4 But your prayers and alms and all your acts perform as you find in the Gospel of our Lord.

XVI

1 Watch over your life: let your lamps not be quenched and your loins not be ungirded, but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord comes. 2. But be frequently gathered together seeking the things which are profitable for your souls, for the whole time of your faith shall not profit you except you be found perfect at the last time; 3. for in the last days the false prophets and the corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall change to hate; 4. for as lawlessness increases they shall hate one another and persecute and betray, and then shall appear the deceiver of the world, pretending to be one sent by God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be given over into his hands, and he shall commit iniquities which have never been since the world began. 5. Then shall the creation of mankind come to the fiery trial, and many shall be offended and be lost, but they who endure in their faith shall be saved by God. 6. And then shall appear the signs of the truth. First the sign spread out in Heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet, and thirdly the resurrection of the dead: 7. but not of all the dead, but as it was said, "The Lord shall come and all His holy ones with Him." 8. Then shall the world see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven.

The Epistle of Barnabas

I

1 Hail, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord who loved us, in peace.

2 Exceedingly and abundantly do I rejoice over your blessed and glorious spirit for the greatness and richness of God's ordinances towards you; so innate a grace of the gift of the spirit have you received. 3. Wherefore I congratulate myself the more in my hope of salvation, because I truly see in you that the Spirit has been poured out upon you from the Lord, who is rich in His bounty; so that the sight of you, for which I longed, amazed me. 4. Being persuaded then of this, and being conscious that since I spoke among you I have much understanding because the Lord has guided me in the way of righteousness, I am above all constrained to this, to love you above my own life, because great faith and love dwell in you in the hope of His life. 5. I have therefore reckoned that, if I make it my care in your behalf to communicate somewhat of that which I received, it shall bring me the reward of having ministered to such spirits, and I hasten to send you a short letter in order that your knowledge may be perfected along with your faith.

6 There are then three doctrines of the Lord: the hope of life is the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness is the beginning and end of judgment; love of joy and of gladness is the testimony of the works of righteousness. 7. For the Lord made known to us through the prophets things past and things present and has given us the firstfruits of the taste of things to come; and when we see these things coming to pass one by one, as He said, we ought to make a richer and deeper offering for fear of Him. 8. But I will show you a few things, not as a teacher but as one of yourselves, in which you shall rejoice at this present time.

II

1 Seeing then that the days are evil, and that the worker of evil himself is in power, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and seek out the ordinances of the Lord. 2. Fear then, and patience are the helpers of our faith, and long-suffering and continence are our allies. 3. While then these things remain in holiness towards the Lord, wisdom, prudence, understanding, and knowledge rejoice with them. 4. For He has made plain to us through all the Prophets that He needs neither sacrifices nor burnt-offerings nor oblations, saying in one place, 5. "What is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings and desire not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats, not even when you come to appear before Me. For who has required these things at your hands? Henceforth you shall tread My court no more. If you bring flour, it is vain. Incense is an abomination to Me. I cannot away with your new moons and sabbaths." 6. These things then He abolished in order that the new law of our Lord, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have its offering not made by man. 7. And again He says to them, "Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer Me burnt offerings and sacrifices? 8. Nay, but rather did I command them this: Let none of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbour, and love not a false oath." 9. We ought then to understand, if we are not foolish, the loving intention of our Lord, for He speaks to us, wishing that we should not err like them, but seek how we may make our offering to Him. 10. To us then He speaks thus: "Sacrifice for the Lord is a broken heart, a smell of sweet savour to the Lord is a heart that glorifies Him that made it." We ought, therefore, brethren, carefully to enquire concerning our salvation, in order that the evil one may not achieve a deceitful entry into us and hurl us away from our life.

III

1 To them He says then again concerning these things, "Why do you fast for Me, says the Lord, so that your voice is heard this day with a cry? This is not the fast which I chose, says the Lord, not a man humbling his soul; 2. nor though you bend your neck as a hoop, and put on sackcloth, and make your bed of ashes, not even so shall you call it an acceptable fast." 3. But to us He says, "Behold this is the fast which I chose," says the Lord, "loose every bond of wickedness, set loose the fastenings of harsh agreements, send away the bruised in forgiveness, and tear up every unjust contract, give to the hungry your bread, and if you see a naked man clothe him, bring the homeless into your house, and if you see a humble man, despise him not, neither you nor any of the household of your seed. 4. Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your robes shall rise quickly, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you. 5. Then you shall cry and God shall hear you; while you are still speaking He shall say, 'Lo, I am here'; if you put away from you bondage, and

violence, and the word of murmuring, and give to the poor your bread with a cheerful heart, and pity the soul that is abased." 6. So then, brethren, the Long-suffering One foresaw that the people whom He prepared through His beloved messenger would believe in guilelessness, and made all things plain to us beforehand, that we should not be shipwrecked by conversion to their law.

