11 All these things did the great Creator and Master of the universe ordain to be in peace and concord, and to all things does He do good, and more especially to us who have fled for refuge to His mercies, having followed the guidance of Jesus the Messiah, His messenger.

12 To God be the glory and the majesty for ever and ever. Amen.

XXI

1 Take heed, beloved, lest His many good works towards us become a judgment on us, if we do not good and virtuous deeds before Him in concord, and be citizens worthy of Him.

2 For He says in one place: "The Spirit of the Lord is a lamp searching the inward parts."

3 Let us observe how near He is, and that nothing escapes Him of our thoughts or of the devices which we make.

4 It is right, therefore, that we should not be deserters from His will.

5 Let us offend foolish and thoughtless men, who are exalted and boast in the pride of their words, rather than God.

6 Let us honour Jesus the Messiah, who laboured for our guidance, let us respect those who rule us, let us honour the aged, let us instruct the young in the fear of God, let us lead our wives to that which is good.

7 Let them exhibit the lovely habit of purity, let them show forth the innocent will of meekness, let them make the gentleness of their tongue manifest by their silence, let them not give their affection by factious preference, but in holiness to all equally who fear God.

8 Let our children share in the instruction taught by the Messiah, let them learn the strength of humility before God, the power of pure love before God, how beautiful and great is His fear and how it gives salvation to all who live holily in it with a pure mind.

9 For He is a searcher of thoughts and desires; His breath is in us, and when He will He shall take it away.

XXII

1 Now the faith in God which the Messiah taught confirms all these things, for God Himself through His Holy Spirit calls us thus: "Come, children, hearken to Me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

2 Who is the man that desireth life, that loveth to see good days?

3 Make thy tongue cease from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile.

4 Depart from evil, and do good.

5 Seek peace, and pursue it.

6 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their petition; but the face of the Lord is against those that do evil, to destroy the memory of them from off the earth.

7 The righteous cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions.

8 Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass those that hope on the Lord."

XXIII

1 The all-merciful and beneficent Lord has compassion on those that fear Him, and kindly and lovingly bestows His favours on those that draw near to Him with a simple mind.

2 Wherefore let us not be double-minded, nor let our soul be fanciful concerning His excellent and glorious gifts.

3 Let this Scripture be far from us in which He says, "Wretched are the double-minded, who doubt in their soul and say, 'We have heard these things even in the days of our fathers, and behold we have grown old, and none of these things has happened to us.'

4 Oh, foolish men, compare yourselves to a tree: take a vine, first it sheds its leaves, then there comes a bud, then a leaf, then a flower, and after this the unripe grape, then the full bunch." See how in a little time the fruit of the tree comes to ripeness.

5 Truly His will shall be quickly and suddenly accomplished, as the Scripture also bears witness that "He shall come quickly and shall not tarry; and the Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, and the Holy One for whom ye look."

XXIV

1 Let us consider, beloved, how the Master continually proves to us that there will be a future resurrection, of which He has made the first-fruits by raising Jesus the Messiah, son of Mary, to Himself.

2 Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection which is taking place at its proper season.

3 Day and night show us a resurrection. The night sleeps, the day arises: the day departs, night comes on.

4 Let us take the crops: how and in what way does the sowing take place?

5 "The sower went forth" and cast each of the seeds into the ground, and they fall on to the ground, parched and bare, and suffer decay; then from their decay the greatness of the providence of the Master raises them up, and from one grain more grow and bring forth fruit.

XXV

1 Let us consider the strange sign which takes place in the East, that is in the districts near Arabia.

2 There is a bird which is called the Phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives 500 years; and when the time of its dissolution in death is at hand, it makes itself a sepulchre of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, and when the time is fulfilled it enters into it and dies.

3 Now from the corruption of its flesh there springs a worm, which is nourished by the juices of the dead bird, and puts forth wings. Then, when it has become strong, it takes up that sepulchre, in which are the bones of its predecessor, and carries them from the country of Arabia as far as Egypt until it reaches the city called Heliopolis,

4 and in the daylight in the sight of all it flies to the altar there, places them there, and then starts back to its former home.

5 Then the keepers of the records inspect the registers of dates, and they find that it has come at the fulfilment of the 500th year.

XXVI

1 Do we then consider it a great and wonderful thing that the Creator of the universe will bring about the resurrection of those who served Him in holiness, in the confidence of a good faith, when He shows us the greatness of His promise even through a bird?

2 For He says in one place, "And Thou shalt raise me up, and I will praise Thee," and "I laid me down and slept, I rose up, for Thou art with me."

