11.1 But let us inquire whether the Lord took pains to foretell the water of repentance and the trial of the faithful. Concerning the water it has been written with regard to Israel that they will not receive the washing of repentance that brings the remission of sins, but will build for themselves. 11.2 For the Prophet says, "Be astonished, O heaven, and let the earth tremble the more at this, that this people have committed two evils: they have deserted Me, the spring of life, and they have dug for themselves a cistern of death. 11.3 Is My holy mountain Sinai a desert rock? For you shall be as the fledgling birds, fluttering about when they are taken away from the nest." 11.4 And again the Prophet says, "I will go before you and I will make mountains level, and I will break gates of brass, and I will shatter bars of iron, and I will give you treasures of darkness, secret, invisible, that they may know that I am the Lord God." 11.5 And, "You shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock." And, "His water is sure; you shall see the King in His glory, and your soul shall meditate on the fear of the Lord." 11.6 And again He says in another Prophet, "And he who does these things shall be as the tree which is planted at the partings of the waters, which shall give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fade, and all things whatsoever he does shall prosper. 11.7 It is not so with the wicked, it is not so; but they are even as the chaff which the wind drives away from the face of the earth. Therefore the wicked shall not rise up in judgement, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish." 11.8 Mark how He joined the water and steadfastness together. For He means this: blessed are those who set their hope on God, and endured, and went down into the water of repentance. For He speaks of their reward "in its season"; at that time, He says, I will repay. But now when He says, "Their leaves shall not fade," He means that every word which shall come forth from your mouth in faith and love shall be for conversion and hope for many. 11.9 And again another Prophet says, "And the land of Jacob was praised above every land." He means to say that He is glorifying the vessel of His Spirit. 11.10 What does He say next? "And there was a river flowing on the right hand, and beautiful trees grew out of it, and whoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." 11.11 He means to say that we go down into the water full of sins and foulness, and we come up bearing the fruit of fear in our hearts, and having hope in God, in the Spirit of His revelation, through the message of Jesus, the Messiah, son of Mary. "And whoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." He means that whoever hears and believes these things spoken shall live for ever.

Chapter 12

12.1 Similarly, again, He describes steadfast trial in another Prophet, who says, "And when shall all these things be accomplished? says the Lord. When the tree shall fall and rise, and when blood shall flow from the tree." Here again you have a reference to the trial of the righteous messenger and to him who should suffer. 12.2 And He says again to Moses, when Israel was warred upon by strangers, and in order to remind those who were warred upon that they were delivered unto death by reason of their sins, the Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses to make a sign of prayer and of him who should suffer, because, He says, unless they put their trust in God, they shall suffer war for ever. Moses therefore placed one shield upon another in the midst of the fight, and standing there raised above them all kept stretching out his hands in supplication, and so Israel again began to be victorious; then, whenever he let them drop, they began to perish. 12.3 Why? That they may know that they cannot be saved if they do not hope in God. 12.4 And again He says in another Prophet, "I stretched out My hands the whole day to a disobedient people, and one that refuses My righteous way." 12.5 Again Moses makes a sign pointing to Jesus, showing that he must suffer, and that God will give him life, though they will believe that he has been put to death. It was by the sign given when Israel was falling (for the Lord made every serpent bite them, and they were perishing, for the transgression took place in Eve through the serpent), in order to convince them that they will be delivered over to the affliction of death because of their transgression. 12.6 Moreover, though Moses commanded them, "You shall have neither graven nor molten image as a god," yet he sets up a sign, a bronze serpent, in order to show a type of Jesus; and he calls the people by a proclamation. 12.7 So they came together and besought Moses that he would offer prayer on their behalf for their healing. But Moses said to them, "Whenever one of you is bitten, let him come to the sign that is set upon the pole, and let him hope, in faith, that God, who gives life to the dead, is able to give life, and he shall straightway be saved." And they did so. In this also you have again the honour of Jesus, for all things are by God's command and for His purpose. 12.8 Again, why does Moses say to Jesus the son of Naue (Joshua the son of Nun), when he gives him, prophet as he is, this name, that the whole people should listen to him alone? Because God was revealing everything concerning Jesus, son of Mary, His messenger. 12.9 Moses therefore says to Jesus the son of Naue, after giving him this name, when he sent him to spy out the land, "Take a book in your hands and write what the Lord says, that in the last days God will tear up by the roots the whole house of Amalek." 12.10 See again Jesus, a servant and messenger of God, whose name was made manifest beforehand in a type in the flesh. Since therefore they are going to say that the Messiah is David's son, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of the sinners: "The Lord said to my lord, Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." 12.11 And again Isaiah speaks thus: "The Lord said to His anointed, my lord, whose right hand I held, that the nations should obey before him, and I will shatter the strength of kings." See how David calls him lord, as a master, and does not call him God.