IV

1 We ought, then, to enquire earnestly into the things which now are, and to seek out those which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the works of lawlessness, lest the works of lawlessness overcome us, and let us hate the error of this present time, that we may be loved in that which is to come. 2. Let us give no freedom to our souls to have power to walk with sinners and wicked men, lest we be made like them. 3. The final stumbling block is at hand, of which it was written, as Enoch says, "For to this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His beloved should make haste and come to his inheritance." 4. And the Prophet also says thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth and there shall rise up after them a little king, who shall subdue three of the kings under one." 5. Daniel says likewise concerning the same: "And I beheld the fourth Beast, wicked and powerful and fiercer than all the beasts of the sea, and that ten horns sprang from it, and out of them a little excrescent horn, and that it subdued under one three of the great horns." 6. You ought then to understand. And this also I ask you, as being one of yourselves, and especially as loving you all above my own life: take heed to yourselves now, and be not made like unto some, heaping up your sins and saying that the covenant is both theirs and ours. 7. It is ours; but in this way did they finally lose it when Moses had just received it, for the Scripture says: "And Moses was in the mount fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord, tables of stone written with the finger of the hand of the Lord." 8. But they turned to idols and lost it. For thus says the Lord: "Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people, whom you brought forth out of the land of Egypt, have broken the Law." And Moses understood and cast the two tables out of his hands, and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of God's beloved messenger should be sealed in our hearts in the hope of faith. 9. And though I wish to write much, I hasten to write in devotion to you, not as a teacher, but as it becomes one who loves to leave out nothing of that which we have. Wherefore let us pay heed in the last days, for the whole time of our life and faith will profit us nothing, unless we resist, as becomes the servants of God in this present evil time, against the offences which are to come, that the Black One may have no opportunity of entry. 10. Let us flee from all vanity, let us utterly hate the deeds of the path of wickedness. Do not by retiring apart live alone as if you were already made righteous, but come together and seek out the common good. 11. For the Scripture says: "Woe to them who are prudent for themselves and understanding in their own sight." Let us be spiritual, let us be a house consecrated to God, so far as in us lies let us exercise ourselves in the fear of God, and let us strive to keep His commandments in order that we may rejoice in His ordinances. 12. The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive according to his deeds. If he be good his righteousness will lead him, if he be evil the reward of iniquity is before him. 13. Let us never rest as though we were "called" and slumber in our sins, lest the wicked ruler gain power over us and thrust us out from the Kingdom of the Lord. 14. And consider this also, my brethren, when you see that after such great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel they were even then finally abandoned; let us take heed lest as it was written we be found "many called but few chosen."

V

3 Therefore we ought to give great thanks to the Lord that He has given us knowledge of the past, and wisdom for the present, and that we are not without understanding for the future. 4. And the Scripture says, "Not unjustly are the nets spread out for the birds." This means that a man deserves to perish who has a knowledge of the way of righteousness, but turns aside into the way of darkness.

6 Learn: the Prophets, who received grace from God, prophesied of the messenger who was to come; and he came as a man of flesh in order to show forth the Resurrection from the dead, and he endured, 7. in order to fulfil the promise made to the fathers, and to prepare for God a new people, and to show while he was on earth that God will raise the dead and judge the risen. 8. Furthermore, while teaching Israel and doing such great signs and wonders by God's leave, he preached to them and loved them greatly; 9. but when he chose out his own Apostles who were to preach his Gospel, he chose those who had been iniquitous above all sin, to show that "he came not to call the righteous but sinners." 10. For God sends His messengers as men, since men could not bear to look upon what is greater; seeing that they have not the power when they look at the sun to gaze straight at its rays, though it is destined to perish, and is the work of God's hands. 11. So then this messenger came in the flesh for this reason, that he might complete the measure of the sins of those who persecuted the prophets to death. 12. For this cause he endured. For God says of the chastisement of his flesh that it is from them: "When they shall smite their shepherd, then the sheep of the flock shall be destroyed." 13. And he was willing to endure what they plotted against him, for the Prophet says of him, "Spare my soul from the sword," and, "The assemblies of the wicked have risen against me." 14. And again he says: "Lo, I have given my back to scourges, and my cheeks to strokes, and I have set my face as a solid rock."

