Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
2010
© 2010 the Church of Christ
This book is in copyright; all rights belong to the owner.
“I will proceed to do a marvelous work among
this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men will be hidden…”
“I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you have hidden these things from the
wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in
your sight.”
Table of Contents
THE HOLY TRINITY........................................................................... 1
PART ONE: THE LABOR................................................................... 2
THE BEGINNING ................................................................................. 2
THE GARDEN ..................................................................................... 4
THE FIRST DISOBEDIENCE .................................................................. 5
THE SECOND DISOBEDIENCE .............................................................. 7
ENOCH .............................................................................................. 8
THE FIRST COVENANT ...................................................................... 10
SODOM AND GOMORRAH .................................................................. 13
THE LAWLESSNESS OF SODOM .......................................................... 14
THE TEST OF ABRAHAM .................................................................... 16
THE SECOND COVENANT .................................................................. 18
THE LAW ......................................................................................... 20
REMEMBER YOUR LORD.................................................................... 22
NOT BECAUSE OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ........................................... 23
THE PENANCES OF MOSES ................................................................ 25
WHY DO YOU BECOME PROUD SO EASILY?.......................................... 26
FACE TO FACE WITH THE LORD .......................................................... 28
THE PRAYER BY MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD ......................................... 29
THE PROPHETS OF THE LORD ........................................................... 30
WHO IS WHO?.................................................................................. 30
THE TRANSFIGURATION .................................................................... 32
ELIJAH ............................................................................................ 33
ELISHA ............................................................................................ 40
THE LAMBS OF GOD ......................................................................... 42
ISAIAH ............................................................................................. 44
MAKE STRAIGHT PATH TO THE LORD! ................................................. 45
DANIEL ............................................................................................ 45
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM ............................................................. 47
THE SON OF GOD ............................................................................ 51
THE VISION OF DANIEL ...................................................................... 54
THE SECOND VISION OF DANIEL ......................................................... 56
THE CALCULATIONS OF DANIEL .......................................................... 59
THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS ......................................................... 60
THE LORD’S SERVANT ...................................................................... 63
THE PRINCE OF PEACE ..................................................................... 65
i
THE FIRSTBORN OF THE LORD........................................................... 68
WALKING WITH THE LORD ................................................................. 70
SEEK THE LORD! .............................................................................. 72
THE TRUE WORSHIP.......................................................................... 73
WICKEDNESS AND HYPOCRISY........................................................... 75
THE KING OF ISRAEL ........................................................................ 77
THE RIGHTEOUS PERISHES ............................................................... 78
THE LAMB ....................................................................................... 79
REWARDS OF THE LORD ................................................................... 82
THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY ............................................. 84
THE JUST ONE................................................................................. 85
THE THIRD COVENANT ..................................................................... 87
PART TWO: THE WORD OF GOD.................................................. 88
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT ................................................. 88
THE SON OF MAN ............................................................................. 88
1 COMING OF THE SAVIOR ................................................................ 90
COME, EAT MY BREAD AND DRINK MY WINE ......................................... 95
THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM ............................................................. 96
THE WISDOM AND HER PEOPLE ......................................................... 98
THE WORD OF GOD ....................................................................... 100
SOWING THE WORD ....................................................................... 101
CALL OF THE WISDOM .................................................................... 103
THE GOOD NEWS .......................................................................... 105
ARE YOU REALLY RICH? .................................................................. 107
THE RANSOM FOR THE LIFE ............................................................. 109
THE DESTINY OF THE WICKED .......................................................... 111
THE NARROW GATE........................................................................ 113
IS THE LAW NOT ENOUGH?.............................................................. 114
THE REDEEMED BY JESUS .............................................................. 115
THE WORKMANSHIP OF THE LORD ................................................... 116
THE SONG OF THE LORD ................................................................ 117
THE LETTER AND THE SEAL............................................................. 118
THE EVERLASTING CROWN ............................................................. 119
IT IS TIME ....................................................................................... 120
NO SERVANT CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS........................................... 120
IT IS WORTH TO RECEIVE THE WORD OF TRUTH PERFECTLY ............... 122
THE SIN OF THE WORLD .................................................................. 123
THE REDEMPTION BY THE TRUTH .................................................... 124
THE REFUGE IN THE LORD .............................................................. 125
ii
PUREST DEEDS .............................................................................. 126
IT IS YOU WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE .................................................... 127
THE ETERNAL FIRE ........................................................................ 128
IS IT TOO HARSH?........................................................................... 128
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT ............................................................. 130
POWER CORRUPTS......................................................................... 132
THE LOVE WITHOUT LIMITS .............................................................. 133
KNOW FROM WHERE YOU ARE ......................................................... 135
WHO IS THE BEST OF MEN? ............................................................. 136
DON’T CLAIM YOUR OWN GREATNESS ............................................... 137
THE WORDS OF VANITY .................................................................. 138
THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD .......................................................... 141
THE WORDS OF WISDOM................................................................. 142
DON’T UPSET YOURSELF ................................................................. 146
THE LORD OF HEARTS .................................................................... 148
THE STRONG TOWER OF YAHWEH ................................................... 150
INTEGRITY ..................................................................................... 153
CHARM IS DECEITFUL...................................................................... 154
THE FACES OF WICKEDNESS ........................................................... 154
DAVID’S SONG OF PRAISE............................................................... 155
THE PERFECT LAW ........................................................................ 158
THE TEMPLE OF YAHWEH ............................................................... 158
TAKE COURAGE! ............................................................................ 159
THE FEAR OF THE LORD ................................................................. 160
THE LORD IS FAITHFUL! .................................................................. 161
THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID ............................................................ 162
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!’..................................................... 163
PURITY OF HEARTS ........................................................................ 164
THE TEMPLE OF THE BODY .............................................................. 167
PROUD WILL BE HUMBLED ............................................................... 168
THE SABBATH IS FOR MAN............................................................... 169
DON’T REPLACE SUPERIOR WITH INFERIOR ....................................... 170
SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD ......................................................... 175
THE PURITY OF A PEARL .................................................................. 176
NEW AND OLD ................................................................................ 177
CIRCUMCISE YOUR HEART ............................................................... 179
WHY THE SON WAS SENT SO LATE ................................................... 180
THE NEW TEACHING ...................................................................... 181
THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE CHRISTIANS .............................................. 186
TO GIVE AND TO TAKE ..................................................................... 187
iii
THE BLESSINGS THAT FLOW FROM FAITH .......................................... 188
PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH ......................................................... 190
FAITH WITHOUT DEEDS IS DEAD ....................................................... 191
THE HYPOCRISY ............................................................................ 194
CLOTHED WITH CHRIST................................................................... 197
BAPTIZING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT........................................................ 199
THE LIVING GOD ............................................................................ 200
THE GARDEN OF EDEN ................................................................... 203
THE CHILDREN OF GOD .................................................................. 204
THE MISERABLE STATE OF MEN BEFORE COMING OF THE WORD ......... 205
THE REDEMPTION OF ADAM............................................................. 206
FREEDOM AND SLAVERY ................................................................. 207
THE PRAYER OF JESUS ................................................................... 210
PRAISE TO THE LORD! .................................................................... 212
YAHWEH REIGNS! ........................................................................... 213
THE SONS OF GOD ........................................................................ 214
THE MOUNT ZION .......................................................................... 216
THE RESURRECTION ...................................................................... 218
3 REBIRTH IN THE SPIRIT ................................................................ 220
THE LIGHT WITHIN .......................................................................... 223
THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD .......................................................... 230
THE LORD’S WILL BE DONE .............................................................. 233
THE TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLE PAUL ........................................... 234
THESE THINGS ARE WORTHY TO BE KNOWN AND BELIEVED ................. 236
THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE.............. 237
NOT TO DESTROY ........................................................................... 238
THE TEMPTATIONS BY THE DEVIL ..................................................... 241
OVERTURNING THE WORLD ............................................................. 242
LOVE FOR THE WORLD .................................................................... 244
THE SABBATH ................................................................................ 244
THE WORLD AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD .......................................... 246
THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE WORLD .................................. 251
THE KINGDOM OF GOD ................................................................... 251
DETACHMENT ................................................................................ 255
REPENT OR YOU WILL PERISH .......................................................... 256
THE LORD REBUKES DAVID ............................................................. 257
THE REPENTANCE OF DAVID............................................................ 258
PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS ............................................................ 259
THE GRACE OF THE LORD ............................................................... 260
REPENTANCE................................................................................. 261
iv
ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE CONSUMES ME ........................................... 265
FORGIVENESS................................................................................ 267
FORGIVE TO OTHERS AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN ............................. 268
FAITH ............................................................................................ 269
TEST OF THE FAITH ........................................................................ 271
THE FAITH OF THE WOMAN .............................................................. 275
THE FIG TREE ................................................................................ 276
HALLELUJAH! ................................................................................. 277
THE POWER OF PRAYER ................................................................. 278
GOD’S CARE FOR HIS CHILDREN ...................................................... 280
SELF-CONTROL .............................................................................. 282
TAMING THE TONGUE ...................................................................... 284
DON’T JUDGE ................................................................................. 286
LOVE ONE ANOTHER ....................................................................... 287
TWO KINDS OF LOVE ....................................................................... 288
LOVE WITHOUT HYPOCRISY ............................................................. 289
THE GOOD SAMARITAN .................................................................. 290
BE GOOD ....................................................................................... 291
THE PARABLE OF THE SHREWD MANAGER ........................................ 292
NON BELIEVE ................................................................................. 293
CAN THE KINGDOM DIVIDE AGAINST ITSELF STAND? ........................... 296
JERUSALEM, THE CITY OF PROPHETS ............................................... 297
THE PARABLE OF A VINEYARD ......................................................... 298
ADDRESS TO THE DISCIPLES............................................................ 298
LITTLE ONES OF THE LORD .............................................................. 301
THE ASSEMBLY .............................................................................. 302
THE POOR WIDOW.......................................................................... 302
GIVE TO GOD WHAT IS HIS .............................................................. 303
1THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS .................................................... 304
THE LAMB OF GOD ......................................................................... 305
2 THE FIRST MIRACLE?................................................................... 306
3 TESTIMONY OF JOHN BAPTIZER ABOUT JESUS ............................... 307
4 THE LIVING WATER ...................................................................... 308
PRAISE TO THE LORD! .................................................................... 310
IT IS TIME ....................................................................................... 311
5 .................................................................................................. 312
VALIDITY OF THE TESTIMONY ........................................................... 314
6 THE TRUE BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN ............................................... 315
THE FLESH PROFITS NOTHING.......................................................... 319
7 MY TEACHING IS NOT MINE ........................................................... 320
v
8 WHO IS WITHOUT SIN? ................................................................. 323
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.............................................................. 324
9 DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD? ......................................... 327
10 THE GOOD SHEPHERD............................................................... 329
SANCTIFIED BY THE FATHER............................................................ 330
11 THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS ............................................... 332
12 “MY CUP RUNS OVER” ................................................................ 335
FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME!....................................................... 337
THE UNBELIEF ................................................................................ 338
THE WILL OF THE FATHER .............................................................. 338
13 THE LAST SAPPER ..................................................................... 339
14 I AM THE WAY ........................................................................... 341
THE COUNSELOR ........................................................................... 342
15 THE TRUE VINE .......................................................................... 343
LOVE ONE OTHER ........................................................................... 344
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH .................................................................... 345
16 ................................................................................................ 345
A LITTLE WHILE .............................................................................. 346
17 FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR SON! .................................................... 347
ONE THROUGH YOUR NAME ............................................................ 348
18 THE ARREST ............................................................................. 349
THE TRIAL ..................................................................................... 350
19 THE KING OF ISRAEL.................................................................. 353
THE CRUCIFIXION........................................................................... 354
20 THE RESURRECTION.................................................................. 356
VAIN IS REASONING OF THE WICKED ................................................. 358
PART THREE: THE DIALOGUES.................................................. 361
THE SECRET BOOK OF JAMES ......................................................... 361
THE BOOK OF THOMAS CONTENDER................................................ 372
THE DIALOGUE OF THE SAVIOR ....................................................... 381
JESUS AND MARY........................................................................... 394
JESUS AND SALOME ....................................................................... 396
CAME IN THE FLESH, BUT LEFT IN THE SPIRIT’ ................................... 397
THE CROSS ................................................................................... 402
THE GLORY OF THE PERFECT POWER ............................................. 406
PART FOUR: THE GREAT MOTHER............................................ 410
TO THE RULERS ............................................................................. 410
PANARETOS SOPHIA ...................................................................... 411
vi
EXCELLENCE OF THE WISDOM ......................................................... 413
THE MOTHER OF ALL...................................................................... 414
GLORY OF THE GREAT MOTHER ...................................................... 416
THE PRAYER FOR WISDOM .............................................................. 417
THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING ...................................................... 419
PART FIVE: THE END OF TIME.................................................... 421
THE SECOND COMING .................................................................... 421
THE HOUR THAT YOU DON’T EXPECT ................................................ 423
RETURN OF THE KING ..................................................................... 426
THE SHEEP AND GOATS ................................................................. 427
THE PARABLE OF THE DARNEL WEED .............................................. 428
THE MOUNTAIN OF YAHWEH’S HOUSE ............................................. 430
THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD ........................................................... 431
COVENANT WITH THE DEATH CANCELED ........................................... 431
‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’ ................................................................. 433
THE PLAN “A”: SODOM AND GOMORRA ............................................ 434
THE STRONG CITY .......................................................................... 435
THE VINEYARD OF YAHWEH ............................................................ 437
THE END OF THE TIME .................................................................... 438
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD................................................... 439
THE FIRSTBORN OF THE DEAD ......................................................... 440
THE WOMAN CLOSED WITH THE SUN ................................................ 441
THE LEVIATHAN ............................................................................. 442
THE BEAST OF THE SEA .................................................................. 444
BABYLON THE GREAT ..................................................................... 445
BABYLON HAS FALLEN!.................................................................... 448
PRAISE TO THE LORD! .................................................................... 452
THE WORD OF GOD ....................................................................... 452
THE VIRGIN MOTHER...................................................................... 453
NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH .................................................... 455
THE HOLY JERUSALEM ................................................................... 457
ELIJAH AND ELISHA ........................................................................ 460
JOHN AND DOMITIAN ...................................................................... 461
THE DEPARTURE OF JOHN............................................................... 467
THE LAST PRAYERS OF JOHN........................................................... 468
2010 ............................................................................................ 472
21 ................................................................................................ 473
THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE ...................................................... 482
THE PLAN “B”: THE REPENTANCE OF NINEVEH ................................. 482
vii
THE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT .................................................... 486
THE DOVE AND THE MESSIAH .......................................................... 488
ON TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS ...................................................... 488
DELIGHT IN GOD’S LOVE ................................................................. 490
PRAISE TO THE LORD! .................................................................... 492
THE LORD REIGNS!......................................................................... 493
TO ASSEMBLIES OF CHURCH........................................................... 494
THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS ................................................. 497
LAST WHO WILL BE FIRST; AND FIRST WHO WILL BE LAST .................... 498
THE SEAL IS BROKEN...................................................................... 500
TO BE CONTINUED... ................................................................... 500
viii
The Holy Trinity
1
In the text Yahweh stands instead of ‘I am that I am’;
1
PART ONE: THE LABOR
The Beginning
The Garden
4
The First Disobedience
5
Because two of you were made from two parts of the
same body, from now you will start lacking each other to be
in completeness of former days. Therefore a man will leave
his Father and his Mother, and will join with his wife, and
they will become like one flesh. Because you cast
yourselves from the Tree of Life, and its fruits therefore, from
now in hard work you will eat of it all the days of your life.
The earth will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will
eat the herb of the field. By the sweat of your face will eat
your bread until you return to the earth, from which your
bodies were made.”
“But don’t be upset and disheartened, for it is in
accordance with my plan that I have ordained on this earth
days and years for you, and you and your seed shall dwell
and walk in it, until the days and years are fulfilled. Go and
multiply your progeny, so that Word of God, which I have
placed as seed into you, also could be multiplied. I will pour
my Holy Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your
offspring and they will spring up among the grass, as willows
by the watercourses.
Verily I say unto you, this darkness will pass away from
you, after every day I have determined for you will be
fulfilled; then I will save you and bring you back again into
My Garden, into the abode of light you longing for, where
there is no darkness. I will bring there also your numerous
offspring, and the Kingdom of God, will be established then
on the whole Earth. In order to save you, I myself will come
down from heaven, and will become as one of your seed,
and I will take upon me the inconvenience from which you
have to suffer from now, and I am, who is without years, will
be reckoned as one of sons of men, in order to save you.”
God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and
clothed them. Now, they could not to stay any more in the
Garden of God, because along with knowledge of good they
came to know bad also, and so they became departed from
6
the Whole. Therefore God sent them out from the Garden of
Eden, to cultivate the ground from which they were taken. So
the humans were drown out of Eden, and so spirit became
entangled in matter. And God placed Cherubs at the east of
the Garden of Eden, and the sword of flame, which turned
every way, protecting the way to the Tree of Life from
wicked. There was an order that ‘if even an animal touches
the mountain of the Living God, it shall be stoned’. And
Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the
mother of all living.
The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave
birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s
help.” Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was
a shepherd of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. As
time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to
Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought some
of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected
Abel and his offering, but he didn’t respect Cain and his
offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his
face fell. Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why
has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, will it
not be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the
door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” It
happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel, his brother, and killed him.
The angels of God saw happened from heavens. They
spoke amongst themselves, “A new thing has happened
today under Heaven, a man killed a man. Verily, the crafty
enemy of the humans now fully overpowered the children of
Adam and became their master. How it is strange that
7
people turned their faces from the Life and loved more
wrathful wisdom of the viper, by whom they were deceived
into outer darkness? They recklessly left their Father and
took the darkness of the death as their only teacher,
mistakenly thinking it to be their friend. Look around, and
see, how the gaze of the ‘evil eye’ caused corruption of
everything upon the earth and in heavens, and every single
thing became afflicted with its sickness. Verily, now the man,
who once was glory of the Lord’s creation, became heavy
because of burden of his sins, and those who were formerly
subservient to him, became his masters.”
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his
blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”
Enoch
9
The First Covenant
12
Yahweh said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am
about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and
powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed
through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the
Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will
bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
13
He said, “Oh Lord don’t be angry, and I will speak.
What if there are thirty found there?”
He said, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”
He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to
the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”
He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will
speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished
communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his
place.
17
The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time
out of the sky, and said, “I have sworn by myself, says
Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son, that I will bless you greatly,
and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the
heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your
seed will possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed will
all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have
obeyed my voice.”
18
stone with the Law and the Commands that I have written,
that you may teach them.”
Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses
went up onto God’s Mountain. Moses went up on the
mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of
Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six
days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of
the cloud. The appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like
devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the
children of Israel. Moses entered into the midst of the cloud,
and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the
mountain forty days and forty nights. He was there with
Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor
drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the
covenant, the Ten Commandments.
It happened, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai
with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses’ hand, when
he came down from the mountain that Moses didn’t know
that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with
him. When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses,
behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to
come near him.
Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of
the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.
Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave
them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken
with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses was done speaking
with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in
before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until
he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of
Israel that which he was commanded. The children of Israel
saw Moses’ face that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and
Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to
speak with him.
19
The Law
20
seventh day is a Day of rest to Yahweh your God. You shall
not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter,
your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your
livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in
six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore
Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may
be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male
servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the
things that are revealed belong to us and to our children
forever, that we may do all the words of this law. For this
commandment which I command you this day, it is not too
hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you
should say, “Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to
us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?” Neither is it
beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who shall go over the
sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we
may do it?” But the word is very near to you, in your mouth,
and in your heart, that you may do it. Behold, I have set
before you this day life and good, and death and evil; But if
your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but shall be
drawn away, I call heaven and earth to witness against you
this day, that I have set before you life and death, the
blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may
live, you and your seed.”
21
Remember your Lord
22
You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your
God for the good land which he has given you.
Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not
keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his
statutes, which I command you this day: lest, when you have
eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived
therein; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and
your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have
is multiplied; then your heart be lifted up, and you forget
Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage; who led you through the
great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents and
scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who
brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed you in
the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know;
that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do
you good at your latter end: and lest you say in your heart,
“My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this
wealth.”
But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he
who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his
covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day. It
shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after
other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify
against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the
nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you
shall perish; because you wouldn’t listen to the voice of
Yahweh your God.”
“Hear, Israel: you are to pass over the Jordan this day,
to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than
yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, a people
23
great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and
of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the
sons of Anak?” Know therefore this day, that Yahweh your
God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire; he
will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you:
so you shall drive them out, and make them to perish
quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.
Don’t say in your heart, after Yahweh your God has
thrust them out from before you, saying, “For my
righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this
land;” because Yahweh drives them out before you because
of the wickedness of these nations. Not for your
righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you
go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these
nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before
you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn’t give you this
good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a
stiff-necked people.”
“When you have come into the land which Yahweh your
God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the
abominations of those nations. There shall not be found with
you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices
sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a
consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For whoever does these things is an abomination to
Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh your
God does drive them out from before you. You shall be
perfect with Yahweh your God.”
24
The penances of Moses
25
him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot
displeasure, with which Yahweh was angry against you to
destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me that time also.
Yahweh was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and
I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. I took your sin, the
calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped
it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I
cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the
mountain. At Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth
Hattaavah, you provoked Yahweh to wrath.
When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying,
“Go up and possess the land which I have given you;” then
you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your
God, and you didn’t believe him, nor listen to his voice. You
have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I
knew you. So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and
forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he
would destroy you. I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord
Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance, that
you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have
brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your
servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; don’t look to the
stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to
their sin, lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because
Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he
promised to them, and because he hated them, he has
brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ Yet they are
your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by
your Great Power and by your outstretched arm.”
27
Face to face with the Lord
28
The prayer by Moses, the man of God
29
The Prophets of the Lord
Who is who?
30
children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh
commanded Moses. There has not arisen a prophet since in
Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, in all the
signs and the wonders, which Yahweh sent him to do in the
land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all
his land, and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great
terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel.”
Jesus said, “A little while, and you will not see me, a
little while, and you will see me again, for I am going away
and I am coming back to you. I know my own, and I’m known
by my own, for I know where I came from, and where I am
going; even as the Father knows me, so I know the Father.
I lay down my life for the sheep; therefore the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it
again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by
myself. Father has no hold on me, but the world must learn
that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father
has commanded me. I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again. I received this commandment from
my Father. O Father! Glorify me with the glory which I had
with you before the world existed!”
“The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those
who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words
him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he
wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
Fear not; I am the first and the last: I was dead, and
behold, I am alive for evermore, the Living one, Amen, the
Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God’s creation, who
has the Seven Spirits of God.”
“In fact, he who knows the real freedom becomes
enslaved by his love for those, who have not yet been able
to attain the knowledge of Truth. Verily, not once, but only
the Holy Spirit knows, how many times, the Son of Man
walked amongst people to accomplish the works of the
Father.”
31
Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that
whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.”
The Transfiguration
33
shall not empty, neither shall the jar of oil fail, until the day
that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.’”
She went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and
she, and he, and her house, ate many days. The jar of meal
didn’t empty, neither did the jar of oil fail, according to the
word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Elijah. It happened after
these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the
house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe, that there
was no breath left in him. She said to Elijah, “What have I to
do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring
my sin to memory, and to kill my son!”
He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of
her bosom, and carried him up into the room where he
stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
He cried to Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh my God, have
you also brought evil on the widow with whom I stay, by
killing her son?”
He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried
to Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh my God, please let this
child’s soul come into him again.”
Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of
the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the
child, and brought him down out of the room into the house,
and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold,
your son lives.”
The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a
man of God, and that the word of Yahweh in your mouth is
truth.”
It happened after many days, that the word of Yahweh
came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself
to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth.”
Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was
severe in Samaria. Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the
household. (Now Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly: for it was
so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that
34
Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in
a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all the
springs of water, and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find
grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose
all the animals.” So they divided the land between them to
pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and
Obadiah went another way by himself. As Obadiah was in
the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he recognized him, and
fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold,
Elijah is here!’”
He said, “Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver
your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? As Yahweh
your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord
has not sent to seek you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’
he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they didn’t
find you. Now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is
here.”’ It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that
the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you I don’t know where; and
so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can’t find you, he will
kill me. But I, your servant, have feared Yahweh from my
youth. Wasn’t it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed
the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred men of
Yahweh’s prophets with fifty to a cave, and fed them with
bread and water? Now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold,
Elijah is here;”’ and he will kill me.”
Elijah said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I
stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab
went to meet Elijah. It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that
Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and
your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the
commandments of Yahweh, and you have followed the
35
Baals. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to
Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal,
and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at
Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered
the prophets together to Mount Carmel.
Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long
will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God,
follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
The people answered him not a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a
prophet of Yahweh; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred
fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them
choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay
it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the
other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it.
You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name
of Yahweh. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.”
All the people answered, “It is well said.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for
yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on
the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
They took the bull which was given them, and they
dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning
even until noon, saying, Baal, hear us. But there was no
voice, nor any who answered. They leaped about the altar
which was made. It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked
them, and said, “Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is
musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or
perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
They cried aloud, and cut themselves in their way with
knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. It
was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until
the time of the offering of the offering; but there was neither
voice, nor any to answer, nor any who regarded.
36
Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me;” and all
the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of
Yahweh that was thrown down. Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to
whom the word of Yahweh came, saying, “Israel shall be
your name.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of
Yahweh. He made a trench around the altar, large enough to
contain two measures of seed. He put the wood in order,
and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said,
“Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering,
and on the wood.” He said, “Do it a second time;” and they
did it the second time. He said, “Do it a third time;” and they
did it the third time. The water ran around the altar; and he
also filled the trench with water.
It happened at the time of the offering of the offering,
that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this
day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant,
and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me,
Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you,
Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back
again.”
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt
offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and
licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the
people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh,
he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t
let one of them escape!”
They seized them. Elijah brought them down to the
brook Kishon, and killed them there.
Elijah said to Ahab, “Get up, eat and drink; for there is
the sound of abundance of rain.”
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to
the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth,
37
and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant,
“Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up, and looked,
and said, “There is nothing.” He said, “Go again” seven
times. It happened at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold,
a small cloud, like a man’s hand, is rising out of the sea.” He
said, “Go up, tell Ahab, ‘Get ready and go down, so that the
rain doesn’t stop you.’”
