if one recall that he belonged to a culture of extreme modesty, in which a woman’s full and lustrous head of hair was regarded as among the chief beauties of her sex; hence, a woman’s uncovered head in public, and especially in places of worship, was seen both as an ostentation and as an ill-mannered provocation (rather as, today, immodest dress is discouraged in many places of worship). Paul’s long, symbolic justifications for demanding more traditional behavior from Corinthian Christian women are notoriously tortuous, and at times obscure. And his arguments from marital hierarchy (hardly a contentious issue in an age when—in addition to the force of universal cultural custom—society was unpoliced, households lived by a labor economy, and young girls were married to fully grown men) are no sooner introduced than they disintegrate in the solvent of his (for his time) quite remarkable sexual egalitarianism (vv. 11–12). Finally, he is forced to appeal instead to a natural sense of propriety and seemliness, and his anxieties become quite clear when he explains (v. 15) that, whereas a man adorns his head with a “wraparound” covering (περιβόλαιον [peribolaion]) and so should remove it in order to approach God in humility, a woman’s adornment is a natural endowment that cannot be removed, and so should be covered if she too is to humble herself before God.

u. Or, perhaps, “One is a husband not because of a wife, but a wife because of a husband.”

v. No one knows what this verse means. The phrase ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς (exousian echein epi tēs kephalēs) can be translated as “have authority upon the head” or “have power . . .”; and this may be taken as meaning simply that she should exercise control over her head (some have taken it as meaning that she should “have a [symbol of her husband’s] authority upon her head,” but that is almost surely wrong, since the formula ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν, which is frequently used in the New Testament, has such a meaning nowhere else in the text). But the matter is complicated by the reference to the angels. Most interpreters think Paul’s meaning is that the angels are present when Christians worship and that a woman should not offend against decency in their august presence; but a few think he is referring to fallible angels, “powers” looking down from on high, who (as in the story of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:4) are susceptible to the beauty of the “daughters of men.” In the latter case, the phrase ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν refers to a woman covering her head as an apotropaic “power” for warding off the lustful gaze of the “gods.” This reading seems implausible, because Paul only rarely uses the word “angel” of these defectible celestial governors (he does so, if at all, only in Galatians). My translation attempts to split the difference.

w. τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν (ta mystēria panta kai pasan tēn gnōsin): Paul’s use of the article—“the mysteries,” “the knowledge”—may suggest that he is not speaking of mysteries and knowledge in general, but of a special knowledge possessed by only those initiated into them (this would, in fact, have been the common understanding of mystēria: literally, “things kept closed”).

x. These verses are a considerable textual problem, as they clearly constitute an interpolation that breaks the flow of the text, and that seems written in a voice unlike Paul’s, and that contradicts other passages in Paul. Simply on its face, the argument reads coherently only when these verses are removed: Paul is talking about speaking in tongues and prophecy, and about which communicates God’s word to those outside the inner circle, and about how to maintain order and clarity in the enunciation of the gospel. In fact, the insertion is so awkward that it obviously interrupts a single thought: Paul exhorts the Corinthians to heed the example of all the churches (v. 33) and then (v. 36) emphasizes his point with the rhetorical question of whether, instead, they think the gospel their exclusive property. The interpolated verses not only make no sense here; they deprive the surrounding verses of the sense that unites them. From a broader perspective, moreover, it is absolutely clear from the discussion on women’s head-coverings in chapter eleven above, and particularly at 11:5, that Paul fully expects women to speak and prophesy in church, and clearly approves of the practice so long as women do not provocatively flaunt their “glorious” hair while doing so. And, in fact, the whole tenor of Paul’s genuine writings is one of almost unprecedented egalitarianism with regard to the sexes (Galatians 3:28 being perhaps the most famous instance, but 7:4 above being no less extraordinary for its time). Moreover, the palaeographic evidence is suggestive: A good number of the earliest Western texts of the New Testament locate these verses not after v. 33, but after the now traditional final verse of the chapter (v. 40) instead—though there they constitute no less abrupt an interruption of Paul’s argument. A Greek manuscript from the twelfth century (Minuscule 88) does the same, though with editorial markings that seem to suggest that these verses might be better placed as they are here. And the sixth-century Codex Fuldensis (arguably the nearest thing to a critical edition produced in the late antique West) places an editorial notation after v. 33, directing the reader to the foot of the page, where our vv. 37–40 are written out a second time, either to suggest that the questionable verses might better be placed thereafter or to note that the text might better be read without those verses at all. Most tellingly of all, perhaps, a fourth-century Greek manuscript, Codex Vaticanus, has an editorial mark between v. 33 and these verses, which seems to indicate a textual dubium, regarding either the questionable verses themselves or their placement in the text. In any event, the best critical scholarship regards these verses as a later and rather maladroit interpolation, perhaps drawn from 1 Timothy 2:11–12; and the evidence preponderantly indicates that they are almost certainly spurious.

y. πνευματικός (pnevmatikos): Paul may here mean merely a “spiritual” man in a general sense, though not in the emptily general sense in which we today might use such a term; but in some early Christian and para-Christian circles it was not uncommon for certain members of the congregation, called pneumatics, to constitute a sort of special class of believer, possessed of fuller hidden knowledge, or privy to more direct divine inspiration; and this distinction may have been observed in the apostolic age.

z. Compare Romans 5:18.

aa. Again, Paul is referring here to the heavenly governors of the nations.

ab. This is the fullest depiction of Paul’s eschatological vision anywhere in his writings. He describes three phases in the life-giving reconciliation of all things to God: Christ’s resurrection, then the salvation of those who already belong to Christ at the time of his parousia (“presence,” second coming), and finally the full completion of this universal renewal (perhaps on the far side of that purging fire of judgment described at 3:10–15 above), when all things and persons will have been “set in order beneath” Christ, including the celestial powers (who will be rendered powerless, not—as the verb often is, but probably ought not to be, translated—“abolished”), and then the whole of the cosmos will be returned in its fullness and perfect order to the Father by Christ.

ac. The practice of Christians receiving baptism on behalf of other persons who died unbaptized was evidently a common enough practice in the apostolic church that Paul can use it as a support of his argument without qualification. And the form of the Greek (ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν [hyper tōn nekrōn]) leaves no doubt that it is to just such a posthumous proxy baptism that he is referring.

ad. The distinction is between a σῶμα ψυχικόν (sōma psychikon) (a body literally “ensouled,” “animated,” or “animal,” given life by psychē, the “soul” or organic “life-principle”) and a σῶμα πνευματικόν (sōma pnevmatikon) (a body that is of a “spirited” nature, or constituted from or made to live entirely by deathless spirit, pnevma). As is even more clear in the succeeding verses, this is also a distinction between earthly and heavenly origin; and, as is clearest of all in v. 50, resurrection for Paul is not a simple resuscitation of the sort of material body one has in the fallen world, but a radically different kind of life.

ae. “May he come!” (Aramaic).

The Second Letter to the Corinthians

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, by God’s will an Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus, and brother Timothy, to God’s assembly that is in Corinth, together with all the holy ones throughout the whole of Achaea, 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4Who comforts us in our affliction, so that we might be able to comfort those in every affliction through the comfort with which we are ourselves comforted by God. 5Because, just as the Anointed’s sufferings abound in us, so also through the Anointed our comfort abounds. 6And if we suffer affliction it is for the sake of your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted it is for the sake of your comfort, which is at work in the endurance of those same sufferings that we too suffer. 7And our hope on your behalf is firm, since we know that, as you are communicants in the sufferings, so also in the comfort.

8For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, regarding the affliction that came our way in Asia: that we were placed under excessive pressure, beyond our power, of such a kind that we even despaired of living; 9But we held the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we should be trustful not of ourselves, but of God who raises the dead: 10Who has rescued and will rescue us from so great a death—in whom we have hoped that he will rescue even yet—11And you cooperating by your prayer on our behalf, in order that thanks might be given on our behalf by many for the gracious gift bestowed on us by numerous persons.

12For this is our boast, the witness of our conscience: that we have conducted ourselves in the cosmos, and toward you especially, in holiness and in God’s sincerity, [and] not in fleshly wisdom but rather in God’s grace. 13For we do not write any things for you other than what you can read, or indeed fully understand, and I hope you will understand it all the way to the end, 14Just as you have understood us in part; because we are your boast—just as you are ours for the Day of our Lord Jesus.

15In this confidence, moreover, I elected to come to you, so that you might have a second grace, 16And to pass through to Macedonia by way of you, and to come to you again from Macedonia, and be sent on my way by you to Judaea. 17So, then, when I reached this determination, did I do so lightly? Or do I choose the things I choose in a fleshly way, so that I might say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? 18Yet, as God is faithful, our word to you is not a “Yes” and a “No.” 19For the Son of God, Jesus the Anointed, who was proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—did not become a “Yes” and also a “No”; rather, in him came “Yes.” 20For, however many God’s promises may be, in him there is the “Yes”; therefore, through him there is also our “Amen” to God. 21But he who fortifies us along with you, and who has anointed us, is God, 22The one who has also sealed us, and given us the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.

23Now, on my soul, I call upon God as a witness that, by not coming to Corinth yet, I was sparing you—24That we do not dominate your faith, but are fellow agents of your joy—for you stand by faith.

CHAPTER TWO

1But within myself I reached the decision not to come to you in grief again. 2For, if I cause you grief, then who will cheer me except the one who is being caused grief by me? 3And, confident as regards all of you that my joy belongs to you all, I wrote this very thing so that I should not receive grief from those who should cause me joy. 4For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart, through many tears, not in order that you should be caused grief, but rather so that you should know of the love I have for you in such abundance. 5And if anyone has caused grief he has caused grief not to me but rather, partly (lest I impose a burden), to all of you. 6For such a one, this penalty by the majority suffices; 7Hence, instead, you should graciously forgive and give aid, so that such a man might not be engulfed in excessive grief. 8Therefore I implore you to confirm your love for him; 9For I have written also to this end, so I might know, as regards you, whether it has been proved that you are obedient in respect to all things. 10Now, whomever you graciously forgive, I do also. For, indeed, what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—is because of you, before the person of the Anointed, 11So that we might not be plundered by the Accuser.a For we are not ignorant of his devices. 12But when I came to Troas for the purpose of the good tidings of the Anointed, and a door was opened for me by the Lord, 13I had no rest in my spirit when I failed to find my brother Titus; rather, bidding them farewell, I departed into Macedonia. 14But grace to God, who is always leading us in a triumphal procession, and through us making the fragrance of his knowledge manifest in every place; 15Because we are the Anointed’s sweet fragrance for God, among both those who are being saved and those who are perishing, 16To the latter an odor from death to death, yet to the former from life to life. And who is adequate to these things? 17For we are not hawking God’s word, as so many do; as out of sincerity, rather—as from God, rather—we speak in the Anointed, before God.

CHAPTER THREE

1Are we beginning again to commend ourselves to you? Or do we need letters of recommendation, as some do, either to you or from you? 2You are our letter, which has been inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all human beings, 3As it is manifest that you are a letter from the Anointed, ministered to by us, written not by ink but rather by the Spirit of a living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of hearts of flesh.

4And we have such confidence toward God because of the Anointed. 5Not that we are competent to reckon anything regarding ourselves; rather, our competency is from God, 6Who also made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of scripture but of spirit; for scripture slays but spirit makes alive. 7But, if death’s ministry by way of scriptures engraved in stones came with glory, so that the sons of Israel were unable to gaze on the face of Moses on account of his face’s glory—which is being abolished—8How shall the ministry of the spirit not come with more glory? 9For if there is glory to the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of vindication abounds much more in glory. 10For even that which was made glorious, compared to the glory that exceeds it, has not been made glorious in this degree. 11For, if by glory that which is being abolished—much more in glory that which endures. 12Having such a hope, therefore, we venture considerable boldness, 13Unlike Moses, who put a veil on his face so that the sons of Israel should not gaze intently toward the end of what is being abolished. 14Instead, their thoughts were coarsened. For right up to the present day that same veil remains drawn over the reading of the old covenant, it not being revealed that in the Anointed it is abolished. 15Rather, to this day, when Moses is being read a veil lies upon their heart; 16But whenever it turns to the Lord the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit is there is freedom. 18But all of us with face unveiled, mirroring the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Lord’s Spirit.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore, having this ministry as recipients of mercy, we do not grow weary, 2But rather have renounced the things hidden in shame, neither proceeding by guile nor falsifying God’s word; instead, by making the truth manifest, we commend ourselves before God to every human conscience. 3And if our good tidings have been veiled, they have been veiled from those who are perishing, 4Those in whom the god of this age blinded the thoughts of the faithless, so that the illumination of the good tidings of the glory of the Anointed—he who is God’s image—should not shine out. 5For we proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus the Anointed as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’s sake. 6Because the God who says, “Light shall shine out of darkness” is the one who has shone in our hearts, for illumination of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of the Anointed.

7But we have this treasure in vessels of clay, so that the power’s excellence might be God’s, and not come from us; 8In every way afflicted yet not crushed, perplexed yet not despairing, 9Persecuted yet not forsaken, cast down yet not perishing, 10Always bearing in the body the dying of Jesus, so that Jesus’s life might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 11For we the living are always being delivered over to death on account of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12Hence death is operating in us, but life in you. 13And, having the same spirit of faithfulness—in keeping with the scripture: “I had faith, therefore I spoke”—we both have faith and thus also speak, 14Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us along with you. 15For all things are for your sake, so that the grace that has spread out through ever more persons might make thanksgiving abound to God’s glory. 16Hence we do not grow weary; but, if indeed our outward man is wasting away, still our inward is being renewed day by day. 17Because for us the transitory lightness of our affliction is bringing about, ever more exorbitantly, the Age’s weight of glory. 18Not looking to things seen but instead to things not seen; for the things seen are for but a season, but the things not seen are of the Age.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Now we know that, if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a home of the Age, in the heavens, not made by hands. 2For herein we groan, fervently longing to clothe ourselves about in our dwelling from heaven, 3Inasmuch as, in being clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4For indeed in this tent, being burdened, we groan, since we do not wish to unclothe ourselves, but rather to clothe ourselves, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now he who wrought us for this very thing is God, the one who has given us the pledge of the Spirit. 6Therefore, being always confident, and knowing that when at home in the body we are away from home, separated from the Lord— 7For we walk by faith, not by what is seen— 8And we are confident and think it better to depart from home, out of the body, and come home to the Lord. 9For which reason it is also our ambition, whether at home or away from home, to be delightful to him. 10For we must all of us appear before the tribunal of the Anointed, so that each may be requited for the things he did, whether good or deplorable.

11So, knowing the fear of the Lord, we are persuading people, and we are made manifest to God; and I hope to have become manifest in your consciences. 12We are not commending ourselves to you again, but instead giving you occasion for boasting on our account, so that you may have something for those who boast of things that are superficial and not in the heart. 13For if we are deranged it is for God; if we are sound of mind it is for you. 14For the love of the Anointed constrains us, having reached this judgment: that one died on behalf of all; all then have died; 15And he died on behalf of all so that the living should live no longer for themselves, but for the one who has died and been raised on their behalf. 16Thus, from now on, we know no one according to the flesh, even though we have known the Anointed—yet know him now no longer—according to flesh. 17Hence if anyone is in the Anointed he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; look: They have become new. 18And all things come out of God, who through the Anointed has reconciled us to himself, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation: 19So that God was in the Anointed reconciling the cosmos to himself, not accounting their trespasses to them, and placing in us the word of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors on the Anointed’s behalf, of such a kind that God makes supplication through us: for the sake of the Anointed, we implore, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made the one who knew no sin into sin, so that in him we might become God’s righteousness.

CHAPTER SIX

1And, cooperating with him,b we also implore you not to receive God’s grace in vain; 2For he says, “In an acceptable time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you.” Look: Now is an acceptable time. Look: Now is a day of salvation. 3—Providing no stumbling-block in any matter, so that the ministry should receive no censure, 4But instead commending ourselves in everything as God’s ministers, in immense endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in narrow straits, 5In welts, in jails, in riots, in labors, in sleepless nights, in days of hunger, 6In chastity, in knowledge, in magnanimity, in honesty, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, 7In a discourse of truth, in God’s power; by righteousness’ armaments, on our right and our left, 8Through glory and dishonor, through censure and praise; as both deceivers and truthful men, 9As both unknown and fully known, as both dying and—see!—we live, as both chastened and not put to death, 10As aggrieved yet ever rejoicing, as destitute yet enriching many, as both having nothing and possessing all things.

11Our mouth has been opened to you, Corinthians, our heart has grown expansive; 12You are not constrained by us, but you are constrained in your own inward parts; 13But, as a fair exchange (I am speaking as to children), become yourselves expansive as well.

14Do not come to be disparately yoked with the faithless; for what do uprightness and lawlessness share, or what communion has light with darkness? 15And what concord is there of the Anointed and Beliar, or what portion is shared by a faithful with an unfaithful person? 16And what assent does God’s sanctuary give to idols? For we are a living God’s sanctuary; just as God has said: “‘I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Therefore come out from their midst and be set apart,’ says the Lord, ‘and do not touch anything impure; and I will welcome you in.’” 18“‘And I will be as a Father to you, and to me you shall be as sons and daughters,’ says the Lord almighty.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

1So having these promises, beloved ones, let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in fear of God. 2Make space for us; we have done no one an injustice, have corrupted no one, have plundered no one. 3I do not say this for the purpose of condemnation; for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to live with and to die with. 4With me there is great boldness toward you, with me great boasting over you; I have been filled with comfort, I overflow with joy at our every affliction. 5For, indeed, when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, as we were instead afflicted in every way: battles without, fears within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, has comforted us by Titus’s arrival; 7And not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort with which he had been comforted regarding you—by him reporting to us your ardent longing, your lamentation, your zeal on my behalf—so that I rejoiced even more. 8Because if, in fact, I caused you grief by a letter, I feel no contrition; and if I did feel contrite—[for] I see that that letter did grieve you, if only for an hour—9I now rejoice: not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved into a change of heart; for you were caused Godly grief, so that you might in no way receive damage from us. 10For Godly grief brings about a change of heart, leading to a salvation that cannot be regretted; but the grief of the cosmos brings about death. 11For look at what earnestness this very experience of Godly grief has produced in you, not to mention apologetics, and ire, and fear, and ardent longing, and zeal, and the exacting of justice. 12Indeed, then, if I wrote to you it was neither for the sake of the one who committed the wrong nor for the sake of the one who was wronged, but so that your earnestness on our behalf might be made manifest before God. 13So we have been comforted. And, in addition to our comfort, we rejoiced still more abundantly in Titus’s joy, because his spirit has been given rest by all of you. 14For, if I have made any boast to him regarding you, I was not embarrassed; rather, just as we spoke everything to you in truth, so also our boasting came to be the truth for Titus. 15And his inner self is disposed abundantly toward you as he recalls the obedience of all of you, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice that in everything I am confident in you.

CHAPTER EIGHT

1Now, brothers, we apprise you of the grace of God that was given in the assemblies of Macedonia: 2That, amid a very great deal of trying affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty yielded abundance in the richness of their generosity; 3That according to their power—even beyond their power, as I can attest—of their own accord, 4With a great deal of pleading, they implored us for the grace and the community of the ministry to the holy ones, 5And not as we had anticipated. Instead they gave themselves first to God, then to us by God’s will, 6In consequence of which we beseeched Titus that, as he had already begun, so also he should make this grace complete for you as well. 7Rather, as you abound in everything—in faith and speech and knowledge and all diligence and love from us to you—so may you abound in this grace as well. 8I say this not by way of a command but rather, by the diligence of others, proving your love genuine as well. 9For you know of the grace of our Lord Jesus [the Anointed]: that, being rich, he impoverished himself so that you might be enriched by his poverty. 10But I offer an opinion on this; for this is beneficial to you—you who a year ago already began not only to act, but to will it; 11But now complete the action so that, just as the eagerness to will it, so also the completion, out of what you possess. 12For, if the eagerness is already there, it is accepted according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. 13Because relief for others is not intended to be distress for you, but follows from equality: 14At the present juncture, your abundance is for their lack, so that their abundance may be for your lack, in order that there might be equality, 15As has been written, “Whosoever [gathered] much had nothing in excess, and whosoever [gathered] little had no shortage.”

16But grace to God who places this same diligence on your behalf in Titus’s heart, 17Because in fact he received the request, and being more diligent he went out to you of his own accord. 18And with him we sent the brother who is renowned for the good tidings throughout all the assemblies—19And not only that, but who has been handpicked by the assemblies as our traveling companion in this gracious gift that is being administered by us, for the sake of the Lord’s glory and of our eagerness, 20Making this provision so that, as regards this bounty being administered by us, no one might make an accusation against us; 21For we pay attention to the things that are seemly not only in the Lord’s eyes, but also in the eyes of human beings. 22And with them we sent our brother, whom we have often proved to be diligent in many things, and much more diligent now on account of his great diligence toward you. 23As for Titus: my partner and fellow worker on your behalf; as for our brothers: the assemblies’ Apostles, the Anointed’s glory. 24Thus give them a demonstration of your love and of what we boast on your behalf in the presence of the assemblies.

CHAPTER NINE

1For indeed, as regards the ministry for the holy ones, it is superfluous for me to write to you; 2For I know of your eagerness, of which I boast to Macedonia regarding you—that Achaea has been making preparations for a year past, and that your zeal has stirred up the majority—3And I sent the brothers, so that our boasting over you should not be made vain in this area, so that you might be prepared just as I have said, 4So that in this confident undertaking we—to say nothing of you—should be put to shame if Macedonians should come with us and find you unprepared. 5Therefore I thought it necessary to entreat the brethren that they proceed onward to you and arrange in advance the blessing promised by you, so that it might be ready as a blessing and not as plunder. 6And this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows for blessings will go reaping for blessings. 7Each one as he has chosen in the heart, not from grief or from necessity; for God loves a happy giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound for you so that, having self-control at all times in everything, you may abound in every good work, 9Just as has been written, “He has scattered, has given to the poor, his justice abides throughout the age.”c 10For he who provides seed for the sower will both supply bread for food and multiply your seed, and also increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11Being enriched in everything for the purpose of all generosity, which brings about thanksgiving from us to God. 12For the ministry of this service not only supplies the wants of the holy ones, but also overflows in many thanksgivings to God; 13Because of the proof given by this ministry, they are glorifying God for the obedience of your confession of the Anointed’s good tidings, and for the generosity of this communal sharing with them and with all, 14And with prayer on your behalf they long after you, on account of God’s surpassing grace upon you. 15Thanks to God for his indescribable gift.

CHAPTER TEN

1Now I, Paul myself, implore you by the gentleness and equitableness of the Anointed—I who am indeed humble when among you in person, but bold toward you when away—2And I beseech that, when I am present, I shall not be bold with that self-assured frankness I anticipate venturing toward some who think we walk, as it were, according to the flesh. 3For, though we walk about in flesh, we do not go into battle according to the flesh—4For the weapons of our campaign are not fleshly, and yet are (through God) powerful enough to overthrow fortresses—we who are overthrowing argumentations, 5And every high rampart reared against the knowledge of God, and taking every concept captive for subjection to the Anointed, 6And holding ourselves ready to exact justice for every disobedience whenever your obedience reaches fulfillment.

7See the things right before your face. If anyone has convinced himself he is the Anointed’s own, let him reconsider this for himself: that, just as he is the Anointed’s, so also are we. 8For even if I should boast more extravagantly regarding our authority, which the Lord gave for the sake of edification and not for your overthrow, I shall not be put to shame—9Lest I seem as though I am trying with my letters to intimidate you. 10“Because, in fact,” says someone, “his letters are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presentation is weak and his speech is deplorable.” 11Let such a man count on this: that what we are in epistolary discourse when absent, such we are as well in action when present. 12For we do not have the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some of those who are recommending themselves; but they—in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves—gain no insight.d 13But we will not boast without measure, but according to the measure of that province whose measure God has apportioned us—which extends even as far as to you. 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though our reach did not extend as far as to you, for we were also the first to come to you with the good tidings of the Anointed, 15Not boasting without measure in others’ labors, but harboring the hope that among you, when your faith is increased, we may be enlarged—as far as our province is concerned—into overflowing, 16So as to proclaim the good tidings to places beyond your boundaries, not boasting about what has already been done in another’s province. 17And “Let whoever boasts boast in the Lord”; 18For that man—he who commends himself—has not been approved, but rather the one whom the Lord commends.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1I should hope that you will bear with a little bit of foolishness on my part—but, of course, you are bearing with me. 2For I am jealous for you with God’s jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present to the Anointed as a pure virgin; 3And I am afraid lest somehow, just as the serpent deceived Eve by his wiles, your thoughts should be seduced away from singleness [and purity] for the Anointed; 4For if indeed someone comes proclaiming another Jesus, one whom we did not proclaim—or you receive another spirit, one that you have not received—or another proclamation of good tidings, one that you have not accepted—you are bearing with it well. 5For I do not reckon that I am in any way less advanced than these Superlative Apostles—6And, though indeed incompetent in speaking, yet not in knowledge, but rather in every way having made ourselves clear to you on all things. 7Or did I commit a sin in abasing myself so that you might be exalted, insofar as I proclaimed God’s good tidings to you free of charge? 8I robbed other assemblies, receiving wages for ministering to you, 9And, when present with you and in need, I was a burden to no one, because the brothers coming from Macedonia supplied what I lacked; and in every way I kept, and will keep, myself from being a burden to you. 10The Anointed’s truth is within me: that this boasting of mine shall not be fenced in within Achaea’s climes. 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows . . . ! 12But what I am doing I shall continue doing, that I might obviate the occasion for those who want an occasion by which they might also appear to be like us in what they boast of. 13For such men are pseudo-Apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into Apostles of the Anointed. 14And no wonder! For the Accuser himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15No great thing, then, if his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness—they whose end will be in accord with their works.

16I repeat, let no one think me mad; or else welcome me even if as a madman, so that I too might boast a little. 17What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but rather as though—by the very confidence of the boasting—in madness. 18Since so many boast according to the flesh, I too shall boast. 19For, being of sound mind, you bear gladly with madmen. 20For you bear it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone seizes you, if someone stirs you up, if someone clouts you across the face. 21With shame I say that it seems we have been weak; but, however anyone might dare, in my madness I say: I dare also! 22Are they Hebrews? I too. Are they Israelites? I too. Are they Abraham’s seed? I too. 23Are they ministers of the Anointed? Being mad, I say: the more so I—in labors abundantly, in jails abundantly, in scars exceedingly, in deaths frequently. 24Five times, I received the “forty-minus-one”e from the Judaeans, 25Thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I was shipwrecked, I have toiled a night and a day upon the deep; 26Frequently in journeys on the road, in perils on rivers, in perils from bandits, in perils from my own kind, in perils from gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert, in perils on the sea, in perils from false brothers, 27In toil and hardship, in frequent sleepless nights, in famine and thirst, in frequent fasts, in cold and nakedness; 28Quite apart from the things that come from outside—the daily obstructions in my path—there was the anxiety over all the assemblies. 29Who is weak, and I am not weakened? Who is caused to falter, and I do not burn? 30If I must boast, I will boast of things belonging to my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed unto the ages, knows I am not lying. 32In Damascus, the ethnarch of King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes placed under guard in order to apprehend me, 33And I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and eluded his hands.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1It is necessary to boast—not of course a beneficial thing—but I will proceed to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2I knew a man who is in the Anointed, one such as was rapt up all the way into the third heaven fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, whether out of the body I do not know—the Lord knows. 3And I knew of one such man—whether in the body or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—4That he was rapt up into paradise and heard unutterable words, which it is not lawful for a human being to speak. 5I shall boast on such a man’s behalf, but on my own behalf I shall not boast, except in my weaknesses. 6For, should I want to boast, I shall not be mad, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain, so that no one will overestimate me, going beyond what he sees of me or hears from me, 7And from the extraordinariness of my revelations. Hence, so that I should not be excessively exalted, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of the Accuser, so that he might buffet me about, so that I might not be excessively exalted. 8As for this, three times I implored the Lord that it might depart from me. 9And he said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you; for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I shall instead most gladly boast in weaknesses, so that the power of the Anointed might overshadow me. 10Therefore I delight in frailties, in insults, in exigencies, in persecutions and ordeals on behalf of the Anointed; for when I am weak, then I am powerful.

11I have become mad; you compelled me. For I ought to be commended by you. Because in nothing was I less advanced than the Superlative Apostles, even if I am nothing. 12Indeed the Apostles’ signs were accomplished among you in all patient endurance, by signs as well as by marvels and by deeds of power. 13For what is there in which you are inferior to the rest of the assemblies, except that I did not encumber you with myself? Graciously pardon me for this injustice! 14Look: I am ready to come to you this third time, and I will not be a burden; for I am seeking not your things, but you. For the children ought not store treasure for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15But I will most gladly spend—and be spent out—on behalf of your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved less? 16So be it. I did not burden you. But, being wily, I took you with guile. 17Any one of those I sent to you, did I plunder you through him? 18I implored Titus and sent the brother with him; did Titus plunder you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Not in the same steps?

19Have you been thinking all this time that we are offering you a defense? We speak before God in the Anointed; and all things, beloved ones, are for the sake of your edification. 20For I am afraid lest, in coming, I might find you to be not such as I wish, while I am found by you to be not such as you wish—lest there be strife, jealousy, vehemences, rivalries, slanders, whisperings, blusterings, disturbances—21Lest when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I shall lament over many of those who have previously sinned and who are impenitent over the impurity and whoring and licentiousness they committed.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1I am coming to you this third time. “Every word shall be verified by the mouth of two and three witnesses.” 2I have already told you, and I foretell—just as when I was present the second time, now also in being absent—to those who previously sinned and to everyone else, that if I come again I shall not be sparing, 3Since you seek proof that the Anointed is speaking in me, he who is not weak toward you, but who is powerful within you. 4For indeed he was crucified out of weakness, but he lives out of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, yet shall live for you with him, by God’s power. 5Test whether you yourselves are in the faith, prove yourselves; or do you not yourselves perceive that Jesus the Anointed is in you, unless you are unproven? 6But I hope that you will know that we are not unproven. 7Now we pray to God that you do nothing evil, not so that we may appear to be proven, but so that you may do the good even if we should appear to be unproven. 8For we have power not against the truth, but rather for the sake of the truth. 9For we rejoice when we are weak and you are powerful; this we pray for as well: your restoration. 10Therefore I write these things while absent, in order that when present I might not have recourse to severity, in keeping with that authority that the Lord gave me for the sake of building up and not for tearing down.

11As for the rest, brothers, rejoice, be restored, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you.

13The grace of the Lord Jesus the Anointed and the love of God and the community of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Notes
a. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

b. συνεργοῦντες (synergountes): “coworking,” “acting with”; here, in keeping with Paul’s characteristic language of the “synergy” of divine and human works, the word should be read in continuity with the final verses of the previous chapter, where Paul speaks as God’s ambassador, through whom God implores the Corinthians to be reconciled with him. Hence, Paul and his companions are synergountes with God, not merely “fellow workers” with the Corinthian church.

c. Or “until the Age [to come].”

d. The final words of this verse (“they . . . gain no insight”) are absent in Western textual tradition; and, since the plural participles (“measuring,” “comparing”) could equally well modify either the “we” of Paul’s ceremoniously plural self-reference or the “they” of those who recommend themselves, the verse would then mean that Paul measures himself by himself, rather than by those who are promoting themselves at his expense in the Corinthian church. But the Greek text uniformly attests to the presence of those final words, and (especially given how very unlike Paul it would seem for him to speak of himself as his own proper measure) the reading I have assumed seems to me the preferable one.

e. Thirty-nine lashes with the flagellum—a particularly severe beating, potentially fatal or disabling.

The Letter to the Galatians

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, an Apostle sent out not from human beings, nor by a man, but rather by Jesus the Anointed, and by God the Father who has raised him from the dead, 2And all the brethren who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed, 4Who has given himself on behalf of our sins so that he might deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5To whom be the glory unto the ages of the ages; amen.

6I am astounded that you are so quickly defecting from the one who has called you by [the Anointed’s] grace, toward an alternative proclamation of “good tidings”—7Which is no alternative at all, except that there are certain persons who are agitating you, and seeking to reverse the Anointed’s good tidings. 8But, even if we or an angel out of heaven should proclaim [to you] good tidings that differ from what you received, let him be accursed. 9As I have just said, and now say again, if anyone proclaims good tidings to you differing from what you received, let him be accursed.

10For am I now prevailing upon human beings, or upon God? Or am I seeking to appease human beings? If I were still appeasing human beings, I should not have been a slave of the Anointed. 11For I apprise you, brothers, that the good tidings proclaimed by me are not of human origin; 12For neither did I receive it from, nor was I taught it by, a human being—by way, rather, of a revelation from Jesus the Anointed. 13For you have heard of my conduct when I was inside Judaism: that I persecuted and besieged God’s assembly with such extravagance, 14And was progressing in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, being exorbitant in my zeal for my ancestral traditions. 15But when God, who had set me apart from my mother’s womb and had called me by his grace, was pleased 16To reveal his Son in me, so that I might proclaim the good tidings regarding him among the gentiles, I did not immediately take counsel with flesh and blood, 17Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who had been Apostles before I had, but instead departed into Arabia, then returned to Damascus. 18Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days; 19But I saw no other of the Apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20And the things I write to you—see!—before God, I am not lying. 21Then I entered the climes of Syria and Cilicia. 22And I was not known by face to the assemblies of Judaea that are in the Anointed. 23And they heard only that “The one formerly persecuting us now proclaims the faith that he besieged.” 24And they glorified God in me.

CHAPTER TWO

1Then, after fourteen years, I went with bar-Nabas up to Jerusalem again, taking along Titus also; 2And I went up in accord with a revelation; and I laid out before them the good tidings that I proclaim among the gentiles, but did so privately to those in high esteem, lest I run—or had run—in vain. 3Yet not even Titus who was with me, though he is a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised; 4But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who stole in so as to spy upon our freedom, which we have in the Anointed One Jesus, so that they could enslave us—5To whom we did not yield in subordination for even an hour, so that the truth of the good tidings might remain with you. . . .a 6And from those who were esteemed as something—precisely what sort of something at that time does not matter to me (God does not take a man at his face)b—for to me these estimable men had nothing to add; 7Rather, to the contrary, seeing that I have been entrusted with the good tidings for those of the foreskin, just as has Peter for those of the circumcision—8For he who was operating in Peter for a mission to those of the circumcision was also operating in me for the gentiles—9And, recognizing the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John—who appeared to be the pillars—gave their hands in fellowship to me and to bar-Nabas, that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcision, 10If only we should remember the poor—the very thing, indeed, that I was eager to do. 11But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he was being contemptible. 12For he ate with the gentiles before certain men came along with James; when they had come, however, he withdrew and separated himself, in fear of those from the circumcision; 13And the rest of the Judaeans [also] joined him in his theatrical charlatanry, so that even bar-Nabas was carried away by their dissimulation. 14But, when I saw that they were not proceeding straightforwardly regarding the truth of the good tidings, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, “If you who are a Judaean live as a gentile and not as a Judaean, how is it you require the gentiles to become Judaean?” 15We who are naturally Judaean, and not sinners coming from the gentiles, 16And who know that a human being is vindicatedc not by observances of Law but by the faithfulness of the Anointed One Jesus—even we have placed our faith in the Anointed One Jesus, so that we might be vindicated from the faithfulness of the Anointed and not from observances of Law, because no flesh at all will be vindicated from observances of Law. 17But if, while seeking to be vindicated in the Anointed, we were also to be sinners ourselves, is the Anointed then a minister of sin? Let it not be so! 18For if I rebuild the very things I demolished I contrive to make myself a transgressor. 19For by Law I died to Law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified along with the Anointed. 20And I live no longer, but the Anointed lives within me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faithfulness that is of God’s Son, who loves me and delivered himself up on my behalf. 21I do not reject God’s grace; for if vindicationd is by Law then the Anointed died for nothing.

CHAPTER THREE

1O, witless Galatians, who has bewitched you [so as not to obey the truth], before whose eyes Jesus the Anointed has been so vividly portrayed [among you] as crucified? 2This alone I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit from observances of Law or from faith’s obedience?e 3Are you so witless? Having begun in spirit, are you being finished in flesh? 4Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it is in vain? 5So is he imparting the Spirit to you and performing deeds of power among you as a result of the Law’s observances or of faith’s obedience? 6Just as “Abraham had faith in God and it was accounted to righteousness on his part.” 7Know then that those coming from faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would prove the gentiles righteousf from faithfulness, proclaimed to Abraham in advance the good tidings that “In you all the gentiles will be blessed.” 9So those coming from faith are blessed along with Abraham, who had faith. 10For as many as come from observances of Law are under a curse; for it has been written: “Accursed is everyone who does not persevere in doing the things written in the book of the Law.” 11But it is obvious that before God no one is vindicatedg by Law, because “The upright will live by faithfulness.” 12And the Law is not from faith, yet the one who does these things will live by them. 13The Anointed redeemed us from the Law’s curse, becoming a curse on our behalf, because it has been written: “Accursed is everyone hanging upon a tree.”h 14So that in Jesus the Anointed the blessing of Abraham might come to the gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15Brothers, I am speaking in human terms. All the same, once a human covenant has been ratified, no one nullifies or amends it. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, “and to the seeds,” as in the plural, but as in the singular instead: “and to your seed,” who is the Anointed. 17And I say this: The Law—having come into being four hundred and thirty years afterward—does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, thus abolishing the promise. 18For if the inheritance comes from Law, it no longer comes from a promise; but God graced Abraham with it by a promise. 19Why, then, the Law? Ordained by angels in an intermediary’s hand, it was given as a supplement, on account of transgressions, till such time as the seed to whom it was promised should come. 20Now, the intermediary does not belong to one party, and yet God is one. 21Is the Law therefore opposed to the promises [of God]? Let it not be! For, if a Law had been given that was capable of imparting life, righteousness really would have come from Law; 22But the scripture imprisoned all things under sin so that the promise—from the faithfulness of Jesus the Anointed—might be given to those having faith. 23But before faith came we were held under guard, under Law, kept imprisoned for the faith that was about to be revealed. 24Thus the Law has become our custodial guidei to the Anointed, so that we might be proved righteous from faithfulness; 25But, the faith having come, we are no longer under a custodial guide. 26For you are all God’s sons through the faithfulness within the Anointed One Jesus; 27For as many of you as were baptized into the Anointed have clothed yourselves in the Anointed. 28There can be neither Judaean nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there cannot be male and female, for you are all one in the Anointed One Jesus. 29But, if you are the Anointed’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to a promise.

CHAPTER FOUR

1But I say that, for however long a period the heir is an infant, he is no different from a slave, even though he is the lord of everything; 2Rather, he is subject to legal guardians and estate stewards until the term appointed by the father. 3So also we, when we were infants, were enslaved in subjection to the Elementals of the cosmos;j 4But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his Son, coming to be from a woman, coming to be under the Law, 5So that he might redeem those under Law, in order that we should receive filial adoption. 6And, since you are sons, God sent forth his Son’s Spirit into our hearts, crying, “Abba!”—Father! 7Thus you are no longer a slave, but a son; and, if a son, also an heir through God.k

8But back then, indeed, being ignorant of God, you slaved for those who by nature were not gods; 9Now, however, knowing God—or, rather, being known by God—how is it you are turning again to the weak and impoverished Elementals, for which you wish anew to slave again? 10You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11I fear for you, lest I have labored among you in vain.

12Brothers, I implore you, be as I am, because I too am as you are. You have done me no injustice; 13And you know that I proclaimed the good tidings to you the first time on account of an infirmity of the flesh, 14And the trial that was visited on you by my flesh you neither held in contempt nor spurned, but instead you welcomed me as God’s messenger, as the Anointed One Jesus. 15Where therefore is your blessing? For I attest to you that, if possible, you would have gouged your eyes out and given them to me. 16So, in telling you the truth, have I thus become your enemy? 17They are zealous for you not in a seemly way, but want instead to alienate you, 18So that you might be zealous for them. But it is a good thing to be zealous always for what is good, and not only when I am present with you, 19My children, for whom I am again suffering the pangs of birth until the Anointed is formed in you; 20And I wanted to be present with you right now, and to change my tone of voice; for I am at a loss regarding you.

21Tell me, you who want to be under Law, do you not listen to the Law? 22For it has been written that Abraham had two sons, one from the maidservant and one from the freewoman. 23But [indeed] the one from the maidservant was born according to the flesh, and the one from the freewoman through the promise. 24These things are told allegorically;l for these are two covenants—the one from Mount Sinai, giving birth for slavery, is Hagar. 25And this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, for she slaves along with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above, who is our mother, is free; 27For it has been written, “Be glad, O you barren woman who bear no children; break forth and shout, you who suffer no birth pangs; because the desolate woman’s children are far more plentiful than those of her who has a husband.” 28And you, in the manner of Isaac, are children of a promise. 29But just as, back then, the one born according to flesh persecuted the one according to spirit, so now also. 30But what does the scripture say? “Cast out the maidservant and her son, for by no means shall the maidservant’s son inherit along with the freewoman’s son.” 31Hence, brothers, we are not the maidservant’s children, but the freewoman’s.

CHAPTER FIVE

1The Anointed freed us for freedom; stand fast, then, and do not again be restrained by slavery’s yoke.