Chapter 13

13.1 Now let us see whether this people or the former people is the heir, and whether the covenant is for us or for them. 13.2 Hear then what the Scripture says concerning the people: "And Isaac prayed concerning Rebecca his wife, because she was barren, and she conceived. Then Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples in your belly, and one people shall overcome the other, and the greater shall serve the lesser." 13.3 You ought to understand who is Isaac and who is Rebecca, and of whom He has shown that this people is greater than that people. 13.4 And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more plainly to Joseph his son, saying, "Behold, the Lord has not deprived me of your presence; bring me your sons, that I may bless them." 13.5 And he brought Ephraim and Manasseh, and wished that Manasseh should be blessed, because he was the elder; for Joseph brought him to the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in the spirit a type of the people of the future. And what does he say? "And Jacob crossed his hands, and placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the second and younger son, and blessed him. And Joseph said to Jacob, Change your right hand on to the head of Manasseh, for he is my first-born son. And Jacob said to Joseph, I know it, my child, I know it; but the greater shall serve the lesser, and this one shall indeed be blessed." 13.6 See of whom He ordained that this people is the first and heir of the covenant. 13.7 If then besides this He remembered it also in the case of Abraham, we reach the perfection of our knowledge. What then does He say to Abraham, when he alone was faithful, and it was counted to him for righteousness? "Behold, I have made you, Abraham, the father of the nations who believe in God in uncircumcision."

Chapter 14

14.1 Yes. But let us see whether the covenant which He swore to the fathers to give to the people, whether He has given it. He has given it; but they were not worthy to receive it because of their sins. 14.2 For the Prophet says, "And Moses was fasting on Mount Sinai, to receive the covenant of the Lord for the people, forty days and forty nights. And Moses received from the Lord the two tablets, written by the finger of the hand of the Lord in the Spirit"; and Moses took them, and carried them down to give them to the people. 14.3 And the Lord said to Moses, "Moses, Moses, go down quickly, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have broken the Law." And Moses perceived that they had made themselves molten images again, and he cast the tablets from his hands, and the tablets of the covenant of the Lord were broken. 14.4 Moses received it, but they were not worthy. But learn how we received it. Moses received it as a servant, but the Lord Himself gave it to us, as the people of the inheritance, through Jesus, His messenger, who endured for our sakes. 14.5 And it was made manifest both that the tale of their sins should be completed in their sins, and that we, through Jesus, the messenger who inherits the covenant of the Lord, should receive it; for he was prepared for this purpose, that when he appeared he might bring out of darkness our hearts, which were already paid over to death and given over to the iniquity of error, and that by God's word a covenant might be made with us. 14.6 For it is written how God commands him to bring us out of darkness and prepare for Himself a holy people. 14.7 The Prophet therefore says, "I, the Lord your God, called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand and give you strength, and I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from their fetters those that are bound, and those that sit in darkness out of the prison house." We know then whence we have been delivered. 14.8 Again the Prophet says, "Behold, I have made you a light for the nations, to be for salvation to the ends of the earth; thus says the Lord God who delivered you." 14.9 And again the Prophet says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news of grace to the humble; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and sight to the blind, to announce a year acceptable to the Lord and a day of recompense, to comfort all who mourn."