It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with
clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and
went to Jezreel. The hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he
tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the
entrance of Jezreel. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the
gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the
life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”
When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and
came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his
servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the
wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree:
and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It
is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not
better than my fathers.”
He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold,
an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!” He
looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on
the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down
again. The angel of Yahweh came again the second time,
and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the
journey is too great for you.” He arose, and ate and drank,
and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty
nights to Horeb the Mount of God. He came there to a cave,
and lodged there; and behold, the word of Yahweh came to
him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
38
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God
of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets
with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life,
to take it away.”
He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before
Yahweh.”
Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong
wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks
before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the
wind an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in
the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. It was so, when
Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and
went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a
voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here,
Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God
of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your
covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets
with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life,
to take it away.”
Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria. You shall anoint Jehu the son
of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha
the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your
place. It shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword
of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword
of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet will I leave seven thousand in
Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and
every mouth which has not kissed him.”
39
Elisha
40
He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will
not leave you.” They both went on.
Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood
opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the
Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and
struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so
that they two went over on dry ground.
It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said
to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken
from you.”
Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be
on me.”
He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me
when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it
shall not be so.”
It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that
behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them;
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the
chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own
clothes, and tore them in two pieces. He took up also the
mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood
by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that
fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is
Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the
waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went
over. When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho
over against him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah
rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed
themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, “See
now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let
them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of
Yahweh has taken him up, and put him on some mountain,
or into some valley.
41
He said, “You shall not send them.” When they urged
him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” They sent
therefore fifty men; and they searched for three days, but
didn’t find him. They came back to him, while he stayed at
Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go?’”
The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the
situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the
water is bad, and the land miscarries.”
He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” They
brought it to him. He went out to the spring of the waters,
and threw salt into it, and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have
healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more
death or miscarrying.’” So the waters were healed to this
day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. He
went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the
way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and
said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldhead!” He
looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the
name of Yahweh. Two female bears came out of the woods,
and mauled forty-two of those youths. He went from there to
Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
“In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting
on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim; each one had six wings.
With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet.
With two he flew.
One called to another, and said,
“Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!”
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of
him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. Then I
said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal
in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the
altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this
has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and
your sin forgiven.”
I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send,
and who will go for us?”
Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but
don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again,
and be healed.”
44
Make straight path to the Lord!
Daniel
45
blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and
endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and
such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he
should teach them the learning and the language of the
Chaldeans. The king appointed for them a daily portion of
the king’s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that
they should be nourished three years; that at its end they
should stand before the king.
Now among these were, of the children of Judah,
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The prince of the
eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name
of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to
Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. But
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself
with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank:
therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he
might not defile himself.
Now God made Daniel to find kindness and
compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. The
prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king,
who has appointed your food and your drink: for why should
he see your faces worse looking than other youths of your
age? By this you would endanger my head with the king.”
Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the
eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah, “Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let
them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink. Then let
our faces be looked on before you, and the face of the
youths who eat of the king’s dainties; and as you see, deal
with your servants.”
So he listened to them in this matter, and proved them
ten days. At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer,
and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of
the king’s dainties. So the steward took away their dainties,
and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.
46
Now as for these four youths, God gave them
knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of
the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in,
the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before
Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them; and among
them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. In every matter
of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king
inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the
magicians and enchanters who were in all his realm. And so
Daniel continued even to the first year of King Cyrus.
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
53
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
in the province of Babylon.
55
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the
time came that the saints possessed the Kingdom.
Thus he said, The fourth animal shall be a fourth
kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all the
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread
it down, and break it in pieces. As for the ten horns, out of
this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise
after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he
shall put down three kings.
He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to
change the times and the law; and they shall be given into
his hand until a time and times and half a time. But the
judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end. The
kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole sky, shall be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High: His Kingdom is an Everlasting
Kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Here
is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts
much troubled me, and my face was changed in me: but I
kept the matter in my heart.”
57
had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and
behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai,
which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to
understand the vision. So he came near where I stood; and
when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he
said to me, ‘Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs
to the Time of the End.’ Now as he was speaking with me, I
fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he
touched me, and set me upright. He said, ‘Behold, I will
make you know what shall be in the latter time of the
indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the
kings of Media and Persia. The rough male goat is the king
of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the
first king. As for that which was broken, in the place where
four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not with his power. In the latter time of their kingdom,
when the transgressors have come to the full, a king of fierce
face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. His
power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he
shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his
pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy
people. Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in
his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in
their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up
against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without
hand. The vision of the evenings and mornings which has
been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to
many days to come.’ I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain
days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I
wondered at the vision, but none understood it.”
58
The calculations of Daniel
59
end shall be war; desolations are determined. He shall make
a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to
cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who
makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that
determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate.”
62
The Lord’s servant
63
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
Who is as blind, as my servant, or who is as deaf as my
messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he, who is at
peace, the servant of Yahweh? You see many things, but
you don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen,
his eyes are open but he didn’t see, for he is not. It pleased
Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the Law,
and make it honorable.
The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the
earth from sunrise to sunset. Out of Zion, the perfection of
beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes, and does not
keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy
around him. He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that
he may judge his people: “Gather my saints together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God
himself is judge. “Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel,
and I will testify against you. I am God, your God. I don’t
rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are
continually before me. I have no need for a bull from your
stall, nor male goats from your pens. For every animal of the
forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills. I know
all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field
are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world
is mine, and all that is in it. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or
drink the blood of goats? Offer to God the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in
the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will honor
me.”
But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to
declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on
your lips, since you hate instruction, and throw my words
behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
and have participated with adulterers. “You give your mouth
to evil, your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against
64
your brother, you slander your own mother’s son. You have
done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was
just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of
your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I
tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and
prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them
are snared in holes, and they are hidden in their own
prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and
a spoil, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’
Who is there among you, who will pay attention to this?
Who will listen and understand about the time to come? Who
gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn’t
Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For, they would
not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed His Law.
Therefore he poured the fierceness of His anger on
him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all
around, but he didn’t know; and it burned him, but he didn’t
take it to heart. “You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With
my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and
believe me, and understand that I am he.”
65
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who
brings Good News, who publishes peace, who brings good
News of Good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!” The voice of your watchmen! They lift up
the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to
eye, when Yahweh returns to Zion. Break forth into joy, sing
together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has
comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
Yahweh has made bare His Holy arm in the eyes of all
the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there, and
touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of Her! Cleanse
yourselves, you who bear the vessels of God. For you shall
not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh
will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear
guard.
Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be
exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Like as many
were astonished at you (his appearance was marred more
than any man, and his form more than the sons of men), so
shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths
at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see;
and that which they had not heard shall they understand.
Who has believed our message?
To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For,
he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of
dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see
him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was
despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and
acquainted with sickness. He was despised as one from
whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. Surely
he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we
considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.”
66
“Hear, Yahweh, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
Be merciful to me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive;
abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on
you.
Hear, Yahweh, my prayer.
Listen to the voice of my petitions.
In the day of my trouble I will call on you,
for you will answer me.
There is no one like you among the gods, Lord,
nor any deeds like your deeds.
All nations you have made will come and worship
before you, Lord.
They shall glorify Your Name.
For you are great, and do wondrous things.
You are God alone.
Teach me your Way, Yahweh.
I will walk in your Truth.
Make my heart undivided to fear Your Name.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart.
I will glorify Your Name forevermore.
For your loving kindness is great toward me.
You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.
God, the proud have risen up against me.
A company of violent men have sought after my soul,
and they don’t hold regard for you before them.
But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to
anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. Turn to
me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your
67
servant. Save the son of your handmaid. Show me a sign of
your goodness, so that those who hate me may see it, and
be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and
comforted me.”
74
Wickedness and hypocrisy
75
“He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
“He knows nothing”?
In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut
down—
those who with a word make a man out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of
justice.
Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed
Abraham, says to the house of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy
One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
Those who are wayward in spirit will gain
understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.”
76
The King of Israel
“So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a
rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives.”
“Behold, your King comes to you!
He is righteous, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding on a donkey,
even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;”
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
77
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.”
The Lamb
80
forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up
with it.
I, Yahweh, have created it.
Woe to him who strives with his Maker—
a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth!
Shall the clay ask him who fashions it,
‘What are you making?’
or your work, ‘He has no hands?’
Woe to him who says to a Father,
‘What have you become the father of?’
or to a Mother, ‘To what have you given birth?’”
Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his
Maker: “You ask me about the things that are to come,
concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the
work of my hands! I have made the earth, and created man
on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and
I have commanded all their army. I have raised him up in
righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall
build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, neither for
price nor reward,” says Yahweh of Armies.
84
and my eyes overflow with tears.
No one is near to comfort me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”
86
The Third Covenant
87
PART TWO: THE WORD OF GOD
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made through him.
Without him was not anything made that has been made. In
him was Life, and the Life was the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
The True Light that enlightens everyone was coming into the
world. He was in the world, and the world was made through
him, and the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own,
and those who were his own didn’t receive him.
Jesus said, “I took my place in the midst of the world,
and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them
intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul
became afflicted for the sons of men, because they were
blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they
came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave it. But
for a moment they are intoxicated. When they will shake off
their wine, they will repent.”
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right
to become God’s Children, to those who believe in His
Name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and
learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for
so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
90
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw
his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the
Father, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we all
received grace upon grace. For the Law was given through
Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
Jesus said, “No one has ever gone into heaven except
the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man
must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may
have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and
only Son.”
Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”
They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say
Elijah, but others: one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Anointed One.”
He commanded them that they should tell no one about
him.
“I was crowned by my God, my crown is living. And I
was justified in my Lord, my incorruptible salvation is He. I
was loosed from vanity, and I was not condemned. The
choking bonds were cut off by her hands; I received the face
and the fashion of a new person, and I walked in it and was
saved, and remembrance of the Truth led me on. And I
walked after it and did not wander, and all that have seen me
were amazed; and I was regarded by them as a strange
person. And He who knew and brought me up is the Most
91
High in all His perfection; He glorified me by His kindness,
and raised my thoughts to the height of His Truth. And from
thence He gave me the way of His precepts, and I opened
the doors that were closed, and broke in pieces the bars of
iron; my iron melted and dissolved before me.
Nothing appeared closed to me, because I was the
Door of everything. And I went over all my bondmen to loose
them; that I might not leave any man bound or binding. And I
imparted my knowledge without grudging: and my prayer
was in my love. And I sowed my fruits in hearts, and
transformed them into myself, and they received my blessing
and lived. And they were gathered to me and were saved;
because they were to me as my own members and I was
their head. Hallelujah!”
Jesus went about all the cities and the villages of Israel,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News
of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every
sickness among the people. He took all of them by surprise,
for he did not appear them as he was, but in the manner in
which they were able to see him. He came neither as a King
anointed by God, nor like an angel from heaven. He
appeared to them all as they were, as flesh. Those who were
large in heart, they were able to recognize his greatness:
Jesus said, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings
desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see
them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear
them.”
Those who perceived everything as small, supposed
him also to be small. He appeared to the angels as an angel,
and to the men as a man. There were many who after
seeing him, were thinking that he was like one of them, by
comparing him with themselves.
“O faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be
with you? How long will have to I bear with you? This is the
92
verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come
into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But
whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may
be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God.”
“To what shall I compare this generation? It is like
children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their
companions and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you
didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they
say, ‘He has a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they
say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners!’ But Wisdom is justified by Her
children.”
Jesus said, “Many times you asked me to speak with
you, but when I spoke, I found none of you listening. How
many times I found myself being alone in midst of you,
seeking to enter your hearts, but finding all of them locked?
The days will come, when you will desire to see one of the
days of the Son of Man, and you will not find it. Woe to you,
for there will be days when you will seek me badly, but you
will be unable to reach me, and you will die under the burden
of your sins, for neither you allowed me come to you, nor
were you ready to follow me where I am going.”
“They don’t know, neither do they understand. They
walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the
earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons
of the Most High. Nevertheless you shall die like men, and
fall like one of the rulers.” Arise, God, judge the earth, for
you inherit all of the nations.”
He took all of them by surprise, for the people of Israel
were waiting for the king anointed by God, who will redeem
93
their country from its oppressors, but he came as the Word
of God and as redeemer of all nations from their slavery.
People were calculating in accordance with they narrow
measure, waiting for limited and temporary benefits, but he
has given them without any measure and of things of
eternal.
He came not to impress them, but to give living
example by his own life, and to make path straight for those,
who will follow after him. He did and he told, he told and he
deed, and so the road to the Kingdom of God was made.
“Again Grace appeared and forsook corruption, and
descended down in Him to bring it to naught. And He
destroyed perdition before His face, and devastated all its
order. And He stood on a high peak and uttered His voice
from one end of the earth to the other. He drew to Him all
those who obeyed Him, for he did not appear as an evil
person; but there stood a perfect virgin who was proclaiming
and calling and saying, “O sons of men, return, and you
daughters of men, come and forsake the ways of that
corruption and draw near me, and I will enter into you, and
will bring you forth from perdition. I will make you wise in the
ways of the Truth, so that you will be not destroyed nor
perish; hear me all of you and be redeemed. For the grace of
God I am telling among you; and by my means you shall be
redeemed and become blessed. I am your judge, and they
who have put me on shall not be injured, but they shall
possess the New World that is incorrupt. My chosen ones
walk in me, and my ways I will make known to them that
seek me, and I will make them trust in My Name. Hallelujah!”
94
Come, eat my bread and drink my wine
95
She has mixed her wine.
She has also set her table.
She has sent out her maidens.
She cries from the highest places of the city:
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who is void of understanding,
She says to him, “Come, eat some of my bread,
Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!
Leave your simple ways, and live.
Walk in the way of understanding.”
He who corrects a mocker invites insult.
He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.
Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you.
Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
Instruct a wise man, and he will become wiser.
Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
97
That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep
the paths of the righteous, for the upright will dwell in the
land, the perfect will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut
off from the land; the treacherous will be rooted out of it. The
perverse is an abomination to Yahweh, but his friendship is
with the upright. Yahweh’s curse is in the house of the
wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous. Surely
he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble.
The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of
fools.”
98
pigs, otherwise, they will trample them and then turn on you,
and tear you to pieces”.
Jesus said, “Do not entrust wisdom to those who are
unworthy of it, for by doing so you will disgrace it; and do not
refuse to pass it on to those who deserved it, for if you not
give it to them, you will dishonor them. Be like a kindly doctor
who applies medicine in accordance with diseases of his
patients. He who entrusts wisdom to those who are unworthy
of it is foolish, and he who refuse to give it to those who are
worthy of it betrays them. Verily wisdom has its rights and its
people, who belong to it, therefore let those who have the
rights get what is theirs.”
“In the same way as undesired objects obtained without
any charge, have no value in the eyes of those to whom they
were gifted, wisdom revealed to those, who didn’t incline for
it, doesn’t work in their hearts. For thinking of it as worthless,
they pay no heed to it, and dispose it in the dark corner of
their minds the very moment they have obtained it.
You may put in best your efforts, trying to help a self
conceit person, but at last your will see all your noble
intentions ending in vain, for darkness of ignorance is much
comfortable for those, whose nature is gloom; and shining of
light is much distressful to their eyes. Look around and tell
me, how many people have shut themselves in the houses
of their deliberate narrowness, which they always carry
around, in the same way as a snail carries shell on its back?
It is possible to restore sight to a blind man, but what one
can do with those who voluntary chosen to be deprived from
the light?
Don’t reveal wisdom to those, who didn’t ask you about
it with respect, for no one could be changed if he is not
willing for it. Those who are thirsty of Truth, they will come to
its source by themselves, for Holy Spirit will lead them. They
will ask and listen with reverence, and they will learn and
keep obtained deep in their hearts. He who seeks will find,
99
and he who knocks will be let in. Verily, it is to those, who
are worthy of my mysteries that I reveal my mysteries. And I
tell you the truth, it is more easy for me to bring dead back to
life, then to apply remedy for fools. Therefore, don’t waste
your time with those who voluntary chosen to be ignorant, for
the wisdom of the Word means nothing for them.”
Jesus said, “All things have been revealed to me by my
Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither
does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to
whom the Son chooses to reveal him, for my mystery is for
me and for the Sons of my House. Verily, the one, who will
drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall
become he, and things that are hidden will become revealed
to him.”
“Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under
a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand? For there is nothing hidden,
except that it should be made known; neither was anything
made secret, but that it should come to light. If any man has
ears to hear, let him hear.”
“All you, who are thirsty, fill for yourselves waters from
the living fountain of the Lord, for it is opened to you. Come
and take a draught, and rest by the fountain of the Lord, for it
is fair and pure and gives rest to the soul. Its waters are
much more pleasant than honey; the honeycomb of bees is
not to be compared with it. For it flows forth from the lips of
the Lord and its Name is from the heart of the Lord. And it
came infinitely and invisibly; and until it was set in the midst
they did not know it. Blessed are they who have drunk from it
and have found rest thereby! Hallelujah!”
“Many saw as the Truth was sown, but few are those
who saw as it was reaped.”
When Jesus was teaching by the lake, the crowd that
gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat
and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along
the shore at the water’s edge. From boat he taught them by
parables, “Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow, and it
happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the
101
birds came and devoured it. Others fell on rocky ground,
where they have little soil, and immediately they sprang up,
because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had
risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it
withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns
grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Others fell into
the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and
increasing. Some brought forth thirty times, some sixty
times, and some one hundred times as much. Whoever has
ears to hear, let him hear.”
When he was alone, the disciples came, and said to
him, “Why do you speak to multitude in parables?”
He answered them, “To you it is given to know the
mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to
them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have
abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be
taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to
them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and
hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. In them
the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
‘By hearing you will hear,
and will in no way understand;
Seeing you will see,
and will in no way perceive:
for this people’s heart has grown callous,
their ears are dull of hearing,
they have closed their eyes;
or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and should turn again;
and I would heal them.’
“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears,
for they hear. For Verily I tell you that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and
102
didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and
didn’t hear them.
Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the
multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the
prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter
things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
Jesus said to the disciples, “Don’t you understand this
parable? How then will you understand any parable? The
farmer sows the Word. Some people are like seed along the
path, where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it,
Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in
them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word
and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root,
they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still
others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the
worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the
desires for other things come in and choke the word, making
it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the
word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a
hundred times what was sown.
Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you
measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given
to you who hear. For whoever has, to him will more be given,
and he who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be
taken away from him.”
104
The Good News
105
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and
you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.”
“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its
flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing,
but to be cast out and crushed under the feet of men. Have
salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. You
are the light of the world. A city built on a high hill and
fortified, neither can be hidden from enemies, nor can they
overtake it.
No one lights a candle, and put it under a bushel, but
on a candlestick, and it gives light to all that are in the house.
Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
As for grapevine that has been planted apart from the
Father? Since its root was not strong, it will be easily pulled
out and perish.”
“Woe to you, whose richness in this world, for you
already received what was yours. Woe to you, you who are
full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you, when multitude
speak well of you, for same their fathers did to the false
prophets. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates
his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. Don’t you know
that friendship with the world is enmity with God and the love
of money is the root of all evils?”
“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth,
where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break
through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where
thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
106
“Blessed are those, who abandon their present desire
for a distant promise, of things they did not saw. O Children
of God, be pleased with things which are foolishness in the
eyes of the world, and treat the Kingdom of God as your only
wealth, in the same way as the people of the world are
pleased with things which are worthless in eyes of the Lord,
and treat the world as their only wealth.”
108
testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of
torment.’
But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the
prophets. Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them
from the dead, they will repent.’
He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the
dead.’”
“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of
the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted,
and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are
corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your
flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the Last Days.
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed
your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the
harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You
have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have
fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have
condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not
opposing you.”
“Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this
world, low and high, rich and poor alike. My mouth will speak
words of Wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give
understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I
will expound my riddle. Why should I fear when evil days
come, when wicked deceivers surround me— those who
trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? No man
can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for
him— the ransom for the Life is costly, no payment is ever
enough— that he should live on forever and not see decay.
109
For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the
senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their
tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for
endless generations, though they had named lands after
themselves. But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who
trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their
sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and
death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the
morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their
princely mansions. But God will redeem my life from the
grave; he will surely take me to Himself.
Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the
splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with
him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed— and
men praise you when you prosper— he will join the
generation of his fathers, who will never see the Light of Life.
A man who has riches without understanding is like the
beasts that perish.”
“But the souls of the just are in the protective hand of
God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the
sight of the unwise they seemed to die; and their departure
was thought for misery, and their going away from us, for
utter destruction, but they are in peace. And though in the
sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of
immortality. Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well
rewarded; because God has tried them, and found them
worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He has proved
them, and as a victim of a holocaust He has received them,
and in time there shall be respect to them. The just shall
shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds.
They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their
Lord shall reign for ever. They that trust in Him, they shall
110
understand the Truth; and they that are faithful in their love
shall rest in Him, for grace and peace is to his elect.
But the wicked who have neglected the Just, and have
revolted from the Lord, shall be punished according to their
own devices, for those who rejected Wisdom of the Holy
Spirit, and Her discipline, are unhappy; all their hopes are in
vain, and all their labors are without fruit, and most
unsuccessful. Their have foolish women as their wives, and
their children grow up wicked, all their offspring is cursed.
But the barren and undefiled that has not known bed in
sin is happy; she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy
souls. And the eunuch that has not wrought iniquity with his
hands, nor thought wicked things against God; for the
precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most
acceptable lot in the Temple of God. For the fruits of good
labor are glorious, and the Root of Wisdom never fails. But
the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and
the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out. And if they
live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old
age shall be without honor. And if they die quickly, they shall
have neither hope, nor speech of comfort in the Day of Trial,
for dreadful are the ends of a wicked race.”
112
The Narrow gate
113
Is the Law not enough?
114
children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good
News, will receive one hundred times more of what they left,
now in this time, and in the age to come eternal life. But
many who are first will be last; and the last first.”
Jesus said, “I choose for myself the most worthy, they
are those whom my Father in heaven has given me.”
“Joy is of the saints! And who shall put it on, but they
alone? Grace is of the elect! And who shall receive it except
those who trust in it from the beginning? Love is of the elect?
And who shall put it on except those who have possessed it
from the beginning? Walk in the knowledge of the Most High
without reluctance; to His joy and to the perfection of His
knowledge.
And His thought was like a letter, His will descended
from on high, and it was sent like an arrow which is violently
shot from the bow. And many hands rushed to the letter to
seize it and to take and read it, but it escaped their fingers
and they were afraid of it and of the seal that was on it.
Because they were not permitted to loose its seal, for the
power that was over the seal was greater than they. But
those who saw it falling, went after the letter in hope that
they might know where it would land, and who should read it
and who should hear it. But a wheel received it and came
over it, and there was with it a sign of the Kingdom and of
the Government. And it gathered the multitude of
adversaries, but everything which tried to move the wheel, it
mowed and cut down. It bridged the rivers and crossed over,
and rooted up many forests and made a broad path. The
head went down to the feet, for down to the feet ran the
wheel, and that which was a sign upon it.
The letter was one of command, and it has authority
over all the Earth. And there was seen at its head, the head
which was revealed; even the Son of Truth from the Most
118
High Father, and He inherited and took possession of
everything. And the thought of many was brought to naught
and all the apostates rush and fled away. And those who
persecuted and were enraged became extinct. And the letter
was a great volume, which was wholly written by the finger
of God; and the Name of the Father was on it, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, to rule for ever and ever.
Hallelujah!”
119
It is time
120
Another also said, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first
allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to
the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus said to disciples, “Verily I tell you, no prophet is
acceptable in his hometown.”
His mother and his brothers came, and standing
outside, they sent to him, calling him. A multitude was sitting
around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your
brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”
He answered them, “Who are my mother and my
brothers?” Looking around at those who sat around him, he
said, “Here my mother and my brothers, for whoever does
the will of Father, who is in heaven, he is my brother, and
sister, and mother.”
Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t hate
his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters,
yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. Whoever
doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my
disciple.
He who loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than
me isn’t worthy of me. Whoever does not hate his father and
mother as I do, cannot be my. And whoever does not love
his Father and Mother as I do, cannot become disciple of
mine. For my parents taught me only falsehood they have
learned from others, but my Heavenly Mother, the Holy Spirit
taught me the Life and Truth.”
A woman from the crowd said to Jesus, “Blessed are
the womb which bore you and the breasts which nourished
you.” He answered her, “Blessed are those, who have heard
the Word of the Father and who earnestly kept it. For there
will be days when you will say, ‘blessed is the womb, which
has not conceived, and the breasts, which have not given
milk.’”
121
Jesus said, “Blessed are those, whose lack is in the
spirit, and not of this world, for when there is lack, it could be
filled; and blessed are those, who humbled themselves by
their own will, for they have found the Kingdom.”
Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it,
and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. For what
will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits
himself? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with
his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to
his deeds.”
122
twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way
off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless,
with what do you season it? It is fit neither for the soil nor for
the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.
Therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that
he has, he can’t be my disciple.”
Purest deeds
Is it too harsh?
128
because of yours harshness. From where did this
disagreement has come?
Jesus answered, “When you see that someone’s house
is on fire, is it proper to try to awaken its owner, or even to
drag him out? For one, who was saved in such manner,
latter will be grateful to his savior for doing this. To make
patients well, doctor gives them sometimes the bitter
medicines also; to save, surgeon cuts flesh and causes pain.
Do they do these to make people suffer even more or in
hope to bring them relive? Those who are really wise, they
will accept their medication and become cured by it, but self
conceit persons, turn their faces away from the things that
could become remedy for them.
Truly I tell you, I speak of the things that I know, and
testify about what I have seen, for I know the place where I
came from, and where I am going. I am not a moralist, but
my sayings have practical nature; for I know the place of
light and the reasons causing darkness; the keys of Heaven
and of Hades are in my hands. Therefore I tell you, ‘I came
not to judge the world, but to save those who have chosen to
be saved, for those who believe in my word, believe in the
One, who send me, and inherit eternal life.’ The world
doesn’t know the Father, and because of this, those who are
in the world deprived from the healing touch of His Holy
Spirit. By their ignorance, the people made themselves
separated from their own, from the source of Life they came
from. Their eyes became blind to see, and they made
themselves unconscious by the intoxication of the sweet vine
of death, so that they may try to see and understand things,
which are not alike to anything known to them.
World and those, who are in the world, don’t know their
Father, and because of this, their ignorance killing them.
