The Greater Gospel of Barnabas
By: DWA
Dowload the English .pdf version of this book HERE
Foreword: Like the Gospel of the Holy Twelve written by Yeshuas’ brother James, the original English and other translations of this work all come from manuscripts which themselves come from copies of their originals. We do not have said originals and therefore can easily deduce that foul play exists. That said, this author being somewhat “well versed” in spotting the tactics of the enemies, has done his best, within reason in terms of the week of time spent, to bring the texts back to life. In so doing it is necessary to make certain assumptions based upon said previous experience in dealing with the enemies. One result is restoration and use of Gods’ Holy Name of YHWH, as well as that of his prophet Yeshua herein. As to the former, while a single use of “tetragrammaton” was indeed found herein, as would be expected the actual nomenclature of our Creator that the jews have long hidden from We the People was not. And of course the jews also took great care to see to it that they themselves were hidden behind would be honorable titles such as pharisees, scribes, priests, chiefs, governors and doctors. Those attempts will now be found feigned by readers of this translation. And lastly we have the reinterpretation and correction of various accounts for which this editor admits virtually have no end. Indeed, it is a bitter truth that the full, original stories about the very special activities and lives of the holy and wonderful characters herein, are lost. But as anyone will see, Gods’ Breath of Spirit has been restored to a more than adequate level for the average person to benefit from this study. As anyone will see from this much broader accounting of his life and teachings, Yeshua was a very special prophet who God Gave very special means to carry out his mission. I myself was often taken back by the level of wisdom that flows from the pages of this accounting made by Barnabas who was said to be Yeshuas’ best friend and arguably most dedicated disciple. That said, may peace be upon them all. Now, enjoy the much greater, of all the gospels.
History: The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria till 325 C.E.
Iranaeus (130- 200) wrote in support of pure monotheism and opposed Paul for injecting into Christianity doctrines of the pagan Roman religion and Platonic philosophy. He had quoted extensively from the Gospel of Barnabas in support of his views. This shows that the Gospel of Barnabas was indeed in circulation in the first and second centuries of Christianity.
In 325 C.E., the Nicene Council was held, where it was ordered that all original Gospels in Hebrew script should be destroyed. An Edict was issued that any one in possession of these Gospels will be put to death.
In 383 C.E., the Pope secured a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas and kept it in his private library.
In the fourth year of Emperor Zeno (478 C.E. ), the remains of Barnabas were discovered and there was found on his breast a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas written by his own hand. (Acia Sanctorum Boland Junii Tom II, Pages 422 and 450. Antwerp 1698) .
It is widely agreed that the famous Vulgate Bible appears to be based on this Gospel.
Pope Sixtus (1585-90) had a friend, Fra Marino. He found the Gospel of Barnabas in the private library of the Pope. Fra Marino was interested because he had read the writings of Iranaeus where Barnabas had been profusely quoted. The Italian manuscript passed through different hands till it reached “a person of great name and authority” in Amsterdam, “who during his life time was often heard to put a high value to this piece”. After his death it came in the possession of J. E. Cramer, a Councilor of the King of Prussia. In 1713 Cramer presented this manuscript to the famous connoisseur of books, Prince Eugene of Savoy.
In 1738 along with the library of the Prince it found its way into Hofbibliothek in Vienna. There it now rests.
Toland, in his “Miscellaneous Works” (published posthumously in 1747), in Vol. I, page 380, mentions that the Gospel of Barnabas was still extant. In Chapter XV he refers to the Glasian Decree of 496 C.E. where “Evangelium Barnabe” is included in the list of forbidden books. Prior to that it had been forbidden by Pope Innocent in 465 C.E. and by the Decree of the Western Churches in 382 C.E.
Barnabas is also mentioned in the Stichometry of Nicephorus Serial No. 3,
Epistle of Barnabas . . . Lines 1, 300. Then again in the list of Sixty Books;
Serial No. 17. Travels and teaching of the Apostles.
Serial No. 18. Epistle of Barnabas.
Serial No. 24. Gospel According to Barnabas.
A Greek version of the Gospel of Barnabas is also found in a solitary fragment. The rest is burnt.
The Latin text was translated into English by Mr. and Mrs. Ragg and was printed at the Clarendon Press in Oxford. It was published by the Oxford University Press in 1907. This English translation mysteriously disappeared from the market. Two copies of this translation are known to exist, one in the British Museum and the other in the Library of the Congress, Washington, DC. The first edition was from a micro-film copy of the book in the Library of the Congress, Washington, DC.
Barnabas 1:1
In what will tellingly become known as these last years before a newly determined millennial age, a virgin called Mary, of the lineage of David, of the tribe of Judah, was visited by the angel Gabriel from YHWH, The Creator of our universe. This virgin, living in all holiness without any offence, being blameless, and abiding in prayer with fastings, being alone one day, the angel Gabriel entered into her chamber, and he saluted her, saying, “Peace be with you, O Mary.”