2Look, I Paul tell you that if you come to be circumcised the Anointed will profit you nothing. 3And again I attest to every man who becomes circumcised that he is obliged to perform the whole of the Law. 4You who are proved righteousm by Law have been severed from the Anointed, you have fallen from grace. 5For we—in spirit, from faith—eagerly hold onto hope of righteousness. 6For in the Anointed neither circumcision nor a foreskin is of any avail, but rather faithfulness made actual through love. 7You were running well; who hindered you, so that you are not persuaded by truth? 8What persuades you is not coming from the one who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole mass of dough. 10In the Lord, I am confident in you that you will be of no other mind; but the one who is perturbing you, whoever he may be, will bear the judgment. 11Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? The scandal of the cross, then, has been annulled. 12Would that they who are causing you agitation might just castrate themselves!

13For you were called to freedom, brothers; only let this freedom not serve as an occasion for the flesh; rather slave for one another by love. 14For the whole Law is summed up in a single utterance; to wit: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15If, however, you bite and devour one another, watch that you are not destroyed by one another. 16Now I say, walk in spirit and you most certainly will not bring the longings of the flesh to pass. 17For the flesh longs in opposition to the spirit, and the spirit in opposition to the flesh, inasmuch as they are opposed one to the other, so that you might not do as you would wish. 18But if you are led in spirit you are not under Law. 19Now what the works of the flesh are is obvious: whoring, impurity, licentiousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft,n enmities, strife, jealousy, rages, rivalries, dissensions, heresies, 21Envies, inebriations, carousals, and things of that sort, regarding which I tell you in advance—just as I have said in the past—that those doing them will not inherit God’s Kingdom. 22But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, magnanimity, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23Gentleness, self-mastery; against such things there is no law. 24Now those belonging to the Anointed One Jesus have crucified the flesh, along with the passions and the lusts. 25If we live in spirit, let us also be aligned with spirit. 26Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

CHAPTER SIX

1If indeed, brothers, a man is caught in some trespass, you the Spiritual Oneso restore such a man in a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch over yourself so that you too might not be tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens and thus you will fulfill the law of the Anointed. 3For, if anyone thinks himself to be something while being nothing, he is deceiving himself. 4But let each test his own work, and then he will have his boast in himself alone, and not in someone else; 5For each will bear his own burden. 6Let the one who is receiving instruction share all good things in common with the one who is giving the instruction. 7Do not be led astray: God is not mocked. For whatever a man may sow, this he will also reap; 8Because the one sowing in his own flesh will reap perishability from the flesh, but the one sowing in the spirit will reap life in the Age. 9And let us not be remiss when doing what is seemly; for, in not relenting, we shall reap in the proper season. 10So, then, when the season is ours, let us work the good for all, and most particularly for the household of the faith.

11See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. 12As many as want to be in good countenance in the flesh, these are urging you to be circumcised, just so that they are not persecuted for the cross of the Anointed. 13For they who are circumcised do not keep the Law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14May I, however, boast in nothing except the cross of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, through whom the cosmos has been crucified to me and I to the cosmos. 15For neither circumcision nor having a foreskin means anything, but rather a new creation. 16And as many as proceed in line with this rule, peace and mercy upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

17Henceforth let no one cause me trouble; for I bear the marks of Jesus in my body.

18The grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed be with your spirit, brothers; amen.

Notes
a. Paul’s syntax here is even more vagrant than usual.

b. πρόσωπον ὁ θεὸς ἀνθρώπου οὐ λαμβάνει (prosōpon ho theos anthrōpou ou lambanei): “God does not take hold of a man’s face,” which renders a Semitic idiom meaning the act of a man in authority taking and raising (out of partiality) the face of one man among many kneeling in supplication. Paul’s meaning is that God does not have favorites.

c. Or “rectified,” here and in the following.

d. Or “rectification.”

e. ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs), which might also be translated as “from a hearing of faith,” “from a report of faith,” “from faith’s heedfulness,” or “from heedfulness to faith.”

f. Or “make the gentiles righteous.”

g. Or “rectified.”

h. ἐπὶ ξύλου (epi xylou): “upon wood,” “upon a beam,” “upon a stake,” “upon a tree,” “upon a gallows.”

i. παιδαγωγός (paidagōgos): not a “paedagogue” in our sense, but the male slave (a sort of male governess) who would lead a schoolboy to school and back home again, and keep an eye on him.

j. τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (ta stoicheia tou kosmou): “the elements of the cosmos,” “the principles of the cosmos,” perhaps “the elemental spirits of the cosmos.” It is an obscure phrase, made not much clearer by what follows. Some take it as meaning simply the material constituents of the world, or the “flesh” of the “psychical” or “animal” body, or perhaps lifeless idols. “Stoicheia” can also refer to the most “elementary” aspects of language, which a child must learn before advancing to written words; for some, this suggests that Paul is likening all religions before Christ’s advent to children’s earliest lessons, in much the same way that he describes the Law as a schoolboy’s custodian. From the immediate context, I find this an extremely plausible interpretation. But the phrase might also refer to the “Elementals,” as in my rendering: elemental spirits of the (fallen) world, or even those spiritual powers on high who govern the nations, who in Paul’s cosmology do indeed hold the world in thrall, and who have been defeated by Christ; they may even be understood as those fallen angels of the natural world who, according to the book of Jubilees, fathered the nefilim (monstrous giants) on human women, and thereby all the demons who haunt this world. This interpretation also strikes me as a plausible reading within the larger context of Paul’s theology of this age and the Age to come, and of Christ’s conquest of the “principalities and powers”; and I believe that vv. 8–10 make this reading a sound one (though, even there, Paul may simply be speaking of the “weak and impoverished material elements” from which idols are made). (See also Colossians 2:8 and 1 Peter 3:18–19 and my footnotes thereto.)

k. Some texts read “an heir of God through Christ.”

l. Again, one should not assume that Paul does not mean precisely what he says, and does not take the tale to be essentially (not merely secondarily) allegorical. His interpretive habits are rarely literalist.

m. Or “made righteous.”

n. φαρμακεία (pharmakeia): literally, “the making of drugs” or “of medicines,” but also a name for witchcraft, which was understood as largely involving the concoction of poisons, abortifacient drugs, and magic potions.

o. οἱ πνευματικοί (hoi pnevmatikoi): probably not “spiritual” in a general sense, and certainly not in the vague sense in which we use that term today, but referring to a special condition—and perhaps special status within the early church—of one filled with and transformed by God’s Spirit, and living according to pnevma rather than psychē.

The Letter to the Ephesians

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, by God’s will an Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus, to the holy ones who are [in Ephesus] and who have faith in the Anointed One Jesus: 2Grace to you from God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, who in the Anointed has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4As he chose us in him before the foundation of the cosmos, that we might be holy and immaculate before him in love, 5Marking us out in advance for filial adoption to himself through Jesus the Anointed, according to his will’s delight, 6For the praise of the glory of his grace, with which he graced us in the Beloved One, 7In whom—by whose blood—we have the fee for liberation, the forgiveness of trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8Which he has caused to abound for us in all wisdom and understanding, 9Making known to us the mystery of his will, which was his purpose in him, 10For a husbandry of the seasons’ fullness, to recapitulate all things in the Anointed, the things in the heavens and the things on earth: in him 11In whom we too received our lot, being marked out in advance according to the purpose of the one who enacts all things in accord with the counsel of his will, 12So that we, who first hoped in the Anointed, might be for the praise of his glory: 13In whom you too—hearing the word of the truth, the good tidings of your salvation, and having faith in him—were sealed with the Spirit of the promise, the Holy One, 14Who is an earnest of our inheritance until the liberation fee is paid for what has been procured, for the praise of his glory.

15Hearing, therefore, of the faithfulness in the Lord Jesus that is among you, and of the love for all the holy ones, I too 16Do not cease giving thanks on your behalf, making a remembrance in my prayers, 17So that the God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, the Father of glory, might give you a spirit of wisdom, and of revelation by a full knowledge of him, 18The eyes of your heart having been illumined, so that you should know what the hope in his call is, what the riches of his glory’s inheritance in the holy ones, 19And what the extravagant glory of his power toward us who have faith, in accord with the operation of the strength of his might, 20Which he has enacted in the Anointed, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21Far above every Rule and Authority and Power and Lordship,a and every name being named not only in this age, but in that about to come; 22And he has ordered all things under his feet, and has given him headship over all things in the assembly, 23Which is his body, the plenitude of the one filling all in all.

CHAPTER TWO

1And you, being dead in your trespasses and sins, 2In which you used to walk, in accord with the age of this cosmos, in accord with the Archon of the Power of the air, of the spirit now operating in the sons of disobedience, 3Among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh and in our thoughts, and were by nature children of ire just like the rest— 4But God, being rich in mercy because of that great love of his whereby he loved us, 5And we being dead in trespasses, he gave us life along with the Anointed—you are saved by grace—6And in the Anointed One Jesus co-raised us and co-seated us in the heavenly places, 7In order that in the ages he might show forth the extravagant richness of his grace, in kindness toward us in the Anointed One Jesus. 8For you are those who in grace have been saved by faithfulness: And this, God’s gift, is not from you, 9Nor from observances, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his artifact, created in the Anointed One Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we might walk in them.

11Therefore, remember that you, formerly gentiles in flesh—the ones called “Foreskin” by the so-called “Circumcision” in flesh (of the handmade variety)—12That at that period you were without the Anointed, having been aliens to the polity of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without any hope, and godless in the cosmos. 13But now in the Anointed One Jesus you who were once far away have come to be near, through the blood of the Anointed. 14For he is himself our peace, who has made the two into one and shattered the interposing wall of partition—the enmity—in his flesh, 15Having abolished the Law consisting in commandments in ordinances, that in himself he might fashion the two into a single new human being, making peace, 16And might by the cross reconcile the two to God in one body, killing enmity in himself; 17And he came announcing the good tidings of peace, to you who were far away, as well as to those who were nearby, 18Because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19In this way, then, you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but are instead fellow citizens with the holy ones, and are members of God’s household, 20Having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, the Anointed One Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21In whom every edifice that is built grows into a holy Temple in the Lord, 22In whom you also are together being built up in spirit into God’s dwelling place.

CHAPTER THREE

1For this reason, I Paul am the prisoner of the Anointed One Jesus on behalf of you the gentiles—2If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace given to me for your sake: 3That the mystery was made known to me by a revelation, as I briefly wrote you before—4Regarding which you can, by reading of it, understand my insight into the mystery of the Anointed—5Which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed in spirit to his Apostles and prophets: 6That the gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellows in a single body, and fellow participants in the Anointed One Jesus through the good tidings, 7Of which I became a minister by the gift of God’s grace, which was given to me by the operation of his power. 8This grace was given to me, the least of all the holy ones, to proclaim to the gentiles the good tidings, the unfathomable riches of the Anointed, 9And to cast light upon what constitutes the stewardship of the mystery that from the ages had been hidden in God, who has created all things, 10In order that, through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the Archons and Powers in the heavenly places, 11According to the purpose of the ages, which he fashioned in the Anointed One Jesus our Lord, 12In whom, through his faithfulness, we have boldness and access in confidence. 13Therefore I ask you not to grow faint during my afflictions on your behalf, which is your glory. 14By grace of this, I bend my knees to the Father, 15From whom every kindred fatheredb in heavens and on earth receives its name, 16So that, by the riches of his glory, he might grant you to be made mighty with power in the inward man by his Spirit, 17That the Anointed might dwell in your hearts by faithfulness, having been rooted and grounded in love, 18So that you might have the strength to grasp, along with all the holy ones, what breadth and length and height and depth is, 19And to know the love of the Anointed that exceeds knowing, so that you might be filled to all the fullness of God. 20Now, to the one who, by the power operating within us, is able to do superabundantly more than all the things for which we ask or of which we think, 21To him be the glory in the assembly, and in the Anointed One Jesus, unto all the generations of the age of the ages; amen.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore I, the Lord’s prisoner, implore you to walk in a way worthy of the call by which you were called, 2With all humility and gentleness, with magnanimity, bearing with one another in love, 3Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: 4One body and one Spirit, just as you were called in your calling’s one hope; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7And grace has been given to each one of us according to the measure of the gift of the Anointed. 8Which is why it says, “Having ascended on high, he took a host of captives prisoner, he gave gifts to human beings.” 9Now, what does this “he ascended” mean if he did not descend into the earth’s lower parts? 10The one descending is the same one also ascending far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. 11And he granted it to some to be Apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, 12For the restoration of the holy ones for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of the Anointed, 13Until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of God’s Son—to the perfect man—to the measure of the fullness of the Anointed—14So that we might no longer be infants, wave-tossed and carried about by every wind of teaching, by men’s sleight of hand, by villainy attendant upon error’s wiliness, 15But rather, speaking truth in love, we may in all things grow into him who is the head, the Anointed, 16From whom all of the body—fitted together and knitted together by every joint provided, according to its operation, in the measure proper to every single part—effects the body’s growth, for the sake of building itself up in love.

17This, therefore, I tell you and testify in the Lord: You are no longer to walk as the gentiles walk, in the irreverent frivolity of their mind, 18Being darkened in intellect, having been estranged from God’s life, through the ignorance that is within them because of the petrification of their heart, 19Who, having become unfeeling, gave themselves over to wantonness, for commerce in all impurity, in acquisitiveness. 20Not thus, however, were you instructed regarding the Anointed, 21If indeed you have listened to him and been taught in him—as in Jesus there is truth; 22As regards former conduct, you are to shed the old man, the one corrupted by the lusts of deceit, 23And to be renewed in your intellect’s spirit, 24And to don the new man, the one created by God in the righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25Therefore, shedding the lie, let each one of you speak the truth to his neighbor, because we are one another’s corporal members. 26Be indignant and yet do not sin; do not let the sun set on what provokes your anger, 27Neither give the Slanderer a place. 28Let the thief no longer steal, but instead let him work, accomplishing something good with his own hands so that he might have it to share with the person in need. 29Out of your mouth let no foul utterance proceed, but instead whatever is good for needed edification, that it might impart a grace to those listening. 30And do not grieve the Spirit, the Holy One of God, by which you were sealed with a seal for a day when the fee for liberation is paid. 31Let all bitterness and animosity and indignation and clamoring and defamation be removed from you, together with every evil. 32And become helpfully kind to one another, inwardly compassionate, forgiving among yourselves, just as God also graciously forgave you in the Anointed.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Become imitators of God, therefore, like beloved children, 2And walk in love, as the Anointed also loved you and gave himself up on our behalf, an offering and sacrifice to God, for the aroma of a sweet fragrance. 3But whoring, and every impurity or acquisitiveness—let it not be named among you, as befits holy persons—4Nor foul conduct and imbecile chatter and flippancy, which are unbecoming things—but instead thanksgiving. 5For be cognizant of this: that no whoring or impure or acquisitive man—someone who is an idolater—has an inheritance in the Kingdom of the Anointed and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words; for on account of these things God’s ire is coming upon the sons of disobedience. 7So do not be participants in them; 8For back then you were darkness, but now, in the Lord, you are light; walk as children of light—9For the light bears fruit in all goodness and righteousness and truth—10Proving what it is that is delightful to the Lord, 11And do not have a share in the fruitless works of darkness, but rather, indeed, reprove them, 12For it is shameful even to speak of the hidden things that take place among them; 13But all things reprobate are made manifest by the light; 14For everything made manifest is light. Therefore it is said, “Arise, sleeper, and stand up from among the dead, and the Anointed will shine upon you.”

15So be scrupulously watchful of how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise persons, 16Redeeming the season, because the days are wicked. 17Do not be witless, therefore, but instead understand what the Lord’s will is. 18And do not get drunk on wine, in which there is profligacy, but be filled instead with spirit, 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual odes, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, 20Always giving thanks for all things to the God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed.

21Being stationed underc one another in reverence for the Anointed, 22The wives to their own husbands as to the Lord, 23Because a husband is head of the wife even as the Anointed—himself the body’s savior—is head of the assembly. 24But, just as the assembly is stationed under the Anointed, so also the wives to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as the Anointed loved the assembly and gave himself up on her behalf, 26So that he might make her holy, purifying her by the washing of water, by a word, 27So that he might present the assembly to himself glorious, having no stain or wrinkle or anything of that sort, that she might instead be holy and unblemished. 28So [too] the husbands ought to love their wives like their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but rather nourishes it and keeps it safely warm, as the Anointed does for the assembly, 30Because we are members of his body. 31“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his wife, and the two shall be for one flesh.” 32This mystery is a great one, but I am speaking about the Anointed and the assembly. 33Nevertheless, let every single one of you love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she revere her husband.

CHAPTER SIX

1Children, heed your parents in the Lord; for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment that includes a promise: 3“So that it may go well with you, and that you may be on the earth a long time.” 4And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the Lord’s rearing and admonition. 5Slaves, heed your fleshly lords as though the Anointed, with reverence and trembling, in your heart’s simplicity, 6Not by affecting slavishness before people’s eyes, like someone obsequious to human beings, but as slaves of the Anointed, doing God’s will from the soul, 7Slaving with a good will, as though for the Lord and not for human beings, 8Knowing that whatever good thing each man does, this will be rewarded him by the Lord, whether a slave or a freeman. 9And, lords, do the same to them, refraining from making threats, knowing that both their Lord and yours is in the heavens, and with him there is no respecting of persons.

10As for the rest, be empowered by the Lord and by the force of his might. 11Put on God’s panoply, so that you are able to withstand the Slanderer’s wiles, 12Because we are wrestling not against blood and flesh, but against the Archons, against the Powers, against the Cosmic Rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the celestial places. 13Therefore, take up God’s panoply, so that on the evil day you might be able to resist and, having accomplished all things, take your stand. 14Take your stand, therefore, girding your loins with truth, and donning the breastplate of justice, 15And pulling up the straps under your feet in preparation for the good tidings of peace, 16Above all taking up the shield of the faith, with which you will be able to quench the flaming darts of the wicked one; 17And put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is God’s utterance, 18By all prayer and supplication, praying in spirit in every season, and keeping watch on it in all perseverance, and in supplication on behalf of all the holy ones, 19And on behalf of me, that speech might be given me when I boldly open my mouth to make the mystery of the good tidings known— 20On behalf of which I am an ambassador on a chain, so that while attached to it I might speak boldly, as it is necessary for me to speak.

21Now, so that you also know my affairs, what I am doing, Tychus—the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord—will apprise you of everything, 22Whom I sent to you for this very reason, so that you might know about our affairs and might give your hearts encouragement.

23Peace to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus the Anointed in incorruption.

Notes
a. Again, these are names for the celestial spiritual or angelic powers governing the cosmos.

b. πατριά (patria) (from πατήρ [patēr], “father”): “lineage,” “patrilineal descent,” or a “family,” “people,” or “tribe” derived from a single forefather. The point here is that every family, clan, or people ultimately derives its lineage from the one God who is Father of all.

c. The verb here and in the following verses, ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō), literally means “subordinate,” in the sense either of “arranging under” or of being “sub-ordinated to”; but it can also mean being “stationed under the shelter” of something or someone, like a horse tethered beneath an awning, or simply being “assigned” to someone. In the case of wives and husbands, the issue here does not seem to be merely one of domestic authority (which in the first century would have been regarded as a matter of positively banal obviousness), but also one of reciprocal service and protection. Hence, the verb has a very different connotation than does, say, ὑπακούω (hypakouō), which is used in the next chapter of the obedience of children to parents or of slaves to masters. In the world of late antiquity a household was under the authority of the paterfamilias; but it is also the case that, in an unpoliced society, households were often small fortresses with bolted outer gates and inner doors, wives were often much younger than their husbands, and male labor was the foundation of most of the economy. So, here, a husband’s reciprocal responsibility to his wife—who is under the shelter of his household—is to lay down his life for her, on the model of Christ’s self-sacrificial headship.

The Letter to the Philippians

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul and Timothy, slaves of the Anointed One Jesus, to all the holy ones in the Anointed One Jesus who are in Philippi, together with supervisors and ministers; 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed.

3I give my God thanks for your every remembrance, 4At all times, in my every supplication on behalf of you all, making the supplication with joy 5At your communion in the good tidings from the first day till now, 6Confident in just this: that he who initiated a good work in you will bring it to completion by the time of the Anointed One Jesus’s Day—7As it is right for me to think this in regard to all of you, for I have you in my heart, both in my chains and in defending and confirming the good tidings, all of you being fellow participants in my grace. 8For, God is my witness: how I long for you with the inmost affections of the Anointed One Jesus. 9And this I pray: that your love might abound yet more and more in full knowledge and in all percipience, 10So that you discern the things that are exceptional, in order that you might be pure and blameless on the Anointed’s Day, 11Having been filled with the fruit of uprightness that comes through Jesus the Anointed, to the glory and praise of God. 12And I wish you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have indeed conduced to the advancement of the good tidings, 13Such that it has become obvious in the whole of the praetorium and to everyone else that my chains are for the Anointed, 14And most of the brethren in the Lord, made confident by my fetters, dare to speak God’s word with more abundant fearlessness; 15Some indeed proclaim the Anointed out of envy and strife, and some out of good will: 16The latter out of love, knowing that I am placed here to defend the good tidings; 17The former proclaim the Anointed out of rivalry, impurely, thinking to add affliction to my fetters. 18To what end? Notwithstanding which, the Anointed is proclaimed in every way—whether in pretense or in truth—and in this I rejoice; yet I shall rejoice also 19Because I know that, through your supplication, this will result for me in salvation, and provision by the Spirit of Jesus the Anointed, 20As accords with my ardent expectation and hope that I shall be made ashamed by nothing, but that instead the Anointed shall be magnified in my body, with all boldness—as always, so also now—whether by life or by death. 21For, to me, to live is the Anointed and to die is a gain. 22Yet, if it be to live on in the flesh, this means fruitful labor for me; and which I shall choose I do not know. 23And I am straitened between the two, having the desire to depart and be with the Anointed, for this is better by far; 24And yet it is more expedient to remain in the flesh on your account. 25And this I know with confidence: that I shall remain and continue on with all of you, for the sake of your advancement and joy in the faith, 26So that, by my being present with you again, your exultation over me might abound in the Anointed One Jesus.

27Only be good citizens, in a way worthy of the good tidings of the Anointed One, so that I—whether coming and seeing you or being absent—hear of your affairs: that you stand in one spirit, striving together in the faith of the good tidings with one soul, 28And without being terrified in any way by adversaries—which is a sign of ruin for them, but of salvation for you, and this from God; 29Because for the Anointed’s sake it has been granted you not only to have faith in him, but also to suffer on his behalf, 30Having the same struggle that you saw in me, and that you now hear of in me.

CHAPTER TWO

1If, therefore, there is in the Anointed any comfort, if any consolation of love, if any communion of spirit, if any inward affections and feelings of pity, 2Make my joy full, so that you may be of the same mind, having the same love, together in soul, minding one thing—3Nothing according to rivalry or according to vainglory, but rather in humility esteeming each other as far better than your own selves, 4Each looking not to his own concerns, but rather each to the concerns of others. 5Be of that mind in yourselves that was also in the Anointed One Jesus, 6Who, subsisting in God’s form, did not deem being on equal terms with Goda a thing to be grasped,b 7But instead emptied himself,c taking a slave’s form, coming to be in a likeness of human beings; and, being found as a human being in shape,d 8He reducede himself, becoming obedient all the way to death, and a death by a cross. 9For which reason God also exalted him on high and graced him with the name that is above every name, 10So that at the name of Jesus every knee—of beings heavenly and earthly and subterranean—should bend, 11And every tongue gladly confess that Jesus the Anointed is Lord, for the glory of God the Father.

12Thus, my beloved ones, just as you have always been obedient (not as if only in my presence, but a great deal more so in my absence), work out your own salvation in reverence and trembling, 13For it is God who is making active within you both the willing and the working of that which is dearly desirable. 14Do all things without murmurings and disputations, 15That you might come to be blameless and inviolate, children of God, without fault amid a twisted and perverse generation, among whom you shine as luminaries within the cosmos, 16Holding forth life’s word, so that the boast may be mine on the Anointed’s Day that I neither ran in vain nor labored in vain. 17But, if indeed I am a votary libation poured out upon the sacrifice and the liturgy of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice along with all of you; 18And you likewise: rejoice and rejoice along with me.

19And I hope in Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that in knowing of your affairs I too might be stout of soul. 20For I have no one equal to him in soul, who will genuinely care about your affairs; 21For all seek after the things that concern themselves, and not the things of the Anointed One Jesus. 22But you know the proof of him: that, like a child with his father, he slaved with me in the good tidings; 23This one I therefore hope to send as soon as I see how things stand with me; 24And I trust in the Lord that I too shall come shortly. 25But I deemed it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, as well as your Apostle and attendant to my needs, 26Inasmuch as he has been longing after all of you, and has been worried because you heard that he was ill. 27For he was indeed ill, very nearly to death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me as well, so that I might not have grief laid upon grief. 28I have sent him all the more eagerly, therefore, so that on seeing him again you might rejoice, and so that I might be less grieved. 29So welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and hold such men in honor, 30Because he drew extremely near to death, risking his soul for the Anointed’s work, so that he might supply what your ministry to me was as yet lacking.

CHAPTER THREE

1As for the rest, brothers, rejoice in the Lord. For me, writing the same things to you is not something troublesome, but is steadfastness toward you.

2Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for the “In-cision”f—3For it is we, those worshipping and boasting in the Anointed One Jesus by the Spirit of God and not trusting in flesh, who are the Circumcision—4Although I do have trust in flesh as well: if any man thinks to trust in the flesh, I more so, 5With my circumcision at eight days of age—of the race of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, as well as a Hebrew coming from Hebrews, as regards the Law a Pharisee, 6As regards zeal a persecutor of the assembly, as regards the uprightness that is found within the Law a man who came to be blameless. 7But the things that were to me a gain, on account of the Anointed I have deemed these to be a loss. 8But, in fact, I also deem everything to be a loss on account of the excellence of the knowledge of the Anointed One Jesus, my Lord, on whose account I lost all things, and deem them to be excrement, so that I might gain the Anointed, 9And be found in him, having as mine not the righteousness that comes from Law, but that which comes through the faithfulness of the Anointed, the righteousness of God resting upon faithfulness, 10That of knowing him, and the power of his resurrection, and communion in his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11If only I might somehow attain to that “ex-surrection” that is from the dead.g 12Not that I have obtained it already, or have already been perfected, but I press onward, that perhaps I might seize that for which I myself was seized by the Anointed One Jesus. 13Brothers, I do not yet reckon myself to have seized hold, save of one thing: Both forgetting the things lying behind and also stretching out to the things lying ahead, 14I press onward to the mark, for the prize of God’s call above in the Anointed One Jesus. 15Let, therefore, as many of us as are perfected be of this mind; and if you are of another mind, God will also reveal this to you; 16Regardless of what we have attained to, let us fall into line with the same thing, [let us be of the same mind]. 17Become my fellow imitators, brothers, and pay attention to those walking thus, just as you take your example from us. 18For many—of whom I have spoken to you often, and speak now also, shedding tears—walk as enemies of the Anointed’s cross—19Whose end is ruin, whose God is their guts and whose glory is in their shame, whose mind is on earthly things. 20For our citizenship is in the heavens, from which we also eagerly await a savior, Lord Jesus the Anointed, 21Who will transfigure the body of our abjectness, conformed to the body of his glory by the operation of his power for setting all things in order under himself.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore, my beloved and dearly desired brothers, my joy and crown, take your stand in the Lord thus, my beloved ones.

2I beseech Evodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3And, yes, I ask you, my true yoke-fellow, take care of those women who struggled along with me in the good tidings, with Clement and with the rest of my fellow workers as well, whose names are in life’s book. 4Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your fairness be known to all human beings. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but rather in everything let your petitions be known to God by prayer and supplication, accompanied by thanksgiving. 7And the peace of God that surpasses every mind will keep watch over your hearts and your thoughts in the Anointed One Jesus. 8As to the rest, brothers, whatever things are grand, whatever right, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good repute—if there be any virtue and be any praise—9Ponder these things. Those things that you learned and received and heard and saw in me, put these into practice; and the God of peace will be with you.

10And I have rejoiced greatly in the Lord that you have now, at last, revived your thoughtfulness on my behalf—inasmuch as, even though you have indeed been thoughtful, you have had no opportunity. 11Not that I am speaking as a result of want; for I have learned to be self-sufficient, whatever the circumstances I am in. 12I know both how to be lowly and how to abound; I have been initiated into all mysteries—both how to be sated and how to be famished, both how to abound and how to suffer want. 13I have strength for all things in him who gives me the power. 14Nevertheless, you did nobly in together keeping communion with me in my affliction. 15And know also, you Philippians, that when I departed from Macedonia, at the very start of my proclamation of the good tidings, in the matter of giving and receiving not a single assembly kept communion with me save you alone, 16For you sent to me even in Thessalonika, more than once supplying my need. 17Not that I am seeking a donation; rather, I am seeking fruit whose increase is credited to your account. 18But I have all things and I abound; I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things issuing from you, a sweet fragrance’s aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19And my God will fill your every need according to his riches, in glory, in the Anointed One Jesus. 20And to our God and Father be the glory, unto the ages of the ages; amen.

21Greet every holy one in the Anointed One Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22All the holy ones greet you, and most especially those from Caesar’s household.

23The grace of the Lord Jesus the Anointed be with your spirit.

Notes
a. τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ (to einai isa theōi): a somewhat obscure phrase. Literally, perhaps, it might be translated as “the [state of] being equal to God,” the whole infinitive phrase functioning as a single substantive. But the form of the predicate “equal,” ἴσα, is the neuter plural, not the masculine singular (ἴσος [isos]). And the plural neuter traditionally has a number of distinctive uses: in a very formal legal sense, for instance, it can denote equality of rights, privileges, and duties (the “equal things” common to all enfranchised citizens); or it can mean “equal shares” or “fair shares” (a connotation that would perhaps fit neatly with the word ἁρπαγμός [harpagmos], which precedes it in the Greek text of the verse: see following note).

b. ἁρπαγμός (harpagmos), a word that typically means “something seized” or “stolen,” “plunder,” but that might also have much the same connotation here as ἅρπαγμα (harpagma), a “windfall” or perhaps “prize.” Or perhaps it should be read as “something to be clung to” or “held onto,” a prize Christ might have jealously kept to himself, but which instead he relinquished in “emptying” or “impoverishing” himself for us (see following note).

c. ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσιν (heavton ekenōsen): “emptied himself,” “impoverished himself,” “divested himself.”

d. σχήματι . . . ὡς ἄνθρωπος (schēmati . . . hōs anthrōpos). The word σχῆμα (schēma) means “shape,” “figure,” “form,” but also often has the meaning of “appearance” or “outward aspect” (as opposed to “inward reality”).

e. ἐταπείνωσεν (etapeinōsen): “reduced,” “lessened,” “lowered,” “humbled, “abased.”

f. ἡ κατατομή (katatomē): literally, an “incision” or “carving into” the surface of something, or the cutting of a notch or groove. Here it is used as a mocking equivalent for περιτομή (peritomē), “circumcision.”

g. τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν (tēn exanastasin tēn ek nekrōn): ἐξανάστασις can mean either “arising from” or “removal”; but the root ανάστασις (anastasis) means “resurrection,” and so the entire phrase might be rendered as “that out-resurrection that is out of the dead.” The play on words is not much less ponderous in the Greek.

The Letter to the Colossians

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, by God’s will an Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus, and brother Timothy, 2To the holy and faithful brethren in the Anointed in Colossae: grace and peace to you from God our Father.

3We give thanks to God, Father of our Lord Jesus [the Anointed], praying about you always, 4Having heard of your faithfulness in the Anointed One Jesus, and of the love that you harbor for all the holy ones, 5Because of the hope stored up for you in the heavens, of which you have already heard in the word of the good tidings’ truth, 6Which has come to you—as it has to all the cosmos, bearing fruit and growing, just as in you since the day when you first heard it and fully knew God’s grace in truth, 7Just as you learned it from our beloved fellow-slave Epaphras, who is a faithful minister of the Anointed on your behalf, 8And who has made clear to us your love in spirit.

9Hence we also, since the day we heard this, do not cease to pray on your behalf and to ask that you may be filled by the full knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10To walk in a way worthy of the Lord, wholly pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the full knowledge of God, 11Being empowered with every power by the might of his glory, for all endurance and longanimity, with joy, 12Giving thanks to the Father who has made you fit for participation in the holy ones’ allotment in the light, 13Who delivered us from the power of the darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his love’s Son, 14In whom we have the price of liberation, the forgiveness of sins, 15Who is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation,a 16Because in him were created all things in the heavens and on earth, the visible as well as the invisible (whether Thrones or Lordships or Archons or Powers);b all things were created through him and for him; 17And he is before all things, and all things hold together in him, 18And he is the head of the body, of the assembly—who is the origin, firstborn from the dead, so that he might himself hold first place in all things—19For in him all the Fullness was pleased to take up a dwelling,c 20And through him to reconcile all things to him, making peace by the blood of his cross [through him], whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens. 21And you, back then, had been aliens and enemies in thought, through wicked deeds, 22Yet now he has effected reconciliation by a death, in the body of his flesh, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, 23If you indeed abide in the faith, established and steadfast and not moved away from hope in the good tidings that you have heard proclaimed to every creature under heaven, of which I Paul became a minister.

24Now I rejoice in sufferings on your behalf, filling in the things belonging to the Anointed’s sufferings that are lacking in my flesh, on behalf of his body, which is the assembly, 25Of which I became a minister according to God’s stewardship, which I have been given for your sake, to fulfill God’s word, 26The mystery that has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but that has now been made manifest in his holy ones, 27By whom God wished to make known what the wealth of this mystery’s glory is among the gentiles, which is the Anointed within you, the hope of glory, 28Whom we proclaim, warning every human being and teaching every human being in all wisdom, so that we may present every human being as perfected in the Anointed; 29For which I too struggle, according to his operation working within me in power.

CHAPTER TWO

1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for your sake, and for that of those in Laodicea, and for so many who have not seen my face in the flesh, 2So that their hearts, being joined together in love, might be encouraged onward toward all the riches of full certainty in understanding, for full knowledge of the mystery of God, of the Anointed, 3In whom are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. 4I say this so that no one may beguile you with plausible talk. 5For though I am indeed absent from you in the flesh, I am still with you in spirit, rejoicing, and seeing your orderliness and the steadfastness of your faithfulness to the Anointed.

6Therefore, just as you received the Anointed One, Jesus the Lord, walk in him, 7Having been rooted and built up in him, and being confirmed in the faith just as you were taught it, abounding in thanksgiving. 8Watch that there be no one who robs you by way of philosophy and empty deceit according to the traditions of human beings, according to the Elementals of the cosmos,d and not according to the Anointed; 9Because in him dwells all the Fullness of deity bodily,e 10And you are those who have been made full in him who is the head of every Rule and Power, 11In whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not accomplished by hand, through the shedding of the body of the flesh, through the circumcision of the Anointed, 12Buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised along with him by the faithfulness of the operation of the God who raised him from the dead; 13And, while you were dead in trespasses and in your foreskin of flesh,f he gave you life along with him, forgiving all trespasses, 14Expunging what is written by hand against us—contrary to us—in ordinances, and has removed it, out of the way, nailing it to the cross; 15Stripping the Archons and Powers, he exposed them in the open, leading them prisoner along with him in a triumphal procession.

16Therefore, let no one judge you for eating and drinking, or for taking part in a festival or in a new moon celebration or in Sabbaths; 17These are a shadow of things to come, but the solid body thereof is that of the Anointed. 18Let no verdict be passed against you by anyone affecting humility and a religion of the angels, venturing upon visions he has never had, blustering aimlessly by the mind of his flesh, 19Not holding to the head from whom all the body—furnished and knitted together by its joints and ligatures—will grow with a growth from God.

20If with the Anointed you died away from the Elementals of the cosmos, why are you submissive to ordinances, as though living in the cosmos—21“Do not handle” or “taste” or “touch” 22Things that are all reduced to decay in being used up—according to the injunctions and teachings of human beings? 23Which things indeed—though having a reputation as wisdom on account of affected religion and mental lowliness and lavish neglect of the body—are of no real value against indulgence of the flesh.

CHAPTER THREE

1If, therefore, you were raised together with the Anointed, seek the things above, where the Anointed is sitting at God’s right hand; 2Set your mind on the things above, not the things on earth. 3For you have died and your life has been hidden with the Anointed in God; 4When the Anointed, our life, is made manifest, then you too will be made manifest along with him in glory.

5So mortify those bodily members that are on earth: whoring, impurity, passion, malign desire, and acquisitiveness (which is idolatry), 6On account of which things God’s indignation is coming, 7And in which things you used to walk, back then when you lived by them; 8But now you must put it all away: indignation, animosity, malice, blasphemy, obscene speech from your mouth; 9Do not lie to one another, having shed the old man along with all his practices, 10And having donned the new man, who is renewed in full knowledge, according to the image of the one creating him, 11Where there is no Greek and Judaean, Circumcision and Foreskin, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman; rather, the Anointed is all things and is in all. 12Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on inward compassion, honesty, humility, gentleness, magnanimity—13Upholding one another and forgiving one another if anyone should have a complaint against anyone . . . just as the Lord forgave you, so you also—14And, above all of these, love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the Anointed’s peace rule in your hearts, to which you were indeed called in one body; and become thankful. 16Let the word of the Anointed dwell within you richly, teaching and admonishing each other in all wisdom, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing in grace within your hearts to God; 17And everything you do whatsoever, in word or in deed, do all things in Lord Jesus’s name, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18Wives, station yourselves underg your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. 20Children, obey your parents regarding all things, for this delights the Lord. 21Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they might not be dispirited. 22Slaves, obey your lords according to the flesh in regard to all things, not by affecting slavishness before people’s eyes, like someone obsequious to human beings, but in sincerity of heart, revering the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work from the soul as for the Lord and not for human beings, 24Knowing that you will receive the reward of the inheritance from the Lord. You slave for the Lord, the Anointed. 25For the one acting unjustly will suffer the wrong he has done, and there is no respecting of persons.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Lords, provide the slaves with what is right and fair, knowing that you also have a Lord in heaven.

2Persevere in prayer, keeping watch in it with thanksgiving, 3Praying together for us as well, in order that God might open a door to the word for us, to speak the mystery of the Anointed, on account of which I have also been put in bonds, 4So that I make it clear, as it is necessary for me to speak. 5Conduct yourselves in wisdom toward outsiders, redeeming the season: 6Your speech always with grace, seasoned with salt, to know how you should answer each man.

7All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother and fellow minister and fellow slave in the Lord, 8Whom I sent to you for this very thing, so you might know of our affairs, and so he might comfort your hearts, 9Along with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother who is one of you; they will make known to you all the things here.

10Aristarchus, my fellow captive, greets you, as does Mark the cousin of bar-Nabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11As well as Jesus—the one called Justus—who are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom from among the Circumcision, and who have become a comfort to me. 12Epaphras greets you, he who is one of you, a slave of the Anointed One Jesus, always wrestling in prayers on your behalf, that you might stand perfect and be brought to your full measure in all God’s will. 13For, as regards him, I attest that he suffers considerable distress on behalf of you, and of those in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis. 14Luke the physician, the beloved, greets you, as does Demas. 15Greet the brethren in Laodicea, as well as Nymphas and the assembly at her house. 16And, when this letter is read before you, make sure that it is also read in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read out the one for Laodicea. 17And say to Archippus, “See to the ministry that you received in the Lord, so that you might fulfill it.”

18The greeting by my—Paul’s—hand. Remember my fetters. Grace be with you.

Notes
a. πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως (prōtotokos pasēs ktiseōs): perhaps “of every creature the firstborn” or “born prior to all creation [every creature].” This last reading may accord best with the following verse’s assertion that all things were created in Christ.

b. Again, these are all titles for the invisible spiritual powers—angelic or daemonian—who hold sway over this cosmos.

c. εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι (evdokēsen pan to plērōma katoikēsai): The verb “was pleased” (εὐδόκησεν) here seems naturally to take “all the Fullness [Plērōma]”—divine? creaturely? both?—as its subject, but perhaps God the Father or Christ is the subject intended. Moreover, πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα is neuter, but as the sentence continues to unfold in the following verse the present participle “making peace” (εἰρηνοποιήσας [eirēnopoiēsas])—which should take the same subject—is masculine. This may simply be a case of personification, or perhaps the subject at that point has casually and somewhat ungrammatically shifted to Christ, consequent upon the preceding phrase.

d. τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (ta stoicheia tou kosmou): “the elements of the cosmos,” “the principles of the cosmos,” perhaps “the elemental spirits of the cosmos.” It is an obscure phrase, and it is not elucidated in what follows. Some take it as meaning simply the material constituents of the world, or the “flesh” of the “psychical” or “animal” body, or perhaps lifeless idols. “Stoicheia” can also refer to the most “elementary” aspects of language, which a child must learn before advancing to written words; for some, this suggests that all human traditions are here being likened to a children’s earliest lessons. But the phrase might also refer to the “Elementals,” as in my rendering: elemental spirits of the (fallen) world, or even those spiritual powers on high who govern the nations (as in v. 10 below), who hold the world in thrall but who have been defeated by Christ; they may even be understood as those fallen angels of the natural world who, according to the book of Jubilees, fathered the nefilim (monstrous giants) on human women, and thereby all the demons who haunt this world. This interpretation also strikes me as a plausible reading within the larger context of the Pauline theology of this age and the Age to come, and of Christ’s conquest of the “principalities and powers.” (See also Galatians 4:3 and 1 Peter 3:18–19 and my footnotes thereto.)

e. As in 1:19 above, the formula πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα (pan to plērōma), but here identified specifically as “all the Fullness of deity” (θεότητος [theotētos]).

f. The image here can easily be missed, especially if the pudency of traditional translations substitutes the word “uncircumcision” for “foreskin.” Paul seems not to mean simply that his readers were once uncircumcised in body, but that their flesh itself (as opposed to spirit) constituted a “foreskin” that was removed by a circumcision not accomplished by hand, baptism into Christ and the new covenant (vv. 11–12 above).

g. The verb here, ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō), literally means “subordinate,” in the sense either of “arranging under” or of being “subordinate to”; but it can also mean being “stationed under the shelter” of something or someone, or simply being “assigned” to someone. In the case of wives and husbands, the issue here does not seem to be merely one of domestic authority (which in the first century would have been a matter of positively banal obviousness), but also one of reciprocal service and protection. Hence, the verb has a very different connotation than does, say, ὑπακούω (hypakouō), which is used two verses below of the obedience of children to parents. In the world of late antiquity a household was under the authority of the paterfamilias; but it is also the case that, in an unpoliced society, households were often small fortresses with bolted outer gates and inner doors, wives were often much younger than their husbands, and male labor was the foundation of most of the economy.