When someone walks by the road leading to death, is it
inappropriate to alert him, and tell him that there is the road
to life also? Don’t you know that people suffering and dying
129
only because they separated themselves from the Tree of
Life and stepped aside from the Garden of Eden, and have
deprived themselves from their own perfection and
immortality? It is not God, who made Himself distant from
the people, but it is people, who have chosen to be
separated from Him; therefore it is upon them to return to
their Father, whose descendants they are.
How then I am wrong in telling that those, who cling to
the flesh, have chosen death for themselves, and those, who
followed call of the Spirit, have found their life? Where have I
mistaken, in telling people to love life instead of death?
These teaching of mine, it is not new, but very old indeed,
and it is not mine or created by me, but of the One without
beginning, who trough His Own Image, made all things
possible, you and this world. Truly I tell you, any one who
listens my words and doing accordingly, he will be blessed
through it, and will find favor of the Father, for words I speak
are not my own, but came from One, who is above all.
I tell you of Truth, and if you follow my words, they will
lead you near to the place from where they came from. How
much near, it is upon you to chose, for to have everything,
one have to give everything, to have much one have to give
much, and to have little, one have to give little. As for the
greediest, there is an option for them also, “One don’t need
to give anything to have nothing! Stay where you always
were.”
131
And now explain me please, from where all these
dualities came? And how this division was created, and from
where that devil inside of you has sprung out? Where it was
hiding before, and which of you is real you? And where is
your love and goodness have disappeared?
Therefore first find out where is the beast inside of you
hiding, and then tame it, so that there will be one master of
the house, and not two. Tame the beast, and become owner
of the house, and rule with the King, instead of being ruled.
The doors to the Kingdom are standing opened wide, but
few are those who made themselves ready to face shining of
its splendor. Therefore I tell you, “Spiritually you are still
babies before you have made yourselves perfect.”
Power corrupts
134
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they
will be done away with. Where there are various languages,
they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done
away with. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but
when ‘that which is complete’ has come, then ‘that which is
partial’ will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke
as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I
have become a man, I have put away childish things. For
now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also
fully known.”
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the
lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—
comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and
its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God
lives forever.”
136
Jesus came to Capernaum, and when he was in the
house he asked disciples, “What were you arguing among
yourselves on the way?”
But they remained silent, for they had disputed one with
another on the way about who was the greatest.
He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to
them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and
servant of all.
Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in their
midst, and said, “Verily I tell you, unless you turn, and
become as little children, you will in no way enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as
little child, he will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and
their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be
so among you, but whoever desires to become great among
you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among
you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man
came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many. For everyone who exalts himself above
others will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be
exalted.”
141
those who fear him, in those who hope in his loving
kindness.”
“I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and
heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out
of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a
firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth,
even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall
trust in Yahweh. Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his
trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn aside
to lies. Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works
which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward
us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare
and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have
opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and
sin offering. Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written
about me in the book in the scroll. I delight to do your will,
my God. Yes, your Law is within my heart.”
142
ear that listen reproof will live, the heart of the discerning
gets knowledge, and he will be at home among the wise.
Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the
wisdom of your words, because the way of a fool is right in
his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel. The
foolishness of man subverts his way, for his heart rages
against Yahweh; pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is
with ones who take advice. Wisdom is before the face of one
who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the
ends of the earth. A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find
it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person.
A single rebuke enters deeper into one who has
understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool. Though you
grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his
foolishness will not be removed from him. Wisdom rests in
the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made
known in the inward part of fools. When the mocker is
punished, the simple gains wisdom; when the wise is
instructed, he receives knowledge. Answer a fool according
to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. A whip is for the
horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of
fools! Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain
knowledge.”
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those
who love it will eat its fruit. A man’s stomach is filled with the
fruit of his mouth; with the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge,
but the mouths of fools feed on folly, by the fruit of his lips, a
man enjoys good things; but the unfaithful crave violence.
The fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the
wise protect them.”
“The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for
blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. The one
who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the
143
tongue of the wise heals. Verily, one who guards his mouth
and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. A gentle
answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word only stirs up
anger. A gentle tongue is a Tree of Life, but deceit in it
crushes the spirit. He who guards his mouth guards his soul,
but one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. A fool’s lips
come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings. A fool’s
mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Word from a wise man’s mouth is gracious, but a fool is
consumed by his own lips. At the beginning his words are
folly; at the end they are wicked madness- in such way the
fool multiplies his words. When wickedness comes,
contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace. And
so shame comes to him, who gives answer before he hears.
The tongue of wise commends knowledge, but the
mouth of fools gush out folly. Verily, he who spares his
words has knowledge; one who is even tempered is a man
of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is
counted amongst wise, for when he shuts his lips, he is
thought to be discerning. A prudent man keeps his
knowledge, but the hearts of fools loudly proclaim their folly,
for fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing
his own opinion. As a dog that returns to its vomit, so is a
fool who repeats his folly.”
“A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow
to anger appeases strife. A prudent man sees danger, and
hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it. One
who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules
his spirit, than he who takes a city. The discretion of a man
makes him slow to anger; it is his glory to overlook an
offense. A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one
who overlooks an insult is prudent. Hatred stirs up strife, but
love covers all wrongs. He who covers an offense promotes
love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends. He
144
who is quick to become angry will commit foolishness, and a
crafty man is hated.”
“He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but
he who has a quick temper displays folly. A stone is heavy,
and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than
both. Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also
be like him, for fool vents all of his anger, but a wise man
brings himself under control. An angry man stirs up strife,
and a wrathful man abounds in sin. Like a city that is broken
down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without
restraint.”
“A servant can’t be corrected by words. Though he
understands, yet he will not respond. That which makes a
man to be desired is his kindness. Do you see a man who is
hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for
him. The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he
who is cruel troubles his own flesh. The life of the body is a
heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
Whoever rewards evil for good, evil will never depart
from his house. Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting
swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest. He
who is wise wins souls, he who pampers his servant from
youth will have him become a son in the end. The wise in
heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips
promotes instruction. Love and faithfulness keep the king
safe. His throne is sustained by love.”
“Don’t be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will
you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?
Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it
will come back on him. He who pleads his cause first seems
right; until another comes and questions him; confidence in
someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a
lame foot. The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels:
they go down into a person’s innermost parts. A brother
offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes
145
are like the bars of a castle; starting a quarrel is like
breaching a dam, therefore drop the matter before dispute
breaks off. Debate your case with your neighbor, and don’t
betray the confidence of another; lest one who hears it put
you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart. One
who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of
understanding holds his peace. One who brings gossip
betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is
one who keeps a secret. For lack of wood a fire goes out.
Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.”
150
humility. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
There are some who pretend to be rich, yet have
nothing. There are some who pretend to be poor, yet have
great wealth. A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one
who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished. The plans of
the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty
surely rushes to poverty. A stingy man hurries after riches,
and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him, for misfortune
pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous. One
who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh
will prosper. Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but
righteousness delivers from death.
Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to
Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his
delight. And the fruit of the righteous is the Tree of Life.
Yahweh has made everything for its own end—yes, even the
wicked for the day of evil, for everyone who is proud in heart
is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be
unpunished. The proud and haughty man, “scoffer” is his
name; he works in the arrogance of pride. An arrogant look,
and proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin. A wicked
man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes
his ways. The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of
the innocent is upright.
Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord; but one
who hardens his heart falls into trouble. One who trusts in
himself is a fool; but one who walks in the light of Lord’s
wisdom is kept safe. The rich and the poor have this in
common: Yahweh is the maker of them all. There is no
wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh. A
man’s steps are from Yahweh; how then can man
understand his way? The spirit of man is Yahweh’s lamp,
searching all his innermost parts. Yahweh’s eyes are
everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Sheol
151
and Abaddon are before Yahweh—how much more then the
hearts of the children of men! As water reflects a face, so a
man’s heart reflects the man. Sheol and Abaddon are never
satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied. All the ways
of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the
motives. If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this;” doesn’t he
who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul,
doesn’t he know it? Shall he not render to every man
according to his work?
Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall
succeed. The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of
fools crowns them with folly. Yes, the ignorant inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. Wisdom is
found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is
for the back of him who is void of understanding. Penalties
are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the backs of
fools. Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of
understanding keeps his way straight. Understanding is a
fountain of life to one who has it, but the punishment of fools
is their folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There
is more hope for a fool than for him.”
“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are
corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one amongst them
who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the
sons of men to see if there is any who understand, any who
seek God. But all have turned aside, all together they have
become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even
one. Will evildoers never learn—those who devour my
people as men eat bread and who do not call on the Lord?
There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present
in the company of the righteous. You evildoers frustrate the
plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. Oh, that
salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord
restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and
Israel be glad!”
152
Integrity
153
they are deceitful food. Don’t weary yourself to be rich, in
your wisdom, show restraint. Why do you set your eyes on
that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle
and flies in the sky. Don’t eat the food of him who has a
stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies: for as he thinks
about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but
his heart is not with you. The morsel which you have eaten
you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.”
Charm is deceitful
158
my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though
an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me, even then I will be
confident. One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek
after, that I may dwell in the House of Yahweh all the days of
my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in His
Temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in
his pavilion, in the covert of His Tabernacle He will hide me.
He will lift me up on a rock. Now my head will be lifted up
above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices of joy in
his tent, I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
Hear, Yahweh, when I cry with my voice, have mercy
also on me, and answer me. When you said, “Seek my
face,” my heart said to you, “I will seek your Face, Yahweh.”
Don’t hide your Face from me; don’t put your servant away
in anger. You have been my help, don’t abandon me, neither
forsake me, God of my salvation. When my father and my
mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up. Teach me
your way, Yahweh; lead me in a straight path, because of
my enemies. Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my
adversaries; for false witnesses have risen up against me,
such as breathe out cruelty. I am still confident of this: I will
see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. Wait
for Yahweh, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes,
wait for Yahweh.”
Take courage!
159
the strife of tongues. Praise to Yahweh, for he has shown
me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before
your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions
when I cried to you. Now I know that Yahweh saves his
Anointed. He will answer him from His Holy Heaven, with the
saving strength of his right hand. Yahweh looks from
heaven, He sees all the sons of men. From the place of his
habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he
who fashions all of their hearts and he considers all of their
works.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust
the Name of Yahweh our God. They are bowed down and
fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright. There is no king
saved by the multitude of an army, a mighty man is not
delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety;
neither does he deliver any by his great power. Behold,
Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope
in his loving kindness; to deliver their soul from death, to
keep them alive in famine. Our soul has waited for Yahweh,
He is our help and our shield, for our heart rejoices in him,
because we have trusted in His Holy Name. Let your loving
kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you.
Oh love Yahweh, all you his saints! Yahweh preserves the
faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope
in Yahweh.”
“David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised
on high says, the Anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet
psalmist of Israel: “The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me, His
Word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of
Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously,
who rules in the fear of God, shall be as the light of the
morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds,
when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear
shining after rain.’ Most certainly my house is not so with
God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and
all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
But all of the ungodly shall be as thorns to be thrust
away, because they can’t be taken with the hand, but the
man who touches them must be armed with iron and the
staff of a spear. They shall be utterly burned with fire in their
place.”
162
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!’
163
mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death, for dogs
have surrounded me, a company of evildoers have enclosed
me. They have pierced my hands and feet, I can count all of
my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my
garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing.
But don’t be far off, Yahweh, You are my help, hurry to
help me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life
from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth!
Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered
me. I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of
the assembly, I will praise you. You who fear Yahweh, praise
Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him! Stand in awe
of Him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of
the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him, but
when he cried to him, he heard. Of you comes my praise in
the great assembly, I will pay my vows before those who fear
him. The humble shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise
Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever, all
the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh.
All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you,
for the kingdom is Yahweh’s, He is the ruler over the nations.
All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those
who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who
can’t keep his soul alive. Posterity shall serve him. Future
generations shall be told about the Lord. They shall come
and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be
born, for he has done it.”
Purity of Hearts
165
“Thus says Yahweh, “Heaven is my throne, and the
earth is my footstool: what kind of house will you build to me
and what place shall be my rest? For all these things has my
hand made, and so all these things came to be,” says
Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to him who is poor
and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.”
166
garments of kings, and instead of molesting your external
appearance, humble yourselves within your hearts.”
Jesus said, “Blessed is one, to whom God reveals His
Word, for he would not die proud.”
Jesus told disciples, “This very night you will all fall
away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the
shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But
after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I
never will.”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night,
before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will
never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
Now Peter was sitting outside in the court, and a maid
came to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus, the
Galilean!”
But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know
what you are talking about.”
When he had gone out onto the porch, someone else
saw him, and said to those who were there, “This man also
was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.”
168
After a little while those who stood by came and said to
Peter, “Surely you are also one of them, for your speech
makes you known.”
Then he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know the
man!” Immediately the rooster crowed. Peter remembered
the word which Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster
crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and wept
bitterly.
When Jesus revealed himself to his disciples for the
third time after resurrection, he asked Peter, “Simon, son of
Jonah, do you love me more than others?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have
affection for you.”
He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He asked him again a second time, “Simon, son of
Jonah, do you love me?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love for
you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do
you love me?”
Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time,
“Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you
know everything. You know that I have affection for you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
169
He said to them, “Did you never read what David did,
when he had need, and was hungry—he, and those who
were with him? How he entered into the house of God when
Abiathar was high priest, and ate the show bread, which is
not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to
those who were with him?”
He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even
of the Sabbath.”
173
Jesus said, “Strive for perfection, but always keep in
mind that no one becomes ‘just right’ in a single day.
Remember that the road to righteousness is long and
winding; therefore take a good amount of patience and
perseverance along with you. As matter of fact, this road is
full of thorns and weeds, so have a strong faith and don’t
lose you heart by the way. Also consider well the difference
between strategy and tactic, and don’t be dishearten
mistakenly thinking a lost battle for a lost war. After all, even
raising a plant, takes its time, what to say about raising your
spirit.”
Jesus said, “O children of God, all things in this world
can be divided into three kinds: first, which are obviously
virtuous, so follow them; of the second kind, vices of which
are obvious, so avoid them; and of the third kind, which are
neither of these two and which are doubtful to your
judgment. Therefore, commit them to Him, who knows better
then you, for no one in this world can learn without acting.
And while acting, no one can escape making mistakes, and
no one can truly repent without mistaking first. Consider how
a small child is prevented by his parents from hurting
himself, would they patiently sit and watch how he puts
himself in troubles? Sometimes a mother even brings hand
of her child close to a fire, in order that he became aware of
its danger. By doing this, she doesn’t mean to cause him an
injury, but she doing it to prevent him from hurting himself in
future.
Therefore be like a child to your Father, and try to be
sincere in your actions. Remember that He loves you, and if
you acknowledge Him as your Father, He will correct your
errors and take you by the safe path. Verily it is through our
personal experience that we are learning, and it is through
correcting of our mistakes that knowledge becomes part of
our nature. Therefore let no fear of action paralyzes you and
become hindrance in your progress. And yet, who will call
174
wise a person, who makes the same mistakes again and
again? And always remember that one, who could be called
truly wise, rather will be able to learn from countless
examples of others, then to try to break own neck.”
“When the pearl is cast down into the mud, it does not
lose its value in the eyes of its owner, for he will pick it up
and make it clean again. Nor it becomes more valued, if it
was anointed with balsam oil, for in both cases its value
remains the same. In the same way it with the Sons of God,
wherever they may be, they value remain the same in the
eyes of their Father.”
Consider the example of the Apostle Paul; verily, when
he stood besides cloaks at the stoning of Stephen, and was
approving his murder by doing this, he was sincere in his
zeal for the Lord. His truthfulness remained the same, when
he went around persecuting members of the Church, for he
sincerely believed that what he was doing was for God’s
sake. Nor his devotion towards the Lord become declined
when the Holy Spirit of Truth has descended upon him, and
he became ‘a fool of the Lord’, and walked through the fire of
suffering and the darkness of misunderstanding. “He is my
chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and
kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how
many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
176
The Truth was not alien to him since very beginning,
and stayed with him till his last hour. He knew not from a
second hand source, what ‘Faith, Hope and Love’ mean.
Verily those, who are sincere in their hearts, they are
cherished by their Heavenly Father as His sons without
regard for their circumstances, and He has all means to
correct their ways and to gather them to Himself; besides,
sincerity required for this. And yes, one needs to be enough
mature to be able to distinguish between sincerity and
stupidity, and innocence and idiocy.
“The Lord has directed my mouth by His Word, and He
has opened my heart by His light. And He has caused to
dwell in me His deathless life, and gave me that I might
speak the fruit of His peace. To convert the souls of them
who are willing to come to Him; and to lead captive to good
captivity for freedom. I was strengthened and made mighty
and took the world captive; and it became to me for the
praise of the Most High, and of God my Father. And the
Gentiles were gathered together who were scattered abroad.
And I was unpolluted by my love for them, because they
confessed me in high places: and the traces of the light were
set upon their hearts. And they walked in my life and were
saved and became my people for ever and ever. Hallelujah!”
Jesus said, “O Paul, Paul, my chosen and dear one.
And yet, there is time for sowing and there is time for
reaping, for when one sowed, he came with a plough and
sowed seeds, but when time to reap has come, he came
with a sickle in his hand. Those who have understanding let
them consider the differences.”
181
“You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones,
‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever shall murder shall be in
danger of the judgment.’
But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment;
and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Worthless fellow!’ shall
be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, ‘You
fool!’ shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.”
“If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and
there remember that your brother has anything against you,
leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your
gift.
Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with
him in the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the
judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be
cast into prison. Verily I tell you, you shall by no means get
out of there, until you have paid the last penny.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit
adultery;’ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman
to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in
his heart.
If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and
throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that
one of your members should perish, than for your whole
body to be cast into Gehenna.
If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and
throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that
one of your members should perish, than for your whole
body to be cast into Gehenna.”
“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let
him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever
puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual
immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries
her when she is put away commits adultery.”
182
“Again you have heard that it was said to them of old
time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the
Lord your vows,’ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by
heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is
the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of
the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you
can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be
‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is
of the evil one.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your
neighbor, and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who
mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of
your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the
unjust. Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also
merciful.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to
you? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? If you do
good only to those who do good for you, what credit is that to
you? Even sinners do the same. If you only greet your
friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the
tax collectors do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Do good, and not
expect anything back from anyone; and your reward in
Heaven will be great, for such are Children of the Most
High.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, don’t resist him who is
evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him
the other also.”
“If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him
have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile,
go with him two. Give to him who asks you, don’t turn away
183
him, who desires to borrow from you, and don’t ask to return
borrowed things back to you.”
“If you have extra money, don't lend it at interest.
Rather, give it to someone from whom you not expect to get
it back. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to
receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the
same. When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your
friends, or your brothers, or your kinsmen, or rich neighbors,
in hope that they might also return the favor you made for
them. But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the
maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed,
because they don’t have the resources to repay you, and
you will be rich in the heaven.”
“But be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving
before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you do
merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may get glory from men. Verily I tell you, they have received
their reward. But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your
left hand know what your right hand does, so that your
merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees
in secret will reward you openly.”
“When you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad
faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen
by men to be fasting. Verily I tell you, they have received
their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and
wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be
fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father,
who sees in secret, will reward you.”
“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for
they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily,
I, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray,
enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray
184
to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly. In praying, don’t use vain
repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be
heard for their much speaking. Therefore don’t be like them,
for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask
him.
Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be
kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as
in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring
us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For
yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen!’
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not
forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your
sins.”
“Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Why do you see
the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the
beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your
brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and
behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First
remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see
clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
“Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set
free, and you will be set free. For with whatever judgment
you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure
you measure, it will be measured to you. Don’t do others
what you don’t want to be done to you, and treat them as
you want to be treated; for how you did for others, so will be
done with you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be given back to you.”
“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine,
and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his
house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and
185
the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for
it was founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these
words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish
man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down,
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that
house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
“O Yahweh, who shall dwell in your Sanctuary? Who
shall live on your Holy Hill? He who walks blamelessly and
does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart. He who
doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend,
nor casts slurs against his fellow man; in whose eyes a vile
man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh;
he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t
change; he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor
take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things
shall never be shaken.”
187
world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even
our faith.”
Jesus said, “One who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him. If a
man loves me, he will keep my Word. My Father will love
him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. And I tell
you, ‘Now that you know all these things, you will be blessed
if you do them, for it is only if you hold to my teaching that
you are really my disciples.’”
“Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word
but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his
face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who
looks intently into ‘the Perfect Law that gives freedom’, and
continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but
doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
The Lord said: “Even if you were gathered together with
me close to my very bosom, and yet if you would not kept
my commandments, I will cast you away and say to you:
Depart from me, you are workers of wickedness, I know not
where you came from.”
“If you also desire this faith, you likewise shall receive
first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved
mankind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He
rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He
gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He imparted
the privilege of looking upwards to Himself, whom He formed
after His own image, to whom He sent His only-begotten
Son, to whom He has promised a Kingdom in Heaven, and
188
will give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have
attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will
be filled? Or, how will you love Him who has first loved you
so?
And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His
kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an
imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling
over his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy
over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing
violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is
found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator
of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty.
On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden
of his neighbor; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be
superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who,
whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing
these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive, he
is an imitator of God. Then you shall see, while still on earth,
that it is God in the heavens who rules over; then you will
start to speak out the mysteries of God; then shall you both
love and admire those that suffer punishment because they
will not deny God. Then will you condemn the deceit and
error of the world, when you will came to know what it is to
live truly in heaven, when you will despise that which is here
esteemed to be death, when you will start fear of that which
is truly death, which is reserved for those who will be
condemned to the Eternal Fire, which shall afflict those even
to the end that are committed to it. Then will you admire
those who for righteousness’ sake endure the fire that is but
for a moment, and will start count them happy when you will
know that fire.”
189
Practice what you preach
190
speculation which is not accompanied by action is deception.
And so blessed is one, whose speeches are always
glorifying the Lord, whose silence is full of the Word, and
whose actions precede his speeches.”
“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my
brothers, because you know that we who teach will be
judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone
is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to
keep his whole body in check.”
“My heart was lifted up and enriched in the love of the
Most High, so that I might praise Him by my name. My
members were strengthened, that they might not fall from
His Power. Sickness was removed from my body, and it
stood firm for the Lord by His will, for His Kingdom is firm.
O Lord for the sake of them that are deficient, do not
cast me off from your Word, nor withhold from me your
perfection for the sake of their works. Let not light be
conquered by darkness, let not truth be ashamed in front of
falsehood. You will appoint me to victory; our Salvation is
your right hand. And you will receive men from all quarters;
you will preserve those who surrounded by wickedness. You
are my God—falsehood and death are not in your mouth,
only perfection is your will. And vanity you know not, neither
does it know you; and error you know not, neither does it
know you.”
Disciples said to Jesus, “Who are you that you say all
these things to us?” Jesus answered, “You don't understand
who I am from what I say to you, for you yourselves have
become like Pharisees, who either love the tree, but hate its
fruit, or love the fruit, but hate the tree that bore them.
Disciples asked him, “How is it?”
Jesus said, “For, they like to demonstrate how is great
they love for their Lord, but they hate to follow His Law, and
kill those whom He sends to reprove them; and they teach
others to detest the world, but they love its wealth more then
their lives.”
Jesus said, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees,
which is their hypocrisy.”
Some one asked Jesus, “Teacher, why are you against
Pharisees, for you are always speaking against them?”
Jesus answered, “Am I against Pharisees? Not at all,
rather I am against hypocrisy in all its forms.”
Jesus with disciples came to Jerusalem, and when he
entered into the temple, he found there those who were
selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money
sitting. He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the
temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the
changers’ money, and overthrew their tables and the seats
of those who sold the doves. He would not allow anyone to
carry a container through the temple. To those who sold the
doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make
my Father’s house a marketplace! Isn’t it written, ‘My house
will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you
have made it a den of robbers!”
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The
teachers of the law sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey
194
them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what
they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie
up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make
their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments
long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most
important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted
in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Teacher.’”
Jesus said, “O you, of double standards, who are evil
from within, but pious from without. You are trying to earn
adoration of the people by praying and giving alms in
crowded places, and even your fasting is not for the sake of
the Lord, but to increase your own fame. You don’t obey
what you were commanded, and you preach to others what
you yourselves do not practice, what evil choices you have
made! You repent only in speeches and intentions, while
your actions motivated by your sinful desires. What benefit it
will bring for you, to clean your skins, while your hearts
remain full of filth? Verily I say unto you, do not be like a
sieve from which the good flour goes out and in which only
siftings retain. Similarly, you utter the God’s laws from your
mouths, while malice retains inside of your hearts. O slaves
of the world, how can you attain the Kingdom of God, while
you placed all your hopes and cravings in this verily world?
Truly I tell you, your souls weep by seeing what you have
done with them.
O hypocrites, you have placed good words on your
tongues, but thrown good deeds under your feet. Verily I say
unto you, keys of the Kingdom of God, were in your hands,
but you traded them for the welfare of this world. Woe to
you, for you deceived only themselves, and who else in this
world can be called greater losers than you! O impious
souls, if only you could know what you have missed and
what you reserved for themselves! O Hypocrites, you have
195
sat on the Road to Life, but you have not walked a step, so
that you may reach there, nor have you allowed others to do
this; curses of those who were beguiled by you are not
ceasing from their lips! How long will you guide others the
way to the Kingdom of God, but yourselves restrain from
reaching there, as if you were wishing to send away all the
people of the earth and leave their world for you?
Woe to you Pharisees! What use in placing a lamp on
the roof of the house, which full with darkness from within?
Similarly the abundance of a learned man's knowledge is of
no use to him, when he does not act upon it.”
Jesus said, “Woe to you, slaves of the world! Your
speeches are like remedies which could heal any disease,
but your actions are like incurable diseases. Why are you not
like the vine, whose leaves are beautiful, whose fruits are
good, and whose growth is easy? Why you are like the
acacia tree, whose leaves are few, whose thorns are many,
and whose growth is difficult. Woe to you hypocrites, who
have thrown action under your feet; whoever wishes may
take it away from you. You have placed the world as burden
over your heads and now it cannot be removed away. Woe
to you, who willingly sold yourselves into slavery to the
world, you are neither sincere as its slaves, nor you worthy
to be honored as the free men. Woe to you, the offspring of
the evil, for you took rewards, for the work which was spoiled
by you!