Barnabas 1:2
The virgin was frightened at the appearance of the angel; but the angel comforted her, saying, “Do not fear Mary, for you have found favor with God, (Luke 1:29 – 30) who has chosen you to be mother of a prophet, whom He will send to the people of Israel in order that they may walk in His laws with truth of heart.” The virgin answered, “How will I bring forth a son, seeing I do not know a man?” The angel answered, “O Mary, God who made man without a man is able to generate a man in you without a man, because nothing is impossible with Him in this world.”
Barnabas 1:3
Mary answered, “I know that God is Almighty, therefore His will be done.” The angel answered, “Now be conceived in you, the prophet, whom you will name Yeshua: and you will keep him from wine and from strong drink and from every detestable meat, because the child is a holy one of God.” Mary bowed herself with humility, saying, “Behold the handmaid of God, let it be done according to your word.”
Barnabas 1:4
The angel departed, and the virgin glorified God, saying, “Know, O my soul, the greatness of God, and exult, my spirit, in God my Savior; for He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden, such that I will be called blessed by all the nations, for He who is mighty has made me great, and His holy name YHWH is blessed. For His mercy extends from generation to generation of those who fear Him. He has made His hand mighty, and He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their seat, and has exalted the humble. He fills with good things those who are hungry, and He has sent the rich away emptied. For He keeps the promises made to Abraham and his sons in memory forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)
Barnabas 2:1
Mary, having known the will of God, fearing the people, unless they should take offence at her being great with child and abase her as guilty of fornication, chose a companion of her own lineage, a man called Joseph by name, of blameless life: for as a righteous man he too feared God and served Him with fastings and prayers, living by the works of his hands, for he was a carpenter. Knowing such a man, the virgin chose him for her companion and revealed to him the divine counsel she had received.
Barnabas 2:2
Joseph, being a righteous man, when he perceived that Mary was great with child, considered leaving her to her own challenges because he feared God. But behold, while he slept, he was rebuked by the angel of God, saying, “O Joseph, why are you thinking of putting away Mary? (Matthew 1:19-20) Know that whatever has been done in her has all been done by the will of God. This virgin will bring forth a son, whom you will call by the name Yeshua, and you will keep him from wine and strong drink and from every detestable meat, because he is a holy one of God from his mothers’ womb.
Barnabas 2:3
He is a prophet of God sent to the people of Israel, in order that he may convert Judah to his heart, and that Israel may walk in the law of YHWH, as it is written in the law of Moses. He will come with great power, which God will give him, and will work great miracles, whereby many will be saved.” Joseph, arising from sleep, gave thanks to God, and committed to abode with Mary all his life, serving God with all sincerity.
Barnabas 3:1
Herod reigned in Judea at that time, by decree of Caesar Augustus, and Pilate was governor in the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. In that time, by decree of Augustus, all the land was enrolled in a census; whereby each one went to his own country, and they presented themselves by their own tribes to be enrolled. Joseph accordingly departed from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, with his wife Mary, great with child, to go to Bethlehem (for that it was his city, he being of the lineage of David) so that he might be enrolled according to the decree of Caesar.
Barnabas 3:2
Arriving at Bethlehem, Joseph found no place to stay, for the city was small, and the multitude of those who were strangers there was great. Therefore, he took lodging outside the city in a place made to be a shepherds’ shelter. While Joseph abode there, the days were fulfilled for Mary to bring forth the child.
Barnabas 3:3
The virgin was surrounded by an exceedingly bright light, and brought forth her son whom she took in her arms. After wrapping him in swaddling clothes, she laid him in the manger, because there was no room in the inn. A great multitude of angels came with gladness and announcing peace to those who fear God. Mary and Joseph praised the Lord for the birth of Yeshua, and nurtured him with greatest joy.
Barnabas 4:1
At that time, the shepherds were watching over their flock, as is their custom. And behold, they were surrounded by an exceedingly bright light, out of which, an angel appeared to them, who blessed God. The shepherds were filled with fear because of the sudden light and the appearance of the angel, whereupon the angel of the Lord comforted them, saying, “Behold, I announce a great joy to you, for a child is born in the city of David who is a prophet of the Lord and brings great salvation to the house of Israel. You will find the child with his mother, who blesses God.” And when he had said this, a great multitude of more angels came blessing God, announcing peace to those who have good will.
Barnabas 4:2
When the angels had departed, the shepherds spoke amongst themselves, saying, “Let us go to Bethlehem, and see the word which God, by His angel, has announced to us.” (Luke 2:15) Many shepherds came to Bethlehem seeking the newborn babe, and they found the child outside the city, according to the word of the angel, lying in the manger. They therefore made obeisance to him, and gave to the mother that which they had, announcing to her what they had recently heard and seen.
Barnabas 4:3
Mary therefore kept all these things in her heart, and Joseph likewise, giving thanks to God. The shepherds returned to their flock, announcing to everyone how great a thing they had seen. And so the whole hill country of Judea was filled with fear, and every man laid up in his heart, saying, “What will this child be?”