VI

1 When therefore he made the commandment, what does he say? "Who is he that comes into court with me? Let him oppose me; or, who is he that seeks justice against me? Let him draw near to the servant of the Lord. 2. Woe unto you, for you shall all wax old as a garment and the moth shall eat you up." And again the Prophet says that he was placed as a strong stone for crushing: "Lo, I will place for the foundations of Sion a precious stone, chosen out, a chief corner stone, honourable." 3. Then what does he say? "And he that hopes on it shall live for ever." Is then our hope on a stone? God forbid. But he means that the Lord placed His messenger in strength. For he says, "And He placed me as a solid rock." 4. And again the Prophet says, "The stone which the builders rejected, this is become the head of the corner," and again he says, "This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord made." 5. I write to you more simply that you may understand: I am devoted to your love. 6. What then does the Prophet say again? "The synagogue of the sinners compassed me around, they surrounded me as bees round the honeycomb," and, "They cast lots for my clothing." 7. Since therefore he was destined to be manifest and to be tried in the flesh, his trial was foretold. For the Prophet says concerning Israel, "Woe unto their soul, for they have plotted an evil plot against themselves, saying, 'Let us bind the Just one, for he is unprofitable to us.'" 8. What does the other Prophet, Moses, say to them? "Lo, thus says the Lord God, enter into the good land which the Lord swore that He would give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey." 9. But learn what knowledge says. Hope, it says, in that Jesus, God's messenger, who will be manifested to you in the flesh. For man is earth which suffers, for the creation of Adam was from the face of the earth. 10. What then is the meaning of "into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey"? Blessed be our Lord, brethren, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of His secrets. For the prophet speaks a parable of the Lord: "Who shall understand save he who is wise, and learned, and a lover of his Lord?" 11. Since then He made us new by the remission of sins, He made us another type, that we should have the soul of children, as though He were creating us afresh. 12. For it is concerning us that the scripture says that He says to the angels, "Let us make man, and let them rule the beasts of the earth, and the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea." And the Lord said, when He saw our fair creation, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth." 13. Again I will show you how He speaks to us. In the last days He made a second creation; and the Lord says, "See, I make the last things as the first." To this then the Prophet referred when he proclaimed, "Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it." 14. See then, we have been created afresh, as He says again in another Prophet, "See," says the Lord, "I will take out from them" (that is those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw) "the hearts of stone and I will put in hearts of flesh." Because God would send His messenger in the flesh to dwell among us. 15. For, my brethren, the dwelling of our hearts is a place holy to the Lord, where He is remembered. 16. For the Lord says again, "And wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God and be glorified?" He says, "I will confess to You in the assembly of my brethren, and will sing to You in the midst of the assembly of saints." We then are they whom He brought into the good land. 17. What then is the milk and the honey? Because a child is first nourished with honey, and afterwards with milk. Thus therefore we also, being nourished on the faith of the promise and by the word, shall live and possess the earth. 18. And we have said above, "And let them increase and multiply and rule over the fishes." Who then is it who is now able to rule over beasts or fishes or the birds of heaven? For we ought to understand that to rule implies authority, so that one may give commandments and have domination. 19. If then this does not happen at present, He has told us the time when it will; when we ourselves also have been made perfect as heirs of the covenant of the Lord.

VII

1 Understand therefore, children of gladness, that the good Lord made all things plain beforehand to us, that we should know Him to whom we ought to give thanks and praise for everything.

3 The commandment was written, "Whosoever does not keep the fast shall die the death," and the Lord commanded this.

6 Note what was commanded: "Take two goats, goodly and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take the one as a burnt offering for sins." 7. But what are they to do with the other? "The other," He says, "is accursed."

VIII

1 The commandment was given to Israel that the men in whom sin is complete offer a heifer, and slay it and burn it, and that boys then take the ashes and put them into vessels and bind scarlet wool on sticks, and hyssop, and that the boys all sprinkle the people thus one by one, in order that they all be purified from their sins.