The one day, you will face that of which you are fear
most, when the Master of the House will come back, and
consider the works which were spoiled by you, and recon
His rewards which were stolen by you. The time is coming,
when the world will uproot you and throw down upon your
faces; then your sons will sit upon your backs and push your
noses to the ground, they would shuddering you for your
forelocks, until they hand over you, naked and ruined to the
196
Royal Judge. Then He will make you repent for your
wickedness and will give you rewards for your evil deeds.”
Jesus said, “Woe to the Pharisees, for you are like a
dog sleeping in the cattle manger, the dog neither eats from
there, nor it let the cattle eat. You have taken the keys of
Knowledge and hidden them. You yourselves have not
entered, nor have you allowed others to enter.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and
cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters
of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have
practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind
guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
“So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we
may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the
law, because by observing the old law no one will be saved.
Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision of the old law. You are all Sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus. Now you who live together with the
Son of God, love not the world, but love the Lord, in order
that you may be not counted amongst dead, but become
truly alive.
Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it.
Live to God, and by staying in Him lay aside your old nature.
We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our
free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become
slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has
been created by God; we ourselves have manifested
197
wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again
to reject it.”
“And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when
he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him
at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that
everyone who does what is right has been born of him. How
great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called Children of God! And that is what we are!
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not
know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know
that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies
himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the
law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he
appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is
no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one
who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who
does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He
who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has
been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is
born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed
remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has
been born of God. This is how we know who the Children of
God are and who the Children of the Devil are: Anyone who
does not do what is right is not a Child of God; nor is anyone
who hates his brother.”
“I was rescued from my bonds and unto you, my God, I
fled, for you are the right hand of my Salvation and my
helper. You have restrained those that rise up against me,
and I shall see him no more; because your face was with
me, which saved me by your grace. But I was despised and
198
rejected in the eye of many, and I was in their eyes like lead,
and all my help and strength was from you.
You set a lamp at my right hand and at my left, so that
in me will remain nothing that is not bright. And I was clothed
with the covering of your Spirit, and you did remove from me
my raiment of skin, for your right hand lifted me up and
removed sickness from me. And I became mighty in the
Truth and holy by your Righteousness; and all my
adversaries were afraid of me. And I became admirable by
the Name of the Lord, and was justified by His gentleness,
and His rest is for ever and ever. Hallelujah!”
199
“We know that we have come to know him if we obey
his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does
not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in
him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God’s love is truly made
complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
Jesus said, “If you love me, and keep my
commandments, I will pray to the Father, and he will give
you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, —
the Spirit of Truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it
doesn’t see him, neither knows him.”
“Blessed are those, who truly came to know the Holy
One within selves, for they will newer experience death. O
Children of the Living God! Rather be baptized in the
holiness of the Holy Spirit then merely pouring water over
your skin! For indeed, blessed are those who can stand in
the Tabernacle of the Lord’s presence without trembling!”
202
The Garden of Eden
203
from them, when they were planted in your land. And
everything became like a relic of you, and memorial for ever
of your faithful works. For there is abundant room in your
Paradise, and nothing is useless therein; but everything is
filled with fruit. Glory be to you, O God, the delight of
Paradise for ever! Hallelujah!”
209
The prayer of Jesus
210
reaching there he found that it was already occupied by a
lion. Then he said, “O Father, You has provided place for
everyone in this world, but it seems that you have forgotten
about me, who is your only son.” Then God has answered
him, “Your abode, my Son, is in dwelling upon my mercy”.
Then Jesus prayed to God, “Unable to bring forth what I
yearn for, or to draw away what I despise, bound by my
works, I am verily not belonging to myself and roam around
with all my affairs handled by others. Indeed, there is no
poor man poorer than Me. Foxes have their holes and birds
of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has no place
to lay his head and rest. When night comes I have nothing
for another day, and in the morning I have nothing for
evening, and yet there is no one on the whole Earth, who is
richer than me. O God, let not my enemy triumph over me,
and let not those whom I love, will be displeased with my
sincerity; and do not let me be taken astray from my faith by
worldly matters. O Father, make straight my path, and don’t
place me in power of those, who will have not mercy upon
me, O Living One, O Everlasting One, let your will always
prevail!”
“How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies! My
soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My
heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God. Yes, the
sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may have her young, near your altars,
Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God. Blessed are those
who dwell in Your House, they are always praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set
their hearts on a pilgrimage. Passing through the Valley of
Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn
rain covers it with blessings; they go from strength to
strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.
Yahweh, God of Armies, Hear my prayer. Listen, God of
211
Jacob. Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your
anointed.”
“I cry with my voice to Yahweh, with my voice, I ask
Yahweh for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him, I tell
him about my troubles. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, you knew my path. In the way in which I walk,
they have hidden a snare for me. Look on my right, and see;
for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled
from me; no one cares for my soul. I cried to you, Yahweh, I
said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from
my persecutors, for they are stronger than me. Bring my soul
out of prison that I may give thanks to Your Name. The
righteous will surround me, for you will be good to me.”
Jesus said, “If you are able to be as innocent as a dove
concerning the Lord, then be it so; nothing is more innocent
than dove. You may take two its young babies from under it
and kill them, and it will still return to that very place and try
to bring forth others in it.”
“He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High will
rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, “He
is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust, for he
will deliver you from the snare of the fowler; and from the
deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers; under
his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield
and rampart, you shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor
of the arrow that flies by day; nor of the pestilence that walks
in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at
your right hand; but it will not come near you. You will only
look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked.
212
Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most
High your dwelling place, no evil shall happen to you; neither
shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you
in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, so that
you won’t dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on
the lion and cobra, you will trample the young lion and the
serpent underfoot.”
Yahweh reigns!
“Yahweh reigns!
He is clothed with majesty!
Yahweh is armed with strength.
The world also is established.
It can’t be moved.
Your throne is established from long ago.
You are from everlasting.
Your statutes stand firm.
Holiness adorns Your House,
Yahweh, forevermore.”
“The heavens will praise your wonders, O Lord; your
faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in
the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the
sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh, a very awesome
God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all
those who are around him? Yahweh, God of Armies, who is
a mighty one, like you? The Lord, your faithfulness is around
you, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your
throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face. Blessed
are the people who learn to acclaim you, for they walk in the
Light of your Presence, Yahweh. In your Name they rejoice
all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted. For you are
213
the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be
exalted.”
“If you live according to the sinful nature you will die.
But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of body,
you will live, because, those who are led by the Spirit of God
are Sons of God.”
215
feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather
healed.
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be
holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that
no one misses the Grace of God and that no bitter root
grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one
is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single
meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward,
as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he
was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind,
though he sought the blessing with tears.”
The Resurrection
Jesus said, “The man old in days will not hesitate to ask
a small child seven days old about the Place of Life, and he
will live. Those who have ears let them listen.”
Some women came with little children to Jesus, so that
he may lay his hands on them and bless, but the disciples
rebuked them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and
he said to them, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid
them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to
such like these.”
Once, Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his
disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who
are in the Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, unless you
not change yourselves, and become like them, it is not
possible for you to enter there.”
Then they asked him, “Tell us how we can enter the
Kingdom of God as babies?”
Jesus said to them, “When you will make the two into
one, and the inside like the outside and the outside like the
inside, and the above like the below, and bellow like the
above. And when you will unite male and female into a
220
single One, so that the male will not be male nor the female
be female, and when you will place eye in the place of an
eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a
foot, and so complete image will become in its place, then
will you see the Kingdom.”
Jesus said, “If flesh came into being because of spirit, it
is a big wonder. But if spirit came into being because of
body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed how
this great wealth has made its home in this poverty.”
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and
said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come
from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless
God is with him.”
Jesus answered him, “Verily, I tell you, unless one is
born anew, he can’t see the Kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s
womb, and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Verily I tell you, unless one is born of
water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God!
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must
be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you
hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and
where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel,
and don’t understand these things? Verily I tell you, we
speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have
seen, and you don’t receive our witness. If I told you earthly
things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you
heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he
who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in
heaven.”
221
“I rested in the Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit raised
me on high. The Holy Spirit made me stand on my feet in the
height of the Lord, in front of His perfection and His glory,
while I was praising Him by singing His songs. The Spirit
brought me forth before the Face of the Lord, and although a
son of man, I was named the ‘Anointed One’, the Son of
God, praised amongst the praised, and great amongst the
mighty ones. For according to the greatness of the Most
High, so He shaped me, in His own newness He renewed
me. And He anointed me from His own perfection, and I
became one with Him. My mouth was opened, like a cloud of
dew, and my heart poured out, as if it was a gushing stream
of righteousness, And my ascend to Him was full of peace,
for I was established by the government of His Holy Spirit.
All those will be astonished that see me, for from another
race I am, for the Father of Truth remembered me, He who
possessed me from the beginning. For His bounty begat me,
and the thought of His heart, and His Word is with us in all
our way.”
“The Savior is one who makes alive and does not reject
our souls; the man who was humbled, and exalted by His
own righteousness. The Son of the Most High appeared in
the perfection of His Father, and light dawned from the Word
that existed before beginning of time in Him. The Messiah is
Truly One; and He was known before the foundation of the
world, that He might save souls for ever by the Truth of His
name, a new song arises from those who love Him.
Hallelujah!”
Jesus said, “The one, who has come to know the world,
has discovered only the body, and the moment he
discovered this, he became superior to it. The one, who went
to seek the world, has found only the corpse, and when he
saw it, he turned back to the place from where he came
from. Verily, the world is not worthy of him, who has found
himself.”
222
Disciples asked Jesus, “How could be spirit separated
from flesh and man from the world?”
He said, “How could be a fish, which lives in water, be
separated from water when it is still in it? Could be this
possible? Now, consider how flesh is born from flesh, could
be birth of a child possible without intervene of both, his
mother and father? Then how is that you thinking, that the
Son of God could be born without intervene of his Divine
Mother? Blessed are those who came to know their Father in
Heaven, but thrice blessed are those who were reborn in
Him from the grace of the Great Mother of the Universe.
For those who went seek for their Father, without
acknowledging for their Great Mother first, either became
lost by the way, or have to return back to the place from
where they have started, for how could be fish separated
from water or spirit from matter? But I tell you, ‘That which is
impossible with a man becomes possible with help of the
Living God.’ Seek your Great Mother and she will take you
beyond of life and death. Beyond of life, for you will not live
in the same way as you were before, and beyond of death,
for you will never die again.”
The high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son
of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “Yes, I am. You will see the Son of Man
sitting at the Right Hand of Power, and coming with the
clouds of the sky.”
Jesus said, “Do not disregard the Lamb, for without him
it is not possible to see the Kingdom, for no one of those
who didn’t saw the Lamb first will be able to enter there.
Those who have ears let them listen.”
223
Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until
he finds. When he will find, he would be astonished. After
being astonished, he will be troubled. And after the period of
trouble is over, he will rule over all. And after he will
renounce his power, he would find the place of eternal rest
for his soul.”
Jesus said, “Blessed are those, who have suffered and
found their Life. Blessed are those, who have been
persecuted within themselves, for it is they, who truly came
to know the Father. Blessed are those, who are hungry of
Truth, for when there is need, it can be filled.”
Jesus said, “If you will bring forth that which is within
you, it will become cause of your redemption, but if you do
not bring it forth, it will be cause of your destruction.”
Jesus said, “Whoever knows the Father will be called
‘knower of a spirit’. Whoever knows the Father and the
Mother will be called ‘the child of completeness’. Whoever
knows the Father, the Mother and the Child will be called
‘the child of perfect virgin’.”
Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one
above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the
living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is
dead, you made it what is alive. But when you come to dwell
in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one
you became two, but when you become two, what will you
do?”
Jesus said, “It is not possible for anyone to enter the
house of a strong man and take it over, unless he binds
hands of its owner; then only he will be able to ransack his
house. Blessed are those who know from where the
adversary will try to enter, for they will become alert before
its arrival, and will be ready to face him with all their might.
And this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Jesus said, “If your ♂ causes you to sin, pluck it out and
throw it away, for it is more profitable for you, if one part of
224
your body will perish than whole your body will be cast into
fiery Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off,
and throw it away, for it is more profitable for you, if one part
of your body will perish, than your whole body will be cast
into fiery Gehenna.”
“Do you desire then, to be a virgin? If it is so, then,
conquer the body; conquer the appetites of the flesh;
conquer the world by the Holy Spirit of God; conquer these
vain things of time, which grow old and pass away; conquer
the Dragon; conquer the lion; conquer the serpent; conquer
Satan;—through Jesus Christ.”
Jesus said, “Blessed are those, in whom lion was
consumed by man, for they will become blissful then; but
woe to that man to whom the lion has consumed, for he will
be curse for himself.”
Jesus said, “Be ready in face of everything. Blessed is
the man, who has found peace in the contest of his eyes.
Neither did he kill, nor was he killed, but he came forth
victorious.”
Jesus said, “Get rid from the wretch inside you, who is
going to die, and live for eternity above live and death.
Blessed are those who offered themselves as lambs to their
Lord and left nothing for themselves, for they found the Life.
Blessed are those, from whom the Great Mother has taken
everything that was theirs, for they became one with their
Father, who is above existence. Blessed are those who were
not afraid of non-existence, for the Kingdom of God is like a
woman, which was carrying jar full of meal on her shoulders.
While she was still some distance from her home, the handle
of the jar broke and the meal started spilling behind her on
the road. She didn't know about the accident, and it
remained unnoticed by her till she reached home. When she
entered her house, she put the jar down and discovered that
it was already empty, but when she looked back and
considered her loss, she found it as worthless and did not
225
grieve about left behind. And I tell you the truth, no one who
have put his hand to the plow, and looking back, fit for the
Kingdom of God.”
Jesus said, “Light and darkness, life and death, left and
right, they are like brothers, for they can’t exist without each
other. Because everything here became mixed, neither is
good of this world absolutely good, nor is its bad absolutely
bad. For life here is not true Life, but more like a long dream,
which has its beginning and its end; and death here doesn’t
mean the end of existence, for the soul is immortal. This is
the reason, why everything in this world perishes and returns
to its previous state, and again dissolves into the elements
by which it was formed. And yet, those who made
themselves exalted above the world and separated the light
from the darkness, while they still were in their body,
became immortal and found the place of blissful rest for
eternity.”
Jesus said, “If a man walks in the light, he doesn’t
stumble, because he sees in the light. But if a man walks in
the darkness, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If
therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of
light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of
darkness. Therefore, if light that in you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!”
“A happy face means happy heart, a sad face means a
breaking heart. When a man is gloomy, everything seems to
go wrong; when he is cheerful, everything goes right.”
His disciples said to Him, “Show us the place where
you are, for we must seek it.”
He said to them, “Whoever has ears, let him hear.
There is Light within a person of Light, and this Light
illuminates the whole world. If it does not shine, then it is
darkness.”
226
“I am the light that shines over all lights. I am all: from
me everything came forth, and in me everything is
withdrawn. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up a
stone, and you will find me there. Take up bread and eat,
and I am in it.”
Matthew said, “Lord, I want to see that place of life,
where there is no wickedness, but rather, where there is
pure light!”
The Lord said, “Brother Matthew, you will not be able to
see it as long as you are carrying your flesh around.”
Matthew said, “Lord, even if I will not be able to see it,
let me know it!”
The Lord said, “Everyone who has known himself, has
seen this light in everything he do, and those who saw it,
came to it by their goodness.”
Judas said, “How spirit becomes apparent?” The Lord
said, “How sword becomes apparent?”
Judas said, “How the light becomes apparent?” The
Lord said, “Stay in it.”
Disciples asked him, “Teacher, you have told us that
everything is inside of the man of Light, then what would be
outside?”
Jesus replied, “What is outside of the Man of the Light?
Nothing is outside of him, but you may call it ‘the outer
darkness’.”
Jesus said, “If they ask you, 'Where have you come
from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the
place where light came into being by itself, established itself,
and appeared in its own image.'
If they say to you, 'Is that light you?' say, 'We are its
children, and we are chosen of the Living Father.'
If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in
you?' say to them, 'it is rest in motion.'“
His disciples said, “When you will become revealed to
us and when we will be able to see you?”
227
Jesus said, “When you will disrobe yourselves without
filling ashamed and will take off your closes and through
them under your feet, and trample on them like little children,
then you will see the Son of the Living One, and you will not
be afraid.”
Jesus said, “I came to make the things below like the
things above, and the things outside like those inside. I came
to unite them in the place.”
Jesus said, “When you will make two into one, and
become their child, you will say, 'Mountain, move away,' and
it will move away. Blessed is the one, who is before he came
into existence. If you truly become My disciples and obey My
words, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in
the Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter,
and their leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted
with them will not taste death.”
Disciples asked Jesus, “Tell us more about these five
trees of the Paradise, for we must find them out.”
Jesus answered, “You have asked a good question, for
without knowing its answer it is impossible to be within the
Kingdom. The answer is very easy, and it is right in front of
your face, but you can’t see it simply because, you made
yourselves occupied with many less important things. Ask
your Father in heaven and He will open your eyes and ears,
and those who acquired their eyesight, let them stay in His
light; and those who acquired their hearing, let them be in
His Word. Truly I tell you, you may wander here and there,
but at last you have to come to these five trees, and find
your rest in their midst, for salvation is there, and they will
take you beyond of life and death. Those who have ears let
them listen.”
Some learned man came to Jesus and said to Him,
“Reveal us yourself so that we may believe in You.” He said
to them, “You read the face of the sky and numbered all
things of the earth, but you were unable to recognize the one
228
who is facing you, for you know neither yourselves, nor
recognize things that in front of your face. Recognize what is
concealed from your sight, and that which is hidden will be
revealed to you. Seek and you will find, for there is nothing
hidden that couldn’t be revealed. In the past, I did not tell you
the things about which you wanted to know, and now when I
am willing to tell them, you are not interest to listen. Do you
have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”
“Behold! The Lord is our mirror, open the eyes and see
them in Him and learn the manner of your face. Sing praise
to His Spirit and wipe off the filth from your face! Love His
Holiness and clothe yourselves with it, and be without stain
at all times before Him. Hallelujah.”
Jesus said, “If two in one house will make peace with
each other, the owner of the house will say to the mountain,
'Move Away,' and it will move.”
“As the sun is the joy to them that seek for its
daybreak, so my joy is the Lord. Because He is my Sun and
His rays have lifted me up, and His light has dispelled all
darkness from my face. In Him I have acquired eyes and
have seen His Holy Day, ears have become mine and I have
heard His Truth. The thought of knowledge has been mine,
and I have been delighted through Him.
The way of error I have left, and have walked towards
Him and have received salvation from Him, without grudging.
And according to His bounty He has given to me, and
according to His excellent beauty He has made me. I have
put of corruption by His grace and have put on incorruption
through His Name. Death has been destroyed before my
face, and Sheol has been abolished by my Word. And there
has gone up deathless life in the Lord’s land, and it has been
made known to His faithful ones, and has been given without
stint to all those that trust in Him. Hallelujah.”
“My arms I lifted up to the Most High, even to the
Grace of the Lord: because He had cast off my bonds from
229
me: and my Helper had lifted me up to His Grace and to His
salvation: and I put off darkness and clothed myself with
light, and my soul acquired a body free from sorrow or
affliction or pains. And increasingly helpful to me was the
thought of the Lord, and His fellowship in incorruption: and I
was lifted up in His Light; and I served before Him, and I
became near to Him, praising and confessing Him. My heart
ran over and was found in my mouth: and it arose upon my
lips; and the exultation of the Lord increased on my face and
His praise likewise. Hallelujah.”
Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I
am guarding it until it blazes. He who is near Me is near the
fire, and he who is far from Me is far from the Kingdom.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous
therefore, and repent.”
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who
hates correction is his own enemy. He who ignores discipline
comes to misery and disgrace, but who heeds correction
rises to grace and honor. For sincere desire of discipline is
the beginning of Wisdom. And care of discipline is love: and
love is keeping of Her laws: and keeping of Her laws is the
firm foundation of incorruption: And incorruption brings us
near to God.”
Mary asked Jesus, “With whom your disciples could be
compared?” He answered, “They are like children, who have
settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the
field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' Therefore
they will undress in their presence in order to let them have
back their field and give it back to them.
Therefore, I say to you, if the owner of a house knows
that the thief is coming, he will be on guard before the thief
230
arrives, and will not let the thief break into their house and
steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard
against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so
that the robbers couldn't find a way to come to you, for the
difficulties, which you expect surely will materialize. Let there
be among you a man of understanding. When the grain
ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and
reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus said, “Fear of God and love for His Kingdom
produce patience in distress for those who seeks them, and
prevent them from temptations of this world. Verily I say unto
you, surviving on merely barley and sleeping on dunghills,
side by side with dogs are small matters for one who seeks
entrance into the Kingdom of God. Verily you can obtain
what you like, only by your patience with what you dislike.
Those who want to follow in my way must to know that I
have two friends, poverty and distress, he who loves them
loves me, and he who hates them hates me.”
Jesus said, “There are four things in this world, which
are obtained with great difficulty; the silence as worship of
the Lord, the constant remembrance of His anger for acts of
disobedience, the personal modesty and satisfaction with
bare minimum one possess”.
Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, delicious food appear
tasteless to a sick man who is distracted from its taste by the
severity of his pain. Similarly those who love the world take
no delight in the Kingdom of God and do not discover its
sweetness, being distracted from it by the pleasures of the
world.
Verily I say unto you, if a riding-beast is not ridden and
taken into service, after some time it becomes stubborn and
its nature changes for worst; in the same way, when the
hearts of people are not tamed by constant remembering of
death and disciplined by the Lord, they slowly become
hardened and coarse. And verily I say unto you, as long as a
231
wine skin is not torn, it may also serve as a vessel for honey;
similarly human hearts, as long as they not became torn by
desires, or defiled by greed, or hardened by comfort, may
become vessels for the Lord’s Wisdom.”
One day, when Jesus was passing a man distressed by
disease, he felt pity upon him and asked Father to heal him.
Then the Father answered him from heaven, “Why are
you asking me to take away from this noble person the only
remedy I have to cure him?”
Jesus said, “How can a man, who seeks to enter into
the Kingdom of God, be called wise, if he not bears with
patience illnesses, which entered into his body, and not
rejoice calamity which came upon his wealth, for by both of
these he becomes distracted from the world, and obtains
remission of his sins.”
Once Jesus was passing a man who was afflicted by
multitude of terrible diseases, and who was singing, “Praise
to merciful God, who has kept me free from disease from
which suffering so many of His creatures!” Then Jesus said,
“O man, about which else disease you are telling?” He
replied, “O Son of David, I am singing praise to the Lord
because He has put in my heart knowledge and fear of
Himself, which prevented me from the love for this world, by
which so many of Lord’s creatures are afflicted.” Jesus told
him, “You have spoken truth, my friend, and now your sins
are forgotten.” He placed his hand upon him, and at once all
his diseases were removed from him by mercy of the Lord
and he became one of the most beautiful men.
Once, Jesus came upon a man, who was stricken with
terror. He asked him, “What are the reasons of your fear?”
He answered, “The fear that I will fell into the Hell makes me
tremble.” Jesus said: “You have right to ask your Lord that
He may relive you from your fears.” Little bit further Jesus
saw another man, who was looking even more afraid and full
of sorrow. He asked him, “And what is the reason of
232
wretched conditions of yours?” He said, “I worry that I may
miss the Kingdom of God.” Jesus said, “It is your right to ask
God to guide you, so that your hopes may be fulfilled.” Then
after walking for some more distance, Jesus saw another
man, who also appeared as much frightened. He asked,
“What is the reason of your despair?” He answered, “I fear of
anger of the Living One, Almighty and Glorious God for acts
of my disobedience of His orders.” Jesus said to him: “Verily,
you are near of the Kingdom of God, near of the Kingdom of
God, near of the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus said, “How bitter is taste of patience, and how
sweet are its fruits, for in patience God abides. One
thousand years of man is one Day of the Lord; yes, His
compassion and patience are beyond of any comparison in
this world. It is by your endurance that you will win your lives;
it is your goodness and patience that will take to the
Kingdom of God. And may your faith and faithfulness be like
guardian angels around you, and let your love and integrity
prevail above all!”
233
Jesus said, “God reveals His presence to those who
have faith in Him, and so their faith and His presence in their
lives increases day by day. Blessed are those who have
renounced all other supports of this world and relied on the
will of their Lord only, for they truly came to know Him.”
Not to destroy
241
Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is
written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall
serve him only.’”
The time came when Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from
the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the
third day be raised up.
Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying,
“Be it far from you, O Lord! This will never be done to you.”
But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not
setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of
men.”
Once Satan appeared to Jesus, and said to him, “Say,
There is no God, but God.” Then Jesus replied him, “These
words appear as truth, but I will not repeat them at your
request, for beneath what is good, there is also some hidden
ambiguity in it.”
243
Jesus said, “The man slips only because of three
things: the smallness of his thanks to the Lord for His gifts,
the fear of something other than God, and when he placing
his hopes in that which is not.”
The Sabbath
Jesus said, “If you do not fast from the world, you will
not find the Kingdom, and if you will not observe the Sabbath
244
as a Sabbath, you will not be with the Father. Also, it is good
to understand the difference between two Sabbaths; one of
which is the actual place the Father have chosen as place of
His rest, and other, the seventh day of week, symbolizing the
same, ordained by Him as the day of rest for His people.
Use your understanding and don’t be confused at this point,
by displacing the primary matter with secondary.”
“As the work of the husbandman is the ploughshare
and the work of the steersman is the guidance of the ship, so
also my work is the Psalm of the Lord; my craft and my
occupation are in His praises. Because He nourished my
heart with shower of love, and even to my lips He poured out
His fruits. The Lord is my love, and therefore I will sing unto
Him, for I am made strong in His praise, and I have faith in
Him.
I will open my mouth and His Spirit will utter in me the
glory of the Lord and His beauty; the work of His hands and
the operation of His fingers, the multitude of His mercies and
the strength of His Word. For the Word of the Lord searches
out all things, both the invisible and that which reveals His
thought, for the eye sees His works and the ear hears His
thought. He spread out the earth and He settled the waters
in the sea, He measured the heavens and fixed the stars,
and He established the creation and set it up. And He rested
from His works. And created things run in their courses, and
do their works, and they know not how to stand and be idle,
and His heavenly hosts are subject to His Word.
The treasure-chamber of the light is the sun, and the
treasury of the darkness is the night. And He made the sun
for the day that it may be bright, but night brings darkness
over the face of the land, and their alternations speak the
beauty of God one to the other. And there is nothing that is
without the Lord, for He was before any thing came into
being. And the worlds were made by His Word, and by the
245
thought of His heart. Glory and honor to His Name!