Barnabas 5:1
When the eight days were fulfilled according to the law of the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses, they took the child and carried him to the temple to circumcise him. And so they circumcised the child, and gave him the name Yeshua, as the angel of the Lord had directed before he was conceived in the womb. Mary and Joseph perceived that the child must be for both the salvation and for the ruin of many, so they wisely feared God and cared well for the child.
Barnabas 6:1
In the reign of Herod, king of Judea, when Yeshua was born, three wise men in the parts of the east were observing the stars of heaven. A star of great brightness appeared to them so, having concluded amongst themselves, they came to Judea, guided by the star which went before them. Then having arrived at Jerusalem, they asked where the King of Israel had been born. When Herod heard this, he was afraid, and all the city was troubled. Herod therefore called some of the men of knowledge together, saying, “Where should Christ be born?” They answered that he should be born in Bethlehem; for thus it is written by Micah the prophet; ” But you Bethlehem, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, out of you, he will come forth to Me to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)
Barnabas 6:2
Herod accordingly asked them concerning their coming, who answered that they had seen a star in the east, which had guided them, therefore they wished to worship this new king manifested by his star with gifts. Then Herod said, “Go to Bethlehem and search out with all diligence concerning the child; and when you have found him, come and tell it to me, because I also am willing to come and worship him.” But he spoke this deceitfully.
Barnabas 7:1
The men therefore departed out of Jerusalem, and look, the star which appeared to them in the east went before them. (Matthew 2:9) Seeing the star, they were filled with gladness. And so, having come to Bethlehem, outside the city, they saw the star standing still above the place where Yeshua was born. They went there, and entering the dwelling, found the child with his mother. Bending down, they did obeisance to him. And they presented spices, with silver and gold to him, recounting what they had seen to the virgin.
Barnabas 7:2
Then, while sleeping, they were warned by the child not to go to Herod; so departing by another way, they returned to their own home, announcing all that they had seen in Judea.
Barnabas 8:1
Herod, seeing that the men did not return, believed himself to be mocked by them; so he determined to put the child to death. But behold, while Joseph was sleeping, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying, “Arise up quickly, and take the child with his mother into Egypt, for Herod wants to slay him.”
Barnabas 8:2
Joseph arose with great fear, and took Mary with the child, and they went into Egypt, and there they abode until the death of Herod, (Matthew 2:14-15) who, believing himself derided by the wise men, sent his soldiers to slay all the newborn children in Bethlehem. The soldiers came and slew all the children that were there, as Herod had commanded them, and so were fulfilled the words of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Lamentation and great weeping are there in Ramah; Rachel laments for her sons, but consolation is not given to her because they are not.” (Jeremiah 31:15)
Barnabas 9:1
When Herod was dead, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Return into Judea, for those who willed the death of the child are dead.” So Joseph took the child with Mary (Yeshua having come to the age of seven years) and came to Judea. But hearing that Archelaus, son of Herod, was reigning in Judea, he feared remaining there so he went into Galilee, and they went to dwell at Nazareth. (Matthew 2:19-23) The child grew in grace and wisdom before God and before men.
Barnabas 9:2
Yeshua, having come to the age of twelve years, went up to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph, to serve God there according to the law of the Lord written in the Book of Moses. When their prayers had ended, they departed, having lost Yeshua, because they thought that he had returned home with their kinsfolk. Therefore, Mary returned with Joseph to Jerusalem, seeking Yeshua among kinsfolk and neighbors. The third day, they found the child in the temple in the midst of the talmudists, disputing with them concerning the law. Everyone was amazed at his questions and answers, (Luke 2:42-47) saying, “How can there be such doctrine in him, seeing he is so small and has not learned to read?”
Barnabas 9:3
Mary reproved him, saying, “Son, what have you done to us? Your father and I have sought you for three days.” Yeshua answered, “Do you not know that the service of God should come before father and mother?” Yeshua then went down with his mother and Joseph to Nazareth, and was subject to them with humility and reverence.
Barnabas 10:1
Yeshua, having come to the age of thirty years, as he himself said to me, went up to Mount Olives with his mother to gather olives. Then at midday, as he was praying, when he came to these words, “. . . The Merciful, The Compassionate . . .” he was surrounded by an exceedingly bright light and by an infinite multitude of angels, who were saying, “Blessed be our God YHWH.”
Barnabas 10:2
The angel Gabriel presented to him, as it were, a shining mirror, a Book, which descended into the heart of Yeshua, in which he had certain knowledge of what God has done and what God has said and what God wills, such that everything was laid bare and open to him as he said to me, “O Barnabas, believe that I know every prophet with every prophecy, and so whatever I say, all of it has come forth from that Book.”