The First Letter to the Thessalonikans

BY PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the assembly of the Thessalonikans, in God the Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed: grace and peace to you.

2We always give thanks to God concerning you, making mention unceasingly in our prayers, 3Remembering the working of your faithfulness and the labor of your love and the patience of your hope in our Lord Jesus the Anointed before our God and Father, 4Knowing of your choice,a brothers beloved by God, 5Because our good tidings came to you not only in word, but also in power and in a Holy Spirit and with great assurance—just as you know what sort of men we came to be on your account when among you. 6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word with the Holy Spirit’s joy, even though in a great deal of affliction, 7So that you became a model for all those in Macedonia and Achaea who have faith. 8For the word of the Lord has not sounded out from you only in Macedonia and Achaea; rather, your faithfulness to God has been communicated in every place, so we need say nothing; 9For, as regards us, they themselves proclaim what sort of entrance to you we had, and how you turned to God from the idols, to slave for a God living and true, 10And to await his Son out of the heavens, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the approaching ire.

CHAPTER TWO

1For of our entrance in among you, brothers, you yourselves know that it has not come about in vain; 2Rather, having previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi (as you are aware), we were bold in our God to speak God’s good tidings to you amid a considerable struggle. 3For our appeal came not from error or from impurity or with guile. 4Rather, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the good tidings, so we speak, so as to please not human beings but the God who tests our hearts. 5For neither at any time did we come with words of flattery (as you know), nor with any motive of acquisitiveness (God be our witness), 6Nor seeking glory from human beings, either from you or from others, 7Though it lay within our power as Apostles of the Anointed to place a burden upon you; but rather, when among you, we became gentle, just as a nurse might cherish her own children; 8In this way, longing for you, it pleased us to give you not only God’s good tidings, but our own souls, because you came to be beloved by us. 9For you remember our labor and toil, brothers: Working night and day so as not to place a burden on any of you, we proclaimed God’s good tidings to you. 10You are witnesses, and God also, in how pious and upright and blameless a manner we behaved toward you who have faith, 11As you know—toward each one of you just like a father toward his own children, 12Exhorting and consoling you and attesting that you should walk in a way worthy of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory. 13And for this reason we also unceasingly give thanks to God that, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you received not a word of human beings but rather a word—as it truly is—of God, who also operates within you who have faith. 14For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies in Judaea in the Anointed One Jesus, because you too suffered the very same sort of things from your own fellow-countrymen as they did from the Judaeans in turn—15They who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and who also drove us out, displeasing God and opposed to all human beings, 16Hindering us from speaking to the gentiles so that they might be saved, thus always replenishing their own sins. And the ire has at last overtaken them.

17But we, brothers, bereaved of you for an hour’s breadth—in face, not in heart—we were yet more abundantly eager in our great desire to look upon your face. 18For which reason we had wanted to come to you—indeed I, Paul, more than once—and the Accuserb hindered us. 19For what is our hope or joy or crown or boast before Lord Jesus, in his presence, if it is not in fact you? 20For you are our glory and our joy.

CHAPTER THREE

1So, bearing it no longer, we were content to be left alone in Athens, 2And sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the good tidings of the Anointed, to fortify you and to encourage you in your faithfulness, 3So no one should be wagged aboutc by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed for this, 4Because even when we were with you we foretold to you that we were about to suffer affliction, as indeed happened (as you also know). 5So I also, no longer bearing it, sent to gain knowledge regarding your faithfulness, for fear the Tempter had somehow tempted you and our labor had been reduced to vanity. 6But now Timothy has come to us from you and announced to us the good tidings of your faithfulness and love, and announced that you always keep a good remembrance of us, longing to see us as we also you. 7We were therefore encouraged regarding you, brothers, in all our anguish and affliction, on account of your faithfulness, 8For we live now so long as you stand in the Lord. 9For what thanks can we give to God as regards you, in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before God on your account, 10Night and day praying to excess to see your face and to restore the imperfections of your faith? 11And may our God and Father himself, as well as our Lord Jesus, direct our path to you; 12And the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, just as we also for you, 13To confirm your hearts as blameless in holiness before our God and Father, in the presence of our Lord Jesus, with all his holy ones.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore, brothers, as to the rest, we beseech and entreat in the Lord Jesus that, just as you have learned from us the manner in which you must walk and please God, and just as you do indeed walk, so you should excel at it still more. 2For you know what injunctions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3For this is God’s will, your sanctification: for you to abstain from whoring, 4For each one of you to know how to take possession of his own vesseld in holiness and honor—5Not in lust’s passion like the gentiles who do not know God—6So that no one transgress upon or plunder his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the one who exacts justice for all such things, as we have told you in the past and have solemnly attested. 7For God did not call us to impurity, but in holiness. 8For that very reason, whoever rejects this is rejecting not a man, but God, who indeed gives you his Spirit, the Holy One. 9Now, as regards brotherly love, my writing to you is something of which you have no need; for you are taught to love one another by God. 10And indeed you put it into action toward all the brethren in the whole of Macedonia. But we entreat you, brothers, to excel at it still more, 11And to make it your ambition to be quiet and to occupy yourselves with your own affairs and to work with your own hands, just as we enjoined you, 12In order that you may conduct yourselves decorously toward outsiders and may have need of nothing.

13Now we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, regarding those who sleep, so that you might not grieve like those others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so will God also, through Jesus, bring along with him those who sleep. 15For this we say to you, in a word from the Lord: that we who are alive—those remaining till the Lord’s arrival—shall by no means have precedence over those who have slept; 16Because the Lord himself—with a word of command, with an archangel’s voice, and with a trumpet of God—will descend from the sky, and the dead in the Anointed will be first to rise again; 17Then we the living who remain will be seized together with them among clouds, into the Lord’s escort through the air; and thus we shall be with the Lord always. 18So comfort one another with these words.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Now, brothers, you do not need to be written to regarding the times and the seasons; 2For you are yourselves keenly aware that the Lord comes like a thief at night. 3When they are saying “peace and safety,” it is then that ruin comes upon them suddenly, like the pregnant woman’s birth-pang, and they cannot escape by any means. 4But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; 5For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are neither of night nor of darkness; 6So let us not sleep like the rest, but let us be vigilant and sober. 7For those who are sleeping sleep by night, and those who are drunk are drunk by night; 8But we who are of the day, let us be sober, donning a breastplate of faithfulness and love, and hope of salvation for a helmet; 9For God has appointed us not for ire, but rather for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 10Who died for us so that we, whether we are vigilant or we sleep, may live with him. 11So, comfort one another, and each edify the other—as indeed you do.

12Now we entreat you, brothers, to recognize those who labor among you and who are set over you in the Lord and who admonish you, 13And hold them in high esteem in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14And we exhort you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint of soul, support the weak, be magnanimous with all. 15See to it that no one return evil for evil; rather, always pursue the good, in regard to each other and in regard to all. 16Always rejoice, 17Pray incessantly, 18In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will toward you in the Anointed One Jesus. 19Do not quench the spirit; 20Do not disdain prophecies; 21And test all things; hold fast to what is good; 22Abstain from every appearance of wickedness. 23And may the God of peace himself make you holy with absolute completeness, and may the whole of you—spirit and soul and body—be preserved blamelessly at the arrival of our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 24The one who calls you—who will surely do it—is faithful.

25Brothers, pray for us [also].

26Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 27I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brethren.

28The grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed be with you.

Notes
a. ἐκλογή (eklogē): “choice,” “selection,” “collection.” Usually read here as referring to God’s “election” of the Christians in Thessalonika, but perhaps referring instead to their decision to believe, or even perhaps to a collection of goods that they, like other churches to whom Paul wrote, had made for support of other churches or of missions like Paul’s.

b. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

c. σαίνεσθαι (sainesthai): the passive infinitive of the verb σαίνω (sainō), which properly refers to the wagging of a dog’s tail, and by extension to fawning or cringing behavior; it can also refer to making someone glad or to deceiving or beguiling someone. How it should be read here is uncertain.

d. σκεῦος (skevos): “vessel,” “implement,” sometimes “sarcophagus.” Most interpreters take this to be a reference to the body (as its verbal form does in 2 Corinthians 4:7), but some think it to be a direct translation of the Hebrew kelî, used in some Rabbinic sources as a term for one’s wife.

The Second Letter to the Thessalonikans

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the assembly of the Thessalonikans, in God our Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed: 2Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Lord Jesus the Anointed.

3We ought always to give God thanks regarding you, brothers, as is a worthy thing, because your faithfulness grows beyond measure, and the love of all of you—each one for the other—increases, 4Such that we ourselves boast about you in God’s assemblies, on account of your patience and your faithfulness in all your persecutions, and in the afflictions you endure: 5A clear indication of the justice of God’s judgment in finding you worthy of God’s Kingdom (on behalf of which you also suffer), 6Since it is just on God’s part to repay those afflicting you with affliction, 7But you who suffer the affliction with repose in our company at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, along with the angels under his power, 8In a flaming fire, exacting justice upon those who do not know God and do not heed the good tidings of our Lord Jesus—9Who will pay the just reparation of ruin in the Age, coming from the face of the Lord and the glory of his might 10On that day when he comes to be glorified by his holy ones and to be worshipped with wonder by all those who have been faithful (because our witness to you was trusted). 11For which reason we do indeed pray for you always—that our God may deem you worthy of this calling and may fill every intention of goodness and work of faith with power, 12So that the name of the Lord Jesus might be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and of Lord Jesus the Anointed.

CHAPTER TWO

1Now, brothers, we implore you—as regards the arrival of [our] Lord Jesus the Anointed and our being gathered together to him—2That you neither be quickly shaken in mind, nor disturbed by a spirit or a discourse or a letter (purporting to be from us) to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come. 3By no means allow anyone to delude you that the apostasy would not come first, and the man of lawlessness—the son of perdition—be revealed: 4The one who is an adversary, and who exalts himself over everything called a god or object of worship, so as to seat himself in God’s Temple, proclaiming that he himself is a god.a 5Do you not remember that, when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things? 6And now you know what restrains him, so that he may be revealed at his proper time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already operating; one alone is restraining it, right up until he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will take away by the Spiritb of his mouth, and will bring to nothing by the revelation of his arrival: 9The man whose arrival is brought about by the operation of the Accuser,c with all power and with signs and marvels of falsehood, 10And with all the deceit of iniquity for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the love of the truth so that they might be saved—11And hence God sends them delusion’s operation, so that they believe the lie, 12So that all who did not have faith in the truth, but instead took pleasure in injustice, might be judged.

13And we ought to thank God always, brothers, regarding you who have been loved by the Lord, because God chose you as a firstfruit for salvation, in holiness of spirit and faithfulness to truth, 14To which he also called you by our good tidings, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 15So then, brothers, take your stand, and hold to the traditions you were taught, either by discourse or by one of our letters. 16And our Lord Jesus the Anointed himself, as well as God our Father who has loved us and has by grace given us the comfort of the Age and a good hope, 17May he comfort your hearts and make you steadfast in every good deed and word.

CHAPTER THREE

1As for the rest, brothers, pray concerning us that the Lord’s word may race on and be glorified (as indeed it has been with you), 2And that we may be delivered from outlandish and wicked men, for the faith is not everyone’s. 3But the Lord—who will make you firm and guard you from the wicked one—is faithful. 4And regarding you we are confident in the Lord that you are doing, and will do, those things we command. 5And may the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and into the Anointed’s perseverance.

6Now, brothers, I enjoin you in the name of the Lord Jesus the Anointed to draw back from every brother who walks idly and not according to the traditions you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when among you, 8And we ate bread not as a gift from anyone, but rather by labor and struggle, working night and day so as not to place a burden upon any of you; 9Not that we did not have the authority; rather, it was so that we might give ourselves to you as a model, for you to imitate us. 10For even when we were with you we enjoined this of you: that if anyone should not wish to work, neither let him eat. 11For we hear of some who walk in idleness among you, not doing any work, but just working themselves about;d 12And we enjoin and exhort such men in Lord Jesus the Anointed that, working in silence, they eat their own bread. 13And you, brothers, do not be remiss in doing good. 14And if anyone does not heed what we say in this letter, give a sign not to mix with this man, so that he might be made ashamed; 15Even so, do not deem him an enemy, but rather admonish him as a brother. 16And may the Lord of peace himself always give you peace in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

17The greeting of my hand—of Paul—by which I sign every letter: Thus I write. 18The grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed be with all of you.

Notes
a. Precisely who this “lawless one” was understood to be we do not know. He seems clearly modeled upon some fairly notorious precedents. The Seleucid tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes (c. 215–164 BCE) had installed an idol in the Jerusalem Temple—perhaps Zeus, or perhaps Ba’al—and sacrificed swine to it. This is the Abomination of Desolation of which the book of Daniel speaks in veiled language. The Roman emperor Caligula (12–41 CE) had also threatened to place an image of himself as Zeus in the Temple, but was assassinated before the plan was accomplished. Whatever the case, in later Christian generations the figure of this lawless man would be combined with the “antichrist” or “antichrists” of 1 and 2 John and the “beast” of Revelation to produce the legend of “the Antichrist” who will arise in the last days.

b. Or “breath.”

c. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

d. περιεργαζομένους (periergazomenous): literally, “working around,” “working all about,” which has the connotations of “wasting time,” “wasting work,” or even “being busybodies.”

The First Letter to Timothy

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, an Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus according to a command of God our savior and of the Anointed One Jesus, who is our hope, 2To Timothy, true child in faith: grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and the Anointed, our Lord.

3Just as I urged you when I went into Macedonia—to remain in Ephesus, so that you might enjoin certain persons not to teach different doctrines, 4Nor to devote themselves to myths and interminable genealogies, which produce curious inquiries rather than God’s stewardship in faith. 5Now the goal of the command is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faithfulness, 6From which some persons, missing the mark, have turned away to idle talk, 7Desiring to be teachers of Law, understanding neither what they are saying nor what they are so confidently affirming. 8Now we know that the Law is good, if one use it lawfully, 9And we know this: that Law is laid down not for an upright person, but for the lawless and disorderly, for the impious and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for parricides and matricides, for killers of men, 10For the whorish,a for men who couple with catamites,b slave-dealers, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else opposes sound teaching, 11In keeping with the good tidings of the glory of the blissful God with which I was entrusted. 12I am grateful to him who empowers me, the Anointed One Jesus our Lord, because he deemed me faithful, placing me in ministry, 13I who was formerly a blasphemer and persecutor and overweeningly violent; but I was shown mercy because I was ignorant when I acted in faithlessness. 14And the grace of our Lord was superabundant in faith and love in the Anointed One Jesus. 15This saying is trustworthy and worthy of all acceptance: that Jesus the Anointed entered the cosmos to save sinners, among whom I am foremost; 16But for this very reason I was shown mercy: so that in me, the foremost, Jesus the Anointed One might demonstrate total magnanimity, as a model to those coming to faith in him for life in the Age. 17Now to the King of the ages, the incorruptible invisible only God, honor and glory unto the ages of the ages; amen. 18I commit this command to you, Timothy my child, according to the earlier prophecies about you, so that by them you might wage the good war, 19Holding to faithfulness and good conscience, by casting which away some have caused shipwreck in respect to the faith, 20Among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I remanded to the Accuserc so that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

CHAPTER TWO

1First of all, therefore, I encourage petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings to be made on behalf of all human beings, 2On behalf of kings and of all who hold preeminence, so that we might lead a tranquil and quiet life in all piety and solemnity. 3This is a good and acceptable thing before our savior God, 4Who intends all human beings to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of truth. 5For there is one God, and also one mediator of God and human beings: a human being, the Anointed One Jesus, 6Who gave himself as a liberation fee for all persons, the proof rendered at their own proper times:d 7For which I was appointed as a herald and Apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and instructor of gentiles in faith and truth. 8Therefore, I desire the husbands in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or dissension. 9Likewise the wives to adorn themselves in well-ordered apparel, with modesty and prudence, not with braids and gold or pearls or extravagantly costly raiment, 10But rather with what befits women professing reverence for God: good works. 11Let a wife learn in quietude, in all orderly compliance; 12But I entrust it to a wife neither to teach nor to wield authority over her husband, but to abide in quietude, 13Because Adam was formed first, then Eve, 14And Adam was not deceived; rather the woman, being deceived, came to be in transgression; 15But she will be saved through the bearing of children, if they abide with temperance in faith and love and holiness.

CHAPTER THREE

1This is a trustworthy counsel: If anyone aspires to oversight, he is desirous of a good work. 2So it is necessary for a supervisor to be irreproachable, a husband of one wife, temperate, reasonable, orderly, hospitable to strangers, with an aptitude for teaching, 3Not addicted to wine, someone who does not resort to blows but is instead forbearing, not belligerent, not fond of money, 4A good leader of his own house, with all dignity, having children in compliant orderliness 5(And, if one does not know how to govern his own house, how will he take care of God’s assembly?), 6Not a neophyte, so that he might not, delirious with arrogance, fall into the judgment of the Slanderer—7And he must also have a good repute from outsiders, so that he might not succumb to calumny or to a snare of the Slanderer. 8—Necessary likewise for ministers to be dignified, not duplicitous, not overly given to wine, not given to the sordid desire for financial gain, 9Guarding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10And let these men first be tested and then, being without reproach, let them serve as ministers. 11—Necessary likewise for their wives to be dignified, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 12Let ministers be husbands of one wife, leading their children and their own houses well. 13For those who minister well obtain a good rank for themselves, and great confidence in the faith that is in Jesus the Anointed. 14I write these things to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, 15So that if I am delayed you might know how you need to comport yourself in God’s house, which is the assembly of a living God, a pillar and support of the truth. 16And confessedly the mystery of piety is great—who was manifested in flesh, proved righteouse in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among nations, an object of faith in the cosmos, taken up in glory.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will apostatize from the faith, devoting themselves to spirits that lead astray and to teachings of daemonic beings, 2By the charlatanry of liars, cauterized in their own conscience, 3Issuing commands not to marry, to abstain from foods—things that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who have faith and who have fully known the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving is to be cast away, 5For it is made holy by God’s word and by prayer. 6In laying these things down for the brethren, you will be a good minister of the Anointed One Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and by the good teachings you have followed. 7But reject profane and anile myths. And train yourself for piety; 8For bodily exercise is profitable for a short time, but piety is profitable for all things, holding promise for the present life and for that to come. 9This saying is trustworthy, and worthy of all acceptance. 10For we labor and struggle to this end, because we have hoped in a living God who is the savior of all human beings, especially those who have faith. 11Enjoin and teach these things. 12Let no one hold your youth in disdain, but instead become a model for the faithful in speech, in comportment, in love, in faithfulness, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to public reading, to exhortation, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gracious gift that is within you, which was given to you through prophecy accompanied by a laying-on of hands by the company of elders. 15Ponder these things; be absorbed in them, so that your advancement may be apparent to all. 16Be attentive to yourself and to the teaching. Persevere in these things; for, in so doing, you will save both yourself and those listening to you.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Do not rebuke an older man, but address him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2Older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 3Honor widows who are really widows. 4But, if any widow has children or grandchildren, let those persons learn to show piety toward their own house and to repay their forebears with due requitals; 5Now she who is a widow in reality, and who has been left all alone, has placed her hope in God and perseveres in petitions and prayers night and day; 6But she who is living profligately, though living, has died. 7And enjoin these things, so that they may be without reproach. 8And if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for his household, he has denied the faith—is indeed worse than faithless.

9Let a widow be put on the rolls when she has reached no less than sixty years of age as a wife of one man, 10Having received attestation for good works: whether she has raised children, whether she has been hospitable to strangers, whether she has washed the feet of holy persons, whether she succored the afflicted, whether she complied with every good work; 11But refuse younger widows, because, if they grow libidinous while belonging to the Anointed, they want to marry, 12Inviting judgment because they have cast aside their prior fidelity;f 13And at the same time they also learn to be idle, going about to all the households—and not only idlers, but gossips and meddlers also, talking about things that are improper. 14Therefore, I counsel younger women to wed, to bear children, to be mistresses of households, to give the enemy no pretext for the sake of slander; 15For some have already turned away in the Accuser’s train. 16If any woman of faith harbors widows, let her give them relief, and let the assembly not be burdened, so that it may give relief to those who really are widows. 17Let those elders who preside well be accounted worthy of double honor, especially those laboring at discourse and teaching. 18For the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading grain” and “Worthy is the worker of his pay.” 19Do not entertain an accusation made against an elder except upon the word of two or three witnesses. 20To those who sin, make your reproof in front of everyone, so that everyone else may be daunted. 21I solemnly attest, before God and the Anointed and the chosen angels, that you are to keep these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of partiality; 22Lay hands on no one hastily, neither have communion in the sins of others; keep yourselves pure. 23No longer drink water, but instead use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and of your frequent ailments. 24Some men’s sins are evident from the first, leading the way to judgment, while some men they pursue close behind; 25Similarly, works that are good are evident from the first, while those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.

CHAPTER SIX

1As many as are under yoke as slaves, let them esteem their own masters worthy of every honor, so that God’s name and teaching should not be blasphemed. 2And those who have masters who have faith, let them not think slightly of them because they are brothers, but let them slave yet better for them, because the recipients of that good work are persons faithful and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.

3If anyone teaches otherwise, and does not consent to these sound words, which are those of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, and to the teaching that accords with piety, 4He has become deluded with arrogance, understanding nothing; but he has a sickness for controversies and verbal battles, from which come envy, strife, blasphemies, wicked suspicions, 5Constant quarrels by men of corrupt mind and deprived of the truth, supposing piety to be a means of gaining a livelihood. [Withdraw from such men.] 6But the great profit is piety accompanied by self-sufficiency; 7For we have brought nothing into the cosmos, neither obviously can we carry anything away; 8But, having things to eat and things to wear, we shall be satisfied with these. 9But those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and are ensnared by many witless and injurious longings, which plunge human beings into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all evils, in reaching out for which some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves about with many pains. 11But you, O man of God, flee from these, and pursue righteousness, piety, faithfulness, love, endurance, gentleness. 12Struggle in the good struggle of the faith, lay hold of the life of the Age, for which you were called and for which you confessed the good confession before many witnesses. 13Before the God who makes all things live, and before the Anointed One Jesus who bore witness to the good confession in the time of Pontius Pilate, I enjoin 14That you keep the commandment, immaculate, irreproachable, until the radiant appearing of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 15Which he will display in his own proper times, the blissful and only Dynast, the King of those who reign and Lord of those who exercise lordship, 16He who alone possesses immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom none among human beings has seen or can see, to whom the honor and might of the Age; amen. 17To those who are rich in this present age, command them not to be high-spirited, and to vest hope not in the hiddenness of riches,g but rather in God, who richly provides us all things for enjoyment, 18To work the good, having their riches in good deeds, readily giving away, communalists,h 19Storing for themselves the treasury of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that is real. 20O Timothy, guard the deposit, turning away from the profane inanities and antitheses of what is falsely named knowledge, 21In professing which some have missed their aim as regards the faith.

Grace be with you.

Notes
a. πόρνοις (pornois): a “pornos” was typically a catamite, or boy prostitute, but in the Septuagint—and probably here—the term is used to mean anyone guilty of sexual wantonness.

b. ἀρσενοκοίταις (arsenokoitais). Precisely what an arsenokoitēs is has long been a matter of speculation and argument. Literally, it means a man who “beds”—that is, “couples with”—“males.” But there is no evidence of its use before the New Testament. There is one known instance in the sixth century AD of penance being prescribed for a man who commits arsenokoiteia upon his wife (sodomy, presumably), but that does not tell us with certainty how the word was used in the first century (if indeed it was used by anyone before Paul). It would not mean “homosexual” in the modern sense, for the simple reason that the ancient world possessed no comparable concept of a specifically homoerotic sexual identity; it would refer to a particular sexual behavior, but we cannot say exactly which one. The Clementine Vulgate interprets the word arsenokoitai as referring to users of male concubines; Luther’s German Bible interprets it as referring to paedophiles; and a great many versions of the New Testament interpret it as meaning “sodomites.” My guess at the proper connotation of the word is based simply upon the reality that in the first century the most common and readily available form of male homoerotic sexual activity was a master’s or patron’s abuse of young male slaves.

c. “The Satan,” which is to say, “prosecutor,” “accuser,” “arraigner.”

d. τὸ μαρτύριον καιροῖς ἰδίοις (to martyrion kairois idiois): a phrase of some considerable obscurity. It may mean a “proof” or “witness” that has been rendered “in its due season” (or, literally, seasons), or “in their own times,” or “in his own times,” or “in its own times.” My suspicion (and it is no more than that) is that τὸ μαρτύριον serves as a complement of ἀντίλυτρον (antilytron)—the manumission fee paid to redeem someone from slavery—in the preceding phrase, and that it refers to the legal writ (or even “receipt”) for emancipation, given in the “due times” of those being set free (that is, given when their terms of enslavement end).

e. ἐδικαιώθη (edikaiōthē): here employing the same verb that is traditionally translated as “justified” when applied to human beings, but that in all cases properly means either “proved righteous” or “made righteous” (here, presumably, the former).

f. τὴν πρώτην πίστιν (tēn prōtēn pistin): “the first faith,” “the earlier trust,” “the prior pledge.”

g. ἀδηλότητι (adēlotēti): the common translation of ἀδηλότης (adēlotēs) is “uncertainty,” but principally in the sense of “obscurity,” “unclarity”; literally, it means “what is not manifest” or “not evident.” Here I suspect it means simply the hiddenness of riches stored away in private possession.

h. κοινωνικόυς (koinōnikous): this is often translated as “generous,” “liberal,” or “sharing”; but, more properly, κοινωνικός (koinōnikos) refers to something held in common trust or communally owned; applied to a person, it might better be translated either as “belonging to the community” or “sharing his property in common.” In fact, it would probably be accurate to render the term here as “communists.”

The Second Letter to Timothy

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, an Apostle of the Anointed One Jesus by the will of God, according to a promise of the life that is in the Anointed One Jesus, 2To Timothy, beloved child: grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and the Anointed One Jesus our Lord.

3I am grateful to God—whom I worship from my ancestors with a pure conscience—that I keep remembrance of you in my petitions, night and day, 4Yearning to see you, having been reminded of your tears, so that I might be filled with joy, 5Calling to memory the unfeigned faithfulness in you, which previously resided in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and which I am convinced also resides in you. 6For which reason I remind you to fan the flame of the gracious gift of God, which is within you through the laying-on of my hands. 7For God gave us a spirit not of cowardice, but of power and of love and of moderation. 8Therefore, do not be ashamed of the witness of our Lord, or of me his prisoner, but be fellow sufferers of evil for the sake of the good tidings, by the power of God, 9Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our observances, but according to his own purpose and grace, which is given to us in the Anointed One Jesus from before the times of the ages,a 10But which is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior the Anointed One Jesus, abolishing death, and having brought life and incorruption to light by the good tidings, 11To which I was appointed as a herald and an Apostle and a teacher; 12For which reason I suffer these things as well, but am not ashamed, for I know in whom I have had faith, and I am convinced that he is able to guard my deposit for That Day. 13Hold on to the model of the sound words that you heard from me, in faith and in the love that is in the Anointed One Jesus; 14Guard the good deposit by the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. 15You are aware of this: that all those in Asia have turned away from me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them. 16May the Lord bestow mercy on the house of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not embarrassed by the chain binding me; 17Rather, on arriving in Rome he diligently sought and found me—18May the Lord grant it to him to find mercy from the Lord on That Day—and you are well aware of the matters he took care of in Ephesus.

CHAPTER TWO

1So you, my child, be empowered by the grace that is in the Anointed One Jesus, 2And those things that you have heard from me—by way of numerous witnesses—commit these to faithful men who will be competent to teach others. 3Be a fellow sufferer of evil, like a good soldier of the Anointed One Jesus. 4One who serves as a soldier is disentangled from life’s affairs, so that he might execute what the one who enlisted him in the army pleases. 5And if, indeed, a man competes as an athlete he does not receive the crown unless he competes lawfully. 6The husbandman who labors should be first to partake of the fruits. 7Think what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things. 8Remember Jesus the Anointed raised from the dead, of the seed of David, in keeping with my proclamation of the good tidings; 9For which I suffer evil, even to the point of being put in chains as an evildoer; but God’s word has not been enchained. 10Therefore I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they might obtain the salvation that is in the Anointed One Jesus, along with the glory of the Age. 11This saying is trustworthy: For, if we died with him, we shall also live with him; 12If we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we shall deny him, he will also deny us; 13If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 14Give reminders of these things, solemnly pledging before God not to engage in verbal battles, which lead to nothing useful, but bring catastrophe to those hearing them. 15Hasten to present yourself proven to God, a worker unashamed, cutting the word of truth straight. 16And shun profane inanities, for they will lead on to more impiety, 17And their talk will eat away like a gangrene—among these are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18Who missed their aim as regards the truth, saying the resurrection has come already, and they have overturned certain persons’ faith. 19But God’s foundation stands firm, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his own” and “Let everyone naming the Lord’s name stand away from injustice.” 20Now, in a great household there are vessels not only gold and silver, but wooden and earthen as well, and some are for worthy occasions and others for common; 21So, if someone purifies himself of these latter, he will be a vessel for worthy employment, having been made holy, well useful to his master, having been prepared for every good work. 22And flee youthful lusts and—along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart—pursue justice, faith, love, peace; 23But refuse imbecile and untutored questions, knowing that they breed fights; 24And a slave of the Lord must not engage in fights, but must be gentle toward all, able to teach, forbearing, 25Correcting opponents leniently, in case God might perhaps give them a turning of the heart toward a full knowledge of truth, 26And they might recover their sobriety, slipping from the snare of the Slanderer, having been caught by him to do his will.

CHAPTER THREE

1And know this: that in the last days there will be difficult times; 2For human beings will be lovers of self, lovers of money, shamelessly boastful, arrogant, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungracious, unholy, 3Lacking natural affection, implacable, slanderous, intemperate, savage, without love of the good, 4Traitorous, reckless, delirious with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5Holding to piety’s form but rejecting its power. And turn away from these men. 6From this sort of men come those who creep into homes and captivate little women burdened with sins and carried away by diverse lusts, 7Always studying and never able to arrive at a full knowledge of truth. 8And, just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, depraved in mind and reprobate as regards the faith. 9But they will advance no further, for their foolishness will be quite evident to all, just as those men’s came to be. 10But you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, magnanimity, love, endurance, 11Persecutions, sufferings (such as befell me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra)—what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! 12And in fact all who seek to live piously in the Anointed One Jesus will be persecuted, 13While wicked men and seductive imposters will continue their advance toward the worse, leading astray and going astray. 14But, as for you, continue in the things you have learned and been persuaded of, knowing those from whom you learned them, 15And knowing that from infancy you have known sacred scriptures, which can give you wisdom leading to salvation through faith in the Anointed One Jesus. 16Every scripture is divinely inspired,b and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, 17So that the man of God may be fitted completely, having been fitted out for every good work.

CHAPTER FOUR

1 Before God and the Anointed One Jesus, who is about to judge living and dead both by his appearing and by his Kingdom, I solemnly adjure: 2Proclaim the word; be faithful to it in season and out of season, reprove, admonish, exhort with all magnanimity and instruction. 3For a season will come when, having a tickling at the ear, they will not tolerate sound teaching, but will heap up teachers attuned to their own preferences, 4And in fact will avert the ear from the truth, and will be diverted toward myths. 5As for you, though, be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6For I am already being poured out in libation, and the time of my departure has arrived. 7I have struggled the good struggle, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8As for the rest, the crown of justice is laid up for me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award me on That Day—and not only me, but also all who have loved his appearing.

9Hasten to come to me in short order, 10For Demas, loving the present age, abandoned me and went to Thessalonika, Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia; 11Luke alone is with me. Take Mark along and bring him with you; for he is useful to me in ministering. 12And I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the books, the parchments especially. 14Alexander the coppersmith showed me many evils; the Lord will reward him according to his deeds, 15Against whom you too be on guard, for he opposed our discourse strenuously. 16At my first public defense, no one came to be beside me, but all abandoned me; may it not be counted against them. 17But the Lord stood by me and empowered me, so that through me the proclamation might be fulfilled and all the gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of a lion’s mouth. 18The Lord will deliver me from every wicked deed and will save me for his heavenly Kingdom—to whom be the glory unto the ages of the ages; amen.

19Greet Priscus and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20Erastus remained in Corinth, but Trophimus I left ailing in Miletus. 21Hasten to come before winter. Eubulus and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren greet you.

22The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Notes
a. “Aeonian times.”

b. θεόπνευστος (theopnevstos): “God-breathed,” “God-inspired.”

The Letter to Titus

ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL

CHAPTER ONE

1Paul, a slave of God and an Apostle of Jesus the Anointed One according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and according to the full knowledge of truth that accords with piety, 2In hope of the life of the Age, which God, who does not lie, promised before the times of the ages,a 3And who in his own due times made his word manifest by a proclamation, with which I was entrusted by the command of God our savior, 4To Titus, a true child by virtue of a faith held in common: grace and peace from God the Father and the Anointed One Jesus our savior.

5For this reason I left you in Crete: so that you might set right the things still needing to be done, and might appoint elders in each city as I enjoined you—6If there is anyone who is irreproachable, husband of one wife, having faithful children, not under accusation of profligacy, not insubordinate. 7For it is necessary that a supervisor, as God’s steward, be irreproachable—not self-willed, not vehement, not addicted to wine, not someone who resorts to blows, not prone to the sordid desire for financial gain—8But must instead be hospitable to strangers, a lover of the good, of sound mind, just, holy, self-controlled, 9Holding to the trustworthy word, in keeping with what he has been taught, so that he might be able both to encourage by sound teaching and to convince opponents. 10For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11Who must be muzzled, who overturn whole households, teaching things they should not for the sake of sordid financial gain. 12One of them, one of their own prophets, has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.” 13This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them cuttingly, so that they might be sound in the faith, 14Not heeding Judaean myths and commandments from men who turn away from the truth. 15To the pure all things are pure; but to the defiled and faithless nothing is pure; instead, their mind and conscience are both defiled. 16They profess to know God but deny him by their deeds, being abominable and recalcitrant and reprobate toward every good work.

CHAPTER TWO

1But, as for you, say things that are marked by sound teaching: 2Older men are to be sober, solemn, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance; 3Older women likewise reverent in demeanor, not slanderers, not enslaved by an excess of wine, teachers of the good, 4So that they might train the young women to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of children, 5Sensible, pure, working in the household, stationed below their own husbands, in order that God’s word should not be maligned. 6Likewise, urge the younger men to be sensible, 7In all things showing yourself a model of good works; when teaching, exhibiting incorruptibility, dignity, 8And sound speech, beyond reproach, so that any opponent may be embarrassed, having nothing ill to say of us. 9Slaves are to be ordered under their own masters in all things, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10Not pilfering, but rather demonstrating all good faith, so that in all things they may give adornments to the teaching of God our savior. 11For the grace of God has appeared, giving salvation to all human beings, 12Teaching us that we, in rejecting impiety and the desires proper to the cosmos, may live sensibly and rightly and piously in the present age, 13Awaiting the blissful hope, and the appearing of the glory, of the great God and of our savior, the Anointed One Jesus, 14Who gave himself on our behalf so that he might buy us out of all lawlessness, and might purify for himself a people of his very own, zealous for good works. 15Say these things, and exhort and reprove with all the power of command; let no one hold you in contempt.

CHAPTER THREE

1Remind them to be ordered under rulers, under authorities, to obey authority, to be ready for every good work, 2To speak evil of no one, not to be belligerent, showing gentleness to all human beings. 3For in the past we ourselves were also witless, disobedient, led astray, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, passing our lives in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another; 4But when the kindness and love for humankind of God our savior appeared—5Not from exercises in rectitude that we ourselves had performed,b but according to his mercy—he saved us by a washing of regeneration and a renewal of a Holy Spirit, 6Which he shed upon us richly through Jesus the Anointed One, our savior, 7So that, having been made righteousc by his grace, we might become heirs according to hope of life in the Age. 8This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to affirm these things forcibly, so that those who have been faithful to God may set their minds on perseverance in good works. These are things good and profitable to human beings. 9But shun foolish debates and genealogies and strife and battles about Law, for they are unprofitable and vain. 10Avoid a sectarian man after a first and a second admonition, 11Knowing that such a man is perverse and is sinning, having passed judgment on himself.

12Whenever I shall send Artemas or Tychicus to you, hasten to come to me in Nikopolis, for I have decided to winter there. 13Be diligent in sending Zenas the lawyer and Apollo onward, so that they should want for nothing. 14And let our people also learn how to maintain good works for pressing needs, so that they might not be unfruitful.

15All those who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us with faithfulness. Grace be with all of you.

Notes
a. “Aeonian times.”

b. οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ἃ ἐποιήσαν ἡμεῖς (ouk ex ergōn en dikaiosynēi ha epoiēsan hēmeis). It is the word “observances,” “exercises,” or “works,” and not the performing of them, that is qualified as being “in rectitude,” “in righteousness,” “in uprightness.” The formulation suggests that the “righteousness” in question is the “right requirements” of the Law of Moses, and that the works are then ritual and legal observances.

c. Or “proved righteous.”

The Letter to Philemon

BY PAUL

1Paul, a prisoner of the Anointed One Jesus, and brother Timothy, to Philemon, a man beloved to us and a fellow worker with us, 2And to sister Apphia, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the assembly that is in your house: 3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Lord Jesus the Anointed.

4I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5Hearing of the love and faithfulness that you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the holy ones, 6So that your communion in the faith might become effective by a full knowledge of every good thing that is within us for the Anointed’s sake, 7For I have had a great deal of joy and comfort over your love, brother, because the inward parts of the holy ones have been refreshed by you. 8Therefore, even though in the Anointed I have plenty of confidence in commanding the proper thing from you, 9For love’s sake I instead beseech you: Being such as I am—old man Paul—and now a prisoner of the Anointed One Jesus as well, 10I implore you regarding my child Onesimus, whom I begot in my chains—11Someone who was formerly useless to you but who is now of use to you and to me, 12Whom I have sent back to you—him, which is to say what is innermost to me—13Whom I had intended to keep with myself so that he might on your behalf minister to me in the fetters of the good tidings—14But I was unwilling to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness might be not a result of compulsion, but something voluntary. 15For perhaps it is for this reason that he departed for an hour, so that in return you might have him for the Age,a 16No longer as a slave, but something beyond a slave, a beloved brother—to me especially, but how much more so to you—both in flesh and in the Lord. 17Therefore, if you hold me to be a companion, welcome him as you would me. 18And if he in any way has wronged you or is indebted to you, reckon it to me; 19I, Paul, have written it with my hand: I will repay (not to mention to you that you are indebted to me for your very self). 20Yes, brother, let me have from you a benefit in the Lord; refresh my inward parts in the Anointed.

21I write to you confident of your compliance, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22At the same time, moreover, prepare a lodging for me; for I hope that, by your prayers, I shall be graciously granted to you.

23Epaphras, my fellow captive in the Anointed One Jesus, greets you, 24As do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke—my fellow workers.

25The grace of the Lord Jesus the Anointed be with your spirit.

Notes
a. Perhaps “in return you might have him for life.” To be precise, the phrase is ἵνα αἰώνιον αὐτον ἀπέχῃς (hina aiōnion avton apechēs): “that in return you might have him [as] aeonian.” Paul could mean that Philemon can now welcome Onesimus back as a fellow heir of the Age to come; but it may also be the case that this verse is a play upon Exodus 21:6, the Septuagintal Greek version of which uses the word aiōn to mean the lifetime of a slave who elects to remain with his master permanently—though in this case, as the following verse says, Onesimus returns as a companion for life not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ.

The Letter to the Hebrews

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

CHAPTER ONE

1God, having of old spoken to the fathers by the prophets, in many places and in many ways, 2At the end of these days spoke to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir to all things, and through whom he made the ages: 3Who—being a radiance of his glory and an impress of his substance, and upholding all things by the utterance of his power—took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty in the places on high once he had accomplished a purification of sins, 4Becoming as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited surpasses theirs in distinction. 5For to which of the angels did he ever say, “You are my Son, this day I have begotten you”? And again, “I shall be a Father to him, and he shall be a Son to me”? 6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “And let all of God’s angels make obeisance to him.” 7And, as regards the angels, he says, “The one who makes his angels spirits,a and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8But, as regards the Son: “Your throne, O God, is unto the age of the age, and the rod of rectitude is the rod of his Kingdom. 9You have loved justice and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you, above your fellows, with the oil of gladness.” 10And: “You, Lord, at the beginnings laid the earth’s foundation, and the heavens are works of your hands; 11They will perish, but you perdure; and all will grow old like a garment; 12And you will furl them up like a mantle, and like a garment they will be changed; but you are the same and your years will not fail.” 13And to which of the angels has he at any time said, “Sit at my right hand until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet”? 14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth into service for those about to inherit salvation?