Hallelujah!”
250
The relation of Christians to the world
Jesus said, “I tell you that many will come from the east
and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
251
Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of
God would come, Jesus answered them, “The Kingdom of
God doesn’t come with observation; neither will they say,
‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, the Kingdom of
God is within you.”
Disciples asked Jesus, “When the Kingdom of God will
come?” Jesus replayed, “It will not come by waiting for it.
The Kingdom of God doesn’t come with observation; neither
will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, the
Kingdom of God is within you. Rather the Kingdom of the
Father is spread out upon the earth, but people have no
sight to see it. Truly I tell you, ‘There are some of those who
stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see
the Kingdom of God.’”
Jesus said, “If those who lead you say, 'Look, the
Kingdom of God is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will
precede you. If they say to you, 'Look, it is in the sea,' then
the fishes will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom of God is
within you and it is outside you. When you will come to know
yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize
that it is you who are the sons of the Living Father. But if you
will not know yourselves, you dwell in eternal poverty and it
is you, who are that poverty”.
Jesus said, “Beware that no one lead you astray saying
Lo here or lo there! For the Son of Man is within you. Follow
after Him, and those who seek Him will find Him.”
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a wise
fisherman, who cast his net into the sea and drew it up full of
fishes. Among other fishes he discovered a superb large
fish. He threw all other fishes back into the sea, and kept
that large fish for himself. Let those, who have ears listen!”
Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a shrewd
merchant, who had shipment merchandise, and who one
day came upon priceless pearl. That merchant was wise, so
when he saw that pearl, he loved it. He sold his merchandise
252
and bought the pearl in exchange for everything he had.
That precious pearl alone, he kept for himself. You too, try to
find his unfailing and enduring treasure where no moth
comes near to devour and no worm destroys.”
Jesus said, “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a
treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In
his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”
Jesus said, “Who will call wise the person, which
exchanged thing of great value, for worthless things? But so
it is in this world, where the Kingdom of God is disregarded
for the folly of the world. And who will call wise a person,
who paid great amount for precious pearl and afterwards
keep it hidden in a coarse box till his death’s hour? But
consider the Kingdom of God, which is priceless thing
neglected because of love for this bestial body.”
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a man who had
a hidden treasure in his field, without knowing about it. When
he died, all his possessions passed on to his son. The son
did not know about hidden treasure. After he inherited the
field, he sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and
found the treasure. He became so reach that he began lend
money at interest to whomever he wished.”
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like shepherd, who
had hundred sheep. One of them, largest, went astray and
became lost. To find it, he left his ninety-nine sheep, and
searched for the lost one, until he found it. When after much
efforts, at last he has found it, he said, 'I love you so much
that I left my others ninety-nine sheep uncared to find you
only.’”
Jesus said, “How will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or
with what parable will we illustrate it? It’s like a grain of
mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it
is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is
sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs,
253
and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can
lodge under its shadow.”
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast,
which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal,
until it was all leavened.”
Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a certain
woman. She took little leaven, mixed it in little flour, and
when dough rose up, she made out of it huge loaves of
bread. Let those, who have ears listen!”
One day Jesus was passing near place outside the city,
where dyers used to bleach their closes. He stopped beside
them and said, “Do you think that when you have washed
and whitened these clothes, it would be right for their owners
to putting them on, while their bodies are dirty with blood,
urine, excrement and the other kinds of filthiness?” They
replied, “No, one who will do that would be foolish.” He said,
“But, you yourselves have done this.” They said, “Tell us
how?” He said, “Because you have whitened your clothes
and purified your bodies from outside, while your hearts are
remain dirty with the rottenness of covetousness and self
conceit, full of the filthiness of evil thoughts and envy
towards your brothers, blind with ignorance and dumbness,
and impure, because of the craftiness and deceit with which
you pursuit your sinful desires. Do you know O wretches,
that you are willingly placed yourself into slavery, from which
there is no escape, till death comes and takes you to the
darkness of graves?”
Then they said, “Then how should we act? We are like
all around us, is there any escape from seeking a
livelihood?”
Jesus said, “Such state of things is usual in this world of
deficiency, but consider the Kingdom of God, where there is
no illness and decay followed by death, no hunger and thirst,
and where there is no pain, no fear and grief. Where
amongst its people there is no need arising from poverty, no
254
affliction or tiredness, no envy and hatred caused by pride
and boasting. But, on contrary, where all are the brothers
amongst themselves, glad and rejoicing in each other
company, and delighted with God’s favor upon them. Where
everyone is walking in the vastness of the spheres, and in
the wideness of the heavens, and seeing the Kingdom of the
Lord of the worlds in all its magnitude. Where all are as
angels around Lord’s throne, where everyone is pure, and
rejoice and praise their Lord with melodies and tunes of
which no one amongst mortals or demons have ever heard.
And once you reached there, you will be there forever, not
affected by illness, old age and death, by hunger and thirst,
by fear and sorrow.”
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be of good courage and
rest in me. Verily I say unto you, your rest shall be from
above, in the place where there is neither eating nor
drinking, nor joy nor sorrow, nor passing away of them that
are therein: for you will have no part in the perishable things
of this world, but will be received in the everlastingness of
my Father. So as I am in Him, so you also will be in me.”
Detachment
257
depart from your house, because you have despised me,
and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
“This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil
against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives
before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he
will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it
secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before
the sun.’”
260
justly, thinking that it not agreeable to Your Power, to
condemn those who not deserve to be punished. For Your
Power is the beginning of justice, and because you are the
Lord of all, you make yourself gracious to all. For you have
shown your Power, when men will not believe you to be
Absolute in Power, and you convince the boldness of them
that know you not. But being Master of Power, you judge
with tranquility; and with great favor dispose us, although
your power is always at hand when you wish.”
“But all men are vain, in whom there is not the
knowledge of God, and who by these good things that are
seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending
to the works have acknowledged who was the workman. But
have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or
the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and
moon, to be the gods that rule the world. But you, our God,
are gracious and true, patient, and ordering all things in
mercy. For if we are still in sin, we are yours, remembering
your greatness, and if we sin not, we know that we are
counted with you. For to know you is Perfect Justice; and to
know your Justice, and Your Power, is the root of
immortality.”
Repentance
263
Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner repenting.”
He continued, “A certain man had two sons. The
younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share
of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this
together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his
property with disorderly living. When he had spent all of it,
there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to
be in need. He went and joined himself to one of the citizens
of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but
no one gave him any. But when he came to himself he said,
‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough
to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up and go to
my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called
your son. Make me as one of your hired servants. He arose,
and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his
father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran,
and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I
am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father
said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on
him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring the
fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; for this, my
son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’
They began to celebrate. Now his elder son was in the field.
As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was
going on. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your
father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received
him back safe and healthy.’ But he was angry, and would not
go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him. But
he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have
264
served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of
yours, but you never gave me a goat that I might celebrate
with my friends. But when this, your son, came, who has
devoured your living with prostitutes; you killed the fattened
calf for him.’ He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me,
and all that is mine is yours. But it was appropriate to
celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and
is alive again. He was lost, and is found.”
267
Forgive to others and you will be forgiven
268
Faith
269
is surrounded on every side by beauty, there is nothing that
is divided. The likeness of what is below is that which is
above; for everything is above: what is below is nothing but
the imagination of those that are without knowledge. Grace
has been revealed for your salvation. Believe and live and
be saved. Hallelujah!”
In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them,
walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on
the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they
cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
saying “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”
Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you,
command me to come to you on the waters.”
He said, “Come!”
Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the
waters to come to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was
strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out,
saying, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of
him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
“Great rivers are the Power of the Lord, and they carry
headlong those who despise Him and entangle their paths;
and they sweep away their fords, and catch their bodies and
destroy their lives, for they are swifter and faster than
lightning. But those who cross them in faith are not moved,
and those who walk on them without blemish shall not be
afraid. For the sign in them is the Lord; and the sign is the
way of those who cross in the Name of the Lord. Put on,
therefore, the Name of the Most High, and know Him, and
you shall cross without danger, for the rivers will be subject
to you.
The Lord has bridged them by His Word; and He
walked and crossed them on foot; and His footsteps stand
firm on water, and not injured; they are as firm as a tree that
is truly set up. And the waves were lifted up on this side and
270
on that, but the footsteps of our Lord Messiah stand firm and
are not obliterated and are not defaced. And a way has been
appointed for those who cross after Him and for those who
adhere to the course of faith in Him and worship His name.
Hallelujah.”
272
doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have
signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
Then the king, when he heard these words, was very
displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and
he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to
the king, Know, “O king, that it is a law of the Medes and
Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king
establishes may be changed.”
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel,
and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and
said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he
will deliver you.” A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth
of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and
with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed
concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night
fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before
him: and his sleep fled from him. Then the king arose very
early in the morning, and went in haste to the den of lions.
When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a
lamentable voice; the king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel,
servant of the Living God, is your God, whom you serve
continually, able to deliver you from the lions?”
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever. My
God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and
they have not hurt me; because as before him innocence
was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done
no hurt.”
Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded
that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel
was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found
on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king
commanded, and they brought those men who had accused
Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their
273
children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and
broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the
bottom of the den.
Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and
languages, who dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to
you. I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom
men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the
living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the
end. He delivers and rescues, and he works signs and
wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in
the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
275
The fig tree
276
to the Most High, and offered to Him the sons that were with
Him. And His face was justified, for thus His Holy Father had
given to Him. Come forth, you that have been afflicted and
receive joy, and possess your souls by His grace; and take
to you immortal life.”
Jesus said, “And they made me a debtor when I rose
up, me who had been a debtor; and they divided my spoil,
though nothing was due to them. But I endured and held my
peace and was silent, as if not, moved by them. But I stood
unshaken like a firm rock which is beaten by the waves and
endures. And I bore their bitterness for humility’s sake, in
order, that I might redeem my people, and inherit it and that I
might not make void my promises to the fathers, to whom I
promised the salvation of their seed. Hallelujah!”
Hallelujah!
278
Jesus said, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at
midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of
bread, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey,
and I have nothing to set before him,’ and he from within will
answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and
my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to
you’? I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him
because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he
will get up and give him as many as he needs.”
“There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God,
and didn’t respect man. A widow was in that city, and she
often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’
He wouldn’t for a while, but afterward he said to himself,
‘Though I neither fear God, nor respect man, yet because
this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will
wear me out by her continual coming.’”
The Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge
says. Won’t God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying
out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with
them? I tell you that he will avenge them quickly.”
Jesus said to his disciples, “Which of yours fathers, if
your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will
he? Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion,
will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep
seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who
seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.”
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given
to him. But let him ask with faith, without any doubting, for he
who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and
279
tossed. Let such man not thinks that he will receive anything
from the Lord, for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all
his ways.”
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray for
deliverance. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the
church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name
of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he
will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The
prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah
was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not
rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth
produced its crops.”
Self-control
283
being judged; and leave His people in their peace, and you
will be able to find your peace.”
“Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but
those who are righteous will go free.”
“So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift
to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of
man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Therefore,
putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness,
receive with humility the implanted Word, which is able to
save your souls.”
Jesus said, “What is the forbearance of him who has
not been patient with a foolish person, and what is the
strength of him who has was unable to prevent his anger,
and what is the worship of him, who has not humbled himself
before the Lord? The wise man stays always alert, but
worship of the fools limited to the periods of time fixed by
them, and concerned mostly with the things, useless in the
sight of the Lord. When real need for it arises, all their
counsel disappears, and they lose both their patience and
their reasoning. Verily I say into you, if you will be able to
bear patiently one word from a foolish person you will profit
ten times out of it.”
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not
keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his
religion is worthless. Self-control means controlling the
tongue!”
286
Love one another
287
we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen
God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love
is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he
in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have
seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the
Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is
the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we
know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this
way, love is made complete among us so that we will have
confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we
are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives
out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one
who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he
first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his
brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has
not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever
loves God must also love his brother.”
288
brother, you do it for yourself, and when you are restrain
yourself, you are doing this for your Lord.”
Jesus said: “Never, be delighted in anything of this
world, excluding the moments when you look at your
brothers with love. Love your brother like your own soul, and
look for him like if he was one of your own.”
“Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his
brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother
lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him
stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness
and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where
he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
“See how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
that ran down on the beard,
even Aaron’s beard;
that came down on the edge of his robes;
like the dew of Hermon,
that comes down on the hills of Zion:
for there Yahweh gives the blessing,
even life forevermore.”
Be good
291
“Bring forth the light from within of your heart and be
light for others, for it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Let not righteousness and faith leave you, bind them on your
neck, place them in your heart, and so you will find favor for
yourself. Bring forth good things before God and before
people.”
Jesus said, “Seek a great amount of what fire cannot
consume.” Someone asked, “And what is that?” He said,
“Goodness.”
Jesus said, “Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor
are figs gathered from thistles, for neither of them able to
bear good fruits. A good person brings forth good out of his
excess of goodness. An evil man sows wickedness around
himself and brings forth evil out of the overflow of evils he
has stored in his heart, for it is from excess and not from
deficiency that one may share.”
Once, when Jesus was passing near a company of
people, they addressed to him in bad manner, but he replied
them with smile and very politely. Then someone asked him,
“Why you were speaking well with them, while they were
speaking evil of you.” He answered, “Everyone can spend
only from what one possesses.”
Jesus said, “If one likes tell many lies, his reputation
departs; and if one becomes habitual to quarrel with people,
his respect goes down; and if one became troubled by many
worries resulting from such behavior, his body becomes ill
duty this. In such way, one who accustomed himself to bad
manners punishes himself.”
Non believe
296
Jerusalem, the city of prophets
297
The Parable of a vineyard
298
Jesus said to disciples, “The Good News must first be
preached to all nations. Come after me, and I will make you
into fishers of men. The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the
laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest
will send out laborers into his harvest. Go into the world, and
preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who
believes and baptized will be saved, but he who disbelieves
will be condemned.”
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
Therefore be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.
Beware of men and watch yourselves, for they will deliver
you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge
you. Yes, and you will be brought before governors and
kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the
nations. But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how
or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what
you will say, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit of
your Father who speaks in you.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant
above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be like his
teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the
master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his
household! Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is
nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that
will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in
the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim
on the housetops.
Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna. If anyone desires to come
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow
me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but
whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world,
and loses or forfeits his own self?”
299
“Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace
upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which
I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For
there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and
two against three, the father against the son, and the son
against the father. Brother will deliver up brother to death,
and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents,
and cause them to be put to death. And they will stand
solitary.”
“Blessed are you when people reproach and say all
kinds of evil against you falsely, because of me, for that is
how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they
shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as
evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven. If you were of the
world, the world would love its own. But because you are not
of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. Blessed are you when you are hated and
persecuted, for on day when I will come no place will be
found, wherever you were persecuted. You will be hated by
all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end
will be saved.”
“Everyone therefore who confesses me before men,
him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny
before my Father who is in heaven. For whoever will be
ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man
be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of
the Father, and of the holy angels.
Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever
rejects you rejects me. He who receives you receives me,
and he who receives me receives Him who sent me. He who
receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a
prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the
300
name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s
reward. Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of
cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, Verily I tell you
he will in no way lose his reward.”
Jesus said, “The saints and the preachers will come to
you to return you what belongs to you. You, in turn, willingly
return them what belongs to them, and say to yourselves,
'When will they come and take what is theirs?”
302
Give to God what is His
303
1The Voice in the Wilderness
304
The Lamb of God
305
On the next day, he was determined to go out into
Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew
and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We
have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the
prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about
him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when
you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of
God! You are King of Israel!”
Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you
underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater
things than these!”
He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you, hereafter you
will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending
and descending on the Son of Man.”
306
Now there were six water pots of stone set there after
the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes
apiece.
Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.”
They filled them up to the brim.
He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to
the ruler of the feast.” So they took it.
When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now
become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the
servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the
feast called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Everyone
serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk
freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good
wine until now!” This beginning of his signs Jesus did in
Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples
believed in him.
308
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that
living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who
gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children,
and his livestock?”
Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this
water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I
will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will
give him will become in him a well of water springing up to
eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that
I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come
here.”
The woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’
for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have
is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a
prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you
Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought
to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour
comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will
you worship the Father. You worship that which you don’t
know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from
the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true
worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the
Father seeks such to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and
those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes,”
(he who is called Christ). “When he has come, he will
declare to us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to
you.”
309
Praise to the Lord!
“As the hand moves over the harp, and the strings
speak, so speaks in my members the Spirit of the Lord, and I
speak by His love. For it destroys what is foreign, and
everything that is bitter; for thus it was from the beginning
and will be to the end, that nothing should be His adversary,
and nothing should stand up against Him. The Lord has
multiplied the knowledge of Himself, and is zealous that
these things should be known, which by His grace have
been given to us. And the praise of His name He gave us,
our spirits praise His Holy Spirit.
For there went forth a stream and became a river great
and broad; for it flooded and broke up everything and it
brought to the Temple. And the restrainers of the children of
men were not able to restrain it, nor the arts of those whose
business it is to restrain waters. For it spread over the face
of the whole earth, and filled everything; and all the thirsty
upon earth were given to drink of it. And thirst was relieved
and quenched, for from the Most High the draught was
given.
Blessed then are the ministers of that draught who are
entrusted with that water of His; they have assuaged the dry
lips, and the will that had fainted they have raised up. And
souls that were near departing they have caught back from
death; and limbs that had fallen they straightened and set
up. They gave strength for their feebleness and light to their
eyes, for everyone knew them in the Lord, and they lived by
the Water of Life for ever. Hallelujah!”
310
It is time
311
honor in his own country. So when he came into Galilee, the
Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did
in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he
made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman
whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that
Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him,
and begged him that he would come down and heal his son,
for he was at the point of death.
Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs
and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my
child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The
man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went
his way.
As he was now going down, his servants met him and
reported, saying “Your child lives!” So he inquired of them
the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to
him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” So
the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to
him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house.
This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come
out of Judea into Galilee.
Some time after this, Jesus went to the other side of the
sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias. A
great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs
which he did on those who were sick. Jesus went up into the
mountain, and he sat there with his disciples. Now the
Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Jesus
therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great
multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we
to buy bread that these may eat?” This he said to test him,
for he himself knew what he would do.
315
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of
bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may
receive a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother,
said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves
and two fish, but what are these among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was
much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number
about five thousand. Jesus took the loaves; and having
given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the
disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the
fish as much as they desired. When they were filled, he said
to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left
over, that nothing be lost.”
So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets
with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were
left over by those who had eaten. When therefore the people
saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the
prophet who comes into the world.” Jesus therefore,
perceiving that they were about to come and take him by
force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by
himself.
When evening came, his disciples went down to the
sea, and they entered into the boat, and were going over the
sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not
come to them. The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing.
When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty
stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near
to the boat; and they were afraid.
But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat.
Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other
side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there,
except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that
316
Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his
disciples had gone away alone. However boats from Tiberias
came near to the place where they ate the bread after the
Lord had given thanks. When the multitude therefore saw
that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves
got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they
asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
Jesus answered them, “Verily I tell you, you seek me,
not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the
loaves, and were filled. Don’t work for the food which
perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has
sealed him.”
They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we
may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in him whom he has sent.”
They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a
sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you
do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is
written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
Jesus therefore said to them, “Verily, I tell you, it wasn’t
Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father
gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God
is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the
world.”
They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this
bread.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who
comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me
will never be thirsty. But I told you that you have seen me,
and yet you don’t believe. All those whom the Father gives
me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way
throw out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my
317
own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of
my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I
should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
This is the will of the one who sent me that everyone who
sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Jews therefore murmured concerning him,
because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of
heaven.” They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know? How then does he say,
‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
Therefore Jesus answered them, “Don’t murmur among
yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. It
is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’
Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has
learned, comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father,
except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Verily, I
tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. I am the
bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of
heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living
bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this
bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for
the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews therefore contended with one another,
saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus therefore said to them, “Verily I tell you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
don’t have life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in
me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live
because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also
318
live because of me. This is the bread which came down out
of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He
who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things in
the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
319
7 My teaching is not mine
320
sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Didn’t
Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law?
Why do you seek to kill me?”
The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who
seeks to kill you?”
Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all
marvel because of it. Moses has given you circumcision (not
that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath
you circumcise a boy. If a boy receives circumcision on the
Sabbath, that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you
angry with me, because I made a man completely healthy on
the Sabbath? Don’t judge according to appearance, but
judge with righteous judgment.”
Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he
whom they seek to kill? Behold, he speaks openly, and they
say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that
this is truly the Christ? However we know where this man
comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know
where he comes from.”
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and
saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I
have not come of myself, but He who sent me is true, whom
you don’t know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He
sent me.”
They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a
hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said,
“When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those
which this man has done, will he?”
The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these
things concerning him, and the chief priests and the
Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer,
then I go to Him who sent me. You will seek me, and won’t
find me; and where I am, you can’t come.”
321
The Jews therefore said among themselves, “Where
will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the
Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What
is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find
me; and where I am, you can’t come’?”
Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me
and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing
in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.
Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these
words, said, “This is truly the prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What,
does the Christ come out of Galilee?
Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the
seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David
was?”
So there arose a division in the multitude because of
him. Some of them would have arrested him, but no one
dare to laid hands on him. The officers therefore came to the
chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why
didn’t you bring him?”
The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this
man!”
The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t
also led astray, are you? Have any of the rulers believed in
him, or of the Pharisees? But this multitude that doesn’t
know the law is accursed.”
Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of
them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man, unless it first
hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee?
Search, and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
322
Everyone went to his own house, but Jesus went to the
Mount of Olives.
323
The Light of the World
324
judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and
the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the
Father.
Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up
the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do
nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these
things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me
alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
As he spoke these things, many believed in him. Jesus
therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you
remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will
know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s seed, and
have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say,
“‘You will be made free?’”
Jesus answered them, “Verily I tell you, everyone who
commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn’t
live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore
the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that
you are Abraham’s seed, yet you seek to kill me, because
my word finds no place in you. I say the things which I have
seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you
have seen with your father.”
They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill
me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from
God. Abraham didn’t do this. You do the works of your
father.”
They said to him, “We were not born of sexual
immorality. We have one Father, God.”
Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father,
you would love me, for I came out and have come from God.
For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me. Why don’t you
325
understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word.
You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the
desires of your father. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own;
for he is a liar, and its father. But because I tell the truth, you
don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell
the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God
hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear,
because you are not of God.”
Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that
you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my
Father, and you dishonor me. But I don’t seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks and judges. Verily, I tell you, if a
person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you
have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you
say, “‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’”
Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died?
The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is
our God. You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I
don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him,
and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my
day. He saw it, and was glad.”
The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty
years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Verily, I tell you, before Abraham
came into existence, I AM.”
Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but
Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone
through their midst, and so passed by.
326
9 Do you believe in the Son of God?
327
was division among them. Therefore they asked the blind
man again, “What do you say about him, because he
opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that
he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they
called the parents of him who had received his sight, and
asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born
blind? How then does he now see?”
His parents answered them, “We know that this is our
son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we
don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of
age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
His parents said these things because they feared the
Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would
confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the
synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask
him.” So they called the man who was blind a second time,
and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man
is a sinner.”
He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner.
One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How
did he open your eyes?”
He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t
listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also
want to become his disciples, do you?”
They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but
we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to
Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes
from.”
The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t
know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We
know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a
worshipper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since
328
the world began it has never been heard of that anyone
opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not
from God, he could do nothing.”
They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins,
and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding
him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
He answered, “Who is he, Lord, so that I may believe in
him?”
Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is
he who speaks with you.”
He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that
those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may
become blind.”
Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these
things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have
no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin
remains.”
329
Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t
understand what he was telling them.
Jesus therefore said to them again, “Verily I tell you, I
am the sheep’s door. All who came before me are thieves
and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the
door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go
in and go out, and will find pasture. The thief only comes to
steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and
may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired
hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees
the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf
snatches the sheep, and scatters them. The hired hand flees
because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep. I
am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by
my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the
Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must
bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will
become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it
again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by
myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
330
It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem. It was
winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s
porch. The Jews therefore came around him and said to him,
“How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the
Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t
believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these
testify about me. But you don’t believe, because you are not
of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them.
They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of
my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater
than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s
hand. I and the Father are one.”
Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good
works from my Father. For which of those works you going
to stone me?”
The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a
good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man,
make yourself God.”
Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I
said, you are gods?’ If he called them gods, to whom the
word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken), do
you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the
world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of
God?’ If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.
But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the
works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in
me, and I in the Father.”
They sought again to seize him, and he went out of
their hand. He went away again beyond the Jordan into the
place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed.
Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but
331
everything that John said about this man is true.” Many
believed in him there.
335
But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for
the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you,
but you don’t always have me.”
A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was
there, and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they
might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also,
because on account of him many of the Jews went away and
believed in Jesus.
On the next day a great multitude had come to the
feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees, and
went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”
Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is
written, “Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King
comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
His disciples didn’t understand these things at first, but
when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these
things were written about him, and that they had done these
things to him. The multitude therefore that was with him
when he called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from
the dead, was testifying about it. For this cause also the
multitude went and met him, because they heard that he had
done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among
themselves, “See how you accomplish nothing. Behold, the
world has gone after him.”
Now there were certain Greeks among those that went
up to worship at the feast. These, therefore, came to Philip,
who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,
“Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew,
and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told Jesus.
336
Father, glorify Your Name!
Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son
of Man to be glorified. Verily I tell you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life will
lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to
eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I
am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the
Father will honor him.
“Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father,
save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this
time. Father, glorify your name!”
Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, “I have
both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said
that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to
him.”
Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake,
but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now
the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up
from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” But he said
this, signifying by what kind of death he should die.
The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the
law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The
Son of Man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of Man?”
Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light
is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness
doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t
know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in
the light, that you may become children of light.” Jesus said
these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.
337
The unbelief
338
13 The Last sapper
339
Verily I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither
one who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know
these things, blessed are you if you do them. I don’t speak
concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that
the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me
has lifted up his heel against me.’ From now on, I tell you
before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe
that I am he. Verily I tell you, he who receives whomever I
send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him
who sent me.”
When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and
testified, “Verily I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about
whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved,
was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast. Simon Peter
therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is
of whom he speaks.”
He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus’ breast, asked
him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give
this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had
dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of
Simon Iscariot. After the piece of bread, then Satan entered
into him.
Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.
For some thought, because Judas had the money box,
that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the
feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
Therefore, having received that morsel, he went out
immediately. It was night.
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of
Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If
God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in
himself, and he will glorify him immediately. Little children, I
340
will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as
I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so
now I tell you. A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also
love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow
now, but you will follow afterwards.”
Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I
will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for
me? Verily I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have
denied me three times.”
14 I am the Way
The Counselor
16
345
“I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear
them now. However when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come,
he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from
himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare
to you things that are coming. He will glorify me, for he will
take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. All things
whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he
takes of mine, and will declare it to you.”
A little while
“A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little
while, and you will see me.”
Some of his disciples therefore said to one another,
“What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t
see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and,
‘Because I go to the Father?’”
They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little
while?’ We don’t know what he is saying.”
Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him,
and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves
concerning this that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see
me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ Verily I tell
you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.
You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her
time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she
doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a
human being is born into the world. Therefore you now have
sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you. In that day you
will ask me no questions. Verily I tell you, whatever you may
ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until
346
now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will
receive, that your joy may be made full.
I have spoken all these things to you in figural
language, but the time is coming when I will no more speak
to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the
Father. In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say
to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, for the Father
himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have
believed that I came forth from God. I came out from the
Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the
world, and go to the Father.”
His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you speak
plainly, and speak no figures of speech. Now we know that
you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question
you. By this we believe that you came forth from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold,
the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be
scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me
alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I
have told you these things, that in me you may have peace.
In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have
overcome the world.”
347
Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory
which I had with you before the world existed.
I revealed your name to the people whom you have
given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have
given them to me. They have kept your Word. Now they
have known that all things whatever you have given me are
from you, for the words which you have given me I have
given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure
that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you
sent me. I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for
those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All
things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am
glorified in them. I am no more in the world, but these are in
the world, and I am coming to you.”
348
Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who
believe in me through their word, that they may all be one;
even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also
may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent
me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to
them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them,
and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the
world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as
you loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have
given me be with me where I am, that they may see my
glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the
foundation of the world.”
“Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I
knew you; and these knew that you sent me. I made known
to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with
which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
18 The arrest
The trial
352
19 The King of Israel
353
Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at
about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your
King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him!
Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but
Caesar!” So then he delivered him to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus and led him away.
The Crucifixion
20 The Resurrection
357
The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have
seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print
of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas
was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and
stood in the midst, and said, “Peace be to you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and
see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my
side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered
him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because
you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those
who have not seen, and have believed.”
Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence
of his disciples, which if they would all be written, I suppose
that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books
that would be written.
360
PART THREE: THE DIALOGUES
362
never spoken with him, and not became associated with him,
for the life of this world is for them!
Know, therefore, that he healed you when you were ill,
in order that you may reign in the Kingdom of God. But woe
to those, who found rest from their works, thinking that they
were healed already, because they will relapse into their
illness again! But blessed are those who became watchful
against their illness, and who have found the place of rest
before it could seize them, for the Kingdom of God is theirs!
Therefore I say to you, become full and leave no place within
you empty, since you have to answer to the Coming One for
your deeds.”
Then Peter answered: “Lord, three times you have said
to us 'Become full', but we are already full.”
The Lord answered: “Therefore, once more I will repeat
to you, become full of spirit, in order that you may not fell
astray, for those, whose spirit became weakened, can’t be
saved. When you constantly full of spirit, it will lead you
towards salvation, but if it will diminish, you will be taken
astray from your goal. For when you are full, you are
complete, and no illnesses of this world may enter into you,
but when there is emptiness within you, it immediately
becomes filled with the filth of the world. Therefore, in order
that you may become perfect, it is worthy for you to humble
yourself while you still can be filled, and to maintain your
fullness, while it is still can be diminished. Therefore become
full of spirit, and become humbled because of the situation,
for situation comes from your own Soul; and it is the Soul.”
And I said to him: “Lord, we have proved our
determination to follow you, for we have forsaken the religion
of our forefathers and houses of our parents, and our
homeland and followed you. But can you grant us that we
will be not be tempted by the wicked Devil?”
The Lord said: “If you will not be tempted by Satan
while you fulfill the will of the Father and receiving His gift,
363
then what would be your own merit? But if you by your free
will be oppressed by Satan and persecuted while you
accomplish the Father's will, I say that He will love you and
will make you equal with me, and will make you His beloved
through His providence. Will you not cease, then, being
lovers of the flesh and being afraid of sufferings? You, who
are not yet been mistreated and have not yet been accused
unjustly by the evil one, nor have you been shut up in prison,
nor yet have you been condemned lawlessly, nor have you
been crucified without reason, nor have you been buried
without respect, as was I myself? Do you still want to spare
your flesh, by which your spirit is encircled in the walls of a
prison? Try to contemplate about the world, how long it
existed before you, and how long it will remain after you, and
you will find that your life is equal to one single day, and all
your sufferings, to one single hour. Remember that good will
never enter this world, and that nothing of this world can
enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore despise that what
brings you to death, and become turned with all your being
to the Life. Remember my cross and my death and you will
live.”
And I answered to him: “Lord, do not mention to us the
cross and the death, for they are far in past.”
The Lord said: “Truly I say to you, no one could be
saved unless they believe in my cross. But those who have
believed in my cross, theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, become seekers of the death, which was
revealed to you, in the same way as those, who are dead
craving for their life, which is revealed to them, for they have
nothing else to be concerned with. When you will turn
yourselves towards death, you will be known as my beloved.
Truly I say to you, none of those who are afraid of death
could be saved, for the Kingdom of God belongs to those,
who have put themselves to death. Make yourselves like the
Son of the Holy Spirit, and become even better than me.”
364
Then I asked him: “Lord, please teach us how we can
prophesy to those who ask us about future? For there are
many, who ask us about it, and who want to hear an oracle
from us.”
The Lord answered: “Do not you know that the head of
prophecy was cut off with John?”
And I said: “Lord, it is not possible to remove the head
of prophecy, isn’t it?”
The Lord said to me: “When you will come to know
what 'head' means, and that prophecy comes out from head,
then you will understand what 'Its head was removed'
means. Before I used to speak with you in parables, and you
were unable to understand. Now, when I speak with you
plainly, you are still unable to understand. But it is you who
were to me as parable in parables and as what is apparent
in what is open.”
“Be zealous to be saved without being urged for this by
others. Rather, be ready on your own accord, and if you can,
try even to supersede me in your deeds, for the Father will
love you for this. Become haters of hypocrisy and evil
thought, for hypocrisy is born from thoughts, and hypocrisy is
far from the Place of Truth.
Let not the Kingdom of Heaven wither away from you,
for it is like the shoot of a seasonal plant, which dropped its
seeds around itself. By the moment when productivity of the
womb, which bore them, came to the end, the seeds
sprouted from themselves new leaves, and after some time
they became developed into many new plants each one like
its parent. The same is also with the fruits, which came forth
from a single root; the day the root was picked, its fruits were
numerous. Indeed, it would be good for you, if you will
produce these new plants now; for by doing this you will find
the entrance to the Kingdom.”
“Since I have been glorified in this manner in front of
this generation, why do you all restrain me when I am eager
365
to go? You have constrained me to remain with you eighteen
more days for the sake of parables. It sufficient for some
persons to pay attention to the teaching and understand 'The
Shepherds' and 'The Seed' and 'The Building' and 'The
Lamps of the Virgins' and 'The Wage of the Workers' and
'The Double Drachma' and 'The Woman'.
“Become keen about the Word. For the Word's first
condition is faith; the second is love; the third is works. And
when all of them are fulfilled, from these comes Life. For the
Word is like a grain of wheat. When someone sowed it, he
believed in it; and when it sprouted, he loved it, because he
looked forward for many grains in place of one; and when he
worked it, he was saved trough this, for it provided him with
food and with spare grains for future crop. This how it is
possible for all of you to receive the Kingdom of Heaven;
unless you receive it through this knowledge, you will not be
able to find it”.
“Therefore I say to you, be sober and do not go astray.
And many times I have said to you all together - and also to
you alone, James, I have said - 'Be saved!' And I have
commanded you to follow me, and I have taught you how to
respond in presence of rulers. Therefore try to learn from my
example! Contemplate on how I voluntary descended for
your rescue, and what I have spoken, and how I put myself
in trouble, and how I have received my crown for doing
these! For I have descended to dwell amongst you in order
that you may ascend to dwell with me. And when I found that
your houses had no ceilings over them, I descended there
and dwelt amongst you, who were able to receive me.”
“Therefore, obey my words, my brothers, and try to
understand what the Great Light is. The Father does not lack
me, for the Father does not need a son or anything of this
world, but it is the son who needs the Father, this is reason
why I am going to Him. In the same way, the Father of the
366
Son is not in need of any one of you, but it is you, who are in
need of Him.”
“Cling to the Word and try to understand its Knowledge,
Love and Life. And you will come to know that no one is here
to persecute you; no one is here to oppress you, other then
you yourselves.”
“O you wretches! O you most unfortunates! O you
dissemblers of truth! O you falsifiers of knowledge! O you
sinners against spirit! How you still dare to listen, when you
must start to speak long time ago? And how you still dare to
sleep, when you must be awaken long time ago, in order that
the Kingdom of Heaven may receive you? Truly I say into
you, it is easier for the Holy One to sink into corruption, and
for a man of light to sink into darkness, than for you to reign
in the Kingdom, even not to reign, but merely to have
glimpse of it! I was moved by your tears and by your grief
and sorrow, but from now they will not affect me any more. O
you, who keep proclaiming to others that which is good,
being themselves outside of inheritance of the Father, weep
now and grieve for it is proper for you, since the Son is
ascending appropriately. Verily, I say unto you, would I been
sent to those, who would listened me properly, and would I
told them that much as I have spoken to you, I would never
have to come down to the earth again. Therefore, be
ashamed on account of these and consider how I am
departing from you. For I am going because I am not desire
any more to remain with you at the place where you are, in
the same manner as you not desired be with me at the place
where I am.
Now, follow me quickly. Therefore I say to you, for your
sake I have descended, you are beloved; you are those who
will become a cause of life for many. Ask the Father, pray to
Him often, and He will give to you what you have asked.
Blessed are those, who will see you with the Son, when he is
proclaimed among angels and glorified among saints, for the
367
Life is yours! Rejoice and be happy as the Children of God.
Keep His will in order that you may be saved. Take this
reproach from me and use it as means to save yourselves.
Also I will plead on your behalf to the Father, and he will
forgive you many of your faults.”
And when we heard these things, we became
overjoyed, for we have been depressed on account of what
he said earlier.
Now when he saw our rejoicing, he said: “Woe to those
who are in need of an advocate on account of their deeds!
And woe to those who are lacking of their own grace and
relay on the merit earned by others! And blessed are those
who able to answer without shame for themselves, and who
have earned their own grace by their own deeds. Why you
behave like strangers in your own city? Why are you become
troubled, when you exiled yourselves and departed from
your city on your own accord? Why you abandoned your
dwelling place of your own accord, leaving it ready for those,
who desire to occupy it? Woe to you, O exiles and fugitives,
for you will not run far and will be caught by your enemy!
Or perhaps you imagine that the Father is lover of
human weaknesses? Do you really think that He will be
persuaded by your murmuring? Or that He will listen one,
who will speak on behalf of you? Or that He may
compromise with those, who seek the favors, which they not
deserved?
For, Father knows both, the desire and that which
makes flesh to follow it. Because, it is not flesh which yearns
for the soul, but it is the soul which by its free will chooses
flesh. For without approval of the soul, the body unable to sin
on its own behalf, in the same way as without willing of the
soul, the Spirit is unable to save it. But, if the soul chooses to
be saved by putting end to its sins, the Spirit also will be
saved, and the body will become sinless. For, it is the spirit,
which is the Life for the soul, and it is its love for the body
368
which is its death, because by choosing flesh instead of spirit
the soul kills itself. Truly I say to you, the Father will not
forgive the sins of those, who sinned against their souls at
all, nor the wickedness of the flesh will be spared, for a
simple reason that none of those who are in flesh can be
saved from death. Do you imagine that many have found the
Kingdom of Heaven? Blessed is one, who saw himself as
fourth in the Heaven.”
When we heard these things, we became distressed
again. Now when he saw our distress, he said: “I say all
these to you so that you may know yourselves, by
yourselves. For, the Kingdom of Heaven is like an ear of
grain, which grows in a field. When it ripened, it scattered its
seeds around and by abundance it produced, it filled the field
with the ears of grain for another year. Therefore in order
that you may be complete within the Kingdom of God, you
also become zealous to produce from yourselves an ear of
life. As long as I am with you, listen to me and obey what I
telling to you. But when I will depart from you, keep
remembering me even more and try to understand me,
because I was with you without your actual knowing me.
Blessed are those, who came to know me within themselves,
for they found the Kingdom of God! But woe to those, who
have heard me and not believed in my word, for I am not, but
they themselves, who have condemned their souls! And
thrice-blessed are those who have not seen me, but who
believed in me, for the Kingdom of God is awaits them!”
“And now, once more I am trying to convince you. For I
am revealed you how to build the house, which is of great
value for you, since you may take eternal shelter into it; in
the same way it will be able to give support to the houses of
your neighbors, when theirs houses will be in danger of
falling. Truly I say to you, woe to those on whose behalf I
was sent down to this place! But blessed are those, who by
their own efforts ascended to the Father. And again I reprove
369
you. O You, who are still so much are, make yourselves like
those, who are not, in order that you may come to dwell with
Him, who is not. Let not the Kingdom of Heaven become
desolate amongst you. And become aware of the danger of
arousal arrogance on account of the light which illumines.
Rather, be to yourselves in the same manner, as I was for
you. For I have placed myself under the curses of many, in
order that you may be saved.”
And Peter answered to this: “Sometimes you urge us to
proceed to the Kingdom of Heaven, and other times you turn
us away, O Lord. Sometimes you persuade us and push us
to faith and promise of life, and other times you expel us
from the Kingdom of Heaven.”
And the Lord said: “I have encouraged you faith many
times, moreover, I have revealed myself to you in person, O
James, and yet you still do not know me. Now again, I see
you rejoicing many times, and yet, when you are so
overwhelmed with joy over promise of the Life, why are you
becoming glum so easy? Why you, who through faith and
knowledge already have received the Life, become
distressed so easily, when you testify about the Kingdom?
Don’t become dishearten by the rejection of unbelievers, but
rather rejoice with those, who will accept your promise. Truly
I say to you, the one who will receive life and believe in the
Kingdom will never leave it - not even if the Father desires to
banish him!”
“These things I shall say to you for the present. But now
time came for me to ascend to the place from which I have
come. It is you, who when I was eager to go, have driven me
out of the place of my rest, and instead of accompanying me
there, forced me remain amongst you. But from now, try to
observe the glory which awaits me there, and try to open
your hearts, so that you also may listening the hymns, which
await me up in the heaven. For by now, my time is over, and
I am obliged to take my place at the right hand of my Father.
370
Now, I have said my last words to you, and it is time to part
our ways. For a chariot of wind has taken me up, and from
now on, I shall strip myself of the body in order that I may
clothe myself. But now, listen attentively, ‘Blessed are those
who have preached the Son before he descended, in order
that, when I have come, I may ascend'. And thrice blessed
are those, who are before their coming into being, and who
were proclaimed to you by the Son, in order that you may
have a portion with them.”
When he said these things, he went away. And we knelt
down, I and Peter, and gave thanks, and sent our hearts up
to heaven. We heard with our ears and saw with our eyes
the sound of wars and trumpet call and great commotion.
And when we passed beyond that place, we sent out
minds up further. And we saw with our eyes and heard with
our ears hymns and angelic praises and angelic jubilation.
And heavenly majesties were hymning, and we ourselves
were jubilant.
After this, we also desired to send our spirits above to
the Majesty. And when we ascended, we were permitted
neither to see nor to hear anything. For the rest of the
disciples called to us and questioned us: “What is it that you
have heard from the Master?” And, “What has he said to
you?” And, “Where has he gone?”
And we answered them: “He has ascended.” And, “He
has given us a pledge and has promised us all life and
disclosed to us children, who are to come after us, since he
has bid us to love them, inasmuch as we will be saved for
their sake.”
And when they heard, they believed the revelation, but
became annoyed after learning about the generations to
come. Then I, not desiring to entice them to scandal, sent
each one of them to different places. And I myself went up to
Jerusalem, praying that I may obtain a portion with the
beloved, who are to be revealed.
371
And I pray that the beginning may come from you, for
thus I can be saved. Because they will be enlightened
through me, through my faith and through another's which is
better than mine, for I desire that mine become lesser.
Endeavor earnestly, therefore, to make yourself like them,
and pray that you may obtain a portion with them. For apart
from what I have recounted, the Savior did not disclose
revelation to us. For their sake we proclaim, indeed, a
portion with those for whom it was proclaimed, those whom
the Lord has made his children.
374
And Thomas answered, saying, “Lord, this is exactly
what I am asking you about, since I have understood that
you are one who is beneficial to all us, as you say.”
Again the Savior answered, “The things which I am
revealing to you, know them as ‘the Doctrine of Perfect’.
Therefore if you desire to become perfect, you shall observe
these things; if not, your name will be 'Ignorant', for it is
impossible for intelligence to dwell within a fool, and man
called intelligent would also be perfect in practice of his
wisdom. To the fool, however, good and bad are same, but
the wise man indeed, will find his nourishment from the
Truth, and “will be like tree planted by the streams of water,”
for it will guiding that which having wings, from rushing itself
upon the visible things, which are far from the Truth. For that
fire of lust, which guides ignorant, will give them only illusion
of the Truth, and will captivate them by its impermanent
beauty, and imprison them in its dark odor and sweetness of
its pleasures. And it will blind them and burn their souls with
insatiable lust and will become for them like a stake stuck in
their hearts, which they never would be able to remove. And
in the same way as through the bit attached to the mouth of
a horse, it will change their direction by its impulses and lead
them in accordance with its own desire. It has fettered them
by its chains and bound their limbs with the bitterness of the
bondage of lust for those visible things, which are subjected
to decay and change. Therefore, the bodies of those, who
always have been attracted downwards, after they were
killed by it, become assimilated in the manner similar to all
the beasts of the perishable realm.”
Thomas told, “It is obvious and has been said that
‘numerous are ranks of those, who did not recognize their
soul.'“
And the Savior answered, “Blessed is the wise man
who sought after the Truth, and when he found it, he rested
upon it forever and was unafraid of those, who wanted to
375
disturb him. On contrary, woe to that ignorant person, who
all his life was running after things, which were not his, and
who was willingly neglecting for them the only one thing,
which was his own. When he died, he has lost everything,
even his body, along with that one thing, which rightfully
belonged to him. What a devastating bankruptcy he has to
pass trough, for if he would prefer the Word while he was still
alive, he would never taste death.”
Thomas said, “Therefore, is it beneficial for us, O lord,
to rest with that which is our own?”
The Savior said, “Yes, of course, what else could be
beneficial for you, for all other things apparent to the sight of
men with time will be dissolved in their nature, even the
vessel of flesh itself will be dissolved. For when bodies of
those, who were not purified by the Holy Spirit, will became
nothing, their soul will find itself surrounded with visible
objects; things which it will be able to see, but will be unable
to touch or to grasp. And then it will be burnt in the fire,
which will arise from that which it sees, and will be tormented
in pain on account of its love for the things it believed and
formerly possessed, and so it would be gathered back to that
state, which is visible. Even those, who gained the sight of
not evident things, will perish in concerns for this life and the
scorching of its fire, if they will abolish their First Love. Only
a little while longer, and that which is visible will be
dissolved; then shapeless shades will emerge, and in the
midst of tombs they will dwell forever, upon corpses, in pain
arisen from the soul which is corrupted.”
Thomas said, “But what shall we say in the face of
these things? What shall we say to men, who are blinded in
such manner? Which doctrine should we preach to those,
who are happy in their ignorance, and who say, “We came to
do good and not to curse,” and yet claim, “It is because we
were begotten in flesh that we have sinned, for sin is natural
for the `flesh.”
376
The Savior said, “Your concern is true, and those, who
are of this kind are more like beasts then like humans, for
just as beasts devour one another, so also the men of this
kind devour each other. But by doing so, by their love to the
sweetness of the fire, by their rush to the works of
corruption, they deprived themselves from the Kingdom of
Heaven, and made themselves willful servants of the death.
They still want to fulfill the lust of their forefathers; the lust,
which never could be satisfied. As result of their evil works,
they will be thrown down to the abyss, and suffer torments
on the account of bitterness of their evil nature. And they will
be afflicted to such extent that it will make them rush
backwards, which they do not know where, and they will
withdrawn from the body not patiently, but with much
despair. But for now, they rejoice by both, by their madness
and by their derangement. They pursue this derangement
without realizing their madness, thinking themselves to be
wise. Because they mistaken their body for themselves, their
minds are always obsessed with thoughts about it and its
demands. Verily, it is their own fire, which will consume
them.”
Then Thomas said, “O Lord, but what about us, who
have to go amongst them? For I am most anxious about
them, for there are many of those, who try to fight us.”
In replay the Savior asked, “What is your own opinion?”
On what Judas, the one called Thomas said, “Amongst
two of us, it is you, O Lord, for whom it is proper to speak,
and it is me for whom it is appropriate to listen.”
The Savior replied, “Listen to what I am going to tell you
and believe in the Truth. That which sows, and that which
sown, both will be burned in fire and dissolved in water, and
will be hidden in the tombs of darkness. And after long time,
by the light that shines above, they will be shown the fruits of
the evil trees they themselves have planted; being punished,
being slain in the mouth of beasts and in the hands of men,
377
and being afflicted by the natural calamities such as rains
and storms.”
Thomas replied, “Of course, Lord, you have certainly
persuaded us, for we have realized in our hearts, and it
became obvious to us, that what you say is true, and your
words are sufficient to convince us. But the same words that
you have spoken to us appearing as ridiculous and
distasteful to the world, since its multitudes can’t understand
them. So please explain me, how we can preach it to them,
while we are not esteemed in the world?”
The Savior answered, “Truly I tell you, ‘those who will
listen your word and will turn their faces away, or scorn it, or
grin at these things, they will be handed over to the Ruler
above, who rules over all powers as their king, and He will
turn them around and cast them from the heaven where they
were, down to the depth of abyss, where they will be
imprisoned in a narrow dark place. Not only they will be
trapped there, unable to escape on account of the extreme
depth of Tartaros, but also the heavy bitterness of Hades
there will become steadfast for them, in the same way as
their scorn and envy were steadfast towards your preaching.
There they will be handed over to the Lord of Tartaros,
whose fire will purse them with fiery scourges cast as the
shower of sparks into their faces. If one of them tries to flee
westward, he finds the fire there. If he turns southward, he
finds the fire there as well. If he turns northward, even there
is no escape, for the fire already awaits him. Nor does could
he flee and be saved by the way towards the east, for the
same fire waits him there. And indeed, how it could be
possible for one, who did not find his way to salvation in the
days when he still was in the body, to find it in the Day of
Judgment of the dead?”
Then the Savior continued, “Woe to you, godless ones,
for there is no hope for those, who rely on things that will
never happen! Woe to you, who have placed all their hopes
378
in the flesh, the prison which is going to perish! How long will
you remain in the darkness of ignorance, and suppose that
the everlasting will also perish along with perishable? O you,
whose hopes are set upon this world and whose God is this
life, why are you corrupting your souls? Woe to you, who are
within the fire that burns in you, for it is insatiable. Woe to
you because of its wheel, which rotates in your minds! Woe
to you, who are within the grasp of its burning, for it will
devour your flesh outwardly, and corrupt your souls inwardly,
and prepare you for your companions! Woe to you captives,
for you are bound in caverns! You laugh! In mad laughter
you rejoice! You neither understood the reasons of your
perdition, nor you were able to reflect upon your
circumstances, nor have you understood that you dwell in
darkness and death! On contrary, you became intoxicated
with its fire and filled yourselves with its bitterness. Your
mind is disturbed on account of the burning within you, and
how are sweet to you the poison and the blows of the
enemies of your soul! The darkness appears to you like the
light, for you surrendered your freedom for slavery, you
darkened your hearts and surrendered your mind to the folly
thoughts, which like the smoke of the fire, which burns in
you! And the light within you became hidden in the clouds of
ignorance, and the garment that was placed upon you, you
mistaken for yourselves, and you were seized by the hope
that does not exists. And where are gone those to whom you
believed? Do not you know that you also will have to dwell
amongst those, who preceded and guided you? Woe to you,
who baptized your souls in the water of darkness! Woe to
you, who walked in accordance with your own whims!”
“Woe to you who dwell in the error on account of that
the light of the Sun, which looks down upon all and judges,
and enslaves its enemies, for all things are encircled by it.
You do not even notice the Moon, how by night and day it
looks down, looking at the bodies of your slaughters! Woe to
379
you, who love intimacy with womankind and polluted by the
intercourses with them! Woe to you, who are in the hold of
the powers of your body, for they will become reason of your
affliction! Woe to you, who subjected themselves to the evil
demons! Woe to you who are delighted in fascinating your
limbs with the fire of passion!
Who is there that will rain a refreshing stream on you to
extinguish the mass of the fire you are burning in? Who is
there that will cause the sun to shine upon you, to disperse
the darkness of your ignorance and to wash away the
darkness of water in which you have baptized yourselves?
The sun and the moon give their fragrance to you together
with the spirit and the air and the water and the earth. If the
sun does not shine upon all these bodies, they will wither
and perish just like weeds or grass.
Verily your future is like that of weeds growing side by
side with a grapevine; the same sun shines on both of them
equally, and in the beginning, the weeds try to prevail, for
they hope to overshadow the grapevine and choke it off. But
woe to the weeds, when the grapevine grows up, for it
overshadows with its leaves those weeds along with all the
other brush growing alongside, and spreads itself above
them and flourishes; and it alone inherits the land in which it
grows; and in every place it has shaded, it dominates. And
when it becomes fully grown up, it overtakes all the land and
becomes plentiful for its master, and this pleases him even
more, for otherwise he would have suffered great pains on
account of uprooting those weeds. But it is the grapevine
alone, which removed them and choked them, and they died
and became the soil.”
Then Jesus continued and said, “Woe to you, who did
not welcome the Doctrine, and rejected those, who labored
at its preaching. And woe to you, who rushed themselves
against them, for the Father will send many more of them
380
down to you, so that you may kill them daily in order that
they may rise from death.