Barnabas 10:3
Yeshua, having received this book and knowing that he was a prophet sent to the house of Israel, revealed everything to his mother Mary, telling her that he must suffer great persecution for the honor of God, and that he could not abide with her to serve her any longer. Having heard this, Mary answered, “Son, before you were born, everything was announced to me; therefore the holy name of YHWH is blessed.” Hence, that day, Yeshua departed from his mother to attend to his prophetic mission.
Barnabas 11:1
Descending from the mountain to come into Jerusalem, Yeshua met a leper, who, by divine inspiration, knew Yeshua to be a prophet. Therefore he prayed to him with tears, saying, “Yeshua, you son of David, have mercy on me.” Yeshua answered, “What do you want me to do for you, brother?” The leper answered, “Lord, give me health.”
Barnabas 11:2
Yeshua reproved him, saying, “You are foolish. Pray to God who created you, and He will give you health; for I am a man, as you are.” The leper answered, “I know that you, lord, are a man, but a holy one of the Lord, so pray to God, that He will give me health.” Then Yeshua, sighing, said, “Lord God Almighty, for the love of Your prophet, give health to this sick man.” Then, having said this, while touching the sick man with his hands he said; “In the name of YHWH, O brother, receive your health!”
Barnabas 11:3
When he had said this, the leprosy was cleansed, such that the flesh of the leper was left like that of a child. Seeing that he was healed, the leper cried out with a loud voice, “Come here, Israel, to receive the prophet whom God sends to you!” Yeshua asked him, saying, “Brother, hold your peace and say nothing,” but the more he asked him, the more he cried out, saying, “Behold the prophet! Behold the holy one of God!” At which words, many who were going out of Jerusalem ran back, and entered with Yeshua into Jerusalem, recounting that which God, through Yeshua, had done with the leper.
Barnabas 12:1
The whole city of Jerusalem was moved by their accountings so they all ran together to the temple to see Yeshua, who had entered it to pray, so that they could scarcely be contained there. Therefore the priests sought Yeshua, saying, “This people desires to see you and hear you. Ascend to the pinnacle, and if God gives you a word, speak it in His Name.”
Barnabas 12:2
Then Yeshua ascended to the place from which the priests were accustomed to speak, and having beckoned with his hand for silence, he opened his mouth, saying, “Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who, of His goodness and mercy, willed to create His creatures so that they might glorify Him. Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who created the splendor of all the saints and prophets before all things to send him for the salvation of the world, as He spoke by His servant David, saying, ‘In front of lucifer and in the brightness of the angels, I created you.’ Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who created the angels so that they might serve Him.
Barnabas 12:3
Blessed is God, who punishes and reprobates lucifer and his followers, who would not reverence those whom God wills to be reverenced. Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who created Adam out of the clay of the earth, and set humanity over His works. Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who drove man out of Paradise for having transgressed His holy precept. Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who, with mercy, looked upon the tears of Adam and Eve, first parents of the human race.
Barnabas 12:4
Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who justly punished Cain the fratricide, sent the deluge upon the earth, burned up three wicked cities, scourged Egypt, overwhelmed Pharaoh in the Red Sea, scattered the enemies of His people, chastised the unbelievers and punished the impenitent. Blessed is the holy name of YHWH, who, with mercy, looked upon His creatures, and therefore sent them His holy prophets, so that they might walk in truth and righteousness before He who delivered His servants from every evil, and gave them this land, as He promised to our father Abraham and to his son forever. Then He gave us His holy law by His servant Moses, so that lucifer should not deceive us, and He exalted us above all other peoples. But, brethren, what do we do today, so that we are not punished for our sins?”
Barnabas 12:5
And with great vehemence, Yeshua rebuked the people for forgetting the word of God, and for giving themselves only to vanity. He rebuked the priests for their negligence in Gods’ service and for their worldly greed. He rebuked the scribes because they preached vain doctrine, and forsook the law of God. Indeed He rebuked all the talmudists because they made the law of God of no effect through their traditions. Such did Yeshua speak to the people, that everyone wept, from the least to the greatest, crying for mercy and begging Yeshua to pray for them – everyone except the corrupt scribes, priests and leaders, who conceived hatred for Yeshua on that day for having spoken against the jews and their Godless traditions.
Barnabas 12:6
And they meditated upon his death, but for fear of the people, who had received him as a prophet of God, they said nothing. Yeshua raised his hands to the heavens and prayed to YHWH, and the people, weeping, said, “So be it, O Lord, so be it.” The prayer being ended, Yeshua descended from the temple, and that day he departed from Jerusalem with many who followed him. And the priests spoke evil of Yeshua amongst themselves.
Barnabas 13:1
Some days having passed, Yeshua, having perceived the desire of the priests in spirit, ascended the Mount of Olives to pray. And having passed the whole night in prayer, in the morning still praying, Yeshua said, “O YHWH my God, I know that the scribes hate me and the priests have it in their minds to kill me, Therefore, Lord God Almighty and Merciful, hear the prayers of Your servant in mercy, and save me from their snares, for You are my salvation. You know, Lord, that I, Your servant, seek You alone and speak Your word; for Your word is truth, which endures forever.”