CHAPTER TWO

1Therefore it is needful for us to heed more abundantly the things that have been heard, so that we might not drift away. 2For, if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just requital, 3How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, one that, having received a commencement declared by the Lord, was confirmed for us by those who heard it, 4God also bearing witness along with them by signs and wonders, and by various deeds of power and impartations of a Holy Spirit, in accordance with his will?

5For not to angels did he subordinate the world that is coming in, about which we are speaking. 6And at some point a certain person has borne solemn witness, saying, “What is a man that you remember him? Or a son of man that you watch over him? 7You made him something just a little less than angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8You have set everything in order under his feet.” For in this subordination of all things he left nothing not ordered under him. But at present we do not yet see all things ordered under him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made just a little less than angels, having been crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering death, so that by God’s grace he might taste of death on behalf of everyone. 10For it was fitting for him, on account of whom all things are and by whom all things are, to perfect through sufferings the originator of their salvation, who has led many sons to glory. 11For both he who makes holy and they who are made holy all come from one—for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12Saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will hymn you.” 13And again: “I will put my trust in him.” And again: “See, I and the children whom God has given me.” 14Inasmuch, therefore, as the children have blood and flesh in common, he too shared in these same things, so that by death he might render the one holding the power of death—that is, the Slanderer—ineffectual, 15And might liberate those who had all their lives been bound in slavery by fear of death. 16For surely he does not reach out tob angels, but rather reaches out to the seed of Abraham. 17Hence it was necessary to become like his brothers in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest of God’s affairs, in order to make expiation for the people’s sins. 18For, inasmuch as he himself has suffered in being tried, he is able to help those enduring trials.

CHAPTER THREE

1Therefore, holy brothers, sharers in a heavenly calling, carefully consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2Being faithful to the one making him so,c as Moses had also been in [the whole of] hisd house. 3For this one has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, by the same degree as the honor of a house is exceeded by that of its builder. 4For every house is built by someone, but the one who has built all things is God. 5And, while “Moses was faithful in the whole of his house as an attendant,” in testimony of the things later to be spoken, 6So was the Anointed over his house, but as a Son—he whose house we are, if we hold fast to the confidence and the boast of our hope [, firm until the end]. 7Therefore, as the Spirit, the Holy One, says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of temptation in the wilderness, 9When your fathers tempted me with a test, and saw my works for forty years; 10Hence I was provoked by that generation, and I said, ‘Always they go astray in the heart, and they do not know my paths,’ 11So in my indignation I swore, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’” 12Watch, brothers, that there shall never be in any of you the wicked heart of faithlessness, in apostasy from a living God, 13But rather encourage one another every day, for as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you might be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness—14For we have become partakers of the Anointed if indeed we cling to the origin of our assurance, firm to the end—15By saying, “Today, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” 16For who are they who heard and rebelled, except all of those who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years, except those who had sinned, whose corpses dropped in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they “shall not enter” his rest, except to those who had disobeyed? 19And we see that they were unable to enter on account of faithlessness.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore, as the promise of an entry into his rest has been left open, let us be afraid lest any of you should appear to have fallen short of it. 2And indeed, just like them, we have had good tidings proclaimed to us; but the word that was heard did not profit them, not having been mingled with faith in those who heard it. 3For those who have had faith enter into rest, just as he said: “So in my indignation I swore, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’” And yet the works have been accomplished since the foundation of the cosmos. 4For somewhere he has spoken thus concerning the seventh day: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his works”; 5And again, at this juncture: “They shall not enter into my rest.” 6Therefore, inasmuch as it remains for some to enter in, and those who formerly received the good tidings did not enter in on account of disobedience, 7He again marks out a certain day as “today,” saying through David (after so much time had passed), as had been said before, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8For, if Joshua had provided them rest, he would not thereafter have spoken about some other day. 9So there yet remains a Sabbath rest for God’s people; 10For whoever has entered into his rest has also rested from his works, as did God from his. 11Let us strive, therefore, to enter into that rest, so that no one should fall, after the same pattern of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing so deep as to separate soul and spirit, both joints and marrows, and is a discerner of a heart’s reflections and thoughts; 13And there is no creature not manifest before him, but all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we are accountable.

14Therefore, having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us cling to the confession. 15For we have a high priest who is not incapable of suffering along with our weaknesses, but rather one who has been tested in all things like us, without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in due season.

CHAPTER FIVE

1For every high priest who has been taken from among human beings is appointed on behalf of human beings as regards matters relating to God, so he might offer gifts and sacrifices for sins, 2Being capable of feelings of mildness toward the ignorant and erring, since he is himself also beset by frailty, 3And because of this he must make offerings for sins—as for the people, so also for himself. 4And no one assumes the honor of himself; rather, it is the one called by God, even as Aaron was. 5So, also, it was not the Anointed who gave himself the glory of becoming high priest, but instead the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today have I begotten you.” 6Just as he says in another place as well: “You are a priest unto the Age,e according to the order of Melchizedek.” 7Having in the days of his flesh, with a mighty outcry and tears, offered up both supplications and entreaties to the one who was able to save him from death, and having been heard on account of his reverence, 8He learned obedience from the things he suffered, even though he was a Son; 9And having been perfected he became a cause of salvation in the Age for all who are obedient to him, 10Having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

11Concerning this we have an abundance of things to say, and it is difficult to explicate since you have become lethargic as listeners. 12For indeed, though by this time you ought to be the teachers, you again have need of someone to teach you the most elementary principles of God’s oracles, and have come to require milk, not solid food. 13For everyone who feeds on milk is without experience in the word of righteousness, since he is an infant; 14But solid food is for full-grown men, whose sensibilities have been trained by use to discern both good and evil.

CHAPTER SIX

1Therefore, departing from the elementary message about the Anointed, let us press onward to full maturity, not establishing yet again the foundation: of turning the heart away from dead observances, and of faithfulness toward God; 2Instruction regarding baptism, as well as the laying-on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and the judgment of the Age. 3And this we shall do, if God permit. 4For it is impossible—regarding those who have been illuminated, and having tasted of the heavenly gift, and having become partakers in a Holy Spirit, 5And having tasted the goodness of God’s word and the power of the Age to come, 6And then having fallen away—to restore them to a changed heart, since they are themselves re-crucifying the Son of God and subjecting him to open disgrace. 7For the land that drinks in the rain frequently falling upon it, and that yields pasturage useful to those for whose sake it has been cultivated, receives a blessing from God; 8But if it yields thorns and thistles it is worthless, in fact very nearly a curse, whose end is to be burned. 9Yet, brothers, even though we speak in this way, regarding you we are persuaded of things that are better, and that bring salvation. 10For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward his name in having ministered—and in ministering—to the holy ones. 11And we desire each of you to demonstrate to the end the same earnestness for a full assurance of hope, 12That you might become not dullards, but rather imitators of those who, through faithfulness and longanimity, are inheritors of the promises. 13For God, when making the promise to Abraham—since he had no one greater by whom to swear—swore by himself, 14Saying, “Surely, then, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15And thus, being long-suffering, he obtained what was promised. 16For men swear by what is greater, and the oath made as confirmation is an end to all dispute; 17Wherein God, wishing to demonstrate more plenteously the immutability of his resolve to the heirs of the promise, interposed with an oath, 18So that, by way of two immutable realities, we who have fled for refuge should have a mighty encouragement to lay hold of the hope set before us: 19Which we have as an anchor for the soul, safe and unyielding; and which also enters within the veil, 20Where Jesus entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek until the Age.f

CHAPTER SEVEN

1For this “Melchizedek”—King of Salem, priest of the Highest God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2To whom Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything—is interpreted firstly as “King of Righteousness,” and yet also as “King of Salem,” which is to say, “King of Peace.” 3Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, and being likened to the Son of God, he remains a priest in perpetuity. 4Now contemplate how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave one-tenth his spoils. 5And indeed, those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to take, by the Law, a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers, even though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6And yet he, who does not trace his genealogy from them, received a tenth from Abraham, and blessed the one who had received the promises. 7And it is altogether incontrovertible that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8And here, in the one instance, mortal men receive a tenth; yet there, in the other, it is attested that he lives on. 9And even Levi, who received the tenth, has so to speak paid the tenth through Abraham; 10For he was still in the loins of his forefather when Melchizedek met him. 11If, then, perfection had come through the Levitical priesthood—for thereupon the people had received the Law—what need was there still for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and to be denominated not according to the order of Aaron? 12For, when the priesthood has been transposed, there also of necessity comes about a transposition of law. 13For he concerning whom these things are said is part of another tribe, from which no one has served at the sacrificial altar; 14For it is quite clear that our Lord sprang from Judah, a tribe in regard to which Moses said nothing about priests. 15And this becomes all the more plentifully evident when another priest in the likeness of Melchizedek arises, 16One who has become such not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is attested that “You are a priest unto the Age, according to the order of Melchizedek.” 18For there comes about both the annulment of a previous commandment, on account of its weakness and uselessness—19For the Law perfected nothing—and also the introduction of a better hope, whereby we draw near to God. 20Inasmuch as it did not come without an oath—for those men became priests without an oath, 21Whereas he did so with an oath, made by the one telling him, “The Lord has sworn, and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest unto the Age’”—22By just so much also has Jesus become a surety of a better covenant. 23And even those who became priests are many in number, because they were prevented from continuing by death, 24Whereas he, because he abides unto the Age,g has a perpetual priesthood; 25For which reason also he is able to save the entirety of those who approach God through him, as he lives forever to intercede on their behalf. 26For just such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and having been exalted higher than the heavens, 27One who has no need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first on behalf of his own sins and then on behalf of the people’s; for this he did once and for all in offering up himself: 28For the Law appoints men who are weak as high priests, but the word of the oath that was made after the Law appoints a Son made perfecth unto the Age.i

CHAPTER EIGHT

1The principal point of these remarks, then: We have just such a high priest, one who has sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2A minister of the Holy of Holies and of that true tabernacle that the Lord—not some human being—erected. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; hence it was necessary for this one also to have something he could offer. 4If he were on earth, then, he would not in fact be a priest, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law, 5Who worship in a symbol and a shadow of the heavenly places, just as Moses was admonished when he was about to complete the tabernacle: “See,” it says, “you shall make all things according to the pattern shown you upon the mountain.” 6Yet now he has obtained a ministry that is superior, by as much indeed as he is mediator of a better covenant, legislated upon better promises. 7For, if the first one had been free of fault, no place would have been sought for a second one. 8For, placing blame upon them, it says, “‘See, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will complete a new covenant upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah, 9Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took their hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; for they did not abide in my covenant, and I turned my regard from them,’ says the Lord; 10‘Because this is the covenant that I shall ordain with the house of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord, ‘placing my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe them upon their hearts, and I will be God for them and they will be a people for me. 11And by no means shall they give instruction—each to his neighbor and each to his brother—saying, “Know the Lord,” because all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest, 12Because I will be merciful toward their unrighteousness, and I will certainly remember their sins no more.’” 13In saying “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to vanishing away.

CHAPTER NINE

1So, then, the first had both ordinances for worship and also a worldly sanctuary. 2For a tabernacle was fashioned, in whose first part, which is called the Holy Place, there were the lampstand and the table and the loaves of presentation; 3And behind the second veil was a tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, 4Containing a gold altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered about on all sides with gold, in which there was a gold jar holding the manna, as well as the rod of Aaron that had borne buds, and the tablets of the covenant, 5And above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the seat of atonement—things concerning which there is not now the time to speak in detail. 6Now, these things having been thus arranged, the priests are always going into the first tabernacle, performing the rites of worship, 7But only the high priest into the second, once in the course of the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the people’s ignorances—8The Holy Spirit thereby indicating that the way into the Holy of Holies had not been made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing, 9Which is a parable for the present time, according to which both gifts and sacrifices were being offered that were incapable of perfecting the worshipper in conscience, 10As they concerned only foods and drinks and various ritual ablutions—ordinances of flesh, imposed until a time of reform.

11But when the Anointed had appeared as high priest of the good things that have come to pass through that greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hand—not, that is, of this creation—12Not by blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once and for all into the Holy of Holies, having obtained an emancipation payment for the Age. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls and a heifer’s ashes, in sprinkling those who have been made profane, provide a sanctification that purifies the flesh, 14How much more will the blood of the Anointed, who through a Spirit of That Agej offered himself unblemished to God, purify our conscience from dead observances, for worship of a living God! 15And therefore he is mediator of a new covenant, so that—a death having come to pass for the transgressions that occurred under the first covenant—those who are called might receive the promise of the inheritance of the Age.k 16For where there is an attested covenant, proof of the death of the covenant’s testator must necessarily be adduced; 17For a covenant is enforced in respect of those who are dead, since it is never in force while the testator of the covenant is alive. 18Neither, therefore, was the first covenant consecrated without blood. 19For, when every commandment according to the Law had been spoken to the people by Moses, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, along with scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled the book itself, as well as all the people, 20Saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God enjoined for you.” 21And likewise he also sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22Indeed, according to the Law nearly everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. 23It was therefore necessary for the representations of the heavenly things to be purified by these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves by better than these. 24For the Anointed entered not into a Holy of Holies made by hand, a mere figural copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf—25And not so he might offer himself often, like the high priest entering the Holy of Holies year after year with another’s blood, 26As then it would have been necessary for him to suffer often, from the foundation of the cosmos; now, rather, he has appeared just once, at the consummation of the ages, to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is reserved to human beings to die once, and thereafter judgment, 28So also the Anointed, having been offered once in order to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin, to those awaiting him for salvation.

CHAPTER TEN

1For the Law—containing a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of those realities—can never, through those same sacrifices that they continually offer every year, perfect those who approach. 2Would they not have ceased to be offered otherwise, inasmuch as the worshippers, having once been purified, would no longer have a conscience bearing any sins? 3Instead, through them there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Hence, on entering the cosmos, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you prepared a body for me; 6You did not delight in burnt offerings and sin offerings. 7Then I said, ‘See, I have come—it is written of me in a chapter of a book—to do your will, O God.’” 8When, above, he says, “Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin-offerings you neither wish nor delight in”—which are offered according to Law—9He has then said, “See, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first so that he may establish the second. 10By that will we have been made holy, through the offering of the body of Jesus the Anointed once and for all. 11And every priest stands daily to minister and to offer the same sacrifices frequently, which can never take sins away; 12And yet this one, having offered one sacrifice for sins in perpetuity, sat down at God’s right hand, 13Waiting since then till his enemies are set as a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected those who are being made holy for all time. 15And the Spirit, the Holy One, also testifies to us; for after having said, 16“‘This is the covenant that I will dispose for them after these days,’ says the Lord, ‘placing my laws in their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their mind,’” 17He then adds, “By no means will I still remember their sins and their lawless deeds.” 18And, where these have forgiveness, there is no longer an offering for sin.

19Therefore, brothers, having the confidence to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus—20By a way freshl and living, which he opened for us through the veil, which is to say, through his flesh—21As well as a Great Priest over the house of God, 22Let us approach with a true heart in faith’s full certainty, hearts that have been washed clean of a wicked conscience by sprinkling, and with our body having been washed clean with pure water; 23Let us cling unwaveringly to our hope’s confession; for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to incite one another to love and good works, 25And not neglect to gather ourselves together, as is the custom of some, but instead give encouragement—and all the more so as you see the Day drawing near. 26For, if we sin willfully after receiving full knowledge of the truth, a sacrifice for sins no longer remains, 27But instead a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fervency of the fire that is about to consume the adversaries. 28Anyone disregarding the Law of Moses dies without mercies on the word of two or three witnesses; 29How much worse a punishment, do you think, will he deserve who has trampled upon the Son of God, and who has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know the one who has said, “The exacting of justice is mine, I will repay”; and again: “The Lord will judge his people.” 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. 32But recall the former days in which, having been enlightened, you endured a considerable struggle with sufferings: 33On the one hand by being made into a spectacle by insults and afflictions, on the other by being in communion with persons who in this way were overturned; 34For you both suffered along with those in chains and also accepted the seizure of your own possessions with joy, knowing that you had a better and permanent possession. 35So do not cast away your confidence, which has for its recompense a great reward. 36For you need to persevere so that, having done God’s will, you may receive what is promised. 37For “In just a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay, 38But my righteous one will live by faith, and if anyone should shrink back my soul does not delight in him.” 39But ours is not a shrinking back toward destruction, but faithfulness for preservation of the soul.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1Now faithfulness is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of unseen realities. 2For the ancients were commended for this. 3In faith we rationally perceive that the ages were composed by an utterance of God, so that the things that are seen have not been made from the things that are manifest. 4In faith Abel offered God a more excellent sacrifice than did Cain; through that faith he was attested righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through it he still speaks, even though he has died. 5In faith Enoch was translated, so as not to see death, and he was not found because God had removed him. For before this translation he was reputed as one in whom God delighted. 6And without faith it is impossible to be pleasing; for the one who approaches God must have faith that he is, and that he becomes a giver of rewards to those who seek him. 7In faith Noah, being reverent, having been divinely warned regarding things not yet seen, constructed an ark for his house’s salvation, whereby he passed a verdict upon the cosmos and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faithfulness. 8In faith Abraham, being called to go forth to a place he was about to receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went forth, not knowing where he was going. 9In faith he sojourned in a land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, his fellow heirs of the same promise; 10For he was looking forward to the city that would have foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11In faith, when Sarah was herself sterile, he also received the power to sow his seed, even beyond his life’s proper season, since he deemed him who had made the promise to be faithful.m 12And hence they were born from one man—and he a man who had died away—like the stars of heaven in their multitude, and as innumerable as the sand at the lip of the sea. 13All of them died in faith, not having obtained the things promised, but having seen and hailed them from afar, and they acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and sojourners on the earth.n 14For those who say such things make it quite evident that they are seeking a fatherland. 15And indeed, had they thought back to the one from which they had departed, they might have had occasion to return; 16But now they yearn for a better one, which is to say, a heavenly one. Hence God is not ashamed of them, of being called their God; for he has prepared a city for them. 17In faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac; he who had in fact received the promises was offering up an only son, 18He to whom it had been said, “In Isaac seed shall be reckoned to you,” 19Having reasoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead—from which he did indeed, figuratively, receive him. 20In faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, in respect to things to come. 21In faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and, leaning on his staff, made obeisance to him. 22In faith Joseph, as he was reaching his end, called to mind the exodus of the sons of Israel and issued orders regarding his bones. 23In faith, when Moses was born, he was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that he was a charming child, and they did not fear the king’s edict. 24In faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25Choosing to be ill-treated along with God’s people rather than to hold onto a temporary enjoyment of sin, 26Esteeming the reproach of the Anointed a greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking off to the reward. 27In faith he left Egypt, not having feared the king’s anger; for he persevered, as seeing the invisible one. 28In faith he performed the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. 29In faith they passed through the Red Sea as though through dry land, in having attempted which the Egyptians were swallowed up. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, having been encircled for seven days. 31In faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who had disobeyed, having welcomed the spies with “Peace.” 32And what more might I say? For time will fail me if I recount the tales of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, both David and Samuel, and the prophets, 33Who through faithfulness conquered kingdoms, effected justice, obtained promises, stopped lions’ mouths, 34Quenched fire’s power, escaped swords’ edges, gained strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, caused foreign armies to yield. 35Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others, not accepting this deliverance, were pounded like drum-skinso so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36And others underwent trial with mockeries and floggings and, still worse, chains and prison; 37They were stoned, were sawn asunder, [were tried,] were murdered with the sword; they wandered in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, maltreated, 38They of whom the cosmos was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caverns and holes in the ground. 39And all of them, though reputed for their faithfulness, did not obtain the thing promised, 40God having foreseenp something better with regard to us, so that they should not be made complete without us.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1Therefore, we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, having with such ease put off every encumbrance and the sin besetting us, let us run the contest set before us, 2Looking ahead to Jesus the leader and finisher of faithfulness who, preferring the joy that lay before him, endured a cross, disdaining its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3So ponder him who endured so much hostility against himself from sinners, so that you should not grow weary, fainting in your souls. 4You have not yet, in struggling against sin, resisted till you bleed, 5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, neither make light of the Lord’s discipline nor faint when you are reproved by him; 6Because whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and every son whom he adopts he lashes.” 7So endure discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline? 8And if you are without discipline, of which all come to have a share, then you are bastards and not sons. 9Moreover, we have had fathers of our flesh who were disciplinarians, and we respected them; shall we not be far more subordinate to the Father of the spirits, and live? 10For they indeed imposed discipline for a few days as they deemed fit; he does so for our benefit, so that we might participate in his holiness. 11Of course, no discipline seems a joy in the present, but rather something grievous; and yet afterward, for those who have been trained by it, it yields a peaceful fruit of righteousness.

12So make your limp hands and slackened knees stiff again, 13And make straight trails for your feet, so that the one who is lame might not be turned away but might instead be healed. 14Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which none will see the Lord, 15Watching so that no one lag behind God’s grace, so that no root of bitterness should spring up to cause disturbance and the many be defiled by it, 16So that there be no whoring and profane person, like Esau who parted with his rights of primogeniture for a single meal. 17For afterward, as you know, he was rejected when he wanted to inherit the blessing, though he sought it with tears, for he had found no room for a change of heart. 18For you have not come to something tangible and set ablaze with fire, and to deep gloom, and to a storm, 19And to a trumpet’s echo, and to a voice uttering words whose hearers begged that no further word be imposed upon them; 20For they could not bear what was commanded: “Should even a beast touch the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21And what appeared was so dreadful that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22Rather you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of a living God, a heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23And to [a full gathering and] an assembly of the firstborn, enrolled in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of the righteous who have been perfected, 24And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to a blood for sprinkling that bespeaks something better than that of Abel. 25See to it that you do not refuse the one who speaks; for if they who refused the one who warned them on earth did not escape, how much less we if we turn away from the one doing so from the heavens: 26Whose voice back then shook the earth, but now has given a promise, saying, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27Now, this “once more” indicates the removal of things that are shaken, as things that have been made, so that the things unshaken might remain. 28Therefore, receiving an unshakable Kingdom, let us have grace, by which we may worship God as delights him, with reverence and awe, 29For indeed our God is a consuming fire.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1Let brotherly love abide. 2Do not neglect hospitality to strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3Remember those in chains as though you were chained with them, those maltreated as though you too were yourselves in their body. 4Let marriage be honored by all, and the marriage bed undefiled; for God will judge the whoring and adulterous. 5Let it be your way to be devoid of any fondness for money, being satisfied with whatever things are present, for he has himself said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” 6So we are emboldened to say, “The Lord is a helper to me, I will not be afraid; what shall a human being do to me?”

7Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s word to you; contemplating the result of their conduct, imitate their faithfulness. 8Jesus the Anointed is the same yesterday and today and unto the ages. 9Do not be carried about by various and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be made firm by grace, not by foods, which do not profit those who are occupied with them. 10We have an altar of sacrifice, from which those who worship in the tabernacle have no authorization to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood, on behalf of sins, is brought into the Holy of Holies by the high priests are burned outside the camp; 12Thus Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might make the people holy by his own blood. 13So let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach directed at him; 14For here we have no abiding city, but instead seek the one about to come. 15Through him, therefore, let us always offer up a sacrifice of praise to God; this is the fruit of lips confessing his name. 16And do not neglect beneficence and communal ownership; for with such sacrifices God is delighted. 17Comply with and submit to your leaders, for they stand vigil on behalf of your souls as men who render an account, so that they may do this with joy and not groaning; for the latter is profitless for you. 18Pray for us, for we are convinced we have a good conscience, intending to conduct ourselves well in all things. 19And I exhort you to do this still more copiously, so that I might be restored to you sooner.

20Now may the God of peace—who by blood of a covenant for the Age has led the great shepherd of the flocks up from the dead, our Lord Jesus—21Equip you with everything good for doing his will, making within us what is delightful before him through Jesus the Anointed, to whom be glory unto the ages of the ages; amen. 22And I exhort you, brothers, bear with the word of this exhortation, for indeed I have written to you with brevity. 23Know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he should come sooner. 24Greet all your leaders and all the holy ones. Those from Italy greet you.

25Grace be with you all.

Notes
a. Or “winds.”

b. ἐπιλαμβάνεται (epilambanetai): literally, “takes,” “lays hold of,” “attains to,” “reaches,” “comes within the reach of,” “seizes.” Various scholars take the letter to be speaking of Christ either “taking on” the nature of human beings, or “reaching out to aid” human beings, or “becoming available” to human beings, or “seizing hold of” human beings.

c. τῷ ποιήσαντι αὐτον (tōi poiēsanti avton): literally, “to the one making him.” “Arians” of every Christian epoch have fastened upon this verse as perhaps meaning that the Son was created by the Father; but, dogmatic issues aside, the verb poiein frequently means “make” in the sense of “appoint as,” and here the meaning seems quite clear: Christ is faithful to the God who appointed him as “apostle and high priest,” just as Moses had been appointed to serve in God’s house.

d. That is, “God’s.”

e. Or “throughout the age.”

f. Or “throughout the age.”

g. Or “throughout the age.”

h. Or “consecrated.”

i. Or “throughout the age.”

j. “An aeonian Spirit.”

k. “The aeonian inheritance.”

l. πρόσφατον, prosphaton: “fresh,” “not decomposed,” “recent”: here, perhaps, having a connotation extending both to the present force of the new covenant and the incorruptibility of Christ’s body.

m. The syntax of this verse is somewhat unclear. It is usually read as if Sarah is the subject of the sentence: “In faith Sarah also, being herself sterile, received power for conceiving seed, even beyond her life’s proper season, since she deemed him who had made the promise to be faithful.” A number of New Testament scholars have argued for the reading I have offered, however, on grounds I find convincing, if not decisive. Most significant among them is the consideration that the phrase καταβολή σπέρματος, katabolē spermatos, which I have rendered “sowing [his] seed,” does literally mean something like “dissemination,” “casting down seed,” and typically refers to the part played by the man in engendering a child (in fact, I know of no exception to this in any other text). Moreover, both the preceding and the following verse concern the story of Abraham, and this verse seems clearly to be part of a continuous reflection on the example of Abraham’s faith.

n. Or “in the land.”

o. ἐτυμπανίσθησαν, etympanisthēsan: the verb τυμπανίζω, tympanizō, refers to beating a drum (τύμπανον, tympanon), but it is also related to the verb τυμπανόομαι, tympanoomai, which refers to being stretched out like a drum-skin. I suspect that more abstract translations (such as “and others . . . were tortured”) fail to capture a very precise image, calling to mind martyrs under the Seleucids like Eleazar in 2 Maccabees 6:19–30, who was stretched out on a device called a tympanon, a “drum”—probably the wrack or the wheel—to be “broken” (beaten to death).

p. Or “provided.”

The Letter of James

CHAPTER ONE

1James, a slave of God and of Lord Jesus the Anointed, to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora: Greetings.

2Consider it all joy, my brothers, whenever you might fall into various trials, 3Knowing that the testing of your faithfulness produces perseverance. 4And let perseverance have its operation in full, so that you may be perfect and whole, lacking nothing. 5But, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for it from the God who gives to all unreservedly and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, not hesitating, for he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed about. 7For let that man not presume he will receive anything from the Lord: 8A man divided in soul, fickle in all his ways. 9And let the lowly brother exult in his elevation, 10But the rich man in his abasement, because he will pass away like a flower in the grass; 11For the sun rose with a scorching heat and withered the grass, and its flower fell away, and the loveliness of its face perished; thus also will the rich man fade away amid his undertakings. 12How blissful the man who endures trial, because—having become proven—he will receive the crown of the life that he has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one who is being tempted say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is incapable of temptation by evil things, and himself tempts no one. 14But everyone is tempted by his own desire, being drawn away and enticed; 15This desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin fully grown bears death as its offspring. 16Do not go astray, my beloved brothers.

17Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of the Luminaries, with whom there is no alternation or shadow of change. 18Having so resolved, he gave birth to us by a word of truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits from among his creatures.

19Know this, my beloved brothers: Let every man be swift to listen, slow to speak, slow to indignation; 20For a human being’s indignation does not accomplish God’s justice. 21Hence, putting away every defilement and surfeit of evil, receive in gentleness the implanted word, which can save your souls. 22And become doers of the word, and not only hearers, thus deluding yourselves. 23Because, if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing the face he was born with in a mirror; 24Because he has observed himself and gone away, and has immediately forgotten what he was like. 25For the one who has gazed intently into the perfect law, which is one of freedom, and has stayed there next to it, becoming not a forgetful listener but instead a doer of work—this one will be blissful in what he does. 26If anyone fancies himself religious while not bridling his tongue, but instead deceiving his own heart, his religion is empty. 27Pure and undefiled religion before the God and Father is this: to watch over orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unstained by the cosmos.

CHAPTER TWO

1My brothers, hold to the faith of our Lord of glory, Jesus the Anointed, without any respecting of persons. 2For if a man were to enter your synagogue with gold on his fingers and in splendid attire, and a destitute man in begrimed attire were also to enter, 3And you were to look at the one wearing the splendid attire and say, “Here, be finely seated,” and were to say to the destitute man, “Stand over there” or “Seat yourself below my footstool,” 4Have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges whose deliberations are wicked? 5Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen the destitute within the cosmos, as rich in faithfulness and as heirs of the Kingdom he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the destitute man. Do not the rich oppress you, and haul you into law courts as well? 7Do they not blaspheme the good name that has been invoked upon you? 8Now, if you fulfill what, according to scripture, is a royal law—“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”—you are doing well; 9But if you are respecters of persons you are committing a sin, being convicted by the Law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet falters in one thing, has become answerable for everything. 11For he who has said, “Do not commit adultery” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now, if you do not commit adultery yet do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of Law. 12Speak and act like persons about to be judged by a Law of freedom. 13For the judgment on the one who has shown no mercy will be merciless; mercy triumphs over judgment. 14What is the profit, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Is faith able to save him? 15If a brother or a sister area naked or lacking in daily food, 16And one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warm and sated,” but you do not give them the body’s necessities, what is the profit? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18Yet someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” You show me your faith without the works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19You have faith that God is one? You are doing well. Even the daemonic beings have that faith, and they tremble. 20But are you willing to recognize, O you inane man, that faith without works yields nothing? 21Was not our father Abraham made righteousb by works, offering up his own son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? 22You see that faith cooperated with his works, and by the works the faith was brought to completion, 23And the scripture was fulfilled: “And Abraham had faith in God, and it was accounted to righteousness on his part,” and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a human being is made righteousc by works, and not by faith alone. 25And, likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also made righteousd by works, sheltering the messengerse and sending them forth by a different path? 26For just as the body without spiritf is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

CHAPTER THREE

1Not many of you should become teachers, brothers, as you know that we shall receive a greater judgment. 2For we all falter in numerous ways. If anyone does not falter in speech, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3And, when we insert bridles into the mouths of horses to make them comply with us, we also direct their whole body. 4And look at how ships, which are so enormous and which are driven by powerful winds, are directed wherever the pilot’s impulse determines by a tiny rudder; 5So also the tongue is a small bodily member, yet it boasts of great things. See how immense a forest so tiny a fire ignites. 6And the tongue is a fire, iniquity’s cosmos, defiling the whole body, and setting aflame the wheel of generation, and being itself set aflame by Hinnom’s Vale. 7For every natureg—both of beasts and of birds, both of reptiles and of creatures of the sea—is being tamed, and has been tamed, by human nature, 8But from among human beings there is no one able to tame the tongue: a restless evil full of lethal venom. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been born according to God’s likeness; 10Out of the same mouth comes blessing and curse. It is not fitting, my brothers, that these things happen thus. 11Does the fountain issue forth from the same spout as both sweet and bitter? 12Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers, or a vine figs? Neither can what is salty produce sweet water. 13Who among you is wise and knowledgeable? Let him display his works by comely conduct in wisdom’s gentleness. 14But, if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and speak falsely against the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that descends from above, but is earthly, natural, daemoniacal; 16For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every squalid deed. 17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, reasonable, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, unfeigned. 18And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Where do the conflicts and where do the battles among you come from? Is it not from there—from the pleasures waging war in your bodily members? 2You desire and you do not have; you murder and covet and you are unable to obtain; you fight and wage war; you do not have because you do not ask; 3You ask and do not receive because you ask in an evil fashion, so that you might spend on your own pleasures. 4You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the cosmos is enmity with God? Whoever therefore resolves to be a friend of the cosmos is rendered an enemy of God. 5Or do you think it in vain that the scripture says, “The spirit that has dwelt within us yearns to the point of envy”? 6But he gives greater grace. Hence it says, “God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.” 7Therefore, be subordinate to God, but oppose the Slanderer and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-souled men. 9Be distressed and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. 10Be humbled before the Lord and he will lift you up. 11Do not speak against one another, brothers. Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother speaks against Law and judges Law; if you judge Law, you are not a doer of Law, but a judge. 12There is one Lawgiver and judge, he who has power to save and destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?

13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall journey into this city, and spend a year there, and engage in commerce, and make a profit”: 14You who do not know what your life will be like on the morrow—for you are a vapor, appearing for a short while and then vanishing—15You should instead say, “If the Lord will it, we shall both live and also do . . .” this or that. 16But now, in your pretentiousness, you boast; all such boasting is wicked. 17Therefore, when someone knows to do the good and does not do it, it is sin for him.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Come now, you who are rich, weep, howling out at the miseries that are coming for you: 2Your riches have spoiled and your garments have become moth-eaten; 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have kept treasure in the last days. 4Look: The wages of the workers who have reaped your lands, which have been unfairly held back by you, clamor aloud, and the outcries of those who have reaped have entered the ears of the Lord Sabaoth. 5You lived on the earth in dainty luxury and self-indulgence. You have gorged your hearts on a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned—have murdered—the upright man; he does not oppose you.

7So, brothers, be long-suffering until the arrival of the Lord. Look: The farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, remaining patient over it until it receives the early and the late rains.h 8You be patient too, strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s arrival has drawn near. 9Do not murmur against one another, brothers, so that you might not be judged—look: The judge is standing before the doors! 10Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering evil and of patience. 11Look: We consider those who persevere blissful. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the ending that came from the Lord—that the Lord is lavishly compassionate and merciful. 12But before all else, my brothers, do not swear—neither by the heaven nor by the earth nor by any other object of oaths; rather let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No,” so that you may not fall under judgment. 13Is anyone among you suffering evil? Let him pray. Is anyone of good cheer? Let him sing psalms. 14Is anyone among you ill? Let him summon the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is ailing, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he should be someone who has committed sins it will be forgiven him. 16Therefore fully acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray on one another’s behalf, so that you might be healed. An upright man’s petition, when it is put into effect, is very powerful. 17Elijah was a man, with feelings like ours, and he prayed a prayer that it might not rain, and no rain fell upon the earth for three years and six months; 18And again he prayed, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

19My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth, and anyone should turn him back, 20Be aware that the one who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover over a multitude of sins.

Notes
a. Sic.

b. Or “proved righteous.”

c. Or “proved righteous.”

d. Or “proved righteous.”

e. ἀγγέλους (angelous): one of the few instances in the New Testament where “angel” is used with its strictly literal meaning.

f. Or “breath.” Whereas most of the writers in the New Testament tend to use the word psychē to speak of the innate principle of life within us and pnevma to name a distinct principle (such that, for instance, 1 Thessalonikans 5:23 can speak of spirit, soul, and body as three distinct aspects of human beings), here James apparently uses pnevma for the principle of corporeal life, almost certainly as the Greek equivalent of the neshamah (“breath,” “spirit”) that God breathed into Adam in Genesis 2:7.

g. Or “natural kind,” “species,” in both cases.

h. The Greek, in an idiomatically casual manner, lacks the word “rain” or “rains,” but the reference to the seasonal cycle of the region is clear.

The First Letter of Peter

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

CHAPTER ONE

1Peter, an Apostle of Jesus the Anointed, to the sojourners of the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who were chosen 2According to the foreknowledge of God the Father,a by a sanctification of spirit for obedience and for a sprinkling of blood of Jesus the Anointed: May grace and peace be multiplied for you.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, who through the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed from the dead regenerated us according to his plenteous mercy for a living hope, 4For an imperishable and undefiled and unfading inheritance kept in the heavens for you, 5Who through faithfulness are protected by God’s power for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, 6In which you greatly rejoice, even though just now you are (if need be) grieved by a variety of trials for a little while yet, 7So that the proof of your faithfulness—far more precious than gold that perishes, though it be proven by fire—might be found, leading to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus the Anointed, 8Whom you love without seeing, in whom—having faith, although not now seeing—you exult with ineffable and glorious joy, 9Obtaining the end of your faithfulness: salvation of souls. 10The prophets, who prophesied concerning the grace coming to you, inquired about and diligently investigated this salvation, 11Seeking what—or what kind of—season the Anointed’s Spirit within them was indicating when it predicted sufferings for the Anointed, and the glories to come thereafter; 12It was revealed to them that they were ministering not to themselves, but to you, in these things: things that have now been announced to you by those who have proclaimed the good tidings to you through a Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

13So, girding up the loins of your mind, being sober, vest your hope completely in the grace being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus the Anointed, 14As children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to the desires of your former ignorance. 15But, as he who called you is holy, you yourselves be holy too, in every behavior, 16For it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy.” 17And, if you invoke as “Father” him who judges according to each person’s work, without personal partiality, then pass the time of your sojourn in reverent fear, 18Knowing that your liberation from the futile conduct of life handed down by your fathers was bought not with perishable things—silver or gold—19But rather with precious blood of the Anointed, as of an unblemished and immaculate lamb, 20Having been foreknown before the foundation of the cosmos, yet having been made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21Who, through him, have faith in the God who has raised him from the dead and has given him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. 22Having by obedience to the truth purified your souls for unfeigned brotherly love, love one another fervently from a pure heart, 23Having been regenerated not from perishable—but rather from imperishable—seed by a living and abiding word of God. 24For “All flesh is as grass, and all its glory as a flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls away, 25But the Lord’s utterance abides through the age.”b And this is the utterance of the good tidings proclaimed to you.

CHAPTER TWO

1Therefore, having put away all malice, and all guile, and imposture, and envies, and all slanders, 2Crave the unadulterated milk of reason like newborn babes, so that you may thereby grow into salvation, 3If you have indeed tasted that the Lord is wholesome. 4Approaching him—a living stone rejected by human beings yet chosen as precious by God—5You yourselves, also like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus the Anointed. 6Because this is contained in scripture: “See: I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen, precious cornerstone, and the one who places faith on it most certainly will not be made ashamed.” 7To you who have faith, therefore, it is precious; but to those who do not have faith, “A stone that the builders rejected, this has come to be the capstone of the corner”; 8And: “A stone of stumbling and a rock of faltering”; they stumble on the word, which they indeed, being unpersuaded, were set on doing.c 9But you are a chosen kindred, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people held in peculiar possession, so that you may openly proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his wondrous light—10Who back then were not a people, but who are now a people of God—who were not pitied, but who have now been pitied.

11Beloved ones, I exhort you as sojourners and resident aliens to abstain from fleshly desires, which wage war against the soul, 12Keeping your conduct comely when among the gentiles so that, whatever thing they arraign you for as evildoers, they might from the good deeds they have observed glorify God on a day of his visitation.

13Be subordinate to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as your superior, 14Or to governors as those who have been sent by him to exact justice from evildoers and to praise those who do what is good; 15For this is God’s will: to silence the ignorance of the foolish by doing the good, 16As free persons—and not as persons using that freedom as a cloak for evil, but rather as slaves of God. 17Give honor to everyone, love the brotherhood, revere God, honor the king. 18You who are domestics, order yourselves under your masters with all reverence, not only the good and gentle, but the perverse as well, 19For, if anyone who suffers unjustly endures his grief out of conscientiousness toward God, it is a grace. 20For what renown is there if, when you sin and are thrashed, you endure it? But, if you instead endure when doing good and suffering, this is a grace before God. 21For to this you were called, because on your behalf the Anointed suffered also, leaving behind a model so that you should follow his steps: 22“Who committed no sin; neither was guile found in his mouth”; 23Who, when reviled, did not revile in return; who, in suffering, did not issue threats; who delivered himself to him who judges justly; 24Who himself, in his body, bore our sins upon the tree, so that, having died to sin, we might live for justice—“by whose scarring you were healed.” 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have turned back to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

CHAPTER THREE

1Likewise, you wives, order yourselves under your own husbands so that, if any of them are unpersuaded by the word, they will be won over without any word by the conduct of their wives, 2Observing your pure conduct in reverence; 3Let your adornment not be external—plaiting your hair and wreathing yourselves in gold, or wrapping yourselves in mantles—4But rather the hidden human being of the heart, in that imperishable reality of the gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s eyes is something lavishly opulent. 5For thus also the holy wives of the past, whose hope was in God, adorned themselves, being stationed under their own husbands, 6As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling to him as lord—she whose children you have become in doing good and in not being afraid of anything alarming. 7Likewise, you husbands, cohabit knowledgeably, as with a weaker—the feminine—vessel, rendering honor as to those who are also fellow heirs to the grace of life, so that your prayers not be hindered. 8And finally: All of you be of the same mind, sympathetic, with fraternal love, tenderly compassionate within, of humble mind, 9Not repaying evil for evil or insult for insult but rather, to the contrary, giving a blessing; because you were called for this, so that you might inherit a blessing. 10For: “Whoever wishes to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips, so that they utter no deceit, 11And let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it; 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears toward their petition, but the face of the Lord is set against those who do evil.”