3 And again Job says, "And Thou shalt raise up this my flesh which has endured all these things."

XXVII

1 In this hope then let our souls be bound to Him who is faithful in His promises and righteous in His judgments.

2 He who has commanded not to lie shall much more not be a liar Himself; for nothing is impossible with God save to lie.

3 Let therefore faith in Him be kindled again in us, and let us consider that all things are near Him.

4 By the word of His majesty did He establish all things, and by His word can He destroy them.

5 "Who shall say to Him, What hast Thou done, or who shall resist the might of His strength?" When He will, and as He will, He will do all things, and none of His decrees shall pass away.

6 All is in His sight and nothing has escaped from His counsel,

7 since "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge; and there are no words nor speeches whose voices are not heard."

XXVIII

1 Since then all things are seen and heard by Him, let us fear Him, and leave off from foul desires of evil deeds, that we may be sheltered by His mercy from the judgments to come.

2 For whither can any of us fly from His mighty hand? And what world shall receive those who seek to desert from Him?

3 For the Writing says in one place: "Where shall I go and where shall I hide from Thy presence? If I ascend into heaven Thou art there, if I depart to the ends of the earth there is Thy right hand; if I make my bed in the abyss there is Thy spirit."

4 Whither then shall a man depart or where shall he escape from Him who embraces all things?

XXIX

1 Let us then approach Him in holiness of soul, raising pure and undefiled hands to Him, loving our gracious and merciful Lord, who has made us the portion of His choice for Himself.

2 For thus it is written: "When the Most High divided the nations, when He scattered the sons of Adam, He established the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the lot of His inheritance."

3 And in another place He says, "Behold the Lord taketh to Himself a nation from the midst of nations, as a man taketh the first-fruit of his threshing-floor, and the most holy shall come forth from that nation."

XXX

1 Seeing then that we are the portion of One who is holy, let us do all the deeds of sanctification, fleeing from evil speaking, and abominable and impure embraces, drunkenness and youthful lusts, and abominable passion, detestable adultery, and abominable pride.

2 "For God," He says, "resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble."

3 Let us then join ourselves to those to whom is given grace from God; let us put on concord in meekness of spirit and continence, keeping ourselves far from all gossip and evil speaking, and be justified by deeds, not by words.

4 For He says, "He that speaketh much shall also hear much; or doth he that is a good speaker think that he is righteous?

5 Blessed is he that is born of woman and hath a short life. Be not profuse in speech."

6 Let our praise be with God, and not from ourselves, for God hates those who praise themselves.

7 Let testimony to our good deeds be given by others, as it was given to our fathers, the righteous.

8 Frowardness and arrogance and boldness belong to those that are accursed by God, gentleness and humility and meekness are with those who are blessed by God.

XXXI

1 Let us cleave, then, to His blessing and let us consider what are the paths of blessing. Let us unfold the deeds of old.

2 Why was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he wrought righteousness and truth through faith?

3 Isaac in confident knowledge of the future was gladly led as a sacrifice.

4 Jacob departed from his country in meekness because of his brother, and went to Laban and served him, and to him was given the sceptre of the twelve tribes of Israel.

XXXII

1 And if anyone will candidly consider this in detail, he will recognize the greatness of the gifts given by Him.

2 For from him come the priests and all the Levites, who serve the altar of God; from him comes Jesus the Messiah, son of Mary, according to the flesh; from him come the kings and rulers and governors in the succession of Judah, and the other sceptres of his tribes are in no small renown seeing that God promised that "thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven."

3 All of them therefore were renowned and magnified, not through themselves or their own works or the righteous actions which they had wrought, but through His will;

4 and therefore we who by His will have been called through Jesus the Messiah, His messenger, are not made righteous by ourselves, or by our wisdom or understanding or piety or the deeds which we have wrought in holiness of heart, but by God's mercy for faith joined with righteous deeds, by which Almighty God has justified all men from the beginning of the world; to Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

XXXIII

1 What shall we do, then, brethren? Shall we be slothful in well-doing and cease from love? May the Master forbid that this should happen, at least to us, but let us be zealous to accomplish every good deed with energy and readiness.

2 For the Creator and Master of the universe Himself rejoices in His works.

3 For by His infinitely great might did He establish the heavens, and by His incomprehensible understanding did He order them; and He separated the earth from the water that surrounds it, and fixed it upon the secure foundation of His own will; and the animals that move in it did He command to exist by His own decree; the sea and the living things in it did He make ready, and enclosed by His own power.

4 Above all, man, the most excellent and from his intellect the greatest of His creatures, did He form by His sacred and faultless hands.

5 For God spoke thus: "I am placing on the earth a steward"; and God made man, male and female made He them.

6 So when He had finished all these things He praised them and blessed them and said, "Increase and multiply."

7 Let us observe that all the righteous have been adorned with good works; and the Lord Himself rejoiced in His good works.