Barnabas 13:2
When Yeshua had spoken these words, the angel Gabriel came to him saying, “Do not fear, O Yeshua, for a thousand thousand who dwell above the heaven guard your garments, and you will not die till everything is fulfilled, and the world will be near its end.” Yeshua fell with his face to the ground, saying, “O Great Lord God, how great is Your mercy upon me! What will I give You, Lord, for all that You have granted me?”
Barnabas 13:3
The angel Gabriel answered, “Arise, Yeshua, and remember Abraham, who, being willing to sacrifice his only begotten son Ishmael to God, to fulfill the word of God, when the knife was not able to cut his son did show his love for God. Therefore, you will do the same, O Yeshua, servant of God.” Yeshua answered, “Willingly, but what shall I offer as sacrifice. I have no money or possessions, and it is not lawful to steal.” Then upon realizing that his works would be his sacrifice, Yeshua set forth praising and blessing God, who is glorious forever.
Barnabas 14:1
Yeshua descended from the mount, and passed alone by night to the farther side of Jordan, and fasted forty days and forty nights, (Matthew 4:2) not eating anything day or night, making continual supplication to the Lord for the salvation of his people to whom God had sent him. And when the forty days had passed, he was hungry. Then lucifer appeared to him, and tempted him in many words, but Yeshua drove him away by the power of the name of God. Then, lucifer having departed, the angels came and ministered to Yeshua in everything that he needed.
Barnabas 14:2
Yeshua, having returned to the region of Jerusalem, was found again by the people with exceedingly great joy, and they asked him that he would abide with them; for his words were not empty as those of the scribes, but were with power, for they touched the heart.
Barnabas 14:3
Yeshua, seeing that the multitude of those who returned to their heart to walk in the law of God was great, went up into the mountain, and abode all night in prayer, and when day had come, he descended from the mountain, and chose twelve, whom he called apostles, among whom is Judas, who was to be slain upon the cross. Their names are: Andrew and his brother Peter, the fishermen Barnabas, who wrote this, Matthew the publican, who sat at the receipt of custom; John, James his step brother, sons of Zebedee; Thaddaeus and Judas, Bartholomew and Philip. He always revealed the divine secrets to those eleven and then Judas who he made his dispenser of that which was given in alms, knowing he stole the tenth part of everything.
Barnabas 15:1
When the feast of tabernacles was near, a certain rich man invited Yeshua with his disciples and his mother to a marriage. Yeshua therefore went, and as they were feasting, the wine ran short. His mother approached Yeshua, saying, “They have no wine.” Yeshua jokingly answered, “What is that to me, mother of mine?” Then his mother commanded the servants that whatever Yeshua might need of them, they should obey. There were there six vessels for water according to the custom of Israel to purify themselves for prayer. Yeshua said, “Fill these vessels with water.” The servants did so. (John 2:1-7) Yeshua prayed “In the name of YHWH” and said; Give these vessels to those who are feasting.” The servants thereupon bore them to the master of the ceremonies, who rebuked the attendants saying, “O careless servants, why have you kept the best of our wine till now?” For he knew nothing of all that Yeshua had done.
Barnabas 15:2
The servants answered, “O sir, there is here a holy man of God, for he has made wine of water.” The master of the ceremonies thought that the servants were drunk; but those who were sitting near Yeshua, having seen the whole matter, rose from the table and paid him reverence, saying, “Truly you are a holy one of God, a true prophet sent to us from God!” Then his disciples believed him, and many returned to their heart, saying, “God is praised, who has mercy upon Israel, and visits the house of Judah with love, and His holy name is blessed.”
Barnabas 16:1
One day, Yeshua called his disciples together and went up on to the mountain, and when he had sat down there, his disciples came near him; and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, “The benefits which God has bestowed on us are great, therefore it is necessary that we should serve Him with truth of heart. And forasmuch as new wine is put into new vessels, even so should you become new men, if you will contain the new doctrine that will come out of my mouth. Truly I say to you, that even as a man cannot see the heavens above him and the earth below at one and the same time with his eyes, so it is impossible to love God and the world.
Barnabas 16:2
No man can in any way serve two masters that are at enmity with one another; for if the one will love you, the other will hate you. Even so I tell you in truth that you cannot serve God and the world, for the world lies in falsehood, covetousness, and malignity. You cannot therefore find rest in the world, but rather persecution and loss. Therefore serve God and despise the world, for you will find rest for your souls with Him from me; hear my words, for I speak to you in truth.
Barnabas 16:3
Truly, blessed are those who mourn this earthly life, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the poor who truly hate the delights of the world, for they will abound in the delights of the kingdom of God. Truly, blessed are those who eat at the table of God, for the angels will minister to them.