Chapter 15

15.1 Furthermore it was written concerning the Sabbath in the ten words which He spoke on Mount Sinai to Moses: "And sanctify the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart." 15.2 And in another place He says, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I bestow My mercy upon them." 15.3 He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of the creation: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and on the seventh day He completed them, and made that day holy." 15.4 Notice, children, what is the meaning of "He completed in six days." He means this: that the Lord will bring everything to its end in six thousand years, for a day with Him means a thousand years. And He Himself is my witness when He says, "Behold, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years." So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything will be completed. 15.5 "And He made the seventh day holy." This means: when God brings the appointed time, He will destroy the time of the lawless one, and will judge the ungodly, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars; and then the world will truly come to rest on the seventh day. 15.6 Furthermore He says, "You shall sanctify it with clean hands and a pure heart." If, then, anyone has at present the power to keep holy the day which God made holy, by being pure in heart, we are altogether deceived. 15.7 See that we shall indeed keep it holy at that time, when we enjoy true rest, when we shall be able to do so because we have been made righteous ourselves and have received the promise, when there is no more lawlessness, but all things have been made new by the Lord: then we shall be able to keep it holy, because we ourselves have first been made holy. 15.8 Furthermore He says to them, "Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot endure." Do you see what He means? The present sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that which I have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make the beginning of an eighth day, that is the beginning of another world. 15.9 Wherefore we also celebrate with gladness the eighth day, on which Jesus was also raised by God from among the dead, and was made manifest, and ascended to heaven.

Chapter 16

16.1 I will also speak with you concerning the Temple, and show how the wretched men erred by putting their hope on the building, and not on their God who made them, as though it were the house of God. 16.2 For they consecrated Him to the Temple almost like the heathen. But learn how the Lord speaks, in bringing it to nothing: "Who has measured the heaven with a span, or the earth with his outstretched hand? Have not I? says the Lord. Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what house will you build for Me, or what place can contain Me?" You know that their hope was vain. 16.3 Furthermore He says again, "Behold, they who destroyed this temple shall themselves build it." 16.4 That is happening now. For owing to the war it was destroyed by the enemy; at present even the servants of the enemy will build it up again. 16.5 Again, it was made manifest that the city and the temple and the people of Israel were to be delivered up. For the Scripture says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Lord shall deliver the sheep of His pasture, and the sheepfold, and their tower to destruction." And it took place according to what the Lord said. 16.6 But let us inquire whether a temple of God exists. Yes, it exists, where He Himself said that He makes and perfects it. For it is written:

"And it shall come to pass, when the week is ended, that a temple of God shall be built gloriously in the name of the Lord." 16.7 I find then that a temple exists. Learn then how it will be built in the name of the Lord. Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, like a temple really built with hands, because it was full of idolatry, and was the house of demons through doing things which were contrary to God. 16.8 "But it shall be built in the name of the Lord." Now give heed, in order that the temple of the Lord may be built gloriously. Learn in what way. When we received the remission of sins, and put our hope on the name of the Lord, we became new, being created again from the beginning; wherefore our heart becomes a true dwelling for the remembrance of God. 16.9 How? His word of faith, the calling of His promise, the wisdom of the ordinances, the commands of the teaching: God Himself speaks to us through His revelation, and His guidance abides in us; He opens to us, who have been enslaved to death, the door of the temple (that is, the mouth), giving us repentance, and thus leads us into the incorruptible temple. 16.10 For he who desires to be saved looks not at the man, but at the One who speaks to him through the word, and is amazed, for he has never either heard such words from the mouth of the speaker, nor has he himself ever desired to hear them. This is a spiritual temple being built for the Lord.

Chapter 17

17.1 So far as possibility and simplicity allow an explanation to be given to you, my soul hopes, according to my desire, that none of the things which are necessary for salvation have been omitted. 17.2 For if I write to you concerning things present or things to come, you will not understand, because they are hidden in parables. This then suffices.

Chapter 18

18.1 Now let us pass on to another lesson and teaching. There are two Ways of teaching and power, one of Light and one of Darkness. And there is a great difference between the two Ways. For over the one are set light-bringing angels of God, but over the other angels of Satan. 18.2 And the one is Lord from eternity and to eternity, and the other is the ruler of the present time of iniquity.