13And who is the one who will harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14But if indeed you suffer for the sake of righteousness, how blissful you. “And do not fear their terror, neither be troubled,” 15But in your hearts hallow the Anointed as Lord, ready always to offer a defense to everyone who asks you for an account of the hope within you, 16Yet with gentleness and respect, harboring a good conscience, so that, whatever they arraign you for, those who spitefully abuse your good conduct in the Anointed might be made ashamed. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God’s will so ordains, than for doing evil. 18For the Anointed also suffered, once and for all, a just man on behalf of the unjust, so that he might lead you to God, being put to death in flesh and yet being made alive in spirit,d 19Wherebye he also journeyed and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20To those in the past who disobeyed while God’s magnanimity bided its time, in the days of Noah when the ark was being fashioned,f by which a few—that is, eight souls—were brought safe through the water, 21Which also prefigures the baptism that now saves you—which is not a removal of the filth of flesh but rather the pledged consentg of a good conscience to God—through resurrection of Jesus the Anointed, 22Who is at God’s right hand, having journeyed into heaven, angels and Authorities and Powers having been made subordinate to him.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Therefore, the Anointed having suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind, for he who has suffered in flesh has rested from sin, 2So as to live the time that remains in flesh no longer for the desires of human beings, but for God’s will. 3For the time that has passed away was sufficient for carrying out the purpose of the gentiles, having journeyed along in licentious behaviors, lusts, wine-soaked revels, carousals, drunken debauches, and abominable idolatries. 4For this reason they who malign you think it strange you do not run along with them into the same engorged flood of profligacy—5They who will give an account to him who is ready to judge living and dead. 6Because it was for this that the good tidings were proclaimed to the dead, that though judged in flesh according to human beings they might live in spirit according to God.h

7Now the end of all things has drawn near. So be sound of mind and sober, for the sake of prayers; 8Above all, have fervent love for one another, for love covers over a multitude of sins, 9Being hospitable to one another without murmuring, 10Ministering to one another—each as he has received a gracious gift—as good stewards of God’s manifold grace; 11If anyone speaks, do it as with oracles from God; if anyone ministers, do it as from a strength that God supplies: so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus the Anointed, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages; amen.

12Beloved ones, do not be surprised at the cauterizing fire among you—which comes to you as a trial—as though it were something strange that is happening to you; 13Rather, rejoice, inasmuch as you have had communion with the sufferings of the Anointed, so that you may also rejoice exultantly at the revelation of his glory. 14If you are reviled in the name of the Anointed, how blissful you, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15For let none of you suffer for being a murderer or a thief or an evildoer, or for being a meddler in the affairs of others—16Yet, if for being a “Christian,” let one not be ashamed, but instead glorify God by this name. 17For it is the time for judgment to commence with the house of God; and, if it starts with us, what will the end be for those who are recalcitrant to God’s good tidings? 18For, “If the upright man is just barely saved, where will the impious and sinful man show up?” 19So then indeed, let those suffering according to God’s will commit their souls to a faithful creator by doing what is good.

CHAPTER FIVE

1I therefore exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of the Anointed, as well as a communicant in the glory that is about to be revealed: 2Shepherd God’s flock among you, watching over it not under constraint, but willingly, in accord with God, not from the sordid desire for profit, but eagerly, 3Not as dominating those allotted you,i but becoming models for the flock instead; 4And when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5Likewise, you younger men, place yourselves in order under elders; and all of you array yourselves in humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud, but to the humble he gives grace.”

6Therefore, be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due season, 7Casting all your worry upon him, because your affairs are of concern to him. 8Be sober, be vigilant. Your adversary the Slanderer prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour—9Whom you must oppose, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being visited in full upon the company of your brethren within this cosmos. 10And may the God of all grace, who in the Anointed has called you to his glory—once you have suffered for a little while—himself mend, confirm, strengthen, establish you. 11To him be the might unto the ages of the ages; amen.

12I wrote to you briefly through Silvanus, who is in my estimation a faithful brother, giving exhortation and attesting that this is God’s true grace; stand fast therein. 13She, your fellow elect in Babylon, greets you, as does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you in the Anointed.

Notes
a. Compare Romans 8:29–30.

b. Or “until the Age [to come].”

c. οἳ προσκόπτουσιν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέθησαν (hoi proskoptousin tōi logōi apeithountes eis ho kai etethēsan): not, that is, that some were “appointed to stumble” in the sense of “preordained” by God, but rather that some have, by their disobedience or mistrust, set themselves to stumble.

d. θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκί, ζῳοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι (thanatōtheis men sarki, zōiopoiētheis de pnevmati): This is a parallel construction using modal datives to indicate the manner or condition in which, on the one hand, Christ died and, on the other, he was made alive. Translations that attempt to insert a reference to the Holy Spirit here defy not only the sense of the verse, but also its syntax. Here, as elsewhere in the New Testament (see Acts 23:8 and 1 Corinthians 15:40–54, along with my notes thereto), the distinction between this life and the life of the resurrection is one between two distinct and (in some sense) antithetical states of being: “flesh” and “spirit.” It would not be misleading to translate this clause as “being put to death as flesh and yet being made alive as spirit”; this might, in fact, clarify the logic of the verse that follows (see note e below).

e. ἐν ᾧ (en hōi): The conjunctive phrase is somewhat obscure, but what seems the plainest meaning is that, because Christ was made alive “as spirit” or “in spirit,” he was now able to travel to the “spirits in prison” (regarding whom, see footnote f below). This visit is depicted as following Christ’s resurrection to new life, not as a “descent into Hades” during the interval between cross and resurrection.

f. These are notoriously obscure verses, but the difficulty they pose is often exaggerated. While below, at 4:6, the text speaks of “the dead” as having been “evangelized,” the language here is of Christ “making a proclamation” to “the spirits.” This is because at this point the reference is not to human beings who have died, but to angels or daemonic beings imprisoned until the day of judgment (they are mentioned also in 2 Peter 2:4–5 and Jude 1:6). During the intertestamental period, before the “official” canon of Hebrew scripture was generally established for either Jews or Christians, among the most influential holy texts for both communities were visionary books such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees, which (among many other things) recount the apostasy and punishment of various angels and their offspring in the days after the expulsion of Adam and Eve, and the evils these angelic dissidents visited upon the world—the ultimate consequence of which was the flood, sent by God to rescue the world from the iniquity they had set loose. The idea of a pre-cosmic fall of the Archangel “Lucifer” or “Satan” was a later development of Christian thought (see Luke 10:18; 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 22:6, and my footnotes thereto); in the flood narratives known to the earliest Christians, the only angelic rebellion was that of those “sons of Elohim,” or angels, who, according to Genesis 6:2, were drawn by the beauty of “the daughters of men” to wed them; and according to these texts the mysterious “nefilim” of Genesis 6:6 (understood as monstrous giants) were the children sired by these angels on human women. According to 1 Enoch there were two hundred of these sons of Elohim, or “Watchers,” who abandoned God’s heavenly court, led by a Watcher called Semyâzâ; they not only became fathers of the nefilim, but taught their human wives to practice sorcery; and one of them, Azâzêl, taught humanity how to make weapons, jewelry, and cosmetics (with predictably dire results). On being informed of these transgressions by four of his Archangels, God sent the Archangel Michael to imprison the celestial dissidents in the darkness below and to slay the nefilim; but the ghosts of the nefilim then became the demons that now haunt the world. According to the book of Jubilees, the angels who became enchanted with the beauty of human women were angels of a lower order assigned to govern the natural elements and kinds of this cosmos. In that version of the tale, the celestial angels imprisoned these fallen cosmic angels in the dark below to await the final judgment, while the nefilim were driven to fall upon and kill one another. After the flood, however, the ghosts of the nefilim were still wandering the earth as demons under their leader, Mastema or Beliar (assuming these are the same figure). When God ordered these bound in prison as well, Mastema prevailed on him to allow a tenth of their number to continue roaming the world till the last day, so as to test humanity and punish the wicked; and thus Mastema comes to serve as “a satan” (that is, an Accuser) in this age. The reference to Christ journeying to these spirits to make his proclamation to them seems to echo the account of Enoch journeying to their abode in order to proclaim God’s condemnation upon them (in chapters 12–15 of 1 Enoch).

g. ἐπερώτημα (eperōtēma), most properly a “question” or “inquiry,” or sometimes a “request,” but also occasionally meaning an answer to a question issued by someone of superior authority (which is to say, a humble answer), in some cases meaning a formal obligation or covenant, including the pledge of assent or promise made in response to a formal question (“Do you promise to discharge . . . ?” “Yes, I promise . . .”). Thus, in the Code of Justinian it appears as the Greek equivalent of the Latin stipulatio, and it might also be said to approximate the meaning of sacramentum (in the proper sense of an oath of allegiance or solemn vow).

h. This, the locus classicus of the ancient Christian teaching of Christ’s harrowing of Hades, is definitely a reference to the gospel having been preached (εὐηγγελίστηη [evēngelisthē]) to the dead (νεκροῖς [nekrois]), and not (as some willfully distorted renderings have made it) to an evangelization of men and women who have since died.

i. Or perhaps “the things allotted” or “the inheritances.”

The Second Letter of Peter

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

CHAPTER ONE

1Simon Peter, a slave and Apostle of Jesus the Anointed, to those who have obtained a faith equally precious to our own, through the justice of our God and of our savior Jesus the Anointed: 2Grace and peace be multiplied for you by a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3Just as his divine power has given us all the things pertaining to life and piety, through the full knowledge of him who has called us to his own glory and virtue, 4Whereby he has given us his precious and majestic promises, so that through these you may become communicants in the divine nature, having escaped from the decay that is in the cosmos on account of desire. 5And for this very reason also, having brought along all your earnestness, supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6And knowledge with self-mastery, and self-mastery with perseverance, and perseverance with piety, 7And piety with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For, when these things are in you and are increasing, they render you neither idly barren nor barrenly unfruitful for the full knowledge of Jesus the Anointed; 9For the one in whom these things are not present is blind, gazing with closed eyes,a imbibing forgetfulnessb of the purging of his old sins. 10Therefore, brothers, be eager instead to make your calling and your election firm; for in doing these things you will surely never fall. 11For thus the entrance into our Lord and savior Jesus the Anointed’s Kingdom in the Age shall be lavishly provided you.

12Hence will I always be ready to remind you about these things, even though you know them and have been fully confirmed in the truth that is present. 13And I deem it right, so long as I am within this tent, to rouse you by a reminder, 14Knowing that the shedding of my tent is imminent, as our Lord Jesus the Anointed has indeed made clear to me; 15And I shall also strive to have you at all times, after my going away, make a remembrance of these things. 16For we were not following after cleverly devised myths when we apprised you of the power and the advent of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, but had instead been eyewitnesses to his majesty. 17For, when he had received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice was borne to him from the Majestic Glory—thus: “This is my Son, my beloved one, in whom I have delighted”; 18And we heard this voice borne out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 19And we have the still firmer prophetic word, of which you do well to take heed, as to a lamp shining in a dreary place, till day should dawn and Phosphorosc arise in your hearts, 20Knowing this before all else: that no prophecy of scripture comes from a private interpretation; 21For at no time was any prophecy produced by a human being’s will; rather, human beings spoke from God when they were borne along by a Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER TWO

1Yet there arose false prophets among the people as well, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who has purchased them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves; 2And many will follow their licentious ways, by whom the path of truth will be blasphemed; 3And in acquisitiveness they will traffic with you in fabricated discourses—upon whom the verdict passed long ago does not tarry, and their destruction does not slumber. 4And if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but rather cast them into Tartarus in bonds of nether darkness, held there for judgment,d 5And did not spare the ancient cosmos, but preserved the eighth person, Noah, a herald of justice,e having brought a flood upon the cosmos of the impious, 6And by burning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes condemned them to ruin, having provided an illustration for those about to commit impiety, 7And having rescued Lot, a righteous man oppressed by the lascivious conduct of the lawless—8For that righteous man, dwelling with them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by observing and hearing of their lawless deeds—9The Lord knows how to rescue the pious from trials and to keep the unrighteous guarded in confinementf for a day of judgment, 10And especially those who follow after flesh in a desire for scandalous pollution, and who hold lordship in contempt—bold, self-willed, they do not tremble when they defame the Glories,g 11Whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring a defamatory condemnation against them before the Lord. 12But these men, like unreasoning animals born in a state of nature, on the way to capture and decay, uttering defamations in matters of which they are ignorant, will indeed perish in their corruption, 13Suffering wrongs as the reward of wrongdoing: deeming it a pleasure to carouse through the day, they are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceits as they feast with you, 14Having eyes full of adulteryh and incessant in their sins, seducing labile souls, possessing a heart trained in acquisitiveness, children of a curse; 15Forsaking a straight path, they have gone astray, following on the path of Barlaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of iniquity, 16But who was rebuked for his personal transgression by a mute jackass that, speaking in a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness. 17These men are waterless springs and storm-driven mists, for whom the darkness’s nether gloom has been reserved [unto the Age]. 18For, loudly uttering bloated prolixities, they use flesh’s desires to lure back into lascivious behaviors those who had truly escaped from persons of aberrant conduct, 19Promising them freedom while being themselves slaves of corruption; for by whatever someone has been vanquished, to that he is enslaved. 20For if—having escaped the defilements of the cosmos by a full knowledge of the Lord and savior Jesus the Anointed and yet having become entangled in them again—they are vanquished, the last things have become worse for them than the first. 21For it was better for them not fully to have known the path of righteousness than, having known it fully, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22The proverbial truth of “a dog having returned to its own vomit, and a washed sow to wallowing in a mire” suits them precisely.

CHAPTER THREE

1Beloved ones, I am writing you a second letter; in them I rouse your pure mind with a reminder 2To remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and savior through your Apostles, 3Knowing this before all else: that in the last days scoffers will come to scoff, proceeding according to their own desires, 4And saying, “Where is his promised arrival? For since the fathers fell asleep all things remain as they were from creation’s beginning.” 5For this is concealed from those who wish it so: that the heavens long ago existed, and the land was constituted out of water and through water, by the word of God, 6By which the world back then perished, flooded by water; 7And by that same word now the heavens and earth are stored up for fire, reserved for a day of judgment and of ruin for the impious among human beings. 8But do not let this one thing be concealed from you, beloved ones: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a single day. 9The Lord is not delaying what is promised, as some reckon delay, but is magnanimous toward you, intending for no one to perish, but rather for all to advance to a change of heart. 10But the Lord’s Day will come like a thief; on it, the heavens will pass away with a rushing sound, and the elements will be dissolved, burning away, and earth and the works therein will not be found. 11With all these things being thus dissolved, what kind of persons ought you already to be, in holy conduct and piety, 12Anticipating and hastening the arrival of God’s Day, by which the blazing heavens will dissolve and the burning elements will melt? 13But we, in accord with his promise, look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which justice dwells. 14Therefore, beloved ones, anticipating these things, be eager to be found immaculate and unblemished by him in peace, 15And deem our Lord’s magnanimity to be salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom vouchsafed him, also wrote to you, 16And just as he does in all his letters when speaking in them about these things—wherein there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untutored and unstable distort (as they do to the rest of the scriptures too), to their own ruin. 17You, therefore, beloved ones, knowing this beforehand, be on guard so that you should not fall away from your own steadfastness by being led off along with the lawless in their straying; 18And grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus the Anointed. To him be the glory, both now and unto the Day of the Age.i

Notes
a. μυωπάζων (myōpazōn): often translated here as “shortsighted” or “blinking,” the word literally means “closed-gazing” or “gazing with closed eyes” or perhaps “gazing with blinkered eyes.”

b. λήθην λαβών (lēthēn labōn): “receiving forgetfulness,” “taking forgetfulness,” but perhaps in the sense of drinking in the waters of Lethe.

c. Phosphoros, the “Light-Bringer” (Hêlêl in Hebrew, Lucifer in Latin), is the Morning Star (Venus as seen before dawn). Jesus is also identified with this same “Star of Morning” at Revelation 22:16. Though later Christian tradition would conflate Isaiah 14:12 (where the fallen King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon is apostrophized as Hêlêl ben Shahar, “Lucifer Son of the Morning”) and Luke 10:18 (where Christ describes the missions of his disciples as causing Satan to fall from the sky “like lightning”), and thus produce the idea of the fall of “Lucifer” before creation, in the New Testament texts every association with the Morning Star is a good one, and the only person identified with the star “Lucifer” is Christ.

d. The reference here is to those angels or daemonic beings who are, according to Jewish and Christian belief in the intertestamental and early Christian era, imprisoned until the day of judgment (as recounted, for example, in 1 Enoch and the book of Jubilees). They are mentioned also in 1 Peter 3:19–20 and Jude 1:6. See my footnote to 1 Peter 3:20.

e. Though Genesis records only that Noah was a righteous man, there was a well-established Jewish and early Christian tradition of describing him as a prophet or preacher of righteousness who had tried to bring his contemporaries to repentance.

f. κολαζομένους τηρεῖν (kolazomenous tērein): usually translated as “to hold them while they are being tormented” or “to hold them while still chastising them” or something equally awkward. But the most proper meaning of κολάζω (kolazō) (even though it is also typically used to mean “chasten” or “punish”) is “dock” or “hold in check,” while that of τηρέω (tēreō) is “keep under guard,” and in this construction the meaning is clear: God knows both how to rescue the pious from their trials and also how to prevent the unrighteous from escaping the judgment that awaits them.

g. This is almost certainly a reference to angels, and perhaps to a special order of angels. These “Glories” or “Glorious Ones” (perhaps identified with the stars) are mentioned as members of God’s heavenly court in 2 Enoch 22:7. See also Jude 1:8.

h. μοιχαλίδος (moichalidos): the genitive of μοιχαλίς (moichalis), a word that actually, as a substantive, means “adulteress,” but that the text here apparently uses as a synonym for μοιχεία (moicheia), “adultery” (though it may just be possible that the intended image here is that of licentious men gazing in lust at an adulterous woman).

i. εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος (eis hēmeran aiōnos): a formula not used elsewhere in the New Testament, probably meaning something like “until that day when the Age to come arrives.”

The First Letter of John

ATTRIBUTED TO “JOHN THE ELDER”

CHAPTER ONE

1What was from the origin, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have gazed upon and our hands have touched concerning the Logos of Lifea—2And the Life was made manifest, and we have seen, and bear witness to, and announce to you the Life of the Age, which was present with the Fatherb and which was made manifest to us—3What we have seen and heard we also announce to you, so that you may also have communion with us. And our communion is indeed with the Father and with his Son Jesus the Anointed. 4And we write these things [to you] so that ourc joy might be made full.

5And this is the message that we have heard from himd and announce to you: that God is light and in him is no darkness whatsoever. 6If we say we have communion with him, yet walk in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth; 7If we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have communion with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son purges us of all sin. 8If we say we have no sin we lead ourselves astray and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he may forgive us our sins and purge us of all iniquity. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his Logos is not in us.

CHAPTER TWO

1My little children, I write these things so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus the Anointed, the righteous one; 2And he is an atonement for our sins, and not only for ours, but for those of the whole cosmos. 3And, by this, we know that we have known him: if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says, “I have known him” and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5But whosoever should keep his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him: 6Whoever says that he abides in him ought himself to walk just as he walked.

7Beloved ones, I am writing no new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you heard. 8Then again, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 9Whoever claims to be in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness right up till now. 10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no occasion for faltering; 11But whoever hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he goes off to, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through his name. 13I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have vanquished the wicked one. 14I have written to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Logos of God abides in you, and you have vanquished the wicked one. 15Do not love the cosmos or the things within the cosmos. If anyone love the cosmos, the love of the Father is not within him; 16Because all that is in the cosmos—the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of livinge—is not from the Father, but from the cosmos. 17And the cosmos is passing away, as well as its desire, but whoever does the Father’s will abides unto the Age.f

18Little children, this is a last hour; and, just as you have heard that an antichristg is coming, many antichrists have arisen even now; therefore we know that this is a last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not come from us—for if they had come from us they would have remained with us—so that it might instead be made manifest that none of them at all comes from us. 20And you have an unctionh from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.i 21I have written to you not because you do not know the truth, because you do know it, and no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Anointed? This is the antichrist: one who denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abide in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that he has promised us: the life of the Age. 26I have written these things to you in regard to those who are leading you astray. 27And as for you, the unction that you received from him remains within you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; rather, as his unction teaches you about all things, and is true and is no lie, you must abide in him, just as it has taught you.j

28And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is made manifest we may have confidence, and not be driven from him by shame at his arrival.k 29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born out of him.

CHAPTER THREE

1See what kind of love the Father has given us so that we might be called children of God—and we are. Therefore the cosmos does not know us, because it did not know him. 2Beloved ones, now we are children of God, and what we shall be has not yet become apparent. We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself pure, just as that one is pure. 4Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness also; and sin is lawlessness. 5And you know that he appeared so that he might bear sins away, and in him there is no sin. 6Anyone who abides in him does not sin; anyone who sins has not seen him, nor has known him. 7Little children, let no one lead you astray; whoever practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous; 8Whoever commits sin is from the Slanderer, because the Slanderer has been sinning from the beginning. For this the Son of God appeared: that he might dissolve the works of the Slanderer. 9No one born out of God commits sin, because his seed abides in him, and he is unable to sin, because he has been born out of God. 10By this, the children of God and the children of the Slanderer are made manifest: No one who does not practice righteousness is of God, nor anyone who does not love his brother. 11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, 12Unlike Cain, who was of the wicked one and slaughtered his brother. And for what reason did he slaughter him? Because his works were wicked, but his brother’s works righteous. 13Do not be amazed, brothers, if the cosmos hates you. 14We know that we have passed over from death into life, because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has the life of the Age abiding in him. 16In this we have known what love is: that that one laid down his soul on our behalf; and we ought to lay down our soul on behalf of our brothers. 17But should anyone have the means of livingl in this cosmos, and see his brother in need, and inwardly close himself off from him, in what way does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let our love be not in talk or on the tongue, but in action and truth. 19By this we shall know that we belong to the truth, and assure our heart before him: 20That, if our heart should offer condemnation, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21Beloved ones, if our heart offer no condemnation, we have confidence toward God, 22Because we receive from him whatever we might ask, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 23And this is his commandment: that we should have faith in the name of his Son Jesus the Anointed, and should love one another, just as he gave us a command to do. 24And whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in that one; and by this we know that he abides in us: from the Spirit that he has given us.

CHAPTER FOUR

1Beloved ones, do not have faith in every spirit, but test the spirits—whether they are from God—because many false prophets have gone out into the cosmos. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus the Anointed has come in flesh is from God, 3And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the one belonging to the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and which is now already in the cosmos. 4You are from God, little children, and have vanquished them, because the one that is in you is greater than the one that is in the cosmos. 5They are from the cosmos; therefore they speak from the cosmos and the cosmos listens to them. 6We are from God; the one who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

7Beloved ones, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born out of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love has not known God, because God is love. 9By this, the love of God was made manifest in us, because God has sent his only Son into the cosmos so that we might live through him. 10Herein is love: not that we loved God, but rather that he loved us and sent his Son as atonement for our sins. 11Beloved ones, if God loved us so, we ought also to love one another. 12No one has ever looked upon God; if we should love one another, God abides in us and his love has been made perfect in us. 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us: because he has donated to us from his Spirit. 14And we have seen and attest that the Father has sent the Son as savior of the cosmos. 15Should anyone confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 16And we—we have come to know and have faith in the love that God has in us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17Hereby love has been made perfect with us, so that we might have confidence on the day of judgment that, just as he is, so also are we in this cosmos. 18In love there is no fear; rather, the love that is perfect casts out fear, because fear carries chastisement, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone should say, “I love God,” and hate his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love the God whom he has not seen. 21And we have this commandment from him: that the one who loves God must also love his brother.

CHAPTER FIVE

1Everyone who has faith that Jesus is the Anointed has been born out of God, and everyone who loves the one who engenders loves the one who has been engendered by him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and carry out his commandments. 3For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not burdensome, 4Because everything that is born out of God conquers the cosmos; and this is the victory that has conquered the cosmos: our faithfulness. 5And who is the one who conquers the cosmos if not the one who has faith that Jesus is the Son of God? 6This is the one who comes through water and blood: Jesus the Anointed; not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood; and the Spirit is the one that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For those bearing witness are three: 8The Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are of one accord. 9If we accept the testimony of human beings, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has attested regarding his Son. 10Whoever has faith in the Son of God has the testimony within him. Whoever does not have faith in God has made him out a liar, because he has not had faith in the testimony that God has attested in regard to his Son. 11And this is the testimony: that God has given us the life of the Age, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

13I have written these things to you who have faith in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have life in the Age. 14And this is the confidence that we have toward him: that if we ask anything in accord with his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us we know that, whatsoever we ask, we have the boons that we have asked of him. 16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should make supplication, and he will give him life—for those committing sins not leading to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that he should make petitions concerning that. 17All iniquity is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 18We know that no one who has been born out of God sins; rather, whoever is born out of God keeps watch over himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 19We know that we are of God, and that the whole cosmos rests entirely upon the wicked one.m 20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the one who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus the Anointed. This one is the true God and Life in the Age.

21Little children, guard yourselves against the idols.

Notes
a. The prologue to this letter seems quite consciously to echo the prologue of the fourth Gospel in many ways, not only by its initial invocation of what was “from the beginning” or “from the origin” (ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς [ap’ archēs]), nor even by its immediate mention of a logos, but by speaking of that logos as belonging to a kind of life that is identified in the next verse as being “present with” God the Father in his divine aeon or “Age” (see footnote b below). Hence my choice not to render logos here as “word,” but rather to leave it untranslated.

b. πρὸς τὸν πατέρα (pros ton patera), which may well be an intentional echo of the πρὸς τὸν θεόν (pros ton theon) (“present with God”) of John 1:1.

c. Some versions of the text read “your.”

d. It is unclear here whether the subject is “Father,” “Son,” or “Logos.”

e. Here the noun is βίος (bios): “life” or “manner of living.” This must be distinguished from the word translated as “life” in most of the text—ζωή (zōē)—which is used to name the divine life or life of the Age to come that Christ brings into the world.

f. Or “throughout the age.”

g. The figure of an “antichrist” (ἀντίχριστος) appears in the New Testament only in 1 and 2 John, and—though in time this figure would be combined with the “man of lawlessness” of 2 Thessalonians and the “beast” of Revelation to produce the legend of “the Antichrist” who will rule the nations in the last days—here the precise reference is considerably more obscure and probably considerably less grand. In part, the difficulty of knowing exactly what that reference is lies in the prefix “anti-,” which in Greek does not necessarily mean “opposed to” (although it often does). It can also simply indicate equivalence (an ἀντίθεος [antitheos] is not an antagonist of God, but an equal of the gods), or reciprocity (in the sense of one thing that is exchanged for another), or correspondence (in the way that an antitype—ἀντίτυπος—corresponds to an original type). And in many cases it means a substitute: either in the purely benign sense of a representative or deputy (an ἀντίφορτος [antiphortos] is simply a proconsul, and an ἀντίβασιλευς [antibasilevs] is merely a regent who governs during an interregnum, or perhaps a viceroy); or in the malign sense of an imposter or a usurper of someone else’s role. It is in this last sense, in all likelihood, that the formula of an “antichrist” should be understood: a false anointed one. This may also explain the sense in which such a figure had been predicted. The promise in Deuteronomy 18:15–20 that another prophet “like unto Moses” would arise comes with a warning against the false prophet who leads people away from worship of the true God. For many Jews and Christians alike in this period, both “the Prophet” (as in John 1:21) and an opposed “false prophet” had become fixed figures in apocalyptic imagination. Here, perhaps, the arrival of not only one, but several false prophets is taken as an indication that the end is near. Or perhaps, more simply, an antichrist or “spirit of antichrist” (see 4:3 below) is simply a “denier of Christ,” as in v. 22 below. 2 John describes an antichrist as one who, more specifically, denies that Christ “has come in the flesh” (see my footnote to 2 John 1:7), but precisely what that means, and whether it is relevant to how the word is used in 1 John, cannot be determined.

h. χρῖσμα (chrisma), here and below (v. 27): probably “anointing,” but perhaps “oil,” “unguent,” or “balm” (hence the ambivalence of my rendering).

i. Some versions of the text read “and you know all things.”

j. The exact meaning of this verse is all but impossible to determine exactly in the Greek, in any of its textual variants.

k. Or “in his presence.”

l. Again, βίος (bios)—“worldly life,” “livelihood,” “means of living”—as distinct from ζωή (zōē).

m. ὁ κόσμος ὅλος ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κεῖται (ho kosmos holos en tōi ponērōi keitai): literally, “the whole cosmos lies in the wicked one.” This is a common idiom: κεῖσθαι ἔν (keisthai en)—“to lie in”—someone is to be entirely dependent upon him, or to be entirely within his power.

The Second Letter of John

BY “JOHN THE ELDER”

1The Elder to the elect Lady and her children, whom in truth I love, and not I alone, but all those who have known the truth, 2Because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us unto the Age.a 3Grace, mercy, peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus the Anointed, the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

4I was overjoyed to have found some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father. 5And now I make a request of you, Lady, not as if writing you a new commandment, but rather one that we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we should walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard it from the beginning, so that you might walk therein. 7For many deceivers have gone forth into the cosmos, those who do not confess that Jesus the Anointed has come in flesh.b This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Look to yourselves, that you not lose the things we have accomplished, but rather receive a full reward. 9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of the Anointed does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into the household and do not bid him welcome; 11For whoever bids him welcome has communion in his wicked works.

12Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so by paper and ink; rather, I hope to come to you and speak mouth to mouth, so that our joy might be made full. 13The children of your elect sister greet you.

Notes
a. Or “throughout the age.”

b. This may mean that an antichrist is specifically someone who teaches a “docetic” view of Christ: that is, the view that the divine Son never truly assumed a fleshly or “psychical” body—being divine and therefore beyond the defilements of matter—but only appeared to have done so.

The Third Letter of John

BY “JOHN THE ELDER”

1The Elder to beloved Gaius, whom in truth I love.

2Beloved, I pray that you are doing well in regard to everything, and are in good health, just as your soul does well. 3For I was exceedingly joyful when some of the brothers came and attested to the truth that is yours, just as you are walking in truth. 4I have no joy greater than these things: that I hear that my children walk in truth. 5Beloved, you discharge whatever labors you might perform for the brothers faithfully—and this for foreigners, 6Who have attested to your love before the assembly; you will do well in having sent them onward in a manner worthy of God; 7For they went forth on behalf of the name, taking nothing from the gentiles. 8We ought, therefore, to support such men, so that we might become fellow workers in the truth.

9I wrote something to the assembly; but Diotrephes, who cherishes his preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10For this reason, if I come, I shall remind you of his deeds, which he enacts while prattling about us with wicked words; and, not content with these things, he also does not receive the brothers, and prevents those who would do so, and expels them from the assembly.

11Beloved, imitate not what is bad, but what is good. Whoever does what is good is from God. Whoever does what is bad has not seen God. 12Testimony has been given on behalf of Demetrius by everyone, and by the truth itself; and we testify as well, and you know that our testimony is true.

13I had many things to write to you, but I do not wish to write to you by means of ink and pen; 14But I hope to see you presently, and we shall speak mouth to mouth.

15Peace to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

The Letter of Judas

1Judas, a slave of Jesus the Anointed and brother of James, to those who are called, those beloved of God the Father and preserved by Jesus the Anointed: 2Mercy and peace and love be multiplied for you.

3Beloved ones, though at pains to write to you about our common salvation, I had need to write to exhort you to contend for the faith delivered once and for all to the holy ones. 4For certain men have crept in, those who had long ago been predicted for this judgment,a impious men, translating the grace of our God into wantonnessb and denying our only master and Lord, Jesus the Anointed. 5But I am determined to remind you—although you once knew all this—that Jesus,c having saved a people from the land of Egypt, secondly destroyed those who were faithless; 6And angels who did not maintain their own position of rule, but instead deserted their proper habitation, he has kept in everlasting chains under nether gloom for the judgment of the Great Day;d 7Just as—in the same manner as these—Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities thereabout, who whored about and went in pursuit of other flesh,e provide an example by undergoing the just requital of fire from the Age.f 8Yet in the same way these dreamers defile flesh, and treat lordship with contempt, and defame the Glories.g 9Yet when the Archangel Michael contended with the Slanderer, arguing over the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a defamatory condemnation against him, but instead said, “The Lord rebuke you.”h 10But as for these men—on the one hand, they defame whatever things they have not perceived; and, on the other, whatever things they do understand—in a natural way, like unreasoning animals—by these they are corrupted. 11Alas for them, for they have traveled the path of Cain, and for profit have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam, and have perished in the sedition of Korah. 12These are the hidden reefs lurking in your love-feasts, joining in the feasting without fear, shepherds tending themselves, waterless clouds carried off by the wind, autumnal trees bearing no fruit, having twice died, uprooted, 13Wild waves of the sea foaming over with their shames, wandering stars for whom the darkness’s nether gloom has been reserved until the Age.i 14And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men as well, saying, “See: The Lord has come amid myriads of his holy ones, 15To execute justice upon all and to put every soul to shame for all their works of impiety, which they have committed impiously, and for all the harsh things that impious sinners have spoken against him.”j 16These men are murmurers, querulous, following after their own lusts, and their mouth utters overblown words, lavishing their obsequiousness on “personages” for the sake of gain.

17But you, beloved ones, recall the words previously spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 18For they told you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following after their own desires for impious things.” 19These are those who cause divisions, psychical men, not possessing spirit.k 20But you, beloved ones, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in a holy spirit, 21Keep yourselves in love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus the Anointed for life in the Age. 22And have mercy on those who suffer doubt, 23Yet also save them by seizing them out of fire; but have mercy on them in fear,l hating even the inner tunic stained by flesh.

24And to him who has the power to guard you against stumbling and to stand you before his glory without blemish, in exultation, 25The only God our savior, through Jesus the Anointed our Lord, be glory, majesty, and authority, before every age, both now and unto all the ages; amen.

Notes
a. προγεγραμμένοι εἰς τοῦτο τὸ κρίμα (progegrammenoi eis touto to krima): perhaps “under proscription for this judgment,” or “prescribed to this judgment,” or “publically announced for this judgment,” or “summoned to this judgment,” or even “given notice regarding this judgment.” The verb προγράφω (prographō), which literally refers to writing something out in advance, has a certain fluidity of meaning. In much biblical Greek it is used to refer to the act of making a prediction, but it can also mean giving a public notice (πρόγραμμα [programma] or προγραφή [prographē]), sometimes of a list of the condemned; and sometimes it can mean issuing a summons or an injunction, or appointing something, or even placing something or someone at the head of a list.

b. The most common interpretation of this phrase is that there were men teaching an antinomian form of faith, according to which grace so liberates the saved from the prescriptions of the Law that even its restrictions on sexual behavior can be set aside.

c. Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous): that is, “Jesus,” which is the Greek rendering of Joshua (Yeshua). Many texts, especially of the Byzantine type, have “Lord” here, and a few have “Christ God,” but the best textual evidence favors “Jesus.” Most scholars who accept this nevertheless find the verse problematic, recognizing that—even if the author might have seen Jesus as the preexistent divine Son, and seen the acts of God in Hebrew scripture as being executed through the Son—talk of Jesus acting in the events of the book of Exodus is without much precedent or analogue in early Christian literature. Alternatively, perhaps the name should be rendered “Joshua.” I have hesitated to do so only because this passage seems to be the first in a series of descriptions of episodes of divine punishment of sinners (see vv. 6–7), rather than a simple warning that the one who saves the righteous is also the one who will punish the iniquitous. And in Exodus Joshua is not explicitly involved in the liberation of Israel from Egypt—though he soon appears as Moses’s lieutenant and chief warrior. And the mention of the destruction of the faithless might refer to Joshua’s presumed participation in the slaughter of the Israelite idolaters after the fashioning of the golden calf (Exodus 32:17–35), or perhaps simply to his campaign against the Amalekites in Rephidim (Exodus 17:8–16), or even to his conquest of Canaan.

d. The reference here is to those angels or daemonic beings who are, according to Jewish and Christian belief in the intertestamental and early Christian era, imprisoned until the day of judgment (recounted, for instance, in 1 Enoch and the book of Jubilees). They are mentioned also in 1 Peter 3:19–20 and 2 Peter 2:4. See my footnote to 1 Peter 3:19–20. This is the one place in the New Testament, incidentally, in which an image of otherworldly punishment (though only of fallen angels and demons) is accompanied by the Greek word that properly means “eternal” (δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις [desmois aïdiois]: “everlasting chains”), though even here the phrase seems to mean only that the chains are infrangible, inasmuch as they are “everlasting” only until the day of judgment.

e. σαρκὸς ἑτέρας (sarkos heteras): This could mean sexual relations with neighbors rather than with spouses, or with strangers (such as the angelic visitors of Lot), or with partners forbidden by the Law (for instance, persons of the same sex), or even with beasts.

f. “Aeonian fire.”

g. This is almost certainly a reference to angels, and perhaps to a special order of angels. These “Glories” or “Glorious Ones” are mentioned as members of God’s heavenly court in 2 Enoch 22:7. See also 2 Peter 2:10.

h. The most likely source from which this episode is drawn is the intertestamental text The Testament of Moses or The Assumption of Moses (though these may in fact be distinct texts), of which only fragments remain. Such, at least, is the report of certain early patristic writers.

i. Or “throughout the age.”

j. 1 Enoch 1:9.

k. Despite its long history of often vague and misleading translations, this verse clearly invokes the distinction between psychē and pnevma (soul and spirit) as principles of life, and between “psychics” and “pneumatics” as categories of persons. There is most definitely no reference here to the Holy Spirit: given the construction of the sentence, the absence of the definite article alone makes this certain; and the reasoning of the sentence makes it all the more so. See 1 Corinthians 2:14 and 15:44–47, along with my footnotes, as well as my remarks on the words psychē and pnevma in my postscript.

l. 22καὶ οὓς μὲν ἐλεεῖτε διακρινομένους, 23οὓς δὲ σῴζετε ἐκ πυρὸς ἁρπάζοντες, οὓς δὲ ἐλεεῖτε ἐν φόβῳ (22kai hous men eleeite diakrinomenous, 23hous de sōizete ek pyros harpazontes, hous de eleeite en phobōi): These lines present a number of interpretive difficulties, in part because of the obscurity of their phrasing, and in part because they exist in a number of variants. My translation follows from the preferred Critical Text reading, but even then deviates both from the standard text and from the standard reading (perhaps implausibly). Many take these verses as constituting a threefold formulation for dealing with those led astray: “Toward some who suffer doubt have mercy; and save others by snatching them from fire; and toward yet others have mercy with fear.” The Majority Text has διακρινόμενοι (diakrinomenoi) in place of διακρινομένους (diakrinomenous), which might yield something like “have mercy discriminatingly”; and the Majority Text also offers a simpler reading of the next verse: “23And save some in fear, seizing them out of fire, hating even the inner tunic stained by flesh.” The Majority Text, moreover, has in its favor that it uses the imperative ἐλεεῖτε (eleeite), rather than ἐλεᾶτε (eleate) (and I have substituted the former for the latter above); certainly eleate seems like an anachronism in the current versions of the Critical Text (at least, I am unaware of any other comparably ancient text that employs it). Diakrinomenous can also mean “disputing” rather than “doubting,” and indeed several ancient manuscripts have neither eleate nor eleeite, but rather ἐλέγχετε (elenchete), which can mean either “refute” or “convince.” Still other versions, attested by several patristic citations and confirmed by the manuscript known as P72, offer a terser but perhaps more lucid iteration of both verses: “22Seize some out of fire, 23And have mercy in fear on some who doubt.” It is unlikely that the tangled history of the transmission of these verses will ever be convincingly reconstructed, absent a number of significant palaeographic discoveries.

The Revelation of John

BY “JOHN THE DIVINE” OF PATMOS

CHAPTER ONE

1A revelation from Jesus the Anointed, which God gave him, to show his slaves what things must occur extremely soon, and he signified this by sending it out through his angel to his slave John, 2Who attested to the word of God and the witness of Jesus the Anointed, regarding as many things as he saw. 3How blissful both that lector of and those listeners to the prophecy who also abide by the things written therein; for the time is near.

4John to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: grace and peace to you from the one who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne, 5And from Jesus the Anointed, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the Archon of the kings of the earth. To the one who has loved us and has loosed us from our sins by his blood, 6And has made us into a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages; amen.

7Look: He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and they who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts in lamentation because of him. Yes, amen!

8“I am the alpha and the omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.”

9I, John, your brother and fellow communicant in the affliction and Kingdom and endurance in Jesus, happened to be on the island called Patmos for the sake of God’s word and of witnessing to Jesus. 10On the Lord’s day I happened to be in spirit and I heard a voice as loud as a trumpet behind me, 11Saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven assemblies—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12And I turned to look toward the voice that spoke to me; and, having turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, 13And amid the lampstands one like a son of mana garbed down to his feet and girdled around at the chest with a golden cincture, 14And his head and hair were as white as wool—a white like snow—and his eyes like flames of fire, 15And his feet like fine brass, as if fired in a furnace, and his voice was like a sound of many waters, 16And he held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining at full strength. 17And when I saw him I fell down at his feet like a dead man; and he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid: I am the first and the last, 18And the one who lives and who became dead and—see!—I am alive unto the ages of the ages, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19Therefore, write down the things you have seen and the things that are and the things about to occur thereafter. 20The mystery of the seven stars you saw upon my right hand and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars are angels of the seven assemblies, and the seven lampstands are seven assemblies.