8 Having therefore this pattern let us follow His will without delay, let us work the work of righteousness with all our strength.

XXXIV

1 The good workman receives the bread of his labour with boldness; the lazy and careless cannot look his employer in the face.

2 Therefore we must be prompt in well-doing: for all things are from Him.

3 For He warns us: "Behold the Lord cometh, and His reward is before His face, to pay to each according to his work."

4 He exhorts us therefore if we believe in Him with our whole heart not to be lazy or careless "in every good work."

5 Let our glorying and confidence be in Him; let us be subject to His will; let us consider the whole multitude of His angels, how they stand ready and minister to His will.

6 For the Scripture says, "Ten thousand times ten thousand stood by Him, and thousand thousands ministered to Him, and they cried, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole creation is full of His glory."

7 Therefore, we too must gather together with concord in our conscience and cry earnestly to Him, as it were with one mouth, that we may share in His great and glorious promises,

8 for He says: "Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and it hath not entered into the heart of man, what things the Lord hath prepared for them that wait for Him."

XXXV

1 How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God!

2 Life in immortality, splendour in righteousness, truth in boldness, faith in confidence, continence in holiness: and all these things are submitted to our understanding.

3 What, then, are the things which are being prepared for those who wait for Him? The Creator and Lord of the ages, the All-holy One, Himself knows their greatness and beauty.

4 Let us then strive to be found among the number of those that wait, that we may receive a share of the promised gifts.

5 But how shall this be, beloved? If our understanding be fixed faithfully on God; if we seek the things which are well-pleasing and acceptable to Him; if we fulfil the things which are in harmony with His faultless will, and follow the way of truth, casting away from ourselves all iniquity and wickedness, covetousness, strife, malice and fraud, gossiping and evil speaking, hatred of God, pride and arrogance, vain-glory and inhospitality.

6 For those who do these things are hateful to God, and not only those who do them, but also those who take pleasure in them.

7 For the Scripture says: "But to the sinner said God: Wherefore dost thou declare My ordinances, and takest My covenant in thy mouth?

8 Thou hast hated instruction, and cast My words behind thee. If thou sawest a thief thou didst run with him, and thou didst make thy portion with the adulterers. Thy mouth hath multiplied iniquity, and thy tongue did weave deceit. Thou didst sit to speak evil against thy brother, and thou didst lay a stumbling-block in the way of thy mother's son.

9 Thou hast done these things and I kept silent; thou didst suppose, O wicked one, that I shall be like unto thee.

10 I will reprove thee and set thy sins before thy face.

11 Understand then these things, ye who forget God, lest He seize you as doth a lion, and there be none to deliver.

12 The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me, and therein is a way in which I will show him the salvation of God."

XXXVI

1 This is the way, beloved, in which we found our salvation: Jesus the Messiah, son of Mary, God's messenger, who guided our offerings to God and was a helper in our weakness, by God's leave.

2 Through his guidance we fix our gaze on the heights of heaven, through his guidance we see the faultless and lofty signs of God, through him the eyes of our hearts were opened, through him our foolish and darkened understanding blossoms towards the light, through him the Master willed that we should taste the immortal knowledge; he, a servant honoured by God, reflects the majesty of His mercy.

3 For it is written thus: "Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire."

4 But of His servant the Master said thus: "Thou art My servant: today have I chosen thee. Ask of Me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession."

5 And again He says to him: "Be honoured at My right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool of thy feet."

6 Who then are the enemies? Those who are wicked and oppose His will.

XXXVII

1 Let us then serve in our army, brethren, with all earnestness, following His faultless commands.

2 Let us consider those who serve our generals, with what good order, habitual readiness, and submissiveness they perform their commands.

3 Not all are prefects, nor tribunes, nor centurions, nor in charge of fifty men, or the like, but each carries out in his own rank the commands of the emperor and of the generals.

4 The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great; there is a certain mixture among all, and herein lies the advantage.

5 Let us take our body; the head is nothing without the feet, likewise the feet are nothing without the head; the smallest members of our body are necessary and valuable to the whole body, but all work together and are united in a common subjection to preserve the whole body.

XXXVIII

1 Let, therefore, our whole body be preserved in obedience to God, as taught by Jesus the Messiah, and let each be subject to his neighbour, according to the position granted to him.

2 Let the strong care for the weak and let the weak reverence the strong. Let the rich man bestow help on the poor and let the poor give thanks to God, that He gave him one to supply his needs; let the wise manifest his wisdom not in words but in good deeds; let him who is humble-minded not testify to his own humility, but let him leave it to others to bear him witness; let not him who is pure in the flesh be boastful, knowing that it is another who bestows on him his continence.