IX

1 For He speaks again concerning the ears, how He circumcised our hearts; for the Lord says in the Prophet: "In the hearing of the ear they obey me." And again He says, "They who are afar off shall hear clearly, they shall know the things that I have done," and "Circumcise your hearts, says the Lord." 2. And again He says, "Hear, O Israel, thus says the Lord your God," and again the Spirit of the Lord prophesies, "Who is he that will live for ever? Let him hear the voice of my servant." 3. And again He says, "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken these things for a testimony." And again He says, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of this people." And again He says, "Hear, O children, a voice of one crying in the wilderness." So then He circumcised our hearing in order that we should hear the word and believe. 4. But moreover the circumcision in which they trusted has been abolished. For He declared that circumcision was not of the flesh, but they erred because an evil angel was misleading them. 5. He says to them, "Thus says the Lord your God" (here I find a commandment), "Sow not among thorns, be circumcised to your Lord." And what does He say? "Circumcise the hardness of your heart, and stiffen not your neck." Take it again: "Behold, says the Lord, all the heathen are uncircumcised in the foreskin, but this people is uncircumcised in heart." 6. But you will say, surely the people has received circumcision as a seal? Yes, but every Syrian and Arab and all priests of the idols have been circumcised; are then these also within their covenant? Indeed even the Egyptians belong to the circumcision. 7. Learn fully then, children of love, concerning all things, that Abraham, who first gave circumcision, did so in obedience to God. 9. He knows this who placed the gift of His teaching in our hearts. No one has heard a more excellent lesson from me, but I know that you are worthy.

The Epistle of Barnabas

Chapter 10

10.1 Now, in that Moses said, "You shall not eat swine, nor an eagle, nor a hawk, nor a crow, nor any fish which has no scales on itself," he included three doctrines in his understanding. 10.2 Moreover he says to them in Deuteronomy, "And I will make a covenant of My ordinances with this people." So then the ordinance of God is abstinence from these foods, yet Moses spoke also in the spirit, giving a lesson beyond food. 10.3 He mentioned the swine for this reason: you shall not consort, he means, with men who are like swine, that is to say, when they have plenty they forget the Lord, but when they are in want they recognise the Lord, just as the swine when it eats does not know its master, but when it is hungry it cries out, and after receiving food is again silent. 10.4 "Neither shall you eat the eagle nor the hawk nor the kite nor the crow." You shall not, he means, join yourself or make yourself like to such men, as do not know how to gain their food by their labour and sweat, but plunder other people's property in their iniquity, and lie in wait for it, though they seem to walk in innocence, and look round to see whom they may plunder in their covetousness, just as these birds alone provide no food for themselves, but sit idle, and seek how they may devour the flesh of others, and become pestilent in their iniquity. 10.5 "You shall not eat," he says, "the lamprey nor the polypus nor the cuttlefish." You shall not, he means, consort with or become like such men who are utterly ungodly and who are already condemned to death, just as these fish alone are accursed, and float in the deep water, not swimming like the others but living on the ground at the bottom of the sea. 10.6 And "you shall not eat the hare." Why? You shall not be, he says, a corrupter of boys, nor become like such men; for the hare multiplies its openings every year, and as many years as it lives, so many openings it has. 10.7 And again, "you shall not eat the hyena": you shall not be, he says, an adulterer or a fornicator, nor a corrupter, nor become like such men. Why? Because this creature changes its nature from year to year, and is at one time male, at another female. 10.8 And he rightly hated the weasel also. You shall not be, he says, like those of whom we hear that they commit iniquity with the mouth through uncleanness, nor shall you join yourself to the unclean women who commit iniquity with the mouth. For this creature conceives with its mouth. 10.9 Moses received three doctrines concerning food, and thus spoke of them in the spirit; but they received them as if they referred only to food, owing to the lust of their flesh. 10.10 But David received knowledge concerning the same three doctrines, and says: "Blessed is the man who has not gone in the counsel of the ungodly," as the fishes go in darkness into the depths; "and has not stood in the way of sinners," like those who seem to fear the Lord, but sin like the swine; "and has not sat in the seat of the scorners," like the birds who sit and wait for their prey. Grasp fully the doctrines concerning food. 10.11 Moses says again, "Eat of every animal that is cloven-hoofed and chews the cud." What does he mean? That he who receives food knows him who feeds him, and rests upon him and seems to rejoice. Well did he speak with regard to the commandment. What then does he mean? Consort with those who fear the Lord, with those who meditate in their heart on the meaning of the word which they have received, with those who speak of and observe the ordinances of the Lord, with those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate on the word of the Lord. But what does "the cloven-hoofed" mean? That the righteous both walks in this world and looks forward to the holy age. See how well Moses legislated. 10.12 But how was it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things? But we, having a righteous understanding of them, announce the commandments as the Lord wished. For this cause He circumcised our hearing and our hearts, that we should comprehend these things.

Chapter 11