Blessed are those, who knew where stumbling blocks
would intercept their way, for they fled things, which were
alien to them. And blessed are those, who despised the
world, and not became entangled in it, on account of their
love for their Lord. Blessed are those, who weep and who
oppressed by those, who are without hope, for it is they, and
not second, who will be released from all kinds of oppression
and bondage.
Watch and pray that you will not be caught in the flesh,
but rather that you may come forth from its bondage and the
bitterness of this life. And as you pray, you will find rest for
your soul, and you will leave behind the suffering and
disgrace, for when you will come out from the sufferings and
passions of the body, you will receive rest from the Good
One, and you will reign with the King. And from now on, you
are joined with Him, and He is with you, for ever and ever,
Amen!”
The end of the Book of Thomas Contender, ‘Writing to
the Perfect’; remember me also, my brothers, in your
prayers, and may saints and those, who are from the Spirit,
find their peace.
384
The Lord said, “The fire of the spirit became enkindled
because of both. On this account, the truth became
established, and the true mind came into existence within
them both. If someone will be able to set his soul high up,
then he will be exalted.”
And Matthew asked him, “The one who took place in
the Truth, is it he who rules?”
The Lord said, “There is stronger and more intelligent
than you, to follow you and all the works of your hearts. For
just as your hearts will be, so will be the means to overcome
the powers above, as well as those below you. Verily I say
into you, let him who possesses power renounce it and
repent. And let him, who repented seek and find, and
rejoice.”
Judas said, “Behold! I see that all things exist in the
world like the signs of Zodiac upon sky. On which account
did they happen so?”
The Lord said, “When the Father established the world,
he separated water from it, and his Word came forth from
Him, and it inhabited many bodies. In the beginning its path
was higher than the path of planets in the heaven, higher
then the stars, which surround the earth. It started living in
the bodies formed from collected water, but at first it was
separate from them. Around the water, a great fire encircled
them like a wall. With passing time many had become
separated from what was inside them and forget from where
they came. In contrary, they loved that kind of enjoyment
which their watery bodies were providing them, and the
sweetness of that fire, and with time they became
imprisoned in them. When the world was thus established,
he looked at man, and said to him, 'Go, and bear from
yourself, in order that he will be in want from generation to
generation, and from age to age.' Then it cast forth from
itself the fountains of milk and the fountains of honey, and oil
and wine and good fruits, and sweet flavor and good roots,
385
in order that it might not be deficient from generation to
generation, and from age to age.
And that Word, from which all started, it is still stands
hidden above, eternal and beyond of all descriptions. And
outside them, there was a great light, powerful and
resembling the Light of Life, for it ruler rules over all the
regions of above and below. It was taken from the fire in the
middle and scattered itself in the regions above and below it.
All the works are depend on the Seven Governors, and it is
they who took over the heaven above and the earth below. It
is on them that all works depend.”
And when Judas heard these things, he bowed down,
and he prayed, and he offered praise to the Lord.
Mary hailed her brothers, saying, “Where are you going
to keep all these things about which you ask the son of the
Holy One?”
The Lord said to her, “Sister, no one will be able to
inquire about these things excluding someone, who has
place in his heart to keep them. They must to know from
where they came forth, to be able to enter the Kingdom, so
that they might not hold back to this impoverished world.”
Matthew said, “Lord, I want to see that Place of Life,
where there is no wickedness, but rather, where there is
pure light!”
The Lord said, “Brother Matthew, you will not be able to
see it as long as you are carrying your flesh around.”
Matthew said, “Lord, even if I will not be able to see it,
let me know it!”
The Lord said, “Everyone who has known himself, has
seen this light in everything he do, and those who saw it,
came to it by their goodness.”
Judas responded, saying, “Tell me, Lord, how it is that
Word which shakes the earth moves.”
The Lord picked up a stone and said, “What am I
holding in my hand?”
386
He said, “It is a stone.”
Jesus said to them, “That which supports the earth is
that which supports the heaven. When the Word comes forth
from the Greatness, it will come on what supports the
heaven and the earth, for the earth does not move. Would it
move, it would fall. But it neither moves nor falls, in order
that the First Word may not fail. For it was that which
established the world and inhabited it, and became
intoxicated by inhaling its fragrance. Verily, that which does
not move, I am giving to the sons of men, for you are
descendants from that place. In the hearts of those, who
speak out of joy and truth, it exists. Even if it comes among
men, from the body of the Father, and is not received, still it
will return to its place.
The one, who does not know the Work of Perfection,
knows nothing, for if one will be unable to stand in the
darkness, he will not be able to see the light. If one does not
understand how the fire came into existence, he will burn in
it, being unable to extinguish it without understanding
reasons causing it. If one does not understand water first, he
knows nothing, for what then use for him to be baptized in it?
If one does not understand how blowing of wind came into
existence, he will be blown away with it. If one does not
understand how body, which he wears, came into existence,
he will perish along with it. And how it will be possible for
one, who does not know the Son first, to know the Father?
Verily, all things will remain obscure for one, who will not
understand their roots first. And one, who will not know the
root of all wickedness, how he will be able to become
separated from it? Whoever will not understand first, how he
came, will not understand also, how he will go, and one who
thinks that he of this world, first will be humiliated by it, and
then will perish in it.”
Then Jesus took Judas, Matthew and Mary to the edge
of heaven and earth. He was placing his hand upon them,
387
one by one and they hoped that they might see a vision. This
was what Judas saw. When he raised his eyes he saw an
exceedingly high place, and he saw the place of the abyss
below. Judas said to Matthew, “Brother, who will be able to
climb up to such a height or down to the bottom of the
abyss? For there is a tremendous fire there, and something
very fearful!”
At that moment, a Word came forth from it. As it stood
there, he saw how it has come down. Then he said to it,
“Why have you descended down?”
And the Son of Man greeted them back and said to
them, “The seed of the power was deficient, and it went
down to the abyss of the earth. But the Greatness from
above remembered it, and He sent His Word to it. It brought
it up into His presence, so that the First Word might not fail.”
Then his disciples were amazed to see illustration of all
the things he had said them before, and they believed. And
they concluded that it is useless to regard wickedness of the
world.
Then he said to his disciples, “Have I not told you that
like a visible voice and a flash of lightning will the good be
taken up to the light?”
Then all his disciples offered him praise and said, “Lord,
before you appeared here, who was it who offered you
praise? For all praises exist on your account. Or who is it
who will bless you? For all blessing derives from you.”
As they stood there, he saw two spirits bringing a single
soul with them in a great flash of lightning. And the Word
came forth from the Son of Man, saying, “Give them their
garment!” And the small one became like the big one. They
were in those who received them, like each in other. Then
the disciples bowed down and prayed, and offered praise to
the Lord.
Mary said, “Now I see that evil separated them from the
first state in each other.
388
The Lord said, “The moment when you see them to
become huge, they will astonish you, but when you will see
the Eternal Existent that is the great vision.”
They all said to him, “Tell us about it!”
He said to them, “How do you wish to see it, as the
transitory vision I revealed to you, or as the eternal vision of
your own?”
He went on and said, “Strive to seek out and save that
which can follow you, and when you are still in midst of your
journey, try to speak as if you speak from midst of it, so that
everything within and outside you might be in harmony with
you. For truly I say to you, the Living God is in you and you
are in Him.”
Judas said, “Truly, I want Life.”
The Lord said to him, “Verily, the Living and abundant
subjected to the rule of the Governors in this world of
deficiency.”
Judas said, “Who are they?”
The Lord said to him, “Governors of all the works which
are still remand, it is they after whom you have to follow.”
Judas said, “Behold! The Governors dwell above us, so
it is they who rule over us!”
The Lord said, “But it is you, who destined to rule over
them! But when you rid yourselves of jealousy, then you will
clothe yourselves in light and enter the bridal chamber.”
Judas said, “How will our garments be brought to us?”
The Lord said, “There are some, who will receive you
and provide for you, and there are some who will give you
your garments, for who will be able to reach the Place of
reward on his own? The garments of life were given to
human, so that they may know the path by which they will
leave. And it is difficult even for me to reach there!”
Mary said, “Thus with respect to 'the wickedness of
each day,' and 'the laborer is worthy of his food,' and 'the
389
disciple resembles his teacher.'“ She uttered this as a
woman who had understood completely.
The disciples said to him, “What is the fullness, and
what the definition of deficiency is?”
He said to them, “You came from the fullness, and you
dwell in the place where the deficiency is. And lo! His light
has poured down upon me!”
Matthew said, “Tell me, Lord, how the dead die, and
how the living live.”
The Lord said, “You asking me about things, which no
eye has seen, nor have I heard such a question from any
one, except you. But I say to you that when that which is
alive in man is taken away from him, that will be called 'the
death of the dead'. And when that, which is alive raises itself
up and separates itself from that which is dead, that will be
called ‘the life of the living’.”
Judas said, “For the sake of truth, why then God not
created all to be immortal from the beginning?”
The Lord said, “Whatever is born of the Truth does not
die, but whatever is born of woman have to perish.”
Mary said, “Tell me, Lord, why I have come to this place
to profit or to forfeit.”
The Lord said, “It is upon you to make clear the
abundance of the revealer!”
Mary said to him, “Lord, is there then a place which is
devoid or lacking truth?”
The Lord said, “The place where I am not!”
Mary said, “Lord, you are fearful and wonderful, for
those who do not know you.”
Matthew said, “Why do we not rest at once?” The Lord
said, “Do you really ready to lay down these burdens? Truly I
tell you, the moment you will do this, you will be in the
Kingdom of God.”
Matthew said, “How does it that the small join itself to
the big?”
390
The Lord said, “When you abandon the works which will
not be able to follow you, then you will find the place of rest
for your soul.”
Mary said, “I want to understand all things, just as they
are!”
The Lord said, “Verily, this is the only wealth of those,
who seek out the Life, for the wealth of this world is
deceiving, and its gold and its silver are misleading.”
His disciples said to him, “What should we do to ensure
that our work will be perfect?”
The Lord said to them, “Be ready in face of everything.
Blessed is the man, who has found peace in the contest of
his eyes. Neither did he kill, nor was he killed, but he came
forth victorious.”
Judas said, “Tell me, Lord, what the beginning of the
Path is.”
He said, “Love and goodness. For, if one of these
existed among the Governors, wickedness would never have
come into existence.”
Matthew said, “Lord, you have spoken about the end of
everything without concern.”
The Lord said, “For now, you have understood by mind
all things I have told to you, and you have accepted them on
faith. But they will become yours only if you will know them
within yourselves by yourselves. If it is not so, then they are
still not yours.”
They said to him, “What is the place to which we are
going?”
The Lord said, “Verily, you stand in the place you are
trying to reach!”
Mary said, “Everything established thus is seen.”
The Lord said, “I have already told you that the one who
sees is the one who reveals.”
391
Judas said to Matthew, “We want to understand the sort
of garments we to be clothed with, when we depart after the
decay of the flesh.”
The Lord said, “The greatest of this world possess
garments granted only for a time, which will not last for long.
But you, as Children of Truth, will not be clothed with such
transitory garments. Verily I say into you, you will become
blessed rather when you will strip yourselves, for it is no
great thing which is outside, but that seed which is inside of
it.”
Mary said, “Of what sort is that seed? Is it something
from the heaven or is it something from the earth?”
The Lord said, “When the Father established the world
for Himself, He left much over to the Mother of the All.
Therefore, He speaks and She does.”
Judas said, “You have told us all these out of the Mind
of Truth. Please tell us, how should we worship?”
The Lord said, “Worship in the place where there is no
woman.”
Matthew said, “'Worship in the place where there is no
woman,' he tells us, which means 'Stay away from the
company of woman,' not because that woman are bad, but
because nearness to them will prevent us to be reborn from
the Holy Spirit.”
Judas said to Matthew, “The presence of womanhood
will dislocate the Word from its place and the Governors
would prevail. But if we distant themselves from female, then
we will be ready to face them.”
The Lord said, “You are right. For how they will be able
to see you, when they are unable to see that which will
receive you? Now consider! The Word of Truth is
descending forth from the Father to the abyss, in silence, full
of the flashes of lightning, giving birth to its children. Do the
Governors capable to understand or to overpower it? And it
is you, who are more aware of this path, then any angel or
392
authority, who ever have been before you. And it is you, who
will go by the path revealed to you, the path which belongs
to the Father and the Son, which are One. Even if the
Governors try their best, they will not be able to reach there.
But listen, I tell you that even for me it is difficult to reach it!”
Mary said to the Lord, “It will be accomplished only
when ‘the work by which all works are dissolved’ will be
perfected?”
The Lord said, “You are correct, for you have
understood by now that if I will discontinue all my works I will
rest at His place.”
Judas said, “How spirit becomes apparent?” The Lord
said, “How sword becomes apparent?”
Judas said, “How the light becomes apparent?” The
Lord said, “Stay in it.”
Judas said, “Who forgives the works of the world, and
to whom they are forgiven.”
The Lord said, “Who forgives and to whom forgiven? It
is of those, who have understood well the only one work- to
do well the will of the Father. And as for you, strive to rid
yourselves of anger and jealousy, and strip yourselves of
your pride and filling of self importance, and put all your
efforts not to fade astray from the path which was revealed
to you. And I have told all these to you, in attempt to prevent
you from leading your souls and spirits into error.”
And again disciples asked Jesus, “O, Lord, already we
are ashamed that we asked you so many questions and
burdened you. And he answered them: I know that you are
questioning me in good faith and with your whole hearts;
therefore I rejoice over your questions, and verily I say unto
you: I rejoice, and my Father rejoice along with me because
of yours questions; and your importunity is delight for me,
and for you it gives life.”
And when he said this to us, they were glad that they
have questioned him, and they said to him: “O Lord, you
393
have shown mercy on us in all things, and Life was revealed
to us by you. Will you now declare to us that which we
should ask from you, but which we didn’t ask?” Then he
asked them: “Is it flesh that passes away, or is it spirit?”
Disciples said to him, “It is flesh that passes away.”
Then he said to them, “That which has fallen shall rise again,
and that which was lost will be found, and that which was
weak will recover, so that in these things that created thus,
the glory of my Father may be revealed. As He has done for
me, so will I do for all those that believe in me.”
396
Came in the flesh, but left in the Spirit’
“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the
Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. For many
deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t
confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.”
“Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the
unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to
death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Christ suffered
for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind;
for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin;
that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the
flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”
As Saul traveled to Damascus, suddenly a light from
the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a
voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He said, “Who are you, Lord?”
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
Drusiana has said, “The Lord appeared to me in the
tomb in the likeness of John, as a youth.” Those around,
who heard these, became perplexed, for they were not
mature in their faith yet, and didn’t know how to react on
such statement.
John bearing this patiently, has said, “Brothers and
sisters, there is nothing strange or unusual in your
perception of the lord, because we also, whom He has
chosen to be His apostles, were tried in many ways. I
myself, neither able to express to you nor to write the things
which I both saw and heard, but now it is necessary that I
should try to impart some of them for your hearing. And if
you will be able to become hearers, I will pass on to you
397
those things in according with your ability to contain them, so
that glory of Him, which was and is, both now and forever,
could be revealed to you.
After choosing brothers Peter and Andrew, Lord has
come to me and James my brother, saying: “I need both of
you, come to me.” And my brother hearing that, said, “John,
what this child that is upon the sea-shore and called us could
have?” And I said, “What a child? And he said to me again,
“That which called us.” And I answered, “Because of our
long watch at sea, you sight is not all right, my brother
James, don’t you see the man that stands there, comely and
fair and of a cheerful countenance?” But he said to me, “Him
I see not, brother; but let us go forth and we will see why he
is calling us.”
And so when we had brought the ship to land, we saw
him helping us to settle the ship; and when we departed from
that place, willing to follow him, again he was seen by me as
rather bald, but with beard thick and flowing, but to James as
a youth whose beard was newly come. Therefore, both of us
were perplexed, about what that which we have seen could
mean. And after that, as we followed him, both of us became
even more perplexed concerning this matter.
Yet, later I have noticed even more wonderful thing, for
I would try to see him blinking, and I never at any time saw
his eyes closed, but only open. Sometimes he would appear
to me as an ordinary uncomely man, and after some time as
one who is reaching to heaven. Also there was in him
another marvel, when I sat at meat I would lean upon his
breast; and sometimes his breast was felt of me to be
smooth and tender, and sometimes hard like stone, so that I
was perplexed and said in myself, “Why is this appearing to
me so?”
And at another time he has taken us with him, me,
James and Peter, on the mountain where he wanted to pray,
and we saw in him a light, such that it is not possible to
398
express or to describe by means of human speech what it
was alike. Another time in the same manner he brought
three of us on the mountain, saying, “You also accompany
me.” And we went again, and we were watching him praying
from some distance. Because he loved me, I therefore,
moved close to him softly, trying to be quite, so that he could
not notice me, and stood behind him looking upon him. And I
saw that he was not clad with garments, but was appearing
as naked, and not in any wise as a man, for his feet were
whiter than snow, so that the earth there was lightened up by
light coming out of them, and his head touched the heaven.
Seeing this I became afraid and cried out, and he, turning
around, appeared as a man of small stature, and caught
hold on my beard, pulled it and said to me, “John, be not
faithless and curious, but become believing and faithful.” And
I said to him, “But what have I done, O Lord?” And I tell you,
brothers, I suffered so great pain in that place, when he took
hold on my beard, and that pain stayed with me for thirty
days, so that I said to him, “O Lord, if your friendly twitch has
given me so great pain, then what would be happened if you
has given me a buffet? And he said to me, “Let it be yours,
from now on, ‘do not tempt Him that could not be tempted.’”
Peter and James were annoyed, seeing me speaking
with the Lord, and called me, so that I should leave Him
alone and come to them. And I went, and they both said to
me, “He that was speaking with the Lord upon the top of the
mountain, who was he, for we heard both of them
speaking?” And I, having in mind his great grace, and his
unity which has many faces, and his wisdom which without
ceasing looks upon us, said, “That you can learn by inquiring
from him.”
Again, once when all of disciples were at Gennesaret
sleeping in one house, I watched from beneath of my mantle
what he will do; and first I heard him say, “O John, you go to
sleep.” And after some time, I feigning to sleep saw another
399
like him whom I heard to say to my Lord, “Jesus, they whom
you have chosen, they believe not on you yet?” And my Lord
answered to him, “You have said well, for they are men.”
Another glory I also will tell you, brothers, ‘Sometimes
when I would lay hold on him, I met with a material and solid
body, and at other times, again, when I felt him, the
substance was immaterial and as if it existed not at all. And if
at any time he was bidden by some one of the Pharisees
and went to the bidding, we went with him, and there was set
before each one of us a loaf by them that had bidden us, and
with us he also received one; and his own he would bless
and part it among us: and of that little every one was filled,
and our own loaves were saved whole, so that they which
bade him were amazed.
And many times when I walked with him, I desired to
see the imprint of his foot, whether it appeared on the earth;
for I saw him as he was lifting himself up from the earth, and
I never saw it. All these things I speak to you, brothers, for
the encouragement of your faith in him, for at the present we
must keep silence concerning his mighty and wonderful
works, because they are unspeakable and can be neither
uttered nor heard at all’.
Now, before Savior was taken by those who were under
rule of the lawless serpent, he gathered all of us together
and said, “Before I am delivered to them, let us sing a hymn
to the Father, and so let us proceed forth to that which
awaits us.” He bade us therefore form a ring, by holding
each others hands, and himself standing in the midst he
said, “Answer Amen to me.” He began, then, to sing a hymn,
“Glory be to you, O Father!
And we, going around in a ring, answered him, “Amen!”
“Glory be to you, O Word!
Glory be to you, O Grace! Amen!
Glory be to you, O Spirit!
Glory be to you, O Holy One!
400
Glory be to your Glory. Amen!
We praise you, O Father; we give thanks to you, O
Light, where darkness dwells not. Amen!
Now whereas we give thanks, I say:
I would be saved, and I would save. Amen!
I would be loosed, and I would loose. Amen!
I would be wounded, and I would wound. Amen!
I would be born, and I would bear. Amen!
I would eat, and I would be eaten. Amen!
I would hear, and I would be heard. Amen!
I would be thought, being wholly thought. Amen!
I would be washed, and I would wash. Amen!
Grace dances, I would pipe; dance you all. Amen!
I would mourn, lament you all. Amen!
The Number Eight sings praise with us. Amen!
The Number Twelve dances on high with us. Amen!
The Whole on high participate in our dancing. Amen!
Who so dances not, knows not what comes to pass.
Amen!
I would flee, and I would stay. Amen!
I would adorn, and I would be adorned. Amen!
I would be united, and I would unite. Amen!
A house I have not, and yet I have houses. Amen!
A place I have not, and yet I have places. Amen!
A temple I have not, and yet I have temples. Amen!
I am a lamp to you that regard me. Amen!
I am a mirror to you that perceives me. Amen!
I am a door to you that knocks at me. Amen!
I am a way to you a traveler by the Way.
Now you respond to my dancing. Observe yourself into
me who speak and me in yourself. Seeing what I do, keep
silence about my mysteries. You that dance, perceive what I
do, for yours is this passion of the manhood, which I am
about to suffer. For you could not at all have understanding
about what you suffer, if I had not been sent to you, as the
401
Word of the Father. You that have seen what I suffer saw me
as suffering, and seeing it you did not put up with me, but
were wholly moved, moved to become wise; have me as a
bed, take a rest upon me.
Who I am, you will come to know after I will depart, for
what now I am appearing to be, that I am not. But, you shall
see me by yourselves when you will come to me. If you have
learned what causes suffering, then you will be able not to
suffer. If you will come to know time, you also will be able to
learn what timelessness means. Therefore learn how to
suffer, so that you may go beyond of it. What you know not, I
myself will teach you, for your God I am, not the God of the
traitor. I will always keep my tune with the holy souls; know
the Word of wisdom in me.
Again say with me, ‘Glory be to you, the Father; glory to
you, the Word; glory to you, the Holy Spirit. And if you will
come to know what I am in truth, you will know that the world
was deceived by my bodily appearance, not recognizing the
Word in me, but I myself was no small amount deceived. I
have leaped, but do you understand the Whole, and having
understood it, say, ‘O Father, glory be to you.’ Amen!’”
“And so my beloved, after danced with us, the Lord
went forth. And we as men gone astray or dazed with sleep
fled this way and that. Then, when I saw him suffer, I was
unable to withstand the seen of it, but fled unto the Mount of
Olives, weeping at that which had occurred in front of my
eyes. And when he was crucified on the Friday, at the sixth
hour of the day, darkness came upon all the earth.”
The Cross
405
and to Drusiana, because he is the God of them that are
shut upbringing us help by his own compassion.
Therefore, I hope that you also persuaded, beloved,
that it is not a man to whom I preach you to worship, but God
unchangeable, God invincible, God higher than all authority
and all powers, and elder and mightier than all angels and
creatures that are named, and all existence. If then you
abide in Him, and build yourselves up in him, you will
possess your soul indestructible.”
406
Straightway, while I was contemplating these things,
behold, the heavens opened and the whole creation which is
below heaven shone, and the world was shaken. I was
afraid, and behold I saw in the light a youth who stood by
me. While I looked at him, he became like an old man. And
he changed his likeness (again), becoming like a servant.
There was not a plurality before me, but there was a likeness
with multiple forms in the light, and the likenesses appeared
through each other, and the likeness had three forms.
He said to me, “John, John, why do you doubt, or why
are you afraid? You are not unfamiliar with this image, are
you? That is, do not be timid! I am the one who is with you
always. I am the Father, I am the Mother, I am the Son. I am
the undefiled and incorruptible One. Now I have come to
teach you what is and what was and what will come to pass,
that you may know the things which are not revealed and
those which are revealed, and to teach you concerning the
unwavering race of the perfect Man. Now, therefore, lift up
your face, that you may receive the things that I shall teach
you today, and may tell them to your fellow spirits who are
from the unwavering race of the perfect Man.”
And I asked to know it, and he said to me, “The God is
an authority with nothing above it. It is he who exists as God
and Father of everything, the invisible One who is above
everything, who exists as incorruption, which is in the pure
light into which no eye can look.”
“He is the invisible Spirit, of whom it is not right to think
of Him as a god, or something similar, for He is more than a
god, since there is nothing above him, for no one is lord over
Him. He does not exist in something inferior to him, since
everything exists in him, for it is he who establishes himself.
He is eternal, and since he does not need anything, he
is immaculate perfection. He did not lack anything, that he
might be completed by it; rather he is always completely
perfect in light. He is illimitable, since there is no one prior to
407
him to set limits to him. He is unsearchable, since there
exists no one prior to him to examine him. He is
immeasurable, since there was no one prior to him to
measure him. He is invisible, since no one saw him. He is
eternal, since he exists eternally. He is ineffable, since no
one was able to comprehend him to speak about him. He is
unnamable, since there is no one prior to him to give him a
name.”
“He is immeasurable light, which is pure, holy and
immaculate. He is ineffable, being perfect in incorruptibility.
He is not in perfection, nor in blessedness, nor in divinity, but
he is far superior. He is not corporeal nor is he incorporeal.
He is neither large nor is he small. There is no way to say,
'What is his quantity?' or, 'What is his quality?', for no one
can know him. He is not someone to be counted among
beings, rather he is far superior. Even superior is not proper
word for Him, for his essence neither partakes of creation
nor in time, being preceding to those who partake in
creation. Time was not apportioned to him, since he does
not receive anything from another, for it would be received
on loan. He who precedes someone does not lack, that he
may receive from him, for rather, it is the latter that looks
expectantly at him in his light.”
“For the perfection is majestic. He is pure,
immeasurable mind. He is non-existence bringing forth
existence. He is Life-giving life. He is a blessedness-bringing
forth ‘Blessed One’. He is knowledge-giving knowledge. He
is goodness-giving goodness. He is mercy and redemption-
giving mercy. He is Grace-giving grace, not because he
possesses it, but because he gives the immeasurable,
incomprehensible light.”
“With which words can I express His majesty? How am
I to speak with you about him? His realm is indestructible, at
rest and existing in silence, reposing and being prior to
everything, for he is the head of existence, and it is he who
408
gives strength to all in his goodness. For we know not the
ineffable things, and we do not understand what is
immeasurable, except for him who came forth from him,
named the Father. It is he who told it to us alone, for it is he
who looks at himself in his light which surrounds him, namely
the spring of the Water of Life. And it is he who gives to all
the existence and in every way, and who gazes upon his
image which he sees in the spring of the Spirit. It is he who
puts his desire in his water-light which is in the spring of the
pure light-water which surrounds him.”