Barnabas 16:4
You are journeying as pilgrims. Does the pilgrim encumber himself with palaces and fields and other earthly matters upon the way? Assuredly not, but he bears things light and prized for their usefulness and convenience upon the road. This now should be an example to you; and if you desire another example, I will give it to you, in order that you may do all that I tell you. Do not weigh down your hearts with earthly desires, saying, ‘Who will clothe us?’ or ‘Who will give us something to eat?’ But behold the flowers and the trees, with the birds, which God our Lord clothes and nourishes with greater glory than all the glory of Solomon. And He is able to nourish you, even God who created you and called you to His service; who for forty years caused the manna to fall from heaven for His people Israel in the wilderness, and did not allow their clothing to wax old or perish, they being six hundred and forty thousand men, besides women and children.
Barnabas 16:5
Truly I say to you, that heaven and earth will fail, yet His mercy will not fail to those who fear Him. But the rich of the world, in their prosperity, are hungry and perish. There was a rich man whose incomings increased, and he said, ‘What will I do, O my soul? I will pull down my barns because they are small, and I will build new and greater ones: therefore you will triumph my soul!’ Oh, wretched man! For that night he died. He should have been mindful of the poor, and made himself friends with the alms of unrighteous riches of this world; for they bring treasures in the kingdom of heaven.
Barnabas 16:6
Tell me, I ask you, if you should give your money into the bankers coffer and earn tenfold or twentyfold from his illegal and immoral trade, would you not give to such a man everything that you had? But I say to you, truly, that whatsoever you will give and will forsake for love of God, you receive it back a hundredfold along with everlasting life. See then how much you should be content to serve God?”
Barnabas 17:1
When Yeshua had said this, Philip answered, “We are content to serve God, but we desire to know God, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Truly you are a hidden God,” (Isaiah 45:15) and God said to Moses His servant, “I am that which I am.” (Exodus 3:14) Yeshua answered, “Philip, God is good without and God is not without anything that is good; God is in all life without which there is no life. He fills all and is everywhere that is anywhere at any given time. He alone has no equal. He has had no beginning, nor will He ever have an end. But He has given a beginning to everything and He will give an end to everything insomuch as He alone chooses. He has no father nor mother; He has no sons or daughters, He has no wife nor relatives. He does not eat, He does not sleep, He does not tire, He does not die and He never leaves thereby remaining unchanged and unchangeable for eternity. He is of the most simple in substance and He is of the most unthinkably complex. He completely fills the infinite expanses with infinite amounts of the infinitely minute. He is, in the most easy to comprehend word, the Truth, all Truth. And thereby He is so good that He can love goodness only. He is so perfectly just that when He punishes or pardons, it cannot be questioned for it is unquestionable, none are wronged. And He cannot be harmed or reduced of anything for He is insomuch untouchable and indefectible thereby leaving us with only the choice of either honoring Him or dishonoring Him, neither of which having any effect whatsoever upon He Himself. In short, I say to you Philip, that here in these bodies on earth you cannot see, fathom or know God; but if you choose and act wisely, in His kingdom, you will see Him forever. Wherefore there alone all hope for true peace, happiness and contentment awaits.
Barnabas 17:2
Philip answered, “Master, what do you say? It is surely written in Isaiah that God is our Father; how then, does He have no sons?” Yeshua answered, “Many parables are written by prophets, therefore you should not attend to the letter, but to the sense. For all the prophets, that are one hundred and forty four thousand, whom God has sent into the world, have at times spoken in ways that leave many in darkness. But after me, the splendors of all the prophets and holy ones will come and shed light upon the darkness of all that the past prophets have said. One them is the last prophet of God (Mohamet) and the latter is the last messenger of God.” (2nd David) And having said this, Yeshua sighed and said, “Have mercy on Israel, O Lord our God and look with pity upon Abraham and upon his seed, in order that they may serve You with truth of heart.”
Barnabas 17:3
His disciples answered, “So be it, O Lord our God.” Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, the jews have made the law of God void with their false prophecies, contrary to the prophecies of the true prophets of God. Therefore God is angry with the deceived house of Israel and with this faithless generation.” His disciples wept at these words, and said, “Have mercy, O God, have mercy upon the temple and upon the holy city, and do not give it into contempt of the nations. Do not let them despise Your holy covenant.” Yeshua answered, “So be it, Lord God of our fathers.”
Barnabas 18:1
Having said this, Yeshua said, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, so that you may be my disciples. If the world will then hate you, you will truly be my disciples; for the world has always been an enemy to servants of God.
Barnabas 18:2
Oh, unrighteous world that does not love God! Do not fear therefore, for as sure as the hairs of your head are numbered you will not perish. Behold the sparrows and other birds, whereof one feather does not fall without being replaced by another by God. Should God then, have more care for one soul of His creation over the other? Assuredly not. Now how much less should you think that God would abandon you, while taking care of the birds? And why do I speak of the birds alone when a leaf of a tree does not fall without the designs of God.