3 Let us consider, then, brethren, of what matter we were formed, who we are, and with what nature we came into the world, and how He who formed and created us brought us into His world from the darkness of a grave, and prepared His benefits for us before we were born.

4 Since, therefore, we have everything from Him we ought in everything to give Him thanks, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

XXXIX

1 Foolish, imprudent, silly, and uninstructed men mock and deride us, wishing to exalt themselves in their own conceits.

2 For what can mortal man do, or what is the strength of him who is a child of earth?

3 For it is written: "There was no shape before mine eyes, but I heard a sound and a voice.

4 What then? Shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? Or shall a man be blameless in his deeds, seeing that He believeth not in His servants, and hath noted perversity in His angels?

5 Yea, the heaven is not pure before Him. Away then, ye who inhabit houses of clay, of which, even of the same clay, we ourselves were made. He smote them as a moth, and from morning until evening they do not endure; they perished, without being able to help themselves.

6 He breathed on them and they died because they had no wisdom.

7 But call now, if any shall answer thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels; for wrath destroyeth the foolish, and envy putteth to death him that is in error.

8 I have seen the foolish taking root, but their habitation was presently consumed.

9 Let their sons be far from safety; let them be mocked in the gates of those less than they, with none to deliver; for what was prepared for them the righteous shall eat, and they themselves shall not be delivered from evil."

XL

1 Since then these things are manifest to us, and we have looked into the depths of the divine knowledge, we ought to do in order all things which the Master commanded us to perform at appointed times.

2 He commanded us to celebrate offerings and services, and that it should not be thoughtlessly or disorderly, but at fixed times and hours.

3 He has Himself fixed by His supreme will the places and persons whom He desires for these celebrations, in order that all things may be done piously according to His good pleasure, and be acceptable to His will.

4 So then those who offer their oblations at the appointed seasons are acceptable and blessed, for they follow the laws of the Master and do no sin.

5 For to the High Priest his proper ministrations are allotted, and to the priests the proper place has been appointed, and on Levites their proper services have been imposed. The layman is bound by the ordinances for the laity.

XLI

1 Let each one of us, brethren, be well pleasing to God in his own rank, and have a good conscience, not transgressing the appointed rules of his ministration, with all reverence.

2 Not in every place, my brethren, are the daily offerings made or the free-will offerings, or the sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, but only in Jerusalem; and there also the offering is not made in every place, but before the shrine, at the altar, and the offering is first inspected by the High Priest and the ministers already mentioned.

3 Those therefore who do anything contrary to that which is agreeable to His will suffer the penalty of death.

4 You see, brethren, that the more knowledge we have been entrusted with, the greater risk do we incur.

XLII

1 The apostles received the good news for us from Jesus the Messiah, God's messenger; Jesus the Messiah was sent from God.

2 The Messiah therefore is from God and the apostles from the Messiah. In both ways, then, they were in accordance with the appointed order of God's will.

3 Having therefore received their commands, and being fully assured by the raising of Jesus the Messiah, and with faith confirmed by the word of God, they went forth in the assurance of the Holy Spirit preaching the good news that the Kingdom of God is coming.

4 They preached from district to district, and from city to city, and they appointed their first converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of the future believers.

5 And this was no new method, for many years before had bishops and deacons been written of; for the Scripture says thus in one place: "I will establish their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith."

XLIII

1 And what wonder is it if those who were entrusted by God with such a duty, established those who have been mentioned? Since the blessed Moses also, "a faithful servant in all his house," noted down in the sacred books all the injunctions which were given him; and the other prophets followed him, bearing witness with him to the laws which he had given.

2 For when jealousy arose concerning the priesthood, and the tribes were quarrelling as to which of them was adorned with that glorious title, Moses himself commanded the rulers of the twelve tribes to bring him rods, with the name of a tribe written on each; and he took them, and bound them, and sealed them with the rings of the rulers of the tribes, and put them away in the Tabernacle of Testimony on the table of God.

3 And he shut the Tabernacle, and sealed the keys, as he had done with the rods,

4 and he said to them, "Brethren, of whichsoever tribe the rod shall bud, this has God chosen for His priesthood and ministry."

5 And when it was daylight he called together all Israel, six hundred thousand men, and showed the seals to the rulers of the tribes, and opened the Tabernacle of Testimony, and took forth the rods, and the rod of Aaron was found not only to have budded, but also to be bearing fruit.

6 What do you think, beloved? That Moses did not know beforehand that this was going to happen? Assuredly he knew, but he acted thus that there should be no disorder in Israel, to glorify the name of the true and only God, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

XLIV