CHAPTER TWO

1“Write this to the angel of the assembly in Ephesus: ‘The one who wields the seven stars in his right hand, who walks amid the seven lampstands, says this: 2“I know your works, and your labor and endurance, and that you cannot bear evil men, and have tested those who claim to be Apostles and are no such thing, and have found them to be false, 3And you have endurance, and have borne up because of my name, and have not grown weary. 4But I hold it against you that you abandoned your first love. 5Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and change your heart, and practice the works you practiced at first; and, if not, I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you change your heart. 6But this you do have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitians,b which I hate as well. 7Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one who conquers, I shall grant it to him to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.”’

8“And to the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: ‘The first and the last, who became dead and who lived, says these things: 9“I know your affliction and destitution, and the blasphemy of those who call themselves Judaeans and are not, but who are instead a synagogue of the Accuser.c 10Do not fear the things you are about to suffer. See: The Slanderer is about to cast some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will suffer affliction for ten days. Be faithful unto death and I will grant you the chapletd of life. 11Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. The one who conquers will by no means be harmed by the second death.”’

12“And to the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: ‘The one who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: 13“I know where you dwell—there where the throne of the Accuser is—and that you hold fast to my name, and did not renounce my faith even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed right by your side, there where the Accuser dwells. 14But I hold a few things against you, because you have some persons there who hold onto the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw down a snare before the sons of Israel, to eat sacrifices offered to idols, and to engage in whoring. 15So also, similarly, you have persons holding to the teaching of [the] Nicolaitians. 16Therefore change your hearts; and, if not, I am coming to you quickly, and will wage war on them with the sword in my mouth. 17Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. I will impart to the one who conquers some of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and a new name inscribed on the stone, which no one will know except the one who receives it.”’

18“And to the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: ‘The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass, says these things: 19“I know your works and love and faith and ministry, as well as your endurance, and your last works are more plentiful than your first. 20But I hold it against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceitfully persuades my slaves to whore about and to eat sacrifices offered to idols. 21And I gave her time so that she might change her heart, and she does not wish to turn her heart away from her whoring. 22Look: I cast her down onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, should they fail to turn their hearts from her works; 23And her children I will strike down with death, and all the assemblies shall know that I am the one who searches kidneyse and hearts, and I will pay out to you each according to your works. 24But I say to the rest of those in Thyatira, however many do not hold to this teaching—who have not plumbed the Accuser’s depths, as they say—I am not heaping another burden upon you; 25Nevertheless, hold onto what you have until I shall come. 26And the one who conquers, and who abides by my works until the end, to him I will give power over the gentiles—27‘And he will shepherd them with a rod of iron: they are shattered like clay vessels’—28Just as I also received it from my Father; and I will give him the Morning Star.f 29Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”’

CHAPTER THREE

1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: ‘The one who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works—that you have won a name for being alive, yet you are dead. 2Be vigilant, fortify the things that remain that are moribund, for I have not found your works to be fulfilled in the eyes of my God; 3Remember, therefore, how you have received and listened, and keep watch and change your hearts. Should you not be vigilant, then, I shall come like a thief, and you surely would not know at what hour I shall come upon you. 4But you have in Sardis a few who can be named who did not sully their garments, and they shall walk with me in whites, because they are worthy. 5The one who conquers shall thus be wrapped in white garments, and I most certainly will not expunge his name from the book of life, and I will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels. 6Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”’

7“And to the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: ‘The holy one, the true one, who holds the key of David, the one who opens—and none shall close—and who closes—and none opens—says these things: 8“I know your works. See: I have provided an opened door before you, one that none can close, for you have small power, yet you have kept my word and not denied my name. 9See: I make a gift of some from the synagogue of the Accuser—those who say they are Judaeans, yet are not, but are lying. Look: I will make it so that they shall come and prostrate themselves before your feet, and they shall know that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept my instruction to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of the trial that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. 11I am coming very quickly; hold fast to what you have so that no one take your chaplet. 12The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he shall surely not go out of it any longer, and I will inscribe upon him my God’s name and the name of my God’s city—the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from my God—as well as my new name. 13Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”’

14“And to the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: ‘The Amen, the witness faithful and true, the origing of God’s creation, says these things: 15“I know your works—that you are neither hot nor cold. I would that you were cold or hot. 16Thus, since you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you from my mouth. 17For you say, ‘I am rich, and have been enriched, and need nothing,’ and you do not realize that you are someone wretched and pitiable and destitute and blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy gold refined by fire from me so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may be clad and the shame of your nakedness may not be made manifest, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19As many as I love I rebuke and discipline; so be zealous and change your heart. 20Look: I stand at the door and knock; should anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will enter in to him, and I will dine with him and he with me. 21The one who conquers, I will grant it to him to sit with me upon my throne, just as I also conquered and sat with my Father on his throne. 22Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”’”

CHAPTER FOUR

1Thereafter I looked, and see: an opened door in the sky, and the first voice that I had heard, the one like a trumpet, spoke with me, saying, “Come up here and I shall show you things that must occur hereafter.” 2Immediately I came to be in spirit, and look: A throne was set in heaven—and one sitting on the throne, 3And the one sitting there like stone of jasper and carnelian in appearance—and a nimbus,h like emerald in appearance, encircled the throne—4And, all around the throne, twenty-four thrones, and sitting on the thrones twenty-four elders clad in white garments, and on their heads gold chaplets. 5And from the throne come lightning flashes and noises and peals of thunder—and burning before the throne are seven lampstands, which are God’s seven Spirits; 6And before the throne it was like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and in a circle around the throne were four animals,i full of eyes front and back. 7And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal possessing a face like a man’s, and the fourth animal like an eagle in flight. 8And the four animals—each and every one of them having six wings—are full of eyes, around and within, and they have no rest, day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” 9And whenever the animals will give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, who lives unto the ages of the ages, 10The twenty-four elders will fall down before the one sitting on the throne, and will make obeisance to the one who lives unto the ages of the ages, and will cast their chaplets before the throne, saying, 11“Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and by your will they were and were created.”

CHAPTER FIVE

1And in the right hand of the one sitting on the throne I saw a book with writing on its inner and outer sides,j sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and loose its seals?” 3And no one in heaven or upon the earth or below the earth was able to open the book or look at it. 4And I was weeping copiously because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look at it. 5And one of the elders says to me, “Do not weep; look: The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so as to open the book and its seven seals.” 6And in the midst of the throne and the four animals, and in the midst of the elders, I saw a suckling lambk standing, like one that had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes—which are God’s seven Spirits sent forth into all the earth—7And he came and took it from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8And when he had taken the book the four animals and the twenty-four elders fell down before the suckling lamb, holding each a lyre, and gold libation-dishesl full of incenses, which are the prayers of the holy ones. 9And they sing a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to receive the book and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered and by your blood you made a purchase for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10And have made them into a kingdom and into priests for our God, and they will reign upon the earth. 11And I looked, and I heard the noise of many angels in a circle around the throne, and around the animals and the elders, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12Saying with a loud voice, “The suckling lamb who has been slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and below the earth and on the sea, and all the things among them, saying, “To the one who sits upon the throne and to the suckling lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages.” 14And the four animals said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and prostrated themselves.

CHAPTER SIX

1And I watched as the suckling lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying, as with a sound of thunder, “Come.” 2And I looked, and see: a white horse, and the one sitting upon it had a bow, and a chaplet was given to him, and he went forth in conquest, so that he too might conquer. 3And when he opened the second seal I heard the second animal say, “Come.” 4And another horse went forth, the color of flame, and it was granted to the one who sat upon it to remove peace from the earth and—so that they might kill one another—a great sword was also given to him. 5And when he opened the third seal I heard the third animal say, “Come.” And I looked, and see: a black horse, and the one sitting upon it holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6And amid the four animals it was as if I heard a voice saying, “A choinixm of wheat for a denarius, and three choinixes of barley for a denarius, and do no harm to the oil and the wine.” 7And when he opened the fourth seal I heard the fourth animal’s voice saying, “Come.” 8And I looked, and see: a pale green horse, and the name for him who sat atop it was Death, and with him followed Hades, and authority was granted them over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword and by famine and by death and by the wild beasts of the earth. 9And when he opened the fifth seal I saw below the sacrificial altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the sake of God’s word, and for the sake of the witness that they had borne. 10And they were crying out in a loud voice, saying, “How long, O master, the holy and the true, will you not judge and exact justice for our blood from those who dwell upon the earth?” 11And to each of them was given a white robe, and it was told to them that they should rest a little while longer, till both their fellow slaves and their brothers—who are about to be killed just as they had been—should reach their full complement. 12And I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and there came a great earthquake, and the sun became as black as hair-sackcloth, and the moon became wholly like blood. 13And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree shaken by a great wind sheds its wild figs, 14And the sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15And the kings of the earth and the great men and the chiliarchs and the rich and every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16And they say to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall upon us and hide us from the face of the one who sits upon the throne, and from the anger of the suckling lamb, 17For the Great Day of their ire has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

1After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds, so that no wind might blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, holding a seal of a living God, and he cried in a loud voice to the four angels—they to whom it had been granted to harm the earth and the sea—3Saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we should seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of the ones sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5From tribe Judah twelve thousand who had been sealed; from tribe Reuben twelve thousand; from tribe Gad twelve thousand; 6From tribe Asher twelve thousand; from tribe Naphtali twelve thousand; from tribe Manassah twelve thousand; 7From tribe Symeon twelve thousand; from tribe Levi twelve thousand; from tribe Issacher twelve thousand; 8From tribe Zebulun twelve thousand; from tribe Joseph twelve thousand; from tribe Benjamin twelve thousand who had been sealed. 9After these things I looked, and see: a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation, and from tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the suckling lamb, clad in white robes, and date palms in their hands, 10And they cry out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the suckling lamb.” 11And all the angels stood around the throne in a circle, and around the elders and the four animals, and fell on their faces before the throne and made obeisance to God, 12Saying, “Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the power and the might to our God unto the ages of the ages; amen.” 13And one of the elders spoke out, saying to me, “These who have been clad in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” 14And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he told me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and whitened them in the blood of the suckling lamb. 15For this reason they are before God’s throne, and worship him day and night in his sanctuary, and the one sitting on the throne will spread a tabernacle over them. 16No longer will they hunger, nor any longer thirst, neither surely shall the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat, 17Because the suckling lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them the way to springs of life’s waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

1And when he opened the seventh seal, a silence fell in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3And another angel came and stood on the sacrificial altar holding a gold thurible, and many incenses were given to him, so that he might offer them with the prayers of the holy ones upon the gold sacrificial altar before the throne. 4And from the angel’s hand the smoke of the incenses rose up before God along with the prayers of the holy ones. 5And the angel took the thurible and filled it from the fire of the sacrificial altar and cast it onto the earth, and there came peals of thunder and noises and lightning flashes and an earthquake.

6And the seven angels who held the seven trumpets prepared themselves, so that they might sound the trumpets. 7And the first sounded the trumpet, and there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was cast onto the earth; and one third of the earth was burned, and one third of the trees were burned, and all green grass was burned. 8And the second angel sounded the trumpet, and it was as if a great mountain burning with fire were cast into the sea; and one third of the sea became blood, 9And within the sea one third of the creatures that had soulsn died, and one third of the ships were destroyed. 10And the third angel sounded the trumpet, and a great star fell out of heaven burning like a torch, and it fell upon one third of the rivers and upon the springs of the waters; 11And the star’s name is called Wormwood. And one third of the waters turned into wormwood, and a great many human beings died from the waters because they were embittered. 12And the fourth angel sounded the trumpet, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars, so that one third of them might be darkened, and the day—one third of it—should not appear, and the night likewise.

13And I looked, and I heard a solitary eagle that was flying in mid-heaven say in a loud voice, “Alas, alas, alas for those who dwell on the earth, on account of the trumpet-blasts that yet remain from those three angels who are about to sound their trumpets!”

CHAPTER NINE

1And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen out of heaven to the earth, and it was given the key to the well of the abyss, 2And he opened the well of the abyss, and smoke arose from the well, like smoke from an immense furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the well’s smoke. 3And locusts came forth from the smoke into the earth, and power was given to them like the power that the earth’s scorpions possess. 4And it was told to them that they should not harm the grass of the earth or any greenery or any tree, but only those human beings who do not have God’s seal upon their foreheads. 5And it was granted them not that they should kill them, but rather that they should be tormented for five months, and their torment is like the torment from a scorpion when it stings a man. 6And in those days human beings will seek death and will by no means find it, and they will long to die, and death flees from them. 7And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for war, and it was as if upon their heads there were chaplets, as if of gold, and their faces were like faces of human beings, 8And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions, 9And they had thoraxes like cuirasses of iron,o and the sound of their wings was like a sound of chariots drawn by many horses, charging into war, 10And they have tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails is their power to harm human beings for five months. 11They have the angel of the abyss as a king over them, he whose name in Hebrew is Abbadon,p while in Greek he bears the name Apollyon.q 12The first woe has passed—look: There are two woes yet to follow thereafter.

13And the sixth angel sounded the trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the [four] horns of the gold sacrificial altar before God, 14Saying to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are chained at the great river Euphrates.”r 15And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released so that they might kill one third of humankind. 16And the number of the soldiers of the cavalry—for I heard their number—was two myriads of myriads.s 17And thus in the vision I saw the horses and those seated upon them, who had fiery and hyacinthinet and sulfurous cuirasses, and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and sulfur. 18By these three calamities—by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur coming out of their mouths—one third of humankind was killed. 19For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. 20And the remainder of humanity, those who were not killed by these calamities, still did not turn their hearts away from the works of their hands, so as not to prostrate themselves before daemonic beings and before the gold and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which can neither see nor hear nor walk, 21And neither did they turn their hearts away from their murders or from their sorceries or from their whorings or from their thefts.

CHAPTER TEN

1And I saw another mighty angel descending out of heaven, garbed in a cloud, and a nimbus upon his head, and his face like the sun, and his feet and legsu like pillars of fire, 2And holding in his hand a small book laid open. And he placed his right foot upon the sea and his left upon the land, 3And he cried out in a loud voice, like a lion roaring. And when he cried out the seven peals of thunder spoke out in their own voices. 4And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken I was about to write, but I heard a voice out of heaven saying, “Place a seal on the things the seven peals of thunder spoke, and do not write them.” 5And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven, 6And swore by the one who lives unto the ages of the ages—who created the heavens and the things therein, and the earth and the things therein, and the sea and the things therein—that there will be no more time.v 7Rather, in the days of the seventh angel’s voice, when he is about to sound the trumpet, God’s mystery would also be finished, just as he proclaimed in his good tidings to his slaves the prophets. 8And the voice that I heard out of heaven was speaking with me again and saying, “Go, take the opened book in the hand of the angel who stands upon the sea and upon the land.” 9And I went away to the angel, telling him to give me the small book. And he says to me, “Take and devour it, and it will embitter your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10And I took the small book out of the angel’s hand and devoured it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it my stomach was embittered. 11And they say to me, “It is necessary for you to prophesy regarding many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

1And a reed like a measuring rod was given to me, saying, “Rise and measure God’s sanctuary and the sacrificial altar and those prostrating themselves therein, 2And leave out the courtyard that is outside the sanctuary, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3And I shall grant it to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloths.” 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth. 5And, should anyone wish to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies; and, should anyone wish to harm them, he must necessarily be killed in this way. 6These have the authority to close the sky, so that no rain might fall during the days of their prophecy, and they have authority over the waters, to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of calamity as often as they might wish. 7And, whenever they shall complete their testimony, the beast that rises up out of the abyss will wage war on them, and will conquer them, and will kill them—8And their corpse on the open street of the great city (which is spirituallyw called Sodom and Egypt), where their Lord was also crucified. 9And representatives from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations look upon their corpse for three and a half days, and they do not allow their corpses to be placed in a tomb. 10And those dwelling on the earth gloat over them and merrily celebrate, and they will send one another gifts, because these two prophets tormented those who dwelt on the earth. 11And after three and a half days a spiritx of life from God entered within them, and they stood on their feet, and a great terror fell upon those looking upon them. 12And they heard a loud voice out of heaven saying to them, “Come up here,” and they rose up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13And in that hour a great earthquake occurred, and one tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand names of human beings were killed in the earthquake, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14The second woe has passed—look: The third woe comes quickly.

15And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, and there came loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the cosmos has become the Lord’s and his Anointed’s, and he will reign unto the ages of the ages.” 16And the twenty-four elders seated before God on their thrones fell on their faces and made obeisance to God, 17Saying, “We thank you, Lord God the Almighty, who are and who were [and who are to come], because you have taken your great power and have reigned, 18And the gentiles were indignant, and your ire has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for giving the reward to your slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those who revere your name, the small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” 19And God’s sanctuary in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his sanctuary, and there came lightning flashes and noises and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

CHAPTER TWELVE

1And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman garbed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a chaplet of twelve stars, 2And she was pregnant, and she cries out, enduring birth-pangs, and in an agony to give birth. 3And another sign was seen in heaven, and look: a great flame-hued dragon who had seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven diadems, 4And his tail drags along one third of the stars of heaven, and he cast them onto the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that, when she should give birth, he might devour her child. 5And she bore a son, a male child, who is about to shepherd all the gentiles with a rod of iron, and her child was seized away to God and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, there where she has a place prepared by God, so that they might nourish her for twelve hundred and sixty days. 7And war broke out in heaven: that of Michael and his angels waging a war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, 8And did not prevail, nor was any place still found for them in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, the one that is called Slanderer and Accuser, the one that leads the whole inhabited world astray—it was cast down into the earth and its angels were cast down with it.y 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now has come about the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Anointed, because the prosecutor of our brothers, the one prosecuting them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they conquered him by the blood of the suckling lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their own soul all the way to death. 12For this reason be glad, O heavens and those tabernacling therein; alas for the earth and the sea, because the Slanderer has descended into you with a great rage, knowing that he has little time.” 13And, when the dragon saw that he had been cast down into the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she might fly to the wilderness, to her place, there where she is nourished—for a season, and for seasons, and for half a season—away from the serpent’s face. 15And from his mouth the serpent spewed forth water like a river behind the woman, so that he might cause her to be carried off by the river. 16And the earth aided the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went off to wage a war with the rest of her seed, who keep God’s commandments and hold to the witness of Jesus; 18And he stood on the sand and the sea.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

1And I saw a beast rising from the sea that had ten horns and seven heads, and on its heads blasphemous names. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. 3And it was as if one of its heads had been slaughtered, entirely dead, and its deathblow was healed.z And all the earth followed after the beast in wonder, 4And they made obeisance to the dragon, because he had given authority to the beast, and they made obeisance to the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war on him?” 5And it was given a mouth speaking grand things and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. 6And it opened its mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle—those tabernacling in heaven. 7And it was granted to it to wage war with the holy ones and to conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8And all those dwelling on the earth will make obeisance to him, everyone whose name has not been written in the book of the suckling lamb who has been slaughtered from the foundation of the cosmos.aa 9If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10“If anyone is for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be killed by a sword, by a sword he is to be killed.” Here is the endurance and faithfulness of the holy ones.

11And I saw another beast rise out of the earth, and it had two horns like a suckling lamb, and spoke like a dragon. 12And it exercises all the authority of the first beast in the latter’s presence, and brings it about that the earth and those dwelling in it shall make obeisance to the first beast, whose deathblow was healed. 13And it performs great signs, such that it even makes fire descend from heaven to the earth in front of human beings. 14And, by the signs it has been granted to perform before the beast, it leads those dwelling on the earth astray, telling those dwelling on the earth to make an image for the beast that bears the sword’s wound and that has lived. 15And it was granted it to give a spiritab to the beast’s image, so that the beast’s image might speak as well,ac and might bring it about that as many as might not make obeisance to the beast’s image should be killed. 16And it brings it about for everyone—the small and the great, both the rich and the destitute, both the free and the slaves—that they should give them a mark impressed on their right hand or on their forehead, 17So that no one could buy or sell except whoever had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18Here is the wisdom:ad let whoever has a reasoning mind calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And its number is six hundred and sixty-six.ae

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

1And I looked, and see: the suckling lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who have his name and his Father’s name written upon their foreheads. 2And I heard a sound out of heaven like a sound of many waters and like a sound of loud thunder, and the sound I heard was like lyrists playing upon their lyres. 3And they sing, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four animals and the elders, and no one could learn the new song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who follow the suckling lamb wherever he may lead. These have been purchased from among human beings, a firstfruit for God and for the suckling lamb, 5And in their mouth no lie was found; they are immaculate [before God’s throne].

6And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven who had the good tidings of the Age to proclaim to those sitting upon the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, 7Saying in a loud voice, “Revere God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come, and prostrate yourselves before the one who makes the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” 8And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen, Babylon the Great who has given all the gentiles to drink from the wine of the vehemence of her whoring.” 9And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying in a loud voice, “If anyone makes obeisance to the beast and its image, and receives an impress on his forehead or on his hand, 10He shall drink also from the wine of God’s vehemence, mixed undiluted into the cup of his ire, and will be tormented by fire and sulfur before the holy angels and before the suckling lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ages of ages,af and the ones who make obeisance to the beast and its image have no rest day and night, as does anyone who might receive the impress of its name. 12Here is the endurance of the holy ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 13And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, “Write: ‘How blissful the dead who henceforth die in the Lord. “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they shall rest from their labors, for their works follow along with them.”’”

14And I looked, and see: a white cloud, and seated upon the cloud one like a son of man who had a gold chaplet on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15And another angel came forth from the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting upon the cloud, “Thrust forth your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the earth’s harvest has grown dry.”ag 16And the one sitting on the cloud heaved his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17And another angel came forth from the sanctuary in heaven, also holding a sharp sickle. 18And another angel came forth from the sacrificial altar, one who had charge over the fire, and spoke out in a loud voice to the one holding the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust forth your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because its grapes have reached their full ripeness.” 19And the angel heaved his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of God’s vehemence. 20And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, as high as the horses’ bridles, a distance of sixteen hundred stadia.ah

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

1And I saw another great and wonderful sign in heaven: angels who had seven calamities—the very last ones, because in them God’s vehemence reached its end. 2And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and its image and its name standing upon the sea of glass holding lyres from God. 3And they sing the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the suckling lamb, saying, “Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God the Almighty, just and true are your ways, the King of the gentiles! 4Who, Lord, would not revere—and will not glorify—your name? Because you alone are hallowed, because all the gentiles will come and make obeisance before you, because your acts of justice have been made manifest.” 5And thereafter I looked, and the sanctuary of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was open, 6And the seven angels who had the seven calamities came forth from the sanctuary, clad in bright clean linen and girdled with golden cinctures around their chests, 7And one of the four animals gave the seven angels seven gold libation-dishes filled with the vehemence of the God who lives unto the ages of the ages. 8And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from his power, and no one could enter into the sanctuary until the seven calamities of the seven angels had reached their end.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1And I heard a loud voice out of the sanctuary saying, “Go and pour out the seven libation-dishes of God’s ire into the earth.” 2And the first departed and poured out his libation-dish into the earth, and an evil and pernicious ulceration developed upon those human beings who bore the impress of the beast and who made obeisance to its image. 3And the second poured out his libation-dish into the sea, and it became blood, like that of a dead man, and every life’s soul—the things in the sea—died. 4And the third poured out his libation-dish into the rivers and the springs of waters, and it became blood. 5And I heard the angels of the waters saying, “You are just, you who are and who were [and who will be], the holy one, because you have judged these things, 6Because they have shed the blood of holy ones and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink, as they merit.”ai 7And I heard the sacrificial altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” 8And the fourth poured out his libation-dish upon the sun, and it was granted to itaj to scorch humankind in fire. 9And humankind was scorched by a great heat, and they blasphemed the name of the God who had power over these calamities, and they did not turn their hearts to giving him glory. 10And the fifth poured out his libation-dish onto the beast’s throne, and its kingdom became dark, and they gnawed their tongues from the anguish, 11And they blasphemed the God of heaven from their pains and their ulcerations, and did not turn their hearts away from their deeds. 12And the sixth poured out his libation-dish onto the great river Euphrates, and its water dried up, so that the way was prepared for the kings who come from the sunrise.ak 13And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three impure spirits like frogs. 14For they are spirits of daemonic beings who perform signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited world so as to assemble them for the war of the Great Day of God the Almighty. 15“Look: I am coming like a thief; how blissful the one who remains vigilant and keeps his clothes on, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” 16And he assembled them at the site that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 17And the seventh poured out his libation-dish upon the air, and a loud voice from the throne came out of the sanctuary, saying, “It is done.” 18And there came lightning flashes and noises and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake occurred—such an earthquake—one so great—as had not occurred since humanity had come to be upon the earth. 19And the great city came to be broken into three parts, and the cities of the gentiles fell. And Babylon the Great was remembered before God—to give her the cup of the wine of the vehemence of his ire. 20And every island fled, and no mountains were found. 21And a great storm of hailstones the weight of talentsal descends from the sky upon humankind, and humankind blasphemed God from the pounding of the hail, for its pounding was extraordinarily violent.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1And one of the seven angels holding the seven libation-dishes came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I shall show you the verdict upon the Great Whore who sits upon many waters, 2With whom the kings of the earth have whored, and those who dwell on the earth became drunk with the wine of her whoring.” 3And he bore me away in spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, wholly covered with blasphemous names, which had seven heads and ten horns. 4And the woman was clad in purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold and precious stone and pearls, holding in her hand a gold cup filled with abominations and with the impure things of her whoring, 5And written on her forehead was a name, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE WHORES AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6And I saw the woman drunk on the blood of the holy ones and on the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And, seeing her, I marveled in utter astonishment. 7And the angel said to me, “Why were you astonished? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that bears her, the one that has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the abyss, and is going to destruction; and they who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the cosmos, will be astonished on seeing that the beast was and is not and will presently be. 9Here is the mind possessed of wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains, there where the woman sits upon them, and are seven kings. 10The five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come, and when he has come he must remain for a little while. 11And the beast that was and is not, he is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and goes to destruction.am 12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but receive authority as kings along with the beast for one hour. 13These have a single resolve,an and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14These will wage a war with the suckling lamb and the suckling lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” 15And he says to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. 16And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the whore, and will render her desolate and naked, and will eat her fleshes,ao and will consume her with fire; 17For God placed it in their hearts to accomplish his purpose, and to accomplish a single purpose, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until God’s words shall be completed. 18And the woman whom you saw is the great city that holds reign over the kings of the earth.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1Thereafter I saw another angel descending out of heaven who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. 2And he cried out in a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen, Babylon the Great, and she has become a habitation of daemonic beings and a prison for every impure spirit and a prison for every bird that is impure [and a prison for every beast that is impure] and detested, 3Because all the gentiles have drunk of the wine of the vehemence of her whoring, and the kings of the earth have whored with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from her power and wanton luxuriance.” 4And I heard another voice out of heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you might not share communion in her sins, and might not suffer any of her calamities, 5For her sins have been heaped up to heaven, and God has remembered her injustices. 6Requite her even as she has requited, and redouble it, twice times her own deeds; in the cup she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7To whatever degree she has glorified herself and luxuriated, give her torment and grief in that same measure, because in her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen, and I am not a widow, and I shall most certainly see no sorrow.’ 8Hence in a single day her calamities will come—death and sorrow and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, because the Lord who judges her is mighty. 9And the kings of the earth, who whored and luxuriated with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her conflagration, 10Standing far off, out of terror at her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon the mighty city, for in a single hour your judgment has come.’ 11And the merchants of the earth weep and grieve over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—12Cargo of gold and of silver and of precious stone and of pearls, and of fine linen and of purple and of silk and of scarlet, and every citrine wood and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of the most precious wood and of bronze and of iron and of marble, 13And cinnamon and cardamom and incenses and perfumed unguents and frankincense, and wine and oil and fine wheat flour and grain, and beasts of burden and sheep, and of horses and of carriages and of bodies and souls of human beings. 14‘And the ripened fruit of your soul’s desire has departed from you, and all the sumptuous and splendid things have passed away from you’—and surely they shall find them no more. 15The merchants of these things, who have been made rich by her, will stand far off, out of terror at her torment, weeping and grieving, 16Saying, ‘Alas, alas, the great city, which is clad in fine linen and purple and scarlet, gilded with gold and precious stone and pearl, 17For in a single hour such enormous wealth was rendered desolate.’ And every ship’s pilot, and all those under sail to any destination, and sailors, and as many as toil on the sea stood far off, 18And cried out on seeing the smoke of her conflagration, saying, ‘Who is like the great city?’ 19And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and grieving, saying, ‘Alas, alas, the great city, wherein all who have ships on the sea were enriched by her opulence, for in a single hour she was rendered desolate.’ 20Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you the holy ones and the apostles and the prophets, because God has pronounced the verdict of your judgment against her.”

21Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus, with a sudden rush, Babylon the great city will be cast down, and will certainly no longer be found; 22And certainly no sound of lyrists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters shall any longer be heard in you; and certainly no craftsman of any craft shall any longer be found in you; and certainly no sound of a mill shall any longer be heard in you; 23And certainly no lantern’s light shall any longer appear in you; and certainly no voice of bridegroom and bride shall any longer be heard in you—for your merchants were the great men of the earth—for by your sorcery all the gentiles were led astray. 24And in her was found blood of prophets and holy ones, and of all those slaughtered upon the earth.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

1Thereafter, it was as if I heard a loud noise of a large crowd in heaven saying, “Alleluia, the salvation and the glory and the power be to our God! 2For his judgments are true and just, because he has judged the great whore who defiled the earth with her whoring, and exacted justice for the blood of his slaves at her hand.” 3And a second time they said, “Alleluia, and her smoke rises up unto the ages of the ages!” 4And the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down and made obeisance to the God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen, alleluia!” 5And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all his slaves, [and] those who revere him, the small and the great!” 6And it was as if I heard a noise of a large crowd and a sound of many waters and a sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Alleluia, because our Lord God the Almighty has reigned! 7Let us rejoice and exult, and we shall give him the glory, for the marriage of the suckling lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready!” 8And it was granted her that she be clad in bright, clean, fine linen—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the holy ones. 9And he tells me, “Write: ‘How blissful those called to the supper for the marriage of the suckling lamb.’” And he says to me, “These are God’s true words.” 10And I fell down at his feet to make obeisance to him. And he says to me, “See here, no! I am a fellow slave along with you and with your brothers who hold to the witness of Jesus; make obeisance to God. For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

11And I saw heaven opened, and look: a white horse, and the one sitting on it called Faithful and True, and he judges and wages war in justice. 12And his eyes are [like] a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, he who has a written name that no one except him knows, 13And who has been clad in a robe deep-dyedap in blood, and his name is called the Logos of God.aq 14And the armies [who were] in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in bright, clean, fine linen. 15And from his mouth comes forth a sharp sword, so that with it he might strike the gentiles; and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress of the wine of the vehemence of God the Almighty’s ire. 16And on the robe and on his thigh he has a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

17And I saw one angel who stood in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in mid-heaven, “Come, gather to the great supper of God, 18So that you may eat fleshesar of kings, and fleshes of chiliarchs, and fleshes of the mighty, and fleshes of horses and of those sitting upon them, and fleshes of everyone, both freemen and slaves, both small and great.” 19And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies assembled to wage war with the one who sat upon the horse and with his army. 20And the beast was seized, and with it the false prophet who had performed before it the signs by which he had led astray those who had received the impress of the beast, and who made obeisance to its image; the two of them were cast alive into the marshas of the fire, of the one burning with sulfur.at 21And the rest were killed by the sword of the one sitting on the horse, that which came forth from his mouth, and on their fleshes all the birds were gorged.

CHAPTER TWENTY

1And I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is a Slanderer and the Accuser, and bound him for a thousand years, 3And cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should no longer lead the gentiles astray until the thousand years are finished; thereafter he must be set loose for a little while. 4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them, as well as the souls of those who had been decapitated on account of the witness of Jesus and on account of God’s word, and who did not make obeisance to the beast or to its image, and did not receive the impress on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with the Anointed for a thousand years. 5Until the thousand years had elapsed, the rest of the dead did not have life. This is the first resurrection. 6How blissful and holy the one who has a share in the first resurrection: over these the second death has no power; instead they will be priests of God and of the Anointed, and will reign with him a thousand years.

7And when the thousand years have elapsed, the Accuser will be released from his prison, 8And will go forth to lead astray the gentiles in the earth’s four corners, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for the war, they whose number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they marched across the earth’s broad expanse and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city, and fire descended out of the sky and consumed them. 10And the Slanderer who led them astray was cast into the marsh of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages.

11And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book—the one of life, that is—was opened; and, from the things written in the book, the dead were judged according to their works. 13And the sea yielded up the dead within it, and Death and Hades yielded up the dead within them,au and they were judged, every one of them, according to their works. 14And Death and Hades were cast into the marsh of fire. This—the marsh of fire—is the second death. 15And, if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the marsh of fire.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

1And I saw a new sky and a new earth, for the first sky and the first earth have passed away, and the sea no longer is. 2And I saw the holy city, a New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look: The tabernacle of God is with human beings, and he will tabernacle with them, and they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them [as their God], 4And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and no longer will there be death, no longer will there be sorrow or lamentation or pain, for the first things have passed away.” 5And the one who sat upon the throne said, “Look: I make all things new.” And he said, “Write, because these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said, “It is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who thirsts I will give freely from the fountain of life’s water. 7The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be a God to him and he will be a son to me. 8But, for those who are craven and faithless and abominable and murderers and the whorish and sorcerers and idolaters and all the liars, their part is in the marsh burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

9And one of the angels holding the seven libation-dishes filled with the seven last calamities came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the suckling lamb.” 10And he bore me away in spirit onto a great and holy mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, 11Which had God’s glory, her luster being like costliest stone, like jasper stone, of crystalline clarity, 12And had a wall great and high, which had twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and twelve inscribed names, which are [the names] of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel—13Three gates to the east and three gates to the north and three gates to the south and three gates to the west—14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the suckling lamb. 15And the one who was speaking with me had a gold measuring reed, so that he could measure the city and its gates and her wall. 16And the city lies foursquare, and her length as great as her breadth. And with the reed he measured the city as twelve hundred stadia;av its length and breadth and height are equal. 17And he measured its wall as a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a human being, which was the angel’s measure.aw 18And her wall’s enclosure was jasper, and the city pure gold like pure glass, 19The city’s foundation having been adorned with every precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20The fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh hyacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls—each one of the gates made from a single pearl—and the street of the city pure gold, like transparent glass. 22And in her I saw no sanctuary, for the Lord God the Almighty is her sanctuary, as well as the suckling lamb. 23And the city has no need of the sun or the moon—that they should shine in her—for the glory of God illuminated her, and her lantern is the suckling lamb. 24And the gentilesax will walk about by her light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory [and worth] into her. 25And her gates shall most certainly not be closed by day, for night will not exist there; 26And they bring the glory and the worth of the gentiles into her. 27And nothing profane, and no one whoay causes abomination and falsehood,az may by any means enter therein, except those written in the suckling lamb’s book of life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

1And he showed me a river of life’s water, bright as crystal, coming forth from the throne of God and the suckling lamb. 2In the middle of her street, and on either side of the river, was a tree producing twelve harvests of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for a healing of the gentiles. 3And no longer will there be anything accursed; and the throne of God and the suckling lamb will be therein, and his slaves will worship him, 4And they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will be no more night, and they have no need of lantern light and sunlight, because the Lord God will shine upon them, and they will reign unto the ages of the ages.

6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show his slaves things that must occur shortly.” 7“And look: I am coming quickly. How blissful the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8And I John am the one hearing and seeing these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down before the feet of the angel showing me these things to make obeisance. 9And he says to me, “See here, no! I am a fellow slave along with you and with your brothers the prophets and with those who keep the words of this book; make obeisance to God.” 10And he says to me, “Do not seal up the words of this book’s prophecy; for the time is near. 11The wrongdoer, let him still do wrong; and whoever is foul, let him still be befouled; and whoever is upright, let him still do what is right; and whoever is holy, let him still be made holy.” 12“Look: I am coming quickly, and with me is the recompense I have to render to each, according to what his work is. 13I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.” 14How blissful are those who wash their robes,ba so that they shall be given sanction for the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15Outside are the curs and the sorcerers and the whorish and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16“I Jesus sent my angel to attest these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”bb

17And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who thirsts come; let the one who wishes take freely of the water of life.

18I testify to everyone who hears the words of this book’s prophecy: If anyone should add to them, God will add to him the calamities that have been written about in this book; 19And, if anyone takes away from this prophecy’s book, God will take away his share from the tree of life and from the holy city that are written about in this book.

20The one who attests these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen, come, Lord Jesus.