Barnabas 18:3
Believe me, because I tell you the truth, that the world will greatly fear you if you will observe my words. For if it did not fear to have its wickedness revealed, it would not hate you, but it fears to be revealed, therefore it will hate you and persecute you. If you will see your words scorned by the world, do not lay it to heart, but consider how God is greater than you; who is in such ways scorned by the world that His wisdom is counted as madness. If God endures the world with patience, will you therefore you lay such scorn to heart, O dust and clay of the earth? Yea, in your patience, you will possess your soul.
Barnabas 18:4
Therefore if one would give you a blow on one side of the face, protect yourself and never let them go so far as to hit the other but do not render more evil than the evil endured. That said, fire is not extinguished with fire, but rather with water; even so I say to you that you will not completely overcome evil with evil, but rather with good. Behold God, who causes the sun to come for sinners and the righteous alike. So you should do good to all; for it is written in the law, ‘Be holy, for I, your God, am holy; (Leviticus 11:45) be pure, for I am pure; and be perfect, for I am perfect.’
Barnabas 18:5
Truly I say to you that the servant studies to please his master, and so he does not put on any garment that is displeasing to his master. Your garments are your will and your love. Beware then, not to will or to love a thing that is displeasing to God, our Lord. Be sure that God hates the pomps and lusts of the world, and therefore you too should hate the world that is full of such.”
Barnabas 19:1
When Yeshua had said this, Peter answered, “O teacher, behold we have left all to follow you, what will become of us?” Yeshua answered, “Truly you, in the Day of Judgement, will sit beside me, giving testimony against the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Quran 4:41, 16:84, 16:89) having said this, Yeshua sighed, saying, “O Lord, what thing is this? For I have chosen twelve, and one of them is a devil.” The disciples were sorely grieved at this word; whereupon he who writes secretly questioned Yeshua with tears, saying, “O master, will lucifer deceive me, and will I then become reprobate?”
Barnabas 19:2
Yeshua answered, “Do not be sorely grieved Barnabas, for those whom God has chosen before the creation of the world will not perish. Rejoice, for your name is written in the Book of Life.” Yeshua comforted his disciples, saying, “Do not fear, for he who will hate me is not grieved at my saying like you others are, because the divine feeling is not in him.” At his words, the chosen were comforted. Yeshua made his prayers, and his disciples said, “So be it, Lord God Almighty and Merciful.”
Barnabas 19:3
Having finished his devotions, Yeshua came down from the mountain with his disciples and met ten lepers, who, from afar off, cried out, “Yeshua, son of David, have mercy on us!” Yeshua called them near to him, and said; “What do you will of me, O brethren?” They all cried out, “Give us health!” Yeshua answered, “Ah, have you so lost your reason, for you say, ‘Give us health?’ Do you not see me to be a man like yourselves? Call to our God who has created you, and He who is Almighty and Merciful will heal you.” With tears, the lepers answered, “We know that you are man like us, but yet a holy one of God and a prophet of the Lord; therefore pray to God that He will heal us.”
Barnabas 19:4
Thereupon the disciples asked Yeshua, saying, “Lord, have mercy upon them.” Then Yeshua prayed to God, saying; “YHWH, Lord God Almighty and Merciful, listen to the words of Your servant; and for love of Abraham our father and for Your holy covenant, have mercy at the request of these men, and grant them health.” Whereupon Yeshua, having said this, turned himself to them and said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests according to the law of God.”
Barnabas 19:5
The lepers departed and were cleansed on the way. Whereupon one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned to find Yeshua, and he was an Ishmaelite. And having found Yeshua, he bowed himself, doing reverence to him, and saying, “Truly you are a holy one of God,” and with thanks he asked him that he would receive him for a servant. Yeshua answered, “Ten have been cleansed; where are the nine?” And he said to him who was cleansed, “I have not come to be served, but to serve; O therefore, go to your home, and recount how much God has done in you, in order that they may know that the promises made to Abraham and his son, with the kingdom of God, are drawing near.” The cleansed leper departed, and having arrived in his own neighborhood, recounted how much God, through Yeshua, had done in him.
Barnabas 20:1
Yeshua went to the sea of Galilee, and having embarked in a ship, sailed to his city of Nazareth, whereupon there was a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was near to sinking. And Yeshua was sleeping upon the prow of the ship. Then his disciples drew near to him, and awoke him, saying, “O master, save yourself, for we perish!” They were encompassed with very great fear, by reason of the great storm that was nearing with the roaring of the sea. Yeshua arose, and raising his eyes to heaven, said, “O YHWH, have mercy upon Your servants.” Then, when Yeshua had said this, suddenly the storm departed and the sea became calm. Therefore the seamen feared, saying, “And who is this, that the sea and the skies obey him?”
Barnabas 20:2
Having arrived at the city of Nazareth, the seamen spread all that Yeshua had done through the city, whereupon the house where Yeshua was, was surrounded by as many who dwelt in the city. And the jews, having presented themselves to him, said, “We have heard how much you have done in the sea and in Judea, give us therefore some sign here in your own country.”
