Epistle of Barnabas 1

Three Ordinances: Hope, Righteousness, and Gladness

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Greeting

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

1:2Since God’s righteous ordinances toward you are great and rich, I rejoice exceedingly, beyond measure, over your blessed and glorious spirits: such deeply rooted grace of the spiritual gift you have received.

1:3Therefore I rejoice all the more for myself, hoping to be saved, because I truly see among you the Spirit poured out upon you from the Lord’s abundant fountain. So deeply did the sight of you, which I had longed for, astonish me concerning you.

1:4Convinced of this and conscious that, after speaking among you, I know many things because the Lord accompanied me along the way of righteousness, I am altogether compelled to love you more than my own life, because great faith and love dwell in you in hope of His life.

1:5I therefore considered that, if I take care to share with you some portion of what I received, serving such spirits will bring me a reward. So I have been eager to send you a little at a time, so that along with your faith you may possess complete knowledge.

The Three Teachings of the Lord

1:6There are, then, three teachings of the Lord: hope of life, the beginning and end of our faith; righteousness, the beginning and end of judgment; and love of gladness and rejoicing, the testimony of righteous works.

1:7For through the prophets the Master made known to us the things past and present, and gave us a first taste of things to come. Seeing each of these coming into effect just as He spoke, we ought to approach more richly and more loftily in fear of Him.

1:8I will point out a few things, as one of you rather than as a teacher, through which you will rejoice in your present circumstances.

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.