21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.bc

Notes
a. That is, “a man.”

b. Some early patristic commentators identified the Nicolaitians as a gnostic sect of an especially antinomian variety; but whether this is accurate cannot be ascertained.

c. It is traditional (or, at any rate, instinctive) to assume that this is a condemnation of certain Jews or Jewish authorities outside of the Christian movement, who are therefore allegedly not “true Jews.” But some scholars think it possible that the accusation is aimed instead at gentiles (such as Paul’s gentile converts) who believe that, by virtue of becoming Christians, they have become Jews without having to keep the Law. And, indeed, the author of Revelation does at times seem very much a Jewish Christian—observantly Jewish, in all likelihood—whose chief concern seems to be God’s elect within the twelve tribes of Israel and the divine restoration of Jerusalem.

d. The στέφανος (stephanos) of which John speaks here and below is not really a “crown” in the sense that we use it (a somewhat hypertrophied diadem or circlet, proper for kings); it is a (military or athletic) victor’s wreath or chaplet, his “laurels,” sometimes of gold or silver. The emperors of Rome traditionally wore such a chaplet specifically as an alternative to the royal diadem of the pre-Republican kings.

e. Not only in the Bible, nor only in antiquity, but even into early modernity, the kidneys were often understood as the seat of the affections.

f. See 2 Peter 1:19 and my footnote thereto; see also 22:16 below.

g. ἀρχή (archē): “beginning,” “origin,” “first principle,” “foremost,” “sovereign.”

h. Or “rainbow.”

i. Or “living things.”

j. The “book” here is a scroll, not a codex.

k. Not an ἀρνός (arnos) or an ἀρνήν (arnēn)—a “lamb”—but an ἀρνίον (arnion)—literally, a “little lamb” or “lambkin” (or, alternatively, a “sheepskin”), a term most properly applied to a lamb that is still nursing. Perhaps John means a lamb in only a rather general sense, but given the farraginous nature of the imagery of Revelation, it would be unwise to presume to know for certain.

l. A φιάλη (phialē) (patera in Latin) is a dish, pan, or saucer, but in the context of worship or devotion it is a broad, shallow dish or chalice, usually with a central boss, used for pouring out libations or burning incense.

m. Slightly less than two pints.

n. That is, simply, “living creatures.”

o. θώρακας ὡς θώρακας σιδηροῦς (thōrakas hōs thōrakas sidērous): thus the same Greek word in both instances. A θώραξ (thōrax) is literally a “cuirass” or “corselet,” but from at least the time of Aristotle it was used to mean (as in English) the thorax of an arthropod (a lobster or insect). Admittedly, given the outlandish imagery of Revelation, the text could indeed mean that the locusts are wearing armor about their torsos, but it seems as natural to read it as meaning that their exoskeletons are like iron at the throat and breast.

p. “Destruction.”

q. “Destroyer.”

r. See 13:3, 18; 16:12; 17:10–11 below and my footnotes thereto.

s. That is, two hundred million.

t. In ancient Greek this could mean a color either like that of sapphire or like that of amethyst.

u. πόδες (podes): literally, “feet,” but also meaning (as is obviously the case here) the whole of the legs together with the feet.

v. Which is to say, no more delay.

w. Often used to mean “allegorically” or “figuratively.”

x. Or “breath.”

y. These images of an angelic war in heaven later entered into Christian imagination as a depiction of the pre-cosmic defeat and exile of rebel angels; but here, as is especially evident in the verses that follow (10–12), the imagery concerns an event still in the future.

z. Though Revelation is written in the coded language of apocalyptic literature, and many of its more recondite references are irrecoverably lost to the past, on the whole its symbolism is not difficult to penetrate. It is concerned principally with the Roman Empire, the city of Rome itself, the emperors of Rome, and Jerusalem—both its destruction and its future divine restoration—as well as the final vindication of believers in Jesus as the Messiah. As the seven heads of the beast are generally reckoned (on the basis of clues liberally scattered throughout the text) as seven successive or nearly successive emperors, the reference to one who was wounded by the sword but who lived is almost certainly a reference to Nero, who was generally reported to have died a suicide by the sword in 68 CE, but who had become a legendary figure in the first century, believed by many still to be living in secret (probably among the Parthians, beyond the Euphrates) till he should return with armies from the east to take the empire again. Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, and Dio Chrysostomos all reported that occasional pretenders had arisen claiming to be Nero returned. As Nero was remembered by Christians and others as a persecutor and tyrant, the prophecy of his return was one that in certain quarters had acquired a positively eschatological significance (see 16:12 below and my footnote thereto).

aa. It is not clear whether “from the foundation of the cosmos” modifies the word “written” or the word “slaughtered.”

ab. Or “breath.”

ac. This was something of a hieratical parlor trick in various of the pagan temples and shrines of late antiquity. The theurgic summoning of spirits into devotional statuary—animating them or speaking through them or both—was apparently accomplished in many cases with automata, or hidden mechanical devices, or hidden speaking trumpets.

ad. A phrase that often means specifically a hidden or veiled wisdom or truth, requiring special knowledge or discernment.

ae. In some very ancient manuscripts, the number is six hundred and sixteen. The numerological practice of “calculating the number” (ψηφίζειν τὸν ἀριθμόν [psēphizein ton arithmon]) of a name or word, or gematria in Hebrew, is based on the simple contingency that most written ancient languages used a single alphanumeric system in which numbers were represented by letters, which thus allowed one to add up the numeric value of a name to produce a cipher (or, as was typically the case, a mystic sum). Many names can add up to 666 or 616, of course, especially given the fluidity both of ancient spelling and of differing conventions of transliteration from one language to another, and any number of theories have been ventured regarding whose name lies behind the “number of the beast.” But the most plausible of these theories (again, based on all the other clues in the text) is that it refers to the Greek for Nero Caesar—Nerōn Kaisar—transliterated into Hebrew as “Nrvn Qsr” (one of the ways in which it could be written). This might also explain the variant sum of 616, since the same name in Latin lacks the terminal Greek n for Nero, which in being transliterated as “Nrv Qsr” would neatly subtract 50 from the total sum of the letters. But this is merely a very suggestive and attractive theory, one that solves certain problems but that also depends upon considerable speculation.

af. εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων (eis aiōnas aiōnōn). Everywhere else in Revelation, when John is speaking of final or everlasting things, he employs the standard phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn), with the definite articles: “unto the ages of the ages.” Here alone the articles are omitted, perhaps producing a weaker and more indefinite formula, one that might be read as meaning “for a very long time.”

ag. ἐξηράνθη (exēranthē): literally, “has been parched” or “has withered,” but here meaning that the grain has matured, having passed from green and moist to pale and dry.

ah. About 180 miles.

ai. Literally, “you have given them blood to drink, they are worthy.”

aj. Or “to him.”

ak. One very early and prevalent version of the legend of Nero’s return (as reflected, say, in the fourth and fifth books of the Sibylline Oracles) was that Nero was living among the Parthians and would return leading armies from the East.

al. The standard weight of a talent varied among different currency systems, but in the time of the New Testament the common heavy “talanton” was about 130 pounds. In the old, traditional Roman system, a talent was a little over 70 pounds.

am. That the eighth beast, who is yet to come, is also one of the previous seven—who was, yet now is not—is another indication that the text here presumes the legend of Nero’s return.

an. Or “mind,” or “thought,” or “intelligence,” or “intention.”

ao. Sic: a somewhat archaic use of the plural form.

ap. βεβαμμένον (bebammenon). Some texts have “sprinkled” or “spattered” instead, but this is the more convincingly attested reading.

aq. The image of God’s Logos as a fierce warrior sent into the earth from God’s throne is found also in Wisdom 18:15–16. This is a very different understanding of the “mediating principle” of the Logos from the much more metaphysical version found in the prologue of the fourth Gospel.

ar. Sic: in each instance here and in v. 21 below.

as. In ancient usage (unlike modern Demotic Greek), a λιμνή (limnē) was not generally much like anything we would properly call a lake today; originally it simply meant a marshy standing pool by the sea or by a large river, and then came to be used of any marshy pond or mere. In very antique usage (Homer, for instance), the term could be used as a poetic trope for the sea; but John does not give the impression of being someone possessed of a classical education.

at. Here, the grammar of the text is somewhat confusing, as the phrase “the one burning” is in the feminine and therefore refers back to the word limnē, “marsh,” but has shifted awkwardly from the accusative to the genitive.

au. It was a common belief in antiquity, shared by pagans and Jews alike, that the souls of those who die on earth descend to Hades, but the souls of those who perish at sea descend to a place below the waters, or wander the waves as ghosts.

av. About fourteen hundred miles.

aw. A cubit is reckoned as the length of a forearm, and here the text appears to mean that the angel is using a measuring reed corresponding to the human standard, though the phrasing is too elliptically curt to be certain. It could instead mean “by the human—or, rather, the angelic—measure” (and the text has given us to believe that angels can come in very large sizes indeed).

ax. The Byzantine Text reads “the nations of the saved,” but this is clearly an emendation of the text, and a fairly maladroit one, meant to make the eschatological imagery seem more consistently eschatological. The language used here echoes the prophetic picture (drawn from Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah) of a restored Jerusalem and a new earthly age in which the peoples of other nations will come to worship Israel’s God, rather than a final dispensation beyond all history.

ay. Or “nothing that.”

az. Or “and no falsehood.”

ba. In the Byzantine Text this reads “those who do his commandments,” but the evidence for the version in the Critical Text (translated here) is quite imposing; this phrase, in fact, refers back to 7:14 above. The change in the text may simply be the result of a scribal error, and one very easy to understand: given the crowded and undifferentiated lettering of the ancient manuscripts, it is not difficult to see how the original text, “οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτων” (hoi plynontes tas stolas avtōn), might have been misread or misheard as “οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ” (hoi poiountas tas entolas avtou).

bb. See 2 Peter 1:19 and my footnote thereto; see also 2:28 above.

bc. Some texts say, “with all of you,” some others say, “with all the holy ones,” and various texts add a final “Amen.”

Concluding Scientific Postscript

A Note on the Prologue of John’s Gospel
An Exemplary Case of the Untranslatable

There may perhaps be no passage in the New Testament more resistant to simple translation into another tongue than the first eighteen verses—the prologue—of the Gospel of John. Whether it was written by the same author as most of the rest of the text (and there is cause for some slight doubt on that score), it very elegantly proposes a theology of the person of Christ that seems to subtend the entire book, and that perhaps reaches its most perfect expression in its twentieth chapter. But it also, intentionally in all likelihood, leaves certain aspects of that theology open to question, almost as if inviting the reader to venture ever deeper into the text in order to find the proper answers. Yet many of these fruitful ambiguities are simply invisible anywhere except in the Greek of the original, and even there are discernible in only the most elusive and tantalizing ways. Take, for example, the standard rendering of just the first three verses. In Greek, they read, 1Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· 2οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν· 3πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν· (1En archēi ēn ho logos, kai ho logos ēn pros ton theon, kai theos ēn ho logos; 2houtos ēn en archēi pros ton theon; 3panta di’ avtou egeneto, kai chōris avtou egeneto oude hen ho gegonen.) I am aware of no respectable English translation in which these verses do not appear in more or less the same form they are given in the King James Version: “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Read thus, the Gospel begins with an enigmatic name for Christ, asserts that he was “with God” in the beginning, and then unambiguously goes on to identify him both as “God” and as the creator of all things. Apart from that curiously bland and impenetrable designation “the Word,” the whole passage looks like a fairly straightforward statement of Trinitarian dogma (or at least two-thirds of it), of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan variety. The average reader would never guess that, in the fourth century, those same verses were employed by all parties in the Trinitarian debates in support of very disparate positions, or that Arians and Eunomians and other opponents of the Nicene settlement interpreted them as evidence against the coequality of God the Father and the divine Son. The truth is that, in Greek, and in the context of late antique Hellenistic metaphysics, the language of the Gospel’s prologue is nowhere near so lucid and unequivocal as the translations make it seem. For one thing, the term logos really had, by the time the Gospel was written, acquired a metaphysical significance that “Word” cannot possibly convey; and in places like Alexandria it had acquired a very particular religious significance as well. For the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo, for instance, it referred to a kind of “secondary divinity,” a mediating principle standing between God the Most High and creation. In late antiquity it was assumed widely, in pagan, Jewish, and Christian circles, that God in his full transcendence did not come into direct contact with the world of limited and mutable things, and so had expressed himself in a subordinate and economically “reduced” form “through whom” (δι᾽ αὐτοῦ [di’ avtou]) he created and governed the world. It was this Logos that many Jews and Christians believed to be the subject of all the divine theophanies of Hebrew scripture. Many of the early Christian apologists thought of God’s Logos as having been generated just prior to creation, in order to act as God’s artisan of, and archregent in, the created order. Moreover, the Greek of John’s prologue may reflect what was, at the time of its composition, a standard semantic distinction between the articular and inarticular (or arthrous and anarthrous) forms of the word theos: the former, ὁ θεός (ho theos) (as in πρὸς τὸν θεόν [pros ton theon], where the accusative form of article and noun follow the preposition), was generally used to refer to God in the fullest and most proper sense: God Most High, the transcendent One; the latter, however, θεός (theos) (as in καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος [kai theos ēn ho logos]), could be used of any divine being, however finite: a god or a derivative divine agency, say, or even a divinized mortal. And so early theologians differed greatly in their interpretation of that very small but very significantly absent monosyllable. Now it may be that the article is omitted in the latter case simply because the word theos functions as a predicate there, and typically in Greek the predicate would need no article. Yet the syntax is ambiguous as regards which substantive should be regarded as the subject and which the predicate; though Greek is an inflected language, and hence more syntactically malleable than modern Western tongues, the order of words is not a matter of complete indifference; and one might even translate καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος as “and [this] god was the Logos.” But the issue becomes at once both clearer and more inadjudicable at verse 18, where again the designation of the Son is theos without the article, and there the word is unquestionably the subject of the sentence. Mind you, in the first chapter of John there are also other instances of the inarticular form where it is not clear whether the reference is the Father, the Son, or somehow both at once in an intentionally indeterminate way (as though, perhaps, the distinction of articular from inarticular forms is necessary in regard to the inner divine life, but not when speaking of the relation of the divine to the created realm). But, in all subsequent verses and chapters, God in his full transcendence is always ho theos; and the crucial importance of the difference between this and the inarticular theos is especially evident at 10:34–36. Most important of all, this distinction imbues the conclusion of the twentieth chapter with a remarkable theological significance, for it is there that Christ, now risen from the dead, is explicitly addressed as ho theos (by the Apostle Thomas). Even this startling profession, admittedly, left considerable room for argument in the early centuries as to whether the fully divine designation was something conferred upon Christ only after the resurrection, and then perhaps only honorifically, or whether instead it was an eternal truth about Christ that had been made manifest by the resurrection. In the end, the Nicene settlement was reached only as a result of a long and difficult debate on the whole testimony of scripture and on the implications of the Christian understanding of salvation in Christ (not to mention a soupçon of imperial pressure).

Anyway, my point is not that there is anything amiss in the theology of Nicaea, or that the original Greek text calls it into question, but only that standard translations make it impossible for readers who know neither Greek nor the history of late antique metaphysics and theology to understand either what the original text says or what it does not say. Not that there is any perfectly satisfactory way of representing the text’s obscurities in English, since we do not distinguish between articular and inarticular forms in the same way; rather, we have to rely on orthography and typography, using the difference between an uppercase or lowercase g to indicate the distinction between God and [a] god. This, hesitantly, is how I deal with the distinction in my translation of the Gospel’s prologue, and I believe one must employ some such device: it seems to me that the withholding of the full revelation of Christ as ho theos, God in the fullest sense, until the Apostle Thomas confesses him as such in the light of Easter, must be seen as an intentional authorial tactic. Some other scholars have chosen to render the inarticular form of theos as “a divine being,” but this seems wrong to me on two counts: first, if that were all the evangelist were saying, he could have used the perfectly serviceable Greek word theios; and, second, the text of the Gospel clearly means to assert some kind of continuity of identity between God the Father and his Son the Logos, not merely some sort of association between “God proper” and “a god.” Here, I take it, one may regard chapter twenty as providing the ultimate interpretation of chapter one, and allow one’s translation to reflect that.

Translating Certain Words
An Irregular Glossary

In order to avoid misunderstandings or, worse, a surfeit of long and repetitious footnotes, I thought it best to explain my renderings of certain words here for the curious. In some cases my choice of translation—or, in one case, my refusal of a choice of translation—might seem somewhat eccentric, or even perhaps a little perverse; but I can honestly say that all my decisions have been made in good faith and on what I consider the soundest principles. I have also allowed my thinking on certain terms to be shaped by—in addition to the studies of many modern biblical scholars—the readings offered by certain ancient authorities who, to my mind, possessed at once all the necessary attributes of trustworthy exegetical guides: complete linguistic proficiency, penetrating exegetical insight, and genuinely redoubtable theological powers: Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Theodore of Mopsuestia (among others).

1. The first word is αἰώνιος (aiōnios), which in most traditional translations is rendered as “eternal” or “everlasting,” except in the many instances where such a reading would be nonsensical. And I have discovered that there are many Christians whose sometimes furious objection to any other rendering revolves around a single verse, Matthew 25:46. After all, in the original Greek of the New Testament, there really are only three verses that seem to threaten “eternal punishment” for the wicked (though, in fact, none of them actually does), and many who are doctrinally or emotionally committed to the idea of eternal torment for the unelect would feel gravely bereaved if the delicious clarity of the seemingly most explicit of those verses were allowed to be obscured behind a haze of lexical indeterminacy. To these I can say only that, if they really wish to believe in the everlasting torment of the reprobate, they are perfectly free to do so, whether there is any absolutely unquestionable scriptural warrant for doing so or not; but, then again, even the Greek word typically rendered as “punishment” in that verse raises problems of translation (see below, and see my footnote to Matthew 25:46). More to the point, there are three immense difficulties that militate against the traditional rendering of aiōnios in the New Testament.

The first is that there is a genuine ambiguity in the term in Greek that is impossible to render directly in an English equivalent. Aiōnios is an adjective drawn from the substantive αἰών (aiōn, or aeon), which can sometimes mean a period of endless duration, but which more properly, throughout the whole of ancient and late antique Greek literature, means “an age,” or “a long period of time” of indeterminate duration, or even just “a substantial interval.” Its proper equivalent in Latin would be aevum. At times, it can refer to an historical epoch, to a time “long past” or “far in the future,” to something as shadowy and fleeting as the lifespan of a single person (in Homer and the Attic dramatists this is its typical meaning), or even to a considerably shorter period than that (say, a year). It can also, as it frequently does in the New Testament, refer to a particular universal dispensation: either the present world or the world to come or a heavenly sphere of reality beyond our own. Moreover, the adjective aiōnios, unlike the adjective ἀΐδιος (aïdios) or adverb ἀεί (aei), never clearly means “eternal” or “everlasting” in any incontrovertible sense, nor does the noun aiōn simply mean “eternity” in the way that the noun ἀϊδιότης (aïdiotēs) does; neither does aiōnios mean “endless,” as ἀτέλευτος (atelevtos) or ἀτελεύτητος (atelevtētos) does; and, in fact, there are enough instances in the New Testament where the adjective or the noun obviously does not mean “eternal” or “eternity” that it seems to me unwise simply to presume such meanings in any instances at all. Where it is used of that which is by nature eternal, God in himself, it certainly carries the connotation that, say, the English words “enduring” or “abiding” would do in the same context: everlasting. But that is a connotation by extension, not the univocal core of the word. A perfect example of the word’s ambiguity can be found in Romans 16:25–26, where in successive verses it is used first of “times ages past” or “times ages-long” (χρόνοις αἰωνίοις [chronois aiōniois]) and then of “the eternal God” or “the enduring God” or even perhaps “the God of Ages” (τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ [tou aiōniou theou]), though practically no translation gives any clue that the same word is being used in both formulations. I might add, moreover, that this uncertainty regarding the proper acceptation of aiōnios in the New Testament is anything but a reflex of modern faddish revisionism. If one consults the literary remains of Greek-speaking Jewish scholars of late antiquity, for example, one will find few instances of aiōn or aiōnios used to indicate eternal duration: for both Philo of Alexandria (an older contemporary of Jesus) and Josephus (born within a decade of the crucifixion), an “aeon” is still only a limited period of time, usually a single lifetime, but perhaps as much as three generations. And the same is true of Christian thinkers of the early centuries. Late in the fourth century, John Chrysostom, in his commentary on Ephesians, even used the word aiōnios of the kingdom of the devil specifically to indicate that it is temporary (for it will last only till the end of the present age, he explains). In the early centuries of the church, especially in the Greek and Syrian East, the lexical plasticity of the noun and the adjective was fully appreciated—and often exploited—by a number of Christian theologians and exegetes (especially such explicit universalists as the great Alexandrians Clement and Origen, the “pillar of orthodoxy” Gregory of Nyssa and his equally redoubtable sister Makrina, the great Syrian fathers Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Isaac of Ninevah, and so on, as well as many other more rhetorically reserved universalists, such as Gregory of Nazianzus). Late in the fourth century, for instance, Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea, reported that the vast majority of his fellow Christians (at least, in the Greek-speaking East with which he was familiar) assumed that “hell” is not an eternal condition, and that the “aiōnios punishment” of the age to come would end when the soul had been purified of its sins and thus prepared for union with God. Well into the sixth century, the great Platonist philosopher Olympiodorus the Younger could state as rather obvious that the suffering of wicked souls in Tartarus is certainly not endless, atelevtos, but is merely aiōnios; and the squalidly brutal and witless Christian emperor Justinian, as part of his campaign to extinguish the universalism of the “Origenists,” found it necessary to substitute the word atelevtētos for aiōnios when describing the punishments of hell, since the latter word was not decisive. Early in the eighth century, John of Damascus delineated four meanings of aiōn, the last of which—“eternity”—is offered as not an intrinsic, but merely an imputed, connotation, presumed whenever the word is used of something (like the Age of God’s Kingdom) known to be endless; and even then, John affirms, the true eternity of God is beyond all ages. As late as the thirteenth century, the East Syrian bishop Solomon of Bostra, in his authoritative compilation of the teachings of the “holy fathers” of Syrian Christian tradition, stated simply as a matter of fact that in the New Testament le-alam (the Syriac rendering of aiōnios) does not mean eternal, and that of course hell is not endless. And the fourteenth-century East Syrian Patriarch Timotheus II thought it uncontroversial to assert that the aiōnios pains of hell will come to an end when the souls cleansed by them, through the prayers of the saints, enter paradise. Conscious of the problems the word aiōnios presents, some Anglophone translators have in the past chosen simply to use an Anglicized version of the Greek word, “aeonian,” and thereby avoid the issue of its precise meaning altogether. Others have ventured such neologisms as “age-during.” Even, however, if I did not regard the effects thus produced as a little silly, I would find either an unsatisfactory solution, for a number of reasons—and this brings me to the second difficulty.

In the Gospels there are instances where the substantive aiōn and the adjective aiōnios are juxtaposed or associated in a single image or utterance (most directly in Mark 10:30 and Luke 18:30). This obvious parallel in the Greek is invisible in almost every English translation. For a long time, I considered translating aiōnios as “enduring” or “lasting,” the latter, I confess, because the “last” in “lasting” seemed the best I could do at insinuating into the text some faint echo of a hint of the eschatological resonance of the word—its clear reference to the Kingdom of God, “the Age to come”—in several contexts. But, in the end, I feared the loss of that vital and theologically portentous echo. I might have decided simply upon “age-long,” admittedly. Ultimately, though, I decided that to treat aiōnios as denoting only duration (whether eternal or limited), rather than a certain quality or dimension of reality as well, would still fail to cast any light upon the connection between aiōn and aiōnios in the text as a whole (especially in the fourth Gospel, where the adjective aiōnios seems clearly to indicate a qualitatively different—rather than successive—frame of reality, the divine sphere rather than the earthly). And this brings me to the third difficulty, which may be the most significant.

Jesus of Nazareth, as presented in the Gospels, was a first-century Galilaean who spoke Aramaic and could read Hebrew (if he could speak any koinē Greek, he certainly did not do so when teaching his disciples or preaching to the multitudes in Galilee and Judaea); and, if the sayings attributed to him in the Gospels are indeed faithful transpositions of his words into Greek equivalents, then there can be no doubt that the words aiōn and aiōnios correspond to various forms and uses of the Hebrew olam or the Aramaic alma, both of which most literally mean something at an immense distance, on the far horizon, hidden from view, and which are usually used to mean “age,” or “period of long duration,” or a time hidden in the depths of the far past or far future, or a “world” or “dispensation,” or even “eternity,” and so on; but it can also mean simply an extended period, and not necessarily a particularly long one, with a natural term. Moreover, the Septuagint—which, in its various forms, was the Bible for much of the early church, and which provides nine-tenths of all the quotations from Hebrew scripture found in the New Testament—serves as something of a guide to how various expressions of the Jewish concept olam or alma were typically rendered in Greek (for instance, in Deuteronomy 15:17 olam is used to indicate the period of the life of a slave, and in the Septuagint version of that passage is rendered as aiōn). There really is no word in Hebrew that naturally means “eternity,” either temporal or atemporal, or any word that naturally means “forever”; the claim occasionally made by champions of the received view—that both aiōn and olam in scripture mean “eternal” typically rather than defectively—is not merely logically impossible to verify, but simply false. There are, however, metaphoric, circumlocutory, or hyperbolic words and phrases that convey the idea of an extremely long period, which may even be endless in duration (but which, then again, may not be); and these locutions are recognizable just below the surface of certain standard Greek phrases in the Septuagint and the New Testament. Behind aiōn lies olam (if we confine ourselves to the Hebrew forms), and behind various constructions of aiōn lie corresponding constructions of olam. For instance, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (eis ton aiōna)—often translated as “forever” but literally meaning “unto the age” or “until the age” or “into the age” or “throughout the age”—is the equivalent of le-olam or ad-olam (“unto the age” or “until the age”). The phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn)—often translated as “forever and ever” or something similar, but literally meaning “unto the ages of the ages”—and the related ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων (ho aiōn tōn aiōnōn), “the age of the ages,” represent something like the Hebrew le-olam va-ed (“unto an age and beyond”) or le-olamei-olamim (“unto ages of ages”). More important here, however, the age to which many uses of both aiōn and aiōnios refer is clearly the olam ha-ba, “the Age to come”: the age or world of God that is coming to this earth, the Age of the Kingdom or of that reality now hidden in God. In the Greek of the New Testament, this is often rendered as ὁ αἰὼν ἐρχόμενος (ho aiōn erchomenos), “the coming age,” or ὁ μέλλων αἰών (ho mellōn aiōn), “the age about to come,” or, more simply and mysteriously, ἐκεῖνος αἰών (ekeinos aiōn), “that age.” And that coming age must be distinguished from the olam ha-zeh, “this present age,” which in Greek is οὗτος καιρός (houtos kairos) or οὗτος αἰών (houtos aiōn), “this time” or “this age”; or ἐνεστὼς καιρός (enestōs kairos) or ἐνεστὼς αἰών (enestōs aiōn), “the present time” or “the present age”; or ὁ νῦν αἰών (ho nyn aiōn), “the age now.” It is almost certainly the case that in the New Testament, and especially in the teachings of Jesus, the adjective aiōnios is the equivalent of something like the phrase le-olam, but also the case that it cannot be neatly discriminated from the language of the olam ha-ba without losing something of the theological depth and religious significance it possessed in the time of Christ. New Testament scholars as theologically diverse as Marcus Borg and N. T. Wright have suggested that translators might do well in many or most instances to render aiōnios as “of the age to come”; in fact, in Wright’s own translation of the New Testament he does just this wherever he deems it appropriate (though his resolve inexplicably deserts him at the crucial juncture of Matthew 25:46). I have not quite followed suit. Somewhat more vaguely, perhaps, I have generally rendered aiōnios as “of” or “in” either “that Age” (ekeinos aiōn) or “the Age,” using the unqualified noun alone to suggest a long, if indeterminate, duration, but using the uppercase letter to suggest something of its eschatological or otherworldly resonance. Only in a few cases, where the context warrants, have I used a different rendering. Wherever the word aiōnios appears in the text in a distinctive construction, I have indicated the fact in a footnote, for clarity’s sake.

2. The next word is γέεννα (gehenna). In the New Testament there is no single Greek term corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon “hell,” despite the prodigality with which that word is employed in traditional English translations, and no term at all that quite corresponds to the picture of hell—a kingdom of ingenious tortures ruled by Satan—that took ever more opulent and terrifying mythical shape in later Christian centuries. Rather, there is “Hades,” the realm of the dead beneath the earth, corresponding to the Hebrew Sheol (where, for instance, both “Dives” and Lazarus await the end of all things, or where perhaps disembodied souls heard the gospel from Jesus before his resurrection, and so on); there is “Tartarus” (once, in 2 Peter 2:4), a name drawn from pagan Greek lore referring to a place of postmortem imprisonment and punishment, and most especially to the prison of the Titans, but in the New Testament referring not to some sort of final “hell” of perpetual torment, but solely to the subterranean prison where fallen angels and demonic spirits are held until the day of judgment; and then there is “the gehenna,” the Aramaic form of the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom, “Valley of Hinnom” (originally the Ge-ben-Hinnom, “Valley of Hinnom’s Son”). This last term appears eleven times in the synoptic Gospels (seven in Matthew, three in Mark, and one in Luke), and only once in the rest of the New Testament (in the Letter of James). Precisely why this valley to the south and west of Jerusalem had by Christ’s time become, in apocalyptic literature and Rabbinic tradition, a name for a place of punishment or purification or both (usually after death) is difficult to tell. Scripture and tradition say that the Tophet was there, the place of child sacrifice for worshippers of Moloch and Ba’al, a practice attested in Leviticus, 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, Isaiah, and Jeremiah; and while there is as yet little archaeological evidence supporting the claim, the association of the Ge-Hinnom with the sacrifice of infants to evil gods was well established long before the Christian period. There is also some small evidence in the valley’s southwest reaches that it might have been a place of tombs and (after the arrival of the Romans) of crematory grounds. There is as well a mediaeval tradition, which may be based on older accounts, that the valley served as a rubbish tip and charnel ground, where refuse was burned and where animal and human corpses were left as carrion, but again the archaeological evidence for this is lacking; perhaps in favor of this possibility, however, are Christ’s words as reported in Mark 9:45–48, where he describes the valley in terms of the description in Isaiah 66:24 of human corpses being consumed by inexterminable worms and inextinguishable fires (neither of which, incidentally, is described as either otherworldly or eternal in nature). Then again, these same images also fit well with Jeremiah’s vision of the Ge-Hinnom gorged with corpses—the “valley of slaughter”—as a result of God’s historical punishment of Jerusalem and of those Israelites who had worshipped false gods and sacrificed their babies, using the king of Babylon as the instrument of his wrath; and, indeed, some very formidable New Testament scholars over the years, noting the seemingly more than incidental echoes of Jeremiah in the teachings of Jesus, have concluded that the language of the gehenna in the synoptic Gospels really referred to the historical “wrath” and “judgment” that many could see descending on Israel in Jesus’s own time (culminating in the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in AD 70), rather than to a cosmic Day of Judgment yet to dawn. After all, Jesus in the Gospels clearly states that the “eschatological” events he prophesies will come to pass during the lifetime of some of his listeners. But we really do not know precisely how this valley became a metaphor for divine punishment, in this world or the next, or exactly what the image’s figural function in Christ’s evangel was.

Neither do we know with great certainty precisely what meanings and connotations the term would have had for Jesus or for his listeners. Before, during, and soon after the time of Jesus, it was common parlance among a great many sects and schools, and was understood sometimes as a place of final destruction, sometimes simply as a place of punishment, and sometimes as a place of purgatorial regeneration. The two dominant rabbinical schools of Christ’s time, that of Shammai and that of Hillel, both spoke of it as a place of purification or punishment for a limited period, but both also taught that for the incorrigibly wicked there would or could be a state of eternal or final shame, remorse, suffering, or ruin; Shammai had a somewhat grimmer view of the number of the ultimately lost (about a third of humanity, on some accounts), whereas Hillel had a far keener sense of the power of God’s mercy to save. For Shammai, the gehenna was principally a refiner’s fire for those souls neither incorrigibly wicked nor blamelessly good, and those subjected to its pains would ultimately be raised up to paradise. Hillel apparently thought of the gehenna as a place of final punishment and annihilation (body and soul) of the utterly depraved, but thought their number extremely small. And rabbinical tradition says that it is from Hillel that what became the standard Rabbinic view—that no one can suffer in the gehenna for more than twelve months—originally comes; the idea at least goes back as far as Rabbi Akiva, in the generation just after Christ. But, really, we do not know whether Jesus advanced a similar view of the gehenna’s fire, or what duration he might have assigned to the sufferings of those committed to it, or how metaphorically or literally he or his listeners might have understood its imagery. Clearly, though, metaphor was his natural idiom, and so it seems unlikely that his language here should be assumed to be any more literal than his language of ovens or harvests or threshing floors or the closed doors of feasts. And later Christian tradition casts no real light on the issue, given the diversity of views that prevailed in the early centuries of the church, and the total absence of any language of the gehenna, or of any kind of lasting postmortem torment, in the earliest Christian documents we possess, the letters of Paul. As for whether Jesus viewed that fire as one of final destruction or one of purification, this too is difficult to say with certainty. The former possibility seems in keeping with the apparently “annihilationist” images frequently employed by Jesus—chaff and darnel weeds and dead branches being consumed in an oven (if these are metaphors for sinners rather than, as certain patristic exegetes believed, for their sins)—as well as with his talk of the gehenna’s power to destroy both body and soul. The latter possibility, however, could explain those same images equally well while also, at the same time, making sense of certain other metaphors used by Jesus in the Gospels to describe the punishments that follow from divine judgment: to wit, if remanded to the prison, “you shall most certainly not emerge from there until you repay the very last pittance” (Matthew 5:26; cf. Luke 12:59); the unmerciful slave is “delivered . . . to the inquisitors until he should repay everything owing” (Matthew 18:34); some wicked slaves “will be beaten with many blows” and others “beaten with few blows” (Luke 12:47, 48); “everyone will be salted with fire,” the fire in question being explicitly that of the gehenna, and salting being a common image of purification and preservation—for “salt is good” (Mark 9:49–50). It might also explain why the Greek word used for “punishment” in Matthew 25:46 is κόλασις (kolasis)—which typically refers to remedial punishment—rather than τιμωρία (timōria)—which typically refers to retributive justice (it might not, however, since by late antiquity kolasis had perhaps become somewhat less specific in connotation). And, if one regards Paul’s language as a reliable reflection of the teachings of the apostolic church, one might take 1 Corinthians 3:12–15—which distinguishes not between the saved and the “damned,” but only between those who (their works passing the test of fire) merit rewards in the Age to come and those who (their works failing that test) will instead have to be saved “as by fire”—as at least a suggestive gloss. Or, then again, one could take the gehenna in the sense sanctified by so much of the Eastern Christian mystical tradition as a metaphor for how the soul that seals itself against love of God and creatures experiences the saving glory of God: as, that is, a “flame” of exterior chastisement rather than a “light” of transfiguring grace. But that is a spiritual interpretation, not an historical reconstruction. As for the remaining possibility, that the gehenna is a name for a place neither of annihilation nor of purification, but of eternal conscious torment—the God of love’s perpetual torture chamber—for this rather repellant idea there is easily the least evidence in the Gospels (if any); but the notion may have some substantial precedent in Jewish intertestamental apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Enoch, as well as in some early Rabbinic traditions, and it accords with most later Christian readings of that sole suggestive verse, Matthew 25:46 (especially after the fifth century). One might also suppose that other images of exclusion used by Jesus—locked doors, outer darkness, wailing and the grinding of teeth—are descriptions of a literally perpetual state of existence after death, of which there can be no end and from which there is no hope of deliverance through purification. And one can perhaps assume that the “inexcusable” sin of blasphemy against the Spirit, mentioned in all three synoptic Gospels, is one for which the penalty exacted must be everlasting, rather than one necessarily leading to either annihilation or purification. But the texts do not actually say any of that, and again, the absence of any hint of such a notion in the Pauline corpus (or, for that matter, in the fourth Gospel, or the “Catholic Epistles,” or those very early doctrinal and confessional texts the Didache and Apostles’ Creed, or the writings of the Apostolic Fathers . . .) makes the very concept nearly as historically suspect as it is morally unintelligible. Moreover, to read back into these texts either the traditional view of dual and in some sense synchronously eternal postmortem destinies or the developed high mediaeval Roman Catholic view of an absolute distinction between “Hell” and “Purgatory” would be either (in the former case) a dogmatic reflex rather than an exegetical necessity or (in the latter) an act of simple historical illiteracy. But I leave it to readers to reconcile the various eschatological passages of the New Testament with one another, or not, as they choose; the most I can do is offer an observation about two of the greatest and most brilliant Church Fathers of the later fourth and early fifth centuries. The Greek-speaking Gregory of Nyssa, who was a universalist and who simply assumed the purgatorial view of the gehenna, was able to unite all the various biblical images and claims in a fairly seamless synthesis in his writings, omitting nothing known to him as Christian canon. Conversely, the Latin-speaking Augustine, who took very much the contrary view, was far more selective in his use of scripture, was dependent on often grossly misleading translations, and had to expend enormous energy on qualifying, rephrasing, and explaining away a host of passages that did not really conform well to the theological system he imagined he had found in Paul’s writings. This is, if nothing else, instructive. For myself, at any rate, I have translated “the gehenna” as “the Vale of Hinnom” or “Hinnom’s Vale,” keeping the proper name (which would have been audible to Jesus’s listeners) but using the somewhat daintily pretentious “vale” to insinuate a hint of gauzy otherworldliness into the image (since by Jesus’s time it was clearly no longer simply a geographical designation, but a metaphor with an enormous range of associations and connotations).

3. The next term is Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaios)—or Ἰουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) in the plural—which is usually rendered “Jew” or “Jews,” except in places where “Judaean” or “Judaeans” seems better to fit the context: again, a perfectly justifiable practice, but also one that inadvertently introduces a distinction into the text that would not have been entirely intended by the authors. The books of the New Testament were written in an age in which national, ethnic, religious, and racial identities were not arranged in the often pernicious categories that came to hold sway in subsequent centuries; and it would be a severe distortion of the texts of the New Testament to allow these later developments to cast a shadow backward onto a time innocent of the evils of mediaeval or modern history. For example—and the most striking example—the Gospel of John has often been accused of anti-Semitism, despite the anachronism of the very concept. Where English readers are accustomed to reading the Gospel as referring, often opprobriously, to “the Jews,” the original text is usually referring to the indigenous Temple and synagogue authorities of Judaea, or to Judaeans living outside Judaea, or even to “Judaeans” as opposed to “Galileans” (see, for instance, John 7:1). The Gospel definitely reflects the disenchantment of Jewish Christians in Asia Minor with those they saw as having expelled them from the synagogue, and later Christian culture certainly often took this as an excuse for anti-Jewish violence and injustice, but it would be absurd to impute to the Gospel the sort of religious prejudices born in later generations, or certainly the racial ideologies that are so much a part of the special legacy of post-Enlightenment modernity. I have rendered the word as “Judaean” or “Judaeans” throughout, even where that sounds somewhat awkward, and even in places where “Jew” or “Jews” would be an utterly anodyne or bracingly affirmative translation. After all, the general extension of the term “Jews” to all who worshipped Israel’s God meant principally that their cultic life was focused on the Temple in Jerusalem. Again, my rationale for doing this, and for ignoring my own twinge of reluctance whenever it produced a somewhat inept construction, is that I thought it better to preserve the unity of the word and the concept in the language of the ancient authors than to impose distinctions that would make the texts conform more readily to our cultural categories (and historical sins).

4. The next word is λόγος (logos), which in certain special instances is quite impossible for a translator to reduce to a single word in English, or in any other tongue (though one standard Chinese version of the Bible renders logos in the prologue of John’s Gospel as 道 (tao), which is about as near as any translation could come to capturing the scope and depth of the word’s religious, philosophical, and metaphoric associations in those verses, while also carrying the additional meaning of “speech” or “discourse”). To be clear, in most contexts in the New Testament, logos can be correctly and satisfactorily rendered as “word,” “utterance,” “teaching,” “story,” “message,” “speech,” or “communication.” In the very special case of the prologue to John’s Gospel, however, any such translation is so inadequate as to produce nothing but a cipher without a key. Few modern readers or, for that matter, readers in any age could be expected to be cognizant of the complexities of late antique metaphysics, or to be familiar with the writings of Hellenistic Jewish philosophers like Philo of Alexandria (c. 25 BC–c. AD 50), or to be much acquainted with the speculative grammar of Hellenistic Judaism’s “Wisdom” literature. And so they could scarcely be aware of the vast range of meanings the word logos had acquired by the time John’s Gospel was written, many of which are unquestionably present in its use in the prologue. Over many centuries logos had come to mean “mind,” “reason,” “rational intellect,” “rational order,” “spirit”; as well as “expression,” “manifestation,” “revelation”; as well as “original principle,” “spiritual principle,” and even “divine principle.” Really, the full spectrum of its philosophical connotations could scarcely be contained in a single book. In the special context of late antique, Greek-speaking Judaism, and particularly in the work of Philo, the word had come to mean a very particular kind of divine reality, a secondary or derivative divine principle proceeding from the Most High God and mediating between God and the created order. There was a shared prejudice among many of the philosophical systems of late antiquity to the effect that the highest God, God proper, in his utter transcendence could not interact directly with or appear immediately within the created order; hence it was only through a “secondary god” or “expressed divine principle” that God made the world and revealed himself in it. It was assumed by many Jewish and then Christian thinkers that the theophanies of the Jewish scriptures were visitations of the Logos, God’s self-expression in his divine intermediary or Son, as Philo called him. To an educated reader of the late first or early second century, the Logos of John’s prologue would clearly have been just this divine principle: at once the Most High God’s manifestation of himself in a secondary divine moment, and also the pervasive and underlying rational power creating, sustaining, and governing the cosmos. For all of which reasons, I have chosen not to translate the word at all in the first chapter of John—or in, more controversially, John 5:38, 10:35; or in, yet more controversially, 1 John 1:1, 10; or in, most controversially of all, Revelation 19:13 (though perhaps for somewhat different reasons in this last case). In certain usages, the word is so capacious in its meanings and associations that it must be accounted unique; any attempt to limit it to a single English term would be to risk reducing it to a conceptual phantom of itself.

5. The next word is the verb προορίζειν (proörizein), which has traditionally—as a result of the Vulgate Latin translation—been rendered as “to predestine.” This is simply incorrect (though some inferior lexica over the years, taking their lead from traditional theological usage in the West, have incorporated it in their definitions of the verb). The word ὁρίζειν (horizein) (whence our word “horizon”), means “to demarcate,” “delineate,” “to mark out as a boundary,” “to distinguish,” “to sort,” “to define,” “to assign,” “to plan out,” “to make determinate,” or “to appoint”; and pro-horizein is simply to do this in advance. It certainly possesses none of the grim, ghastly magnificence of the late Augustinian concept of “predestination”: an entirely irresistible predetermining causal force, not based on divine foreknowledge but rather logically prior to everything it ordains, by which God infallibly destines only a very few to salvation and thereby infallibly consigns the vast majority of humanity to unending torment. Thus, in two of the six instances of the verb’s use in the New Testament (Romans 8:29–30), Paul—blissfully innocent of later theological developments and anxieties—explicitly treats this divine “pre-demarcation” as consequent upon divine foreknowledge, and does so without any qualification or noticeable pangs of theological conscience. (1 Peter 1:1–2, more concisely, says the same thing.) Of the very few instances of the verb or its cognate noun προορισμός (proörismos) in Greek literature before the New Testament (I am aware of only two), it carries no connotation of predestination. More tellingly, none of the Greek-speaking Church Fathers ever read the word as having such a connotation, or even seemed to suspect that such a reading was a possibility. The Augustinian understanding of “predestination,” for all its epochal significance for later Western Christian thought, is a late fourth-century theological innovation, the inadvertent invention of a Paul who never existed, a theological accident prompted by a defective Latin translation and the temperamental idiosyncrasies of a single sullen genius (with at times a singularly dismal understanding of the “good news”). No matter what one’s theology, the traditional rendering is simply insupportable. I have therefore translated the verb, with bland literality, as “to mark out in advance.”

6. The next word is ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), which means “man” or “human being,” but which is not simply another word for ἀνήρ (anēr) (“man” strictly in the sense of an adult male). Like the German Mensch (as distinct from Mann), it is a masculine noun that, used in either the definite singular (to mean “the man” or “that man”) or the indefinite singular (to mean “a man”), would typically refer only to a male; but, used in the singular as a categorical designation, it can mean “man” in the sense of “mankind” or “humanity”; and, used in the plural, it can refer to human beings in general. I have not striven in this translation for “inclusive language,” at least where it would involve altering the text. For one thing, I would dislike the pretense that the text does not use the sort of language that it does, and I think readers can be trusted to know that these are first-century writings. Moreover, mine is not a version written for liturgical or homiletic purposes, but an attempt to make the original text visible through as thin a layer of translation as I can contrive to superimpose upon it. So, in a few places where a late modern phrase like “human being” or “human person” would have seemed jarringly awkward, I have yielded to the sirens of euphony and used “man” or “men”—quite unrepentantly in certain instances (no impulse of conscience, however fervent, could cause me to sacrifice as grand, ancient, poetic, and mysterious a title as “Son of Man” in favor of “Human” or “Child of Humanity” or something equally insipid). Again, I trust readers not only to have a sense of the realities of cultural history, but also to be able to distinguish between substantial and empty gestures. All that said, however, in every instance where it proved both possible and agreeable to do so, I have employed the term “human being” or something similar. In some cases I find this a very happy way of adding what I take to be a needed emphasis to certain phrases, especially those in which the plural noun is modified by the adjective “all.” For some reason—possibly simply on account of our settled habit of hearing certain biblical phrases as saying what we expect them to say—we often fail to notice some of the more striking and radical theological formulations that appear in the New Testament; and somehow using phrases like “all human beings” or “every human being” seems to make them more audible to us than does the use of the more familiar “all men” (or even “all persons”). I am thinking of such verses as Romans 5:18; 1 Timothy 2:4, 4:10; Titus 2:11 (when translated correctly), as well as of the light they cast upon such similar or related verses as John 12:32; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Timothy 2:6; and 2 Peter 3:9.

