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The Epistle of Barnabas
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Chapter 14: The Lord has given us the covenant that Moses received and broke.
YES: it is indeed so; but let us ask if the Lord truly gave that testament which He promised to the ancestors that He would give to the people. He did give it, but they were not worthy to receive it because of their sins. For the prophet declares, “Moses was fasting for forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai to receive the testament of the Lord for the people.” And he received from the Lord two tablets, written in the spirit by the finger of the hand of the Lord.
Moses, having received them, went down to give them to the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Moses, Moses, go down quickly; for your people have sinned, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt.” And Moses understood that they had made molten images again; and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and the tables of the testament of the Lord were broken. Moses then received it, but they proved themselves unworthy. Learn now how we have received it.
Moses, as a servant, received it; but the Lord himself, having suffered on our behalf, has given it to us, that we should be the people of inheritance.
But He appeared to perfect them in their wickedness, and so we, being made heirs through Him, might receive the testament of the Lord Jesus, who was prepared for this purpose, that by His personal appearance, redeeming our hearts (which were already consumed by death and given over to the sin of error) from darkness, He might by His word enter into a covenant with us.
For it is written how the Father, about to redeem us from darkness, commanded Him to prepare a holy people for Himself. The prophet, therefore, declares, “I, the Lord Your God, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will strengthen You; and I have given You for a covenant to the people, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth from chains those that are bound, and those that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.” You understand, then, from where we have been redeemed.
And again, the prophet says, “Behold, I have appointed You as a light to the nations, that You might be for salvation even to the ends of the earth, says the Lord God who redeems you.” And again, the prophet says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the humble: He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense; to comfort all that mourn.”
Hear the Scriptures cited in The Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of Barnabas quotes or alludes to these Bible chapters more than any others. Each link opens the free audio Bible, where the chapter is read aloud alongside the text, cross-references, and what other early Christian writers said about it.
- Hear James 1 (audio Bible) — cited 3 times in this work
- Hear Psalms 22 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Psalms 118 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Isaiah 1 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Daniel 7 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear John 12 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Romans 1 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Romans 2 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Hebrews 9 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Genesis 14 (audio Bible)
- Hear Genesis 22 (audio Bible)
- Hear Genesis 25 (audio Bible)