“And his thought performed a deed and she came forth,
namely ‘she who had appeared before him in the shine of his
light’. This is the First Power which was before all of them,
which came forth from his mind, She is the forethought of the
All - her light shines like his light - the Perfect Power which is
the image of the invisible, virginal Spirit who is perfect. The
First Power, the Glory of the Firstborn, the Perfect Glory of
the creation, the Glory of the Revelation, she glorified the
virginal Spirit and it was she who praised him, because
thanks to him she had come forth. And the invisible one
gave to him a spiritual, invincible Power. And he spoke and
glorified and praised the invisible Spirit, saying, 'It is for your
sake that everything has come into being and everything will
return to you. I shall praise and glorify you and the Self-
begotten and the Word, and the three as one: the Father, the
Mother, and the Son, the Perfect Power.’”
409
PART FOUR: THE GREAT MOTHER
To the rulers
Panaretos Sophia
“Now what Wisdom is, and what was Her origin, I will
declare. I will not hide from you the mysteries of God, but will
seek Her out from the beginning of Her birth, and bring the
knowledge of Her to light, and will not pass over the truth.
Neither will I go with consuming envy, for such a man shall
not be partaker of Wisdom. Now, the multitude of the wise is
the welfare of the whole world and a wise king is the savior
of his people. Receive therefore instruction by my words,
and it shall be profitable to you.”
“I myself also a mortal man, like all others, and of the
race of him, that was first made of the earth. In the womb of
my mother I was fashioned to be flesh, in the time of nine
413
months I was compacted in blood, of the seed of man, and
the pleasure of sleep concurring. And being born I breathed
the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is alike for all,
and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others
who come in this world do. I was nursed in swaddling
clothes, and with great cares, for none of the kings had any
other beginning of birth. For all men have same entrance
into life, and the same going out.
Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given to
me; and I called upon God, and the Holy Spirit of Wisdom
came on me. And I preferred Her alone instead of all the
kingdoms of the world, and their glory, for all riches of this
world is nothing in comparison to Her. Neither I could
compare Her with any of precious stones: and all gold of this
world in comparison with Her, is as a little sand, and silver in
comparing with Her appears as a dirt. I loved Her above my
own health and beauty, and chose to have Her instead of
shining of the world, for Her light cannot be put out.”
415
Glory of the Great Mother
416
Moreover by the means of Her I shall have immortality
and shall leave behind me an everlasting memory to them
that come after me. I shall set the people in order, and
nations shall be subject to me. Terrible kings hearing shall
be afraid of me; among the multitude I shall be found good,
and valiant in war.
When I go into my house, I shall repose myself with
Her, for Her conversation has no bitterness, nor Her
company any tediousness, but joy and gladness. Thinking
these things with myself, and pondering them in my heart,
that to be allied to Wisdom is immortality,
And that there is great delight in Her friendship, and
inexhaustible riches in the works of Her hands, and in the
exercise of conference with Her, Wisdom, and glory in the
communication of Her words: I went about seeking, that I
might take Her to myself.
And I was a witty child and had received a good soul.
And whereas I was more good, I came to a body
undefiled. And as I knew that I could not otherwise be
continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of
Wisdom, to know whose gift it was: I went to the Lord, and
besought him, and said with my whole heart:
418
“And where can wisdom be found? Where does
understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it
cannot be found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is
not in me’; the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be
bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in
silver. Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it
be had for jewels of gold. Coral and jasper are not worthy of
mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Where then does wisdom come from? Where does
understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every
living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air.
Destruction and Death say, ‘Only a rumor of it has reached
our ears.’ God understands the way to it and he alone knows
where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees
everything under the heavens. When he established the
force of the wind and measured out the waters, when he
made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm,
then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it
and tested it. And he said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord—that
is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’”
419
who made us divine through You knowledge, while we still
were in our bodies.”
“The thanksgiving of those, who came to know You is
the one thing: that they may always stay in the knowledge of
You. O Light of Wisdom, O Life of Life, you were revealed to
us. O Womb of every creature, O Womb pregnant with the
nature of the Father, we came to know You. We have
worshiped Your goodness as Eternal permanence of the
begetting the Father, there is one petition that we dare to ask
from you: let us always stay firm in the light of being with
you. And there is one protection that we needed: protect us
from slipping in that kind of life, which is devoid of you.”
And when they ended their prayer, they embraced each
other and went to eat their holy food, which has no blood in
it.
“A cup of milk was offered to me, and I drank it in the
sweetness of the delight of the Lord. The Son is the cup, and
He who was milked is the Father; and the Holy Spirit is She
who milked Him, because His breasts were full, and it was
necessary for Him that His milk should be sufficiently
released. And the Holy Spirit opened Her bosom and
mingled milk from the two breasts of the Father; and She
gave the mixture to the world without their knowing; and they
who receive in its fullness’ are the ones on the right hand.
The Spirit opened the womb of the Virgin and She
received conception and brought forth; and the Virgin
became a mother with many mercies. And she travailed and
brought forth a Son, without incurring pain. And because she
was not sufficiently prepared, and she had not sought a
midwife (for He brought her to bear) she brought forth, as if
she was a man, of her own will; And She brought Him forth
openly, and acquired Him with great dignity, and loved Him
in His swaddling clothes and guarded Him kindly, and
showed Him in Majesty. Hallelujah!”
420
PART FIVE: THE END OF TIME
425
Return of the king
426
many of those in whom I can trust. From now I will entrust
two cities in your care. Rejoice and enter into the joy of your
lord.’
“He also who had received the one talent came and
said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping
where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not
scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid given by you in
the earth. Therefore, you have back what is yours.’
“But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful
servant. If you knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and
gather where I didn’t scatter, why then you didn’t deposited
my money with the bankers, so that at my return I could
receive back my own with interest? Whoever can be trusted
with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is
dishonest in small things also will be dishonest in big
matters. Take away therefore the talent from him and give it
to the one who has the ten talents, and threw this worthless
person out from my presence, for I don’t want to see him any
more.
I tell you the truth, ‘Everyone who has earned will be
given even more, but from him, who didn’t handle properly
what was entrusted to him, even that small which he has will
be taken away.’ Then he called his guards and ordered
them, “As for those who were conspiring against me, bind
their hands and legs and throw them into outer darkness, for
eternal punishment which they deserved.”
429
the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.
There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”
430
“They shall go forth, and look on the dead bodies of the
men who have transgressed against me: for their worm shall
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they will be
loathsome to all mankind.”
“In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and
bulwarks. Open the gates that the righteous nation may
enter: the one which keeps faith. You will keep whoever’s
mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.
Trust in Yahweh forever; for in the Lord, Yahweh, is an
everlasting Rock, for he has brought down those who dwell
on high, the lofty city.
435
He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He
brings it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down; Even
the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.” The way of
the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of
the righteous level. Yes, in the way of your judgments,
Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your Name and your
renown are the desire of our soul. With my soul have I
desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I
seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Let
favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn
righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal
wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh’s majesty.
Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but
they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed.
Yes, fire will consume your adversaries. Yahweh, you will
ordain peace for us, for you have also worked all our works
for us. Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had
dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of
your name.
The dead shall not live. The deceased shall not rise.
Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused
all memory of them to perish. You have increased the nation,
O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified!
You have enlarged all the borders of the land. Yahweh, in
trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer
when your chastening was on them.
Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of
her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we
have been before you, Yahweh. We have been with child.
We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind.
We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither
have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Your dead shall live.
My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell
436
in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the
earth will cast forth the dead.
Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your
doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the
indignation is past. For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of
his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their
iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no
longer cover her slain.”
“In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong
sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and
leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the Dragon that
is in the sea.
In that day, sing to her, “A pleasant vineyard! I,
Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest
anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day. Wrath is not in
me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I
would march on them and I would burn them together. Or
else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make
peace with me. Let him make peace with me.
In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will
blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with
fruit. Has he struck them as he struck those who struck
them? Or are they killed like those who killed them were
killed? In measure, when you send them away, you contend
with them. He has removed them with his rough blast in the
day of the east wind. Therefore, by this the iniquity of Jacob
will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that
are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherim and the incense
altars shall rise no more. For the fortified city is solitary, a
habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The
437
calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume
its branches.
When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off.
The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a
people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them
will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them
will show them no favor.”
The Leviathan
445
Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the
great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of
the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.”
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a
great voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image,
and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also
will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared
unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with
fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the
presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up
forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those
who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives
the mark of his name.
Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their
labors; for their works follow with them.”
I looked, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud
one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden
crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. Another angel came
out from the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat
on the cloud, “Send forth your sickle, and reap; for the hour
to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” He
who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the
earth was reaped.
Another angel came out from the temple which is in
heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. Another angel came out
from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called
with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying,
“Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the
vine of the earth, for the earth’s grapes are fully ripe!” The
angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the
446
vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God.
The winepress was trodden outside of the city, and
blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of
the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.
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 unclean spirits, something like frogs; for they
are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to the
kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together
for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
“Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great
prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of
the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell
in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual
immorality.”
John said, “He carried me away in the Spirit into a
wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored
animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and
ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the
impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
And on her forehead a name was written, “MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE
PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH.”
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I
wondered with great amazement. The angel said to me,
“Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the
woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the
seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was,
and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to
go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose
447
names have not been written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the
beast was, and is not, and shall be present. These will war
against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he
is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also will overcome,
who are with him, who were called and chosen and faithful.”
He said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the
prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and
languages. The ten horns which you saw, and the beast,
these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate,
and will make her naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn
her utterly with fire. For God has put in their hearts to do
what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their
kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be
accomplished. The woman whom you saw is the great city,
which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
451
Praise to the Lord!
452
knows but he himself. He is clothed in a garment sprinkled
with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.”
The armies which are in heaven followed him on white
horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen. Out of his mouth
proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he
should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod.
He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of
God, the Almighty. He has on his garment and on his thigh a
name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, “Come! Be
gathered together to the great supper of God, that you may
eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of
mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on
them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and
small and great.”
I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat
on the horse, and against his army. The beast was taken,
and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his
sight, with which he deceived those who had received the
mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns
with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword of him who
sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his
mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.
454
Behold, they may gather together, but not by me:
whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because
of you. Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire
of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have
created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed
against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue
that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their
righteousness which is of me,” says Yahweh. For as the rain
comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return
there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud,
and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall
my Word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do. For you shall
go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains
and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all
the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the
thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall
come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a
Name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
455
one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred
years old shall be accursed.”
“It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and
while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the
ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain,” says Yahweh.”
“I have shown you new things from this time, even
hidden things, which you have not known. They are created
now, and not from of old; and before this day you didn’t hear
them; lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have
brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Thus says Yahweh, “In an acceptable time have I
answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you;
and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the
people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the
desolate heritage: saying to those who are bound, ‘Come
out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
“They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights
shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst;
neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has
mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he
will guide them. I will make all my mountains a way, and my
highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from
far; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and
these from the land of Sinim.
Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into
singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted.”
457
the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on
the west three gates.
The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on
them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. He
who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to
measure the city, its gates, and its walls. The city lies
foursquare, and its length is as great as its breadth. He
measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand twelve
stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Its wall is
one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that
is, of an angel.
The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was
pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the city’s wall
were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first
foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third,
chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the
sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the
ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth;
and the twelfth, amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve
pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The
street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw
no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the
Lamb, are its temple. The city has no need for the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God
illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk
in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of
the nations into it. Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for
there will be no night there), and they shall bring the glory
and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.
There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one
who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are
written in the Lamb’s book of life.
He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the
middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was
458
the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit
every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations. There will be no curse any more. The throne of
God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve
him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads. There will be no night, and they need no lamp
light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign
forever and ever. He said to me, “These words are faithful
and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his
angel to show to his bondservants the things which must
happen soon.”
“Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the
words of the prophecy of this book.”
Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these
things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before
him, who had shown me these things.
He said to me, “O, you don’t do it! I am a fellow
bondservant of yours and of your brothers, the prophets, and
with those who keep the words of this book. Worship the
Lord your God.”
He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy
of this book, for the time is at hand. He who acts unjustly, let
him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He
who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is
holy, let him be holy still.”
“Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay
to each man according to his work. I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Blessed are those who do His commandments because they
may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in by
the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers,
the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and
everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have
sent my angel to testify these things to you for the
459
assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the
Bright and Morning Star.”
470
receive also the soul of Your John, which has been certainly
deemed worthy by You.
You who has preserved me also till the present hour
pure to Yourself, and free from intercourse with woman;
who, when I wished in my youth to marry, appeared to me,
and say, “I am in need of you, John;” who strengthened for
me beforehand my bodily weakness; who, when a third time
I wished to marry, said to me at the third hour, in the sea,
“John, if you were not mine, I would let you marry;” who has
opened up the sight of my mind, and has favored my bodily
eyes; who, when I was looking about me, called even the
gazing upon a woman hateful; who delivered me from
temporary show, and preserve me for that which endures for
ever; who separated me from the filthy madness of the flesh;
who stopped up ‘the secret disease of the soul’, and cut out
its open actions; who afflicted and banish ‘him who rebelled
in me’; who established my love to You spotless and
unimpaired; who gave me undoubting faith in You; who has
drawn out for me pure thoughts towards You; who has given
me the due reward of my works; who has set it in my soul to
have no other possession than You alone: for what is more
precious than You?
Now, O Lord, when I have accomplished Your
stewardship with which I was entrusted, make me worthy of
Your repose, having wrought that which is perfect in You,
which is ineffable salvation. And as I go to You, let the fire
withdraw, let darkness be overcome, let the furnace be
slackened, let Gehenna be extinguished, let the angels
follow, let the demons be afraid, let the princes be broken in
pieces, let the powers of darkness fall, let the places on the
right hand stand firm, let those on the left abide not, let the
devil be muzzled, let Satan be laughed to scorn, let his
madness be tamed, let his wrath be broken, let his children
be trodden under foot, and let all his root be uprooted; and
grant to me to accomplish the journey to You, not insulted,
471
not despitefully treated, and to receive what You have
promised to those that live in purity, and that have loved a
holy life.”
And gazing towards heaven, he glorified God; and
having sealed himself altogether, he stood and said to us,
“Peace and grace be with you, brothers!” And he sent the
brothers away. And when they went on the next day, they
did not find him, but his sandals, and a fountain welling up.
And after that they remembered what had been said to Peter
by the Lord about him, “For what does it concern you if I
should wish him to remain until I come?” And they glorified
God for the miracle that had happened. And having thus
believed, they retired praising and blessing the benignant
God; because to Him is due glory now and ever, and to ages
of ages. Amen!
2010
472
Jesus said, “Now, can you see, why this is imperfect
number? On six day God created a man, and on the same
day the spirit became mixed with the earth. Such
combination polluted the spirit, and the serpent become able
to venom that which could not by affected by any poison. In
the same way as the Seal of David without its center would
be incomplete, the six days of the creation without its
Seventh Day appear as full of vanity and hopelessness; for
everything under the number six is cursed and under
dominion of the Death. The Seventh Day is the only place of
perfection of the Father; find therefore His Word and be with
your Lord for eternity.”
21
476
John asked, “Is there any hope or future for the
humanity then?”
Jesus said, “Use your own understanding, open your
eyes wide and have a look around. Also consider the history
of humanity and you will see what children of Adam are
capable for, and it is as clear for me as 1, 2, 3. No a person
of sound mind would sleep peacefully in the house built over
explosives, but look at the people around you, they are so
happy in their sleep, so blinded by their proud that no one of
them seems least worried. Is there any such thing as the
filling of collective responsibility amongst them? Or people at
last became masters of the earth, space and time?
In the same way as cancer disease kills those on whom
it feeds, and dies along with them, not realizing that it kills
itself, the human civilization kills the Earth only to perish
along with it. People are so found of speaking about the
natural laws, but do they aware that the Earth also is the
body, which has its own natural laws? And after all, are
people capable for destroying the Earth? I would rather say,
‘It is the Earth, which is able to shake them off from her skin,
for she is not as helpless as it appears’.
As you know there are the seven Governors, who are
watching the Earth from above, and the Mars is one
amongst them. Those who live by the Laws of Time, the time
will consume them as it consumed those who came before
them. Look back into history of the humanity, and see how
with increasing population, the destructive power of the
weapons was growing side by side, and have notice that it
never remain idle for a long time. When vessel is full, water
starts overflowing; when the measure of measures has
reached its limits, then the situation created automatically.
You can try to repair breaches as many times as it is
possible, but at last pot is going to be cracked one way or
another, and all its contents would be released at once; and
if the ♂ is not enough to convince you, then consider the ▼
477
also. People believe that they can control everything, but as
matter of fact they are puppets in the hands of the Devil. And
what makes them dance under his flute? It is by their free
will and by their own actions that they made themselves
subservient to him and his laws.”
John said, “Then what comes next?”
Jesus said, “There already were many great
civilizations, and all of them perished in no time without any
trace left of them. The same sad story with the same sad
end, seems repeats itself once more. Of course, God can
create the children of Adam from these stones, but what a
wastage it would be! However, no souls would be destroyed,
for souls are immortal, but what kind of place and which kind
of bodies will be left for them to abide? Only God Father
knows what could be the final outcome of all these.
Water can carry a boat, and water can swallow it, the
same things may demonstrate two opposite qualities, in
dependence on a particular situation. Therefore I repeat you
once more, cling to that which can’t be shaken, for the
people seems willing to go through the fire of hell, reserved
for them by their crafty adversary; but woe to those, who
have chosen him as their ally and adviser, for he makes no
friends with any one, but only captives and slaves.
In the same way as we were not sitting with folded
hands, but were doing our work, the crafty one also did not
waste his time. For by now, everything is ready for the
human civilization to proceed through the Great Fire
prepared for them. And consider this also: in the complete
history of humanity, there was no better opportunity for mass
annihilation of the human race then it is available nowadays.
The power is nothing without understanding how to use it;
the sword is fatal for those who don’t know how to handle it.
Those who take the sword will die by the same sword. Those
who have chosen to be the servants of the devil, to his
kingdom they will go; but woe to those who sold their souls
478
to him, for he is the Lord of Hades, and to Hades he will take
them. As matter of fact, I much astonished to see, how close
we have reached to the line.”
John asked, “Before you use to say that it is God who
will punish humanity, but now you are blaming for everything
the same ancient snake?”
Jesus said, “See John, Father has made this universe
in accordance with His laws, for without laws, chaos would
be there. He put His laws in order, and so that order stands
unshakable until now. Is anything of His creation faulty? Is
not fire hot or is not water flowing? Is not wind blowing or is
not sun shining? Are planets gone of their courses or stars in
heaven felt from their places? Everything in this universe is
subservient and obedient to His laws, but there is only one
known exception out of the rule. Out of all multiplicity of the
created objects of the Universe, as of material as well as of
nonmaterial sphere, only beings to whom God created in His
Own Image have ability and freedom of will to follow or to
transgress the Laws of their Maker. But take a notice; it is
only the people who have this kind of freedom, but not those
who were designated to watch them from above.
What would be creator, if He is not just to His own
creatures, and what would be creation without institution of
the Divine Justice? Each action has its equal and opposite
reaction, as you know; as you sow, so you will reap and not
otherwise. Sodom and Gomorrah are nice illustration how
does this works on practice. That is why, the Evil one has
become everything for those who have chosen to follow him,
their main adviser in their transgressions and their main
accuser in the Court of the Divine Justice at the same time,
and yes, he has no mercy on those who believed him.”
John asked, “Is there any solution then?”
Jesus said, “There is no any new solution, but only the
old one, to follow the Word of God. Ask advice from the
people of Nineveh and they will guide you by the right path.
479
O Children of God! Don’t remain guests in this world; don’t
behave as if you were alien on this planet. Shake of your
sleep and accept your personal responsibility for everything
you are doing and everything what is going to happen to
you. Remember that there are no such things as free lunch
in this world, and here one has to pay for everything. Choose
your side, for who is not with God, he is with the Devil. There
only two alternatives to be chosen from; to be with your
Father or with crafty adversary of humans, and there no third
left in between. The time is over and there is no more ‘a
middle option’ left; therefore either proceed to the feast of
the Father or be the guests at the banquet of the Devil!”
John asked, “Does it mean, ‘No more the Kingdom of
the Flesh?’ Is it your ultimatum to the humanity?”
Jesus said, “See John, this is not ultimatum of mine,
rather it is the declaration of obvious things. As I already
have mentioned before, the Seal was broken and we are
living in the Great Time, for now we are standing at the edge
of the worlds; Heaven and Hell stand open and much near. If
humanity passes through this period in its good will, then it
will emerge out of it to new heights it newer could imagine
before. But if it stumbles by the way and fells down to the
bottom of the pit, what is appearing as most likely by now,
then it will be thrown to millions years back of its history.”
John said, “Are you trying to frighten people?”
Jesus said, “Not at all, rather I am trying to address to
the understanding of those who have understanding. No one
will be saved by closing their eyes in front of the approaching
danger; ignorance isn’t safe place to take refuge in it.
Therefore, people are given this knowledge not to constrain
them, but to give them an idea, how things work actually, so
that they may choose their path not in darkness, but in broad
day light. O Children of God! Awake and arise from the dead
you who sleep; and let the Holy Spirit shine on you!
480
Remember that good and evil are both within you; therefore
be careful in choosing to which of them to obey!”
John said, ‘Are you aware that many will be
disappointed by your teaching and will despise you along
with it?”
Jesus said, “Did I leave an open area for mockers? It
could be so... Let then they mock, for everyone has their
right to choose, even if they have made choice for their own
worst. And tell me, should I also try to imitate the false
prophets, who feed people with the food, which is much
sweet to their ears, should I also try to distort the truth to
make it sweeter? One, two, three, how it is loose and handy,
and profitable for the flesh?
As I already have told before, this is not my teaching at
all, and it does not depend on the things of man. When the
Father created the world, he left a back door, so that His Son
may come in his time with his holy angels, and reign as a
king, even if he doesn’t wish this. Secondly, I am not judging
them; otherwise should I try to copy Hitler and start doing
horrific things in hope for good? However those who will
despise the Word and chose to step out from ‘the secure
circle’ of its Power, described here, they will be rejected by
the Holy Spirit and welcomed by the outer darkness, where
they by their free will have chosen to torment their souls for
eternity. And keep in mind that the Holy Spirit will never be
mistaken or confused on account of them and the choice
they have made. And for them there will be no end of
weeping and gnashing of teeth; and their worm will never
die; and they fire will never be quenched, for they
themselves have chosen all these.”
John said, “Is there any another way of redemption?”
Jesus said, “There are no any others ways, besides the
one described here, redemption through the grace of the
Holy Spirit of Truth.”
John said, “And what is your personal role in all these?”
481
Jesus said, “Of course, it is to do the will of Him who
has sent me, and to accomplish His Work assigned to me;
and no more, and no less.”
483
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to
the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more
stormy against them. Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and
said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for
this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you,
Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.” So they took up
Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its
raging. Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they
offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows. Yahweh
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah
prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly. He said,
“I called because of my affliction to Yahweh.
He answered me.
Out of the belly of netherworld I cried.
You heard my voice.
For you threw me into the depths,
in the heart of the seas.
The flood was all around me.
All your waves and your billows passed over me.
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward your Holy Temple.’
The waters surrounded me,
even to the soul.
The deep was around me.
The weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains.
The earth barred me in forever:
yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh
my God.
“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered
Yahweh.
My prayer came in to you, into your Holy Temple.
Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own
mercy.
484
But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving.
I will pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on
the dry land. The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second
time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and
preach to it the message that I give you.”
So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the
Word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great
city, three days’ journey across. Jonah began to enter into
the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty
days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
The people of Nineveh believed God; and they
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest
even to their least. The news reached the king of Nineveh,
and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He made a
proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree
of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor
animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor
drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both
man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let
them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence
that is in his hands. Who knows whether God will not turn
and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we
might not perish?”
God saw their works that they turned from their evil
way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do
to them, and he didn’t do it.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
He prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please, Yahweh,
wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country?
Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are
a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant
in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. Therefore
485
now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better
for me to die than to live.”
Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east
side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat
under it in the shade, until he might see what would become
of the city. Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to
come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head,
to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was
exceedingly glad because of the vine. But God prepared a
worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so
that it withered. It happened, when the sun arose, that God
prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s
head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he
might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about
the vine?”
He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
Yahweh said, “You have been concerned for the vine,
for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which
came up in a night, and perished in a night. Shouldn’t I be
concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more
than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t
discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also
much livestock?”
On transmigration of souls
491
Praise to the Lord!
492
The Lord reigns!
493
Jesus said, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
To Assemblies of Church
495
before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the assemblies.”
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I
wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm,
and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and
have need of nothing;’ and you don’t know that you are the
wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I advice
you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may
become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe
yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be
revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may
see.”
“I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s
throne is. Repent therefore, and let he who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who
overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will
give him a white stone, and on the stone a New Name
written, which no one knows but he who receives it.”
Jesus said, those whom I love, I reprove and chasten.
Be zealous therefore, and repent. Be faithful to death, and I
will give you the Crown of Life. He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who
overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and
will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will
give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also
overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
assemblies.”
496
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
497
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you
see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in the
Kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrown outside. They
will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit
down in the Kingdom of God. Behold, there are some who
are last who will be first, and there are some who are first
who will be last.”
Jesus said, “But many will be last who are first; and first
who are last. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man, who
was the master of a household, who went out early in the
morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had
agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them
into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw
others standing idle in the marketplace.
To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and
whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,
and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and
found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you
stand here all day idle?’ “They said to him, ‘Because no one
has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the
vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When
evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his
manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages,
beginning from the last to the first.’
When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour
came, they each received a denarius. When the first came,
they supposed that they would receive more; and they
likewise each received a denarius. When they received it,
they murmured against the master of the household, saying,
‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them
498
equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the
scorching heat!’
But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you
no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take
that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give
to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do
what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because
I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For
many are called, but few are chosen.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He, who hears, let
him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who is
lost, let him come. He, who desires, let him take the water of
life freely. You were sold for nothing; and you shall be
redeemed without money. I testify to everyone who hears
the words of this book, if anyone adds to them, or takes
away from the words of this book, may God take away his
part from the Tree of Life, and out of the Holy Place, which
are written in this book. He who testifies these things says,
“Yes, I come quickly.”
Amen! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all
the saints. Amen!
499
The Seal is broken...
To be continued...
500