7. The next word is ἔργα (erga), plural of ἔργον (ergon), which means “work,” “task,” “skill,” “labor,” “operation,” “handiwork,” or “business”; or, more simply, “work” in the sense of “deed,” “act,” or “feat”; or, in certain special contexts, a ritual action to be performed or a duty to be discharged. In most cases in the New Testament, the word refers simply to discrete actions, labors, or deeds, and my translation reflects that. There are some special instances in Paul’s letters, however, in which the “works” in question are specifically “works of the Law”—that is to say, obligations imposed by the Mosaic code, like circumcision, Sabbath obligations, or kosher laws—and so I have rendered erga as “observances” (which is one of the standard renderings of the word when used in connection with religious obligations). I do this principally because, removed as most of us are not only from the ritual life of first-century Judaism, but also from the idiom Paul shared with many of his contemporaries, we tend to forget what the principal religious issues were for him. And, perhaps needless to say, there is a long tradition of reading Paul as though his concerns were entirely different: Where he drew a distinction between, on the one hand, the righteousness or rewards that one can achieve through such observances (which, incidentally, he affirms) and, on the other, the righteousness God takes account of entirely in respect of one’s faithfulness (which God graciously rewards), many Christian theologians down the centuries (at least in the West) have taken him to be drawing a distinction between, on the one hand, the divine blessings one wins through one’s good deeds (which supposedly Paul denies are possible) and, on the other, the entirely gratuitous graces bestowed by God without any prevision of or attention to one’s moral deeds at all (else grace were not grace). This is clearly an error, and introduces an antithesis into Paul’s thought of which his writings betray no consciousness (see, for example, Romans 2:7–14). Taken to its extreme (which, logically, it always has to be) it leads to an absurd situation: Not only is one obliged to read Paul’s teaching as diametrically opposed to the theology of “judgment according to works” clearly enunciated by Jesus in the Gospels, by the Letter of James, by the book of Revelation, and so on (however this has been dissembled by a long tradition of forced readings), but one is also obliged to read Paul’s teaching as diametrically opposed to itself, since he too clearly affirms “judgment according to works” (see Romans 2:1–16, 4:10–12; 1 Corinthians 3:12–15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 2:16; and so on). And, for those who presuppose a perfect theological consistency in the New Testament, it can lead to even more ungainly exegetical contortions, such as John Calvin’s weirdly endearing practice of treating Christ’s more demanding moral counsels in the Gospels (his advice to the rich young ruler, his exhortation to his disciples to be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect, and so on) as exercises in irony (for surely, reasoned Calvin, Jesus cannot mean that our good deeds are relevant to our election, or that we should strive for spiritual perfection). Certainly, Paul affirms that it is God who gives the power and grace necessary for the soul to perform good works, and that without God creatures can achieve nothing; but he never suggests either that this power and grace are irresistible predestining forces, or that good works are not genuinely criteria by which God weighs souls in the balance (and determines, perhaps, whether they are to be rewarded for their works or instead are to be saved through the fire by which their works will be consumed). One may view the relation between divine grace and human effort in Paul’s thought in whatever way one wishes (though the Eastern Christian language of synergeia—synergy—seems clearly to be nearest to Paul’s own thought and language). But what one certainly ought not to do is mistake Paul’s distinction between faithfulness of the heart and works of the Law for an opposition between mere personal belief and concrete moral effort. For him, as for other writers in the New Testament, human beings are justified—that is, “proved righteous” or “made righteous” (see below)—“by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).

8. The next word is ὑποκριτής (hypokritēs)—or ὑποκριταί (hypokritai) in the plural—which is understandably usually translated as “hypocrite” or “hypocrites.” But in the Greek of the first century the word did not quite mean what “hypocrite” has come to mean to us: a person whose actions belie his words, or whose moral character contradicts his professed moral principles. The word originally designated a public interpreter or expounder of a text, one who declaimed verse, a rhapsode, or an actor playing a role on stage. As a term of abuse, it meant simply one who dissembles or deceives, or one who is putting on a performance to impress or beguile others. I have rendered the word variously in this translation, as context dictates, but in most instances have rendered it as “charlatan” or “charlatans.”

9. The next word is the plural noun ἔθνη (ethnē), which can mean “nations,” “peoples,” or “gentiles,” and which I have translated as one or another of these as context dictates. It is as well to note, however, that behind these three English words, wherever they appear in the text, there is only a single Greek word and so, arguably, only a single concept.

10. The next word is actually a pair of words: λύτρον (lytron) and ἀντίλυτρον (antilytron). The former appears only twice (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45) and the latter only once (1 Timothy 2:6), and they are effectively synonymous. There are also occasional verbal formulations derived from the same root. Each refers to Christ in his role specifically as redeemer and is traditionally translated “ransom.” Though this is not wrong, it does not quite convey the full meaning that the word, in either of its forms, carries in the text. We often fail to appreciate how often the language of salvation in the New Testament employs the imagery and terminology of contemporary civil law regarding slavery. A lytron or antilytron is, in that context, the required fee for the emancipation of a slave, paid to the slaveholder in order to secure legal manumission. In the earliest centuries of Christian thought, the meaning of the word was still obvious to all readers; the only question of theological moment regarding this manumission fee was to whom we ought to imagine it had been paid: to the devil, our principal slaveholder, so to speak, or to death, the household of our bondage. But, as the centuries flowed on and Christianity spread into other lands, cultures, and languages, the original meaning was occasionally lost sight of, so much so that some Christians came to imagine that the word referred to a ransom paid to God the Father by the Son, to appease God’s righteous wrath, or to repair his injured dignity, or to yield tribute to the awful majesty of his sovereignty. That idea is entirely alien to the way the word is used in the New Testament; there is no suggestion there that, in Christ, God pays God off, or God rescues us from God; rather, the work of salvation is depicted as a single, unified act of rescue, whereby God the Father, through the Son, redeems (that is, “buys back”) his children from the slavery into which they have been sold, even at the most terrible of costs (the death of the divine Son). So I have rendered it by such phrases as “the price of liberation” or “fee for emancipation,” and so on, and have rendered its verbal correlates accordingly.

11. Next comes a cluster of words springing up around a common root: the adjective δίκαιος (dikaios), which can be translated as “just,” “right,” “righteous”; the noun δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē), which can be translated as “righteousness,” “justice,” “what is correct,” “what is proper,” “rectitude”; the verb δικαιόω (dikaioō), which can be translated as “make just,” “make right,” “rectify,” “correct,” or alternatively, as “prove just,” “show to be right,” “vindicate”; and all other words related to the noun δίκη (dikē), usually rendered as “justice,” “rightness,” “correct custom.” Here I have had to betray my prejudice for formal consistency of translation. To begin with, in regard to the adjectives and nouns, it is not always easy to decide, when translating a particular passage or a particular author, whether it is better to use words like “just” and “justice” or words like “righteous” and “righteousness,” given the connotations of each. The nearest we come to words that split the difference are “right,” “correct” or “what is right,” “uprightness,” “rectitude,” “correctness”; and I have employed some of these where it seemed wise to do so. In the world of the New Testament, religious and legal identity—or religious and legal obligation—were not distinct concepts, as they usually are for us. But in some instances it is clear that the context is more juridical than religious or moral, and in other instances that the opposite is true, and I have simply made as prudent a choice as I could in each case regarding which word to use. Moreover, there are two special problems of translation that have required firm decisions on my part precisely where I would have preferred indecisive vacillation. First, in most translations of the New Testament the word dikaiosynē is rendered as “righteousness”; but it often carries the specific connotation of “ritual propriety” or “what is legally correct,” and in the Bible it carries the even more specific connotation of “what is correct according to the Law (of Moses)”—as in the Septuagint’s version of Isaiah 26:2, or as in Matthew 3:15; where appropriate, I have attempted to make this clear. Second, the word dikaioō is usually translated as “justify”—or, in its passive construction, as “to be justified”—but this does not really capture either of the word’s proper meanings exactly, at least not in modern English; and in fact, as a theological term, “justification” has over the centuries acquired so many questionable connotations that it is more likely to obscure the original authors’ intentions than to reflect them. Again, dikaioō can mean either “rectify,” “set right,” “correct” or “vindicate,” “prove right,” “show to be just”; and it is not always clear, especially in Paul’s letters, which of these senses should predominate, since arguments can often be made for either. In reality, I believe, he used the word in both senses, according to context. Of course, from the early fifth century onward, one stream of Western theology came to treat Paul’s use of the verb (or of its Latin equivalent, justifico) as meaning some sort of merely formal or forensic imputation of righteousness, rather than either a real corrective transformation or a real evidential vindication—an interpretation, arguably, that reached its most extreme expression in certain of Augustine’s late writings and in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century theologies of figures like John Calvin and Cornelius Jansen. But nothing in the word’s history allows for such a meaning intrinsically, and there is nothing in Paul’s arguments that encourages such a reading (despite our habit of reading and translating Paul through the prism of Augustinian tradition). In the end, I found myself constrained to choose between “rectify” and “vindicate” (or similar locutions) in each particular instance of the word’s use.

12. Another uniradical cluster of words comprises both the noun πίστις (pistis), often rendered as “faith,” and the verb πιστεύω (pistevō), often rendered as “to believe” or “to have faith.” All I wish to emphasize here (and in my translation) is that πίστις can mean both “trust” in something and the “trustworthiness” of something, and can even (somewhat combining these two connotations) be understood as “fidelity” or “faithfulness.” And πιστεύω does not really mean “to believe” in an impartial and merely intellectual way, but “to vest faith in” or “to have trust in” something or someone, and sometimes even “to entrust” either oneself or something at one’s disposal to another. I have tried to do justice to these connotations in my translation.

13. Next comes κόσμος (kosmos), which I have for the most part chosen not to translate (in the traditional way) as “world,” but simply to transliterate as “cosmos.” The effect is often perhaps a bit jarring. But, while there are instances in the text where the word functions as an equivalent of οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē), the inhabited world of human beings, it more frequently means the whole of the created order, the heavens no less than the earth. It certainly carries this latter meaning in some crucial and occasionally unsettling ways in many verses in John’s Gospel, Paul’s letters, and elsewhere. It is good, for example, to be reminded that in the New Testament, and in Paul’s theology in particular, both slavery to death in sin and final liberation from death in divine glory are described as cosmic—not merely human—realities, taking in the whole of creation. Moreover, the word “world” as we use it today simply does not capture what is most essential to the ancient concept of “cosmos,” a word that most literally means “order” or “arrangement” or even “loveliness of design.” For us, the “world” is either merely the physical reality of nature and society “out there,” or it is the human sphere with all its attendant moral and historical contingencies. For the late antique cultures from which the New Testament came, the “cosmos” was quite literally a magnificently and terribly elaborate order of reality that comprehended nature (understood as a rational integrity organized by metaphysical principles), the essential principles of the natural and animal human condition (flesh and soul, for instance, with all their miseries), the spiritual world (including the hierarchies of the “divine,” the angelic, and the daemonic), the astral and planetary heavens (understood as a changeless realm at once physical and spiritual), as well as social, political, and religious structures of authority and power (including the governments of human beings, angels, celestial “daemons,” gods, terrestrial demons, and whatever other mysterious forces might be hiding behind nature’s visible forms). It is a vision of the whole of things that is utterly unlike any with which most of us are today familiar, and that simply does not correspond to any meaning of “world” intuitively obvious to us. For the author of 1 Peter or of 1 John, for instance, to tell his readers to have nothing to do with the “cosmos” is to say something far more comprehensive, imponderable, and astonishing than that they should avoid vice and materialist longings, or that they should withdraw from society. It seemed better to me to risk oddity of expression than to risk losing sight of these truths.

14. Next, μετάνοια (metanoia), a word traditionally translated as “repentance,” but whose literal meaning is a “change of mind,” or “of thinking,” or “of intention,” or “of the heart.” “Repentance” is a word that today carries none of those connotations naturally; for us, it is a largely negative term that means something like “regret and repudiation,” both of which may be some part of the special meaning of μετάνοια in the New Testament, but which say nothing of the real inner transformation that is a far larger part of the word’s sense; μετάνοια and its correlative verb μετανοέω (metanoeō) have a positive and genuinely transitive power, such that at various times the New Testament uses the formulation of a μετάνοια εἰς (metanoia eis), an interior change “toward” (God, salvation, life, full knowledge, or so on). Admittedly, in modern English idiom neither “change of mind” nor “change of heart” carries quite the hortatory moral force or rhetorical vigor of the Greek word, but either is more accurate than the now dully conventional “repentance.” My only difficulty here was deciding whether I should use a term like “mind” or “thinking” to emphasize the ratiocinative element of the concept, or should instead speak of the “heart” in order properly to emphasize the affective element. I elected the latter, but with the qualification that the heart should be understood in the classical sense, as the seat of both the intellect and the passions. And, as the syntax of particular verses warrants, I have used “change” or “turn” or “transformation” to indicate the meta- in metanoia.

15. The next word is ψυχή (psychē), which in most versions of the New Testament is translated in a great variety of ways, in each instance as context seems to dictate. This is a perfectly fair practice, since, again, there is no single English equivalent for the word that could possibly comprise the full range of its connotations and nuances. The inevitable result of this, however, as is the case in any translation of a conceptually rich or ambiguous term, is that what appeared to the author of the original to be a complex but coherent unity of meaning becomes for the translator, and those dependent on his or her labors, a cloud of associations—or, really, of dissociations. Psychē can mean “life” or “principle of life,” or can mean “soul” in the sense of “enlivening force,” or can mean “soul” in the sense of “conscious mind” or “self.” Its nearest equivalent in Latin is anima, meaning both principle of the body’s life and soul in the sense of personal identity or self. Thus, for instance, when Paul distinguishes in 1 Corinthians 15:44–46 between the body human beings possess in this age and that which they shall receive in the Age to come, he speaks of the former as a dissoluble and perishable composite of flesh and soul, a σῶμα ψυχικόν (sōma psychikon), but of the latter as an imperishable unity, a σῶμα πνευματικόν (sōma pnevmatikon): an “animal” or “psychical body,” on the one hand, and a “spiritual” or “pneumatic body,” on the other. The substantive psychē, however, I have rendered as “soul” throughout, even in those cases where this produces somewhat ungainly phrasing. I was prompted to do this by my perhaps overly scrupulous principle that what the original author considered a conceptual unity the translator should try not to convert into a multiplicity of distinct concepts; but I was prompted also by my desire that my translation reflect the text’s origin in an age when the very idea of physical life was still not only inseparable from, but even identical to, the idea of the soul—when, that is, the principle of organic life and the principle of thought, sensation, and spiritual personality were understood as one and the same principle. And this seems to me a doubly important consideration in light of what I take to be some of the defective theological scholarship of the past (especially within certain Protestant critical traditions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries). At one time it was fashionable to note that in ancient Hebrew scripture there is no concept—or at best only a somewhat shadowy and attenuated concept—of a “soul” separable from corporeal existence, and then to assert rather boldly that the same was true of the Judaism of Christ’s time and so also of Christian scripture. This is false. In the intertestamental period, when Judaism was well developed in the direction of what we now know as Rabbinic tradition, and had been absorbing and synthesizing Persian and Greek styles of thought for centuries, most Jews (with the exception, apparently, of “mortalist” Sadducees), like most gentiles (again, with some exceptions), were well accustomed to thinking of the soul as in some sense discrete from the flesh, able to persist in some conscious condition after the death of the body. None of them thought like modern Cartesians, admittedly, but most of them understood psychē as we now use the word “soul”: as simultaneously what makes us alive and what makes us who we are.

At certain points—for instance, 1 Corinthians 2:14 or Jude 1:19—I have rendered the adjective psychikos or ψυχικοί (psychikoi) (the plural form) simply as “psychical,” fully aware of how odd that looks. My reason for doing so is that, in the Greek of the original text, the word sometimes obviously reflects a distinction between persons whose natures are “psychical” or merely “ensouled” and persons who, as Jude puts it, “have spirit” or even “have a spirit.” But most translations distort these verses so violently that their original meaning has become quite invisible. In the verse from Jude, for instance, most translators render psychikoi as vaguely as possible—as “natural,” say, or “sensual”—and then capitalize the word “spirit” as though it were a straightforward reference to the Holy Spirit (which it certainly is not). Precisely how Jude or his readers would have understood this distinction is uncertain, but it is there in the text all the same. Today we tend to think that such divisions among persons, or even among Christians within the church, were among the more exotic eccentricities of the para-Christian or “gnostic” movements of the second century and after. But, even if the word “gnostic” is useful as a general designation for groups outside the ecclesial mainstream, their language on this matter was in continuity with language used by early Christians of just about every stripe. Jude may not have conceived of such a distinction as some sort of ontological division between different kinds of human beings, but he certainly did see it as a division between different states of sanctification or “spiritual” progress, and he may well have believed that “spirit” is a special property acquired by progressive sanctification. (And, frankly, we cannot be certain that all the so-called gnostics saw the matter much differently.) Which brings me to the next word.

16. That is, πνεῦμα (pnevma), “spirit,” which (like the word for “spirit” in so many tongues) most literally means “wind” or “breath.” My principal remark here is that in many passages in the New Testament, and especially in some of Paul’s letters, it is impossible to tell whether the author is speaking of human “spirit” or of God’s “Spirit.” At certain crucial junctures, again in Paul’s letters, the absence of a clear distinction seems almost intentional. Traditionally, translators choose how the reader should understand the word in moments of uncertainty by either capitalizing it or leaving it in the lowercase; and far too often the word is capitalized when it probably ought not to be. A particularly good example of this is Galatians 5:17, where Paul (whose anthropology is considerably more “dualistic” than it is currently fashionable to admit) is clearly speaking of an opposition between the desires of “the flesh” and of “the spirit” within each human being, but where most English translations quite presumptuously and unintelligibly describe an opposition between “flesh” and “the [Holy] Spirit.” Another, equally good example is 1 Peter 3:18, where “flesh” and “spirit” are again (somewhat dualistically) opposed to one another in the form of modal datives—the one indicating the manner of Christ’s death, the other the manner of his resurrection—but where, again, many translators have tried to turn the latter into a reference to the Holy Spirit, even though both the syntax of the Greek text and the logic of the author’s argument make such a reading impossible (among other things, it renders unintelligible the claim of the following verse: see my footnotes to those verses). Yet another example is Jude 1:19, which I have discussed in the section immediately above. And still another might be John 6:63. In any event, in my rendering I have been considerably more chaste in my use of the capital s than most translators have been in the past. As a general rule, I have done it in cases where the word pnevma is accompanied by a definite article, in a way that indicates that it is specifically the Spirit of God that is being spoken of. I have also used the capital s in many places where the article is absent but where something more than “spirit” in a vague and abstract sense is meant, and where, again, the reference is to a “Spirit” who comes from God. But in several places my judgment on the matter is only a best guess, and reflects a distinction that is not always clearly present in the text. There are numerous instances—in the latter chapters of Romans, say—where the text speaks of “spirit” and even “holy spirit,” and it is all but impossible to say whether divine or creaturely spirit is at issue. (How, for example, is one to translate Romans 6:27? How is one to understand it?) Moreover, I can only caution the reader, though without much in the way of further exegetical clarity, not to assume the fully developed theology of the Holy Spirit as enunciated in later church councils when reading the New Testament. I might also add that, at a few points—1 Corinthians 2:15, 3:1, 14:37; Galatians 6:1—I was tempted to render πνευματικός (pnevmatikos), or its plural form πνευματικοί (pnevmatikoi), simply as “Pneumatic” (as a substantive), but feared this might have the absurd effect of summoning up images of tires or drills or bustlines; still, I wanted to make clear that Paul appears in those passages almost certainly to be speaking of a special class of “spiritual persons” within the body of the church, so I resorted to the same dubious strategy of capitalization that I have just so rudely deplored (but to a very different end). Again, the fear of any hint of “proto-gnosticism” in Paul’s letters leads some scholars to reject the conclusion that Paul ever speaks of such a special class of Christian; but the text makes it fairly unavoidable, and it would probably be best for those who suffer such anxieties to remember that Paul’s understanding of the distinction need not be thought of as “proto-gnostic,” so much as later “gnostic” appropriations of such language might be thought of as “post-Pauline.” (Paul even, after all, seems to hint that there are especially advanced Christians who, unlike neophytes in the faith, possess “gnosis.”)

17. Then there is σάρξ (sarx), which literally means “flesh” and which I translate as “flesh” (I also translated its associated adjective σαρκικός [sarkikos] as “fleshly”). This might not seem an exactly daring decision on my part, but in many translations any number of circumlocutions are frequently employed precisely to avoid rendering this word literally. It has become something of a fashion over the past century for theologians to insist almost exclusively on the “worldliness” of Christianity, or on how exuberantly it affirms the material order—the material body especially—as the good creation of God, or on how radically the early Christian view of corporeality supposedly differed from that of more “Hellenistic” or “gnostic” or “idealist” schools of thought. And so, just as the word pnevma is often capitalized and thus “divinized,” so as to hide instances where it is actually being used to indicate a “good” principle of “spirit” set over against the “bad” principle of “flesh,” so sarx is often rendered by some sort of theologically sanitized circumlocution like “sinful human nature” or “fallen human nature” or “the mortal body.” Both this practice and the theological platitudes inspiring it should be eschewed at every juncture. It is true that there is nothing like an absolute dualism in the New Testament, of the sort that would suggest that the physical world is ultimately evil, or that the Age to come will not involve a redemption of the whole created order; but, even so, there is at least a very strong provisional dualism clearly present in much of the New Testament, and when the text speaks of “flesh” in opprobrious terms it is not employing a vague metaphor, for which some less upsetting abstraction may safely be substituted. As both 1 Corinthians 15:40–54 and 1 Peter 3:18, 4:6 make quite clear—and as Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:36; and perhaps Acts 23:8 all powerfully suggest—many early Christians understood the difference between the mortal body and the resurrected body (whether Christ’s or ours) as the difference between earthly flesh and a kind of life that has transcended the flesh (for, as Paul says, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God”). At times, the early Christians, no less than their pagan or “gnostic” contemporaries, had a somewhat jaundiced view of “this cosmos” or “this age,” as well as of “this body of death,” not merely as moral dispensations, but as physical realities.

18. Next comes πορνεία (porneia), along with the related substantives πόρνη (pornē) and πόρνος (pornos). Porneia means “prostitution” or (more bluntly) “whoring,” but in most traditional translations it is rendered as “fornication.” Perhaps, historically speaking, this is very nearly a distinction without a difference. In the first-century world, and especially in Judaea, casual sexual encounters were not a readily available form of recreation; women did not enjoy the liberty (or the safety) to go about in many public places, and certainly had little desire to court the disastrous social and personal consequences of premarital or extramarital liaisons. Most men seeking sexual release outside of marriage generally had to pay for the service. Even so, the word’s meaning is precise and ought not to be obscured. Similarly, a pornē was a female prostitute and a pornos a boy prostitute or hired “catamite,” and prostitutes of both sexes were more often than not slaves. In the former case, most translations of the New Testament do in fact render the term accurately as “harlot” or “whore.” In the latter case, however, they generally settle on “fornicator.” Admittedly, there is a complication here, inasmuch as pornos is used at many junctures in biblical Greek to mean not a catamite, but rather a man who uses prostitutes of either sex; even so, the traditional rendering makes neither meaning obvious. I should also note that all of these words have a certain indelicacy about them, and so I have generally used a coarser word like “whoring” or “whore” rather than something blander, like “prostitution” or “prostitute.”

19. Finally, μακάριος (makarios), which is generally translated as “blessed” or “happy” or “fortunate,” and which indeed means all of these things. But it is also a word whose original connotations included something like “divine blessedness” or “the bliss of the gods,” and which well into late antiquity suggested a special intensity of delight and freedom from care that the more shopworn renderings no longer quite capture (at least not to my ear). I expect that for many readers this will prove the most insufferable decision on my part for a number of reasons, and one that will be written off as expressing a perverse aversion to common phrases or a desire slyly to introduce a hint of Asian mysticism into the text, but I have elected to render the word as “blissful” (and I remain entirely impenitent in having done so).

Notes on Authorship

Regarding the issue of how I have assigned the authorship of the various books of the New Testament, I can only say I have followed what I regard as the most credible current scholarship. For the most part, however, this is not so much a matter of identifying who wrote what, but of clearly indicating the depths of our ignorance on many questions. Most scholars are in agreement that seven of the letters traditionally attributed to Paul are indisputably authentic—in the most likely chronological order, 1 Thessalonians (or, as I prefer to render it, Thessalonikans), Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans—though some doubt the authenticity of even 1 Thessalonians and Philippians (but on rather feeble grounds). Otherwise, the books of the canon are of uncertain authorship, and in some cases are pseudonymous; in one case, Hebrews, the text is simply anonymous (see below). Even the four Gospels were given their names probably only in the second century, and the stories that came to surround those names are legendary at best. The author of the earliest of them (written around AD 70 perhaps) is known to us as Mark, but whether this was indeed his name we do not know, and even if it was we still do not know who he really was. The evangelist called Matthew, whose Gospel was written perhaps a decade or two later, was not the disciple of Jesus who bore that name, but someone who had to rely on a combination of Mark’s text (in structure and content) and on independent collections of logia, or “sayings,” in order to construct his narrative, and who amplified at length upon the originals. The probably single author of both the third Gospel (chronologically perhaps the latest written) and the book of Acts—which together constitute almost a third of the New Testament—is known to us as Luke (though neither the Gospel nor Acts uses the name), and tradition tells us that he was a gentile Christian, a physician, and a companion of Paul. The first two of these claims may well be true, but a great many scholars believe that in all likelihood the third is not, despite certain passages in Acts written in the first person plural. For one thing Paul’s own brief references to his personal story contradict Luke’s narrative. For another, Luke’s Gospel is also transparently built upon and redacts Mark’s, and draws on logia traditions (many, but not all of which, he shares with Matthew). The dominant critical estimate, for what little that may ultimately be worth, is that Luke’s books come from the late first or even early second century. There are also signs in Luke’s Gospel of a sophisticated and purposeful theological sensibility, one that even prompts the author to amend the record—or, perhaps, to select alternative features of the tradition—in accord with his theological concerns. For instance, where Mark and Matthew tell us that the centurion below the cross saw in Jesus the son of a god (probably not, as commonly translated, God’s Son), Luke tells us the centurion paid tribute only to a “righteous man”; where Matthew and Mark (quoting Psalm 22) record Christ’s cry of godforsakenness from the cross, Luke (quoting Psalm 31 instead) reports only that he peacefully yielded up his spirit into his Father’s hands. And it is fair to say that, among all the writers of the New Testament, none places a greater emphasis on the social and even political dimensions of the gospel: In Luke’s rendering of the beatitudes, it is not the “poor in spirit” who are blessed, but simply “the poor,” while in his corresponding list of “woes” the rich are informed that they had their comforts in this life and will have none in the Age to come; it would be difficult to imagine a more subversive social and economic manifesto than Mary’s “Magnificat”; Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth proclaims the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding God’s rescue of the poor, the imprisoned, and the oppressed as his mission; the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is clearly a condemnation not simply of the former’s dissipations, but of his hoarding of the wealth he should be giving to the destitute; Jesus instructs the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and distribute the money to the poor not as an act of perfection in addition to what is needful for entry into the Kingdom, but as the one deed yet lacking in his pursuit of salvation; and Luke’s description in Acts of the early church’s communism of goods in Jerusalem is one that good Christians have striven heroically for the better part of two millennia to pretend not to notice. It is Luke who bequeathed to later Christian centuries the best-loved portrait of Jesus and of the early faith, and no writer in Christian history did more to make Christ and his gospel something immediate and even radiant in the Christian imagination; and yet, even so, we do not know who he actually was. As for the fourth Gospel—believed by many to have been written in the last decade of the first century and later attributed to John—its principal author (there were certainly more than one) was not the disciple of Jesus named John; many, however, believe that the book at least comes from a community descending from John’s mission and teachings, as the text seems to suggest at such places as chapter nineteen’s description of the piercing of the crucified Christ’s side, or at the close of the Gospel’s added “second conclusion” (the dreamlike coda of chapter twenty-one). Moreover, the author was clearly more concerned with making a complex theological statement about who Christ was than with offering an ostensibly documentary history. His Gospel does not unfold an historical narrative consistent with that of the other three: It depicts Christ’s ministry as stretching over at least three years, rather than the single year or less of the synoptic Gospels, and as comprising several visits to Judaea and Jerusalem rather than one; it seems to depict Jesus as a man in his forties (8:57), rather than as the younger man suggested by the historical chronology of Matthew and Luke; it rearranges the order of certain events, placing the cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple at the beginning rather than at the end of Christ’s ministry, and situating the crucifixion on the eve of the Passover rather than on the day itself (hence recording no Passover seder and so no Last Supper); it reports at enormous length prayers addressed to the Father by Jesus in private on the eve of the crucifixion, of which there could clearly have been no witness and in which there is no trace of the “agony of Gethsemane”; it describes Jesus as bearing his own cross to Golgotha, rather than Simon of Cyrene doing it for him; and so on. And, as a whole, it is obviously meant as a theological document rather than as a simple record of events. Hence, it is the most mysterious of the Gospels and its author the most mysterious of the evangelists.

And so it goes. Of the “Pauline” letters that most scholars believe were not written by Paul himself, 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, and Colossians do boast substantial coteries of scholars convinced (as a minority report) of Pauline authorship. But, while 2 Thessalonians echoes Paul’s style somewhat, it seems also to be consciously structured upon the genuine 1 Thessalonians; in many respects, also, it seems to be a late text, written in response to realities that arose after Paul’s time (in particular, the unexpectedly long delay of Christ’s parousia). What is more significant still, it contains eschatological claims of striking exactitude that are not only found nowhere else in the Pauline corpus, but that seem almost impossible to reconcile with the eschatological language and motifs of the indubitable letters. The overall impression of the letter is that it emanates from a somewhat idiosyncratic faction within the next generation or two of the early church, a faction in which an elaborate anagogy of the last days had begun to develop in place of the much simpler Pauline vision of an imminent return of Christ and transformation of the cosmos. But that may be only an impression.

As for Ephesians and Colossians, it is generally recognized that the style and language of both letters differ somewhat from those of the definitely authentic letters, and that there are certain apparent novelties of theology and vocabulary in both. But arguments from consistency of style, which can always be misleading, are especially perilous in the case of authors who dictated their texts to amanuenses (as was, of necessity, the common practice in late antiquity), because those amanuenses may have exercised varying degrees of editorial discretion over the final products; and it is questionable that we actually possess a sample size of Pauline texts large enough to make such judgments wholly credible. Arguments from consistency of thought, moreover, can often fail to take into account just how much a single thinker’s “system” can develop over time. And there can be something insidiously circular about them as well: The scholar who has reached some conclusion regarding “how Paul thought” or “how Paul wrote,” based on a small number of texts interpreted by criteria that may be more arbitrary than that scholar realizes, then finds material in other canonically Pauline texts that seems at odds with that conclusion; so, rather than qualify his initial judgments, he dismisses the evidence. To take one obvious example, the authenticity of Colossians has often been denied by some scholars on the grounds that it seems to contain doctrines (a strong “moralism” of good works, for instance) incompatible with those found in the authentic letters. That, however, is where a trap may have been laid. What those scholars generally mean is that Colossians seems somewhat hard to reconcile with Paul’s authentic letters as interpreted by magisterial Protestant tradition. But the problem with this is that (pardon my bluntness) those traditional Protestant readings of Paul are demonstrably wrong. In the late Augustinian understanding of nature and grace that was exaggerated by, and then became the dominant grammar of, the sixteenth-century Reformation systems, Paul supposedly inveighed against belief in “justification” (meaning “unmerited extrinsic imputation of righteousness”) through “works” (meaning all kinds of human efforts, religious and moral), and insisted instead on justification through “faith” (meaning intellectual and emotional assent to Jesus as Lord and savior), by the grace of a “predestination” not based on any divine foreknowledge of human “merits.” But Paul taught nothing of the sort. Instead he taught that human beings cannot be “justified” (that is, “proved” or “made righteous”) by “works of the Law” (such as circumcision or kosher dietary practices), but only by a “faithfulness” that necessarily entails “works” of love—good deeds—in respect of which one will be judged and either rewarded or “punished” (or, better perhaps, “purged”). The power to perform such works is indeed a gift of grace, but for Paul it is one that unites us to God in a real “synergy” (such that we can become, as he likes to say, synergoi, “workers-together-with” God). Moreover, as for why some are “marked out in advance” (certainly not “predestined”) for God’s mission to the cosmos (for mission, that is, not for salvation), Paul in Romans 8 clearly describes God’s decision as contingent upon divine foreknowledge (and much theological tradition for centuries has gone through agonizing contortions trying to reverse the clear meaning of those verses). All of which is quite unsettling if one has been raised to believe in a stark antithesis between “works-righteousness” and faith, or between grace and works, or between divine and human merits, or between divine “sovereignty” and human effort; but Paul was not a Lutheran, or Calvinist, or even Augustinian. And so, when the Paul of the authentic letters is freed from the Paul of theological myth, it turns out that Colossians not only says nothing different on these matters at all, but does not even necessarily sound any distinctly different intonations. None of this is to deny the scrupulousness of most modern New Testament scholarship on these texts, but I would caution against accepting its verdicts too credulously. I confess that before I began this translation I had casually accepted the judgment that Ephesians and Colossians were not written by Paul; by the time I had finished it, I had not entirely come around to the opposite conclusion, but I had come to believe that many doubts regarding their authenticity are based on poorer stylistic evidence than is generally claimed, as well as on theological arguments that may say more about certain scholars’ theological presuppositions than about the rather unsystematic, late antique “system” of thought to which Paul actually held. There are genuine questions to be raised about the provenance of the letters—for instance, Ephesians frequently appears to have been written by someone who did not share Paul’s conviction that Christ’s return was imminent—but the solvency of many of those questions may turn out in the end to be rather thinner than has come to be assumed. Whatever the case, even if Ephesians and Colossians are not works of Paul himself, they are nevertheless very much of his “school” and expand faithfully upon his theological vision. Perhaps they were constructed from Pauline fragments by later editors, or were produced either by amanuenses working from particularly rudimentary dictations or by disciples under his directions, or were reconstructions of Pauline teachings by later disciples, or were simply better redacted and edited than the earlier letters; we simply cannot know.

Other “pseudo-Pauline” letters, by contrast, truly are more remote in theological and moral sensibility. The three so-called Pastoral Epistles—1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—may well have been written by a single author, and in many respects they develop themes in Paul’s theology, such as the universal saving will of God in Christ; but they appear in some ways to be products of a period in the church’s institutional history somewhat later than Paul’s time (the early second century probably), seem stylistically unlike Paul’s unquestioned writings (the prose is better, the vocabulary more Hellenistic and less Septuagintal), and seem at odds with certain of Paul’s more astonishingly radical views, such as the equal spiritual dignity of masters and slaves, or of men and women (especially if, as textual evidence makes very likely, the famously dissonant passage of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 is an interpolation). Even so, no less eminent a New Testament scholar than Luke Timothy Johnson has made a case for their Pauline authorship; and, while I do not find the argument convincing, I cannot quibble with its pedigree. I am quite prepared, moreover, to believe that all three of the pastorals contain real Pauline materials, revised and amplified upon by later followers.

In the end, then, I suppose I would characterize the various skeptical arguments regarding the Pauline dubia thus: The cases against Ephesians and Colossians are not without weight, but are probably weaker than it has become common to assert; those against 2 Thessalonians are extremely (and to my mind decisively) strong; those against the Pastoral Epistles are nearly insuperable; but those against 1 Thessalonians and Philippians are so weak as to be practically self-refuting.

As for Hebrews, in language, substance, and theological intention it could scarcely be more incandescently unlike the letters of Paul, though it is as brilliant as the greatest of them. It also exhibits a command of Greek that, as was generally recognized from the early centuries in educated Eastern Christian circles, is vastly beyond Paul’s own; in respect of style alone, to ascribe the letter to Paul is about as credible as ascribing a novel of Anatole France to Maurice Leblanc or a travel memoir of Patrick Leigh Fermor to Erskine Caldwell. But the text’s acceptance into the canon of the New Testament was delayed in some parts of the Christian world by uncertainty regarding its origin; so, at the very least, its eventual general attribution to Paul, however incredible, served to dispel doubts about its canonical propriety. Really, though, as Origen said in the third century, only God knows who truly wrote it.

Of the other non-Pauline epistolary books, or Catholic Epistles, the letter of James comes nearest to giving us a clear picture of its author. At least, there is no reason to doubt that he was indeed the leader of the Christians in Jerusalem a decade or two after Christ; he may even have been, as tradition asserts, the brother of Jesus, though the letter makes no such claim. He clearly was a Jewish Christian writing to other Jewish Christians whom he still regarded as Jews, in some sense answerable to the Law of Moses (he even at one point, for what it is worth, refers to the Christian assembly not as an ekklēsia but as a synagogue, though most translations hide that fact from view). Regarding the identity of Judas—or as he is more customarily known, for delicacy’s sake, Jude—and regarding what exactly provoked him to write his short, exasperated letter, we know next to nothing. As for the three letters of John, they may have been the work of one man; at least the second and third seem to have been, both having been composed by someone identifying himself as “the Elder.” But most scholars properly deny that the author of any of them was the same John who wrote the fourth Gospel, or the John of Patmos who wrote Revelation, or John the Apostle. There are stylistic similarities, however, between the Gospel of John and the first of the Johannine letters, and it seems reasonable to suppose that, even if they were not the work of the same hand, they emanated from a close community of shared discourse, and that the latter text is written in a fairly deft imitation of the voice of the former. As for the two letters ascribed to Peter (the second being probably the latest New Testament text by a good margin), they were certainly written by two different authors, neither of whom was either the disciple of Jesus or the first leader of the church in Rome. Admittedly, some scholars have tried to argue for a kind of “indirect authenticity” for the first letter, suggesting that it may contain genuine teachings of the Apostle communicated to, and then paraphrased by, a disciple fluent in Greek; but the case against authenticity is far stronger. No credible scholar argues for the authenticity of the second letter, however; it is an extremely late writing, incorporating a great deal of the Letter of Jude practically verbatim.

I suppose, having said all of this, I should pause to say also that I understand that there are those who object quite fiercely to such statements, and even regard them as implicit denials of the truthfulness of scripture or of sacred tradition. But the evidence supporting some of them is quite substantial, and most of it is drawn directly from the texts themselves, and the scholarship is not, at its best, flimsy or capricious. All Christians believe that the New Testament is divinely inspired; but any coherent account of what this means must involve an acknowledgment that God speaks through human beings, in all their historical, cultural, and personal contingency. For those, however, who not only believe that scripture is inspired, but who are also deeply committed to “literalist,” “inerrantist,” or “dictational” understandings of inspiration, all the words of the Bible must be understood as direct locutions of God, passing through their human authors like sunlight through the clearest glass, and the canon of the New Testament—even though it took a few centuries to concresce into its present form, and has never really existed as anything but a shimmering cloud of countless variants—must be understood as a flawlessly immediate communication, in its every historical and lexical detail, of the teaching of the Holy Spirit and of the faith of the apostolic church. That has never been the only, or even the dominant, Christian understanding of scriptural inspiration; many modern Christians, in fact, might be quite surprised at the speculative boldness and critical diffidence with which some of the greatest exegetes of Christian late antiquity and the Middle Ages approached the Bible. Still, it is a view of scripture that has had adherents, whether reflective or instinctive, in every epoch, and that with the rise of the fundamentalist movement of the twentieth century has spread far and wide in an especially acute and virulent form. I imagine that, for such believers in “verbal inspiration,” the suggestion that the authors of some of the books of the New Testament were not in fact who they represented themselves as being must seem especially intolerable. It is unlikely, moreover, that it will assuage the distress of the aggrieved textual literalist to observe that such pseudonymy was a common and even marginally acceptable practice in late antiquity, and that religious and speculative texts were often written “in the voice” of authorities long dead or even merely legendary, and that—by antiquity’s more generous standards of “authenticity”—a text composed of redacted or rearranged materials by an author, or even merely composed by disciples of his school, could still be attributed to him. The only assurance I can offer readers situated anywhere along the spectrum of the various exegetical tendencies is that this translation is the work of someone who believes in divine inspiration, if not in “verbal inspiration” or in the literal factual accuracy of every discrete feature of these texts, and that my judgments regarding their authorial history have had no effect whatsoever on my treatment of their words. I have attempted to render all of them into English with as much fidelity as possible, even when this has meant breaking with prevailing convention, because my conviction is that my principal responsibility is to whatever divine truth shines in and through them. Insofar as I have failed in that respect—and inevitably one must fail, to some degree—I ask the reader’s pardon. And insofar as I have succeeded—and I think I have, to some degree—it would be presumptuous to ask for praise; but I do hope this translation will, for many readers, help to cast new light on his or her understanding of the origins and contents of Christian faith. And I repeat my assertion, which may seem slightly incredible, that I have tried not to advance any theological or ideological agenda, but rather to capture in English as much of the suggestiveness and uncertainty and mystery of the original Greek as possible, precisely in order to prevent any prior set of commitments from determining for the reader in advance what it is that the text must say (even when it does not).