Chapter 19

19.1 The Way of Light is this: if any man desires to journey to the appointed place, let him be zealous in his works. Therefore the knowledge given to us, that we may walk in it, is as follows. 19.2 You shall love your Maker; you shall fear your Creator; you shall glorify Him who saved you from death; you shall be simple in heart and rich in spirit; you shall not join yourself to those who walk in the way of death; you shall hate all that is not pleasing to God; you shall hate all hypocrisy; you shall not desert the commandments of the Lord. 19.3 You shall not exalt yourself, but shall be humble-minded in all things; you shall not take glory to yourself. You shall form no evil plan against your neighbour; you shall not let your soul be froward. 19.4 You shall not commit fornication, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not corrupt boys. You shall not let the word of God depart from you among the impurity of any men. You shall not respect persons in reproving transgression. You shall be meek, you shall be quiet, you shall tremble at the words which you have heard. You shall not bear malice against your brother. 19.5 You shall not be in two minds whether it shall be or not. "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." You shall love your neighbour more than your own life. You shall not procure abortion, you shall not commit infanticide. You shall not withhold your hand from your son or from your daughter, but shall teach them the fear of God from their youth up. 19.6 You shall not covet your neighbour's goods; you shall not be avaricious. You shall not be joined in soul with the haughty, but shall converse with humble and righteous men. You shall receive the trials that befall you as good, knowing that nothing happens without God. 19.7 You shall not be double-minded or talkative. You shall obey your masters with modesty and fear, as a duty to God; you shall not command in bitterness your slave or handmaid who hope in the same God, lest they cease to fear the God who is over you both; for God does not call men with respect of persons, but those whom His Spirit has prepared. 19.8 You shall share all things with your neighbour and shall not say that they are your own property; for if you are sharers in that which is incorruptible, how much more in that which is corruptible? You shall not be forward to speak, for the mouth is a snare of death. So far as you can, you shall keep your soul pure. 19.9 Be not one who stretches out the hands to take, and shuts them when it comes to giving. You shall love, as the apple of your eye, all who speak to you the word of the Lord. 19.10 You shall remember the day of judgement night and day, and you shall seek each day the company of the righteous, either labouring by speech, and going out to exhort, and striving to save souls by the word, or working with your hands for the expiation of your sins. 19.11 You shall not hesitate to give, and when you give you shall not grumble, but you shall know who is the good paymaster of the reward. You shall keep the precepts which you have received, adding nothing and taking nothing away. You shall utterly hate evil. You shall give righteous judgement. 19.12 You shall not cause quarrels, but shall bring together and reconcile those that strive. You shall acknowledge your sins. You shall not betake yourself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the Way of Light.

Chapter 20

20.1 But the Way of the Black One is crooked and full of cursing, for it is the way of eternal death with punishment, and in it are the things that destroy their soul: idolatry, frowardness, arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, robbery, pride, transgression, fraud, malice, self-sufficiency, enchantments, magic, covetousness, the lack of the fear of God; 20.2 persecutors of the good, haters of the truth, lovers of lies, knowing not the reward of righteousness, who do not cleave to the good, nor to righteous judgement, who attend not to the cause of the widow and orphan, spending wakeful nights not in the fear of God but in the pursuit of vice, from whom meekness and patience are far and distant, loving vanity, seeking rewards, without pity for the poor, working not for him who is oppressed with toil, prone to evil speaking, without knowledge of their Maker, murderers of children, corrupters of God's creation, turning away the needy, oppressing the afflicted, advocates of the rich, unjust judges of the poor, altogether sinful.

Chapter 21

21.1 It is good therefore that he who has learned the ordinances of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who does these things shall be glorified in the kingdom of God, and he who chooses the others shall perish with his works. For this reason there is a resurrection, for this reason there is a recompense. 21.2 I beseech those who are in high positions, if you will receive any counsel of my goodwill, have among yourselves those to whom you may do good; fail not. 21.3 The day is at hand when all things shall perish with the Evil One; "The Lord and His reward are at hand." 21.4 I beseech you again and again: be good lawgivers to each other, remain faithful counsellors of each other, remove from yourselves all hypocrisy. 21.5 Now may God, who is the Lord over all the world, give you wisdom, understanding, prudence, knowledge of His ordinances, patience. 21.6 And be taught of God, seeking out what the Lord requires from you, and see that you be found faithful in the day of judgement. 21.7 If there is any memory of good, meditate on these things and remember me, that my desire and my watchfulness may find some good end. I beseech you, asking it of your favour. 21.8 While the fair vessel is with you, fail not in any of them, but seek these things diligently, and fulfil every commandment; for these things are worthy. 21.9 Wherefore I was the more zealous to write to you of my ability, to give you gladness. May you gain salvation, children of love and peace. May God, the Lord of glory and of all grace, be with your spirit.

The Epistle of Barnabas