Barnabas 20:3
Yeshua answered, “This faithless generation seeks a sign, but it will not be given to them, because no prophet is received in his own country. In the time of Elijah, there were many widows in Judea, but he was not sent to be nourished except by a widow of Sidon. And there were many lepers in the time of Elisha in Judea but only Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.” Then the citizens were enraged and seized him and carried him on to the top of a precipice to cast him down. But Yeshua walked through the midst of them invisible and departed. (Luke 4:24-30)
Barnabas 21:1
Yeshua went up to Capernaum, and as he drew near to the city, behold, a man who was clearly possessed came out of the tombs, and in such ways that no chain could hold him, he was doing great harm to the body of the man. The demons cried out through his mouth, saying, “O holy one of God, why have you come before the time of the end to trouble us?” And they asked him that he would not drive them out.
Barnabas 21:2
Yeshua asked them how many they were. They answered, “Six thousand six hundred and sixty six.” When the disciples heard this, they were affrighted, and asked Yeshua to depart. Yeshua said, “Where is your faith? It is necessary that the demon should depart and not I.” The demons therefore cried, “We will come out, but permit us to enter into those swine.” There were feeding there, near the sea, about ten thousand swine belonging to the Canaanites.
Barnabas 21:3
Thereupon Yeshua said, “In the name of YHWH depart, and enter into the swine.” With a roar, the demons entered into the swine which cast themselves headlong into the sea. Then those who fed the swine fled into the city, and recounted all that had been brought to pass by Yeshua. Accordingly, the people of the city came forth and found Yeshua with the man. The people were filled with fear and asked Yeshua to depart out of their borders. (Mark 5:13-17, Matthew 8:32-34, Luke 8:32-37) So, Yeshua departed from them and went up into parts of Tyre and Sidon.
Barnabas 21:4
And look, a woman of Canaan with her two sons, who had come forth out of her own country to find Yeshua. Having therefore seen him come with his disciples, she cried out, “Yeshua, son of David, have mercy on my daughter, who is tormented by the devils!” Yeshua did not answer even a single word, because they were of the uncircumcised people. The disciples were moved to pity and said, “O master, have pity on them! Behold how much they cry out and weep!”
Barnabas 21:5
Yeshua answered, “I am not sent to anyone but the people of Israel.” Then the woman, with her sons, went before Yeshua, weeping and saying, “O son of David, have mercy on me!” Yeshua answered, “It is not good to take the bread from the childrens’ hands and give it to the dogs.” And Yeshua said this by reason of their uncleanness, because they were of the uncircumcised people.
Barnabas 21:6
The woman answered, “O Lord, the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Mark 7:28) Then Yeshua was seized with admiration at the words of the woman, and said, “O woman, your reasoning is sound.” (Matthew 15:26-28) And having raised his hands to heaven, he prayed to YHWH, and then he said, “O woman, your daughter is freed, go your way in peace.” The woman departed, and returning to her home, found her daughter, who was blessing God. Therefore the woman said, “Truly there is none other YHWH than the God of Israel.” Whereupon all her kinsfolk joined themselves to the law of God, according to the Book of Moses.
Barnabas 22:1
The disciples questioned Yeshua on that day, saying, “O master, why did you answer the woman in that way, saying that they were dogs?” Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you that a dog is better than an uncircumcised man.” Then the disciples were sorrowful, saying, “These words are hard. Who will be able to receive them?”
Barnabas 22:2
Yeshua answered, “If you consider, O foolish ones, what the dog, that has no reason, does for the service of his master, you will find my saying to be true. Tell me, does the dog guard the house of his master, and expose his life against the robber? Yes, surely. But what does he receive? Many blows and injuries with a little bread, and yet he always shows a joyful countenance to his master. Is this true?” “It is true, O master,” the disciples answered.
Barnabas 22:3
Then Yeshua said, “Consider now how much God has given to man, and you will see how unrighteous he is in not observing the covenant of God made with Abraham His servant. Remember that which David said to Saul, king of Israel, against Goliath the Philistine. David said, ‘While your servant was keeping your servants’ flock, the wolf, the bear, and the lion came and seized your servants’ sheep, so your servant went and slew them, rescuing the sheep. And what is this uncircumcised brute like to them? Therefore, your servant will go in the name of YHWH the God of Israel, and will slay this unclean one that blasphemes the holy people of God.’ (1 Samuel 17:34-36) Then the disciples said, “Tell us, O master, for what reason man must be circumcised?” Yeshua answered, “Let it be enough for you that God has commanded it to Abraham, saying, ‘Abraham, circumcise your foreskin and that of all your house, for this is a covenant between Me and you forever.'”
Barnabas 23:1
And having said this, Yeshua sat near the mountain which they looked upon. And his disciples came to his side to listen to his words. Then Yeshua said, “Adam, the first man, having eaten detestably by the fraud of lucifer, his flesh had rebelled against the spirit; whereupon he swore, saying, ‘By God, I will cut the most sensitive part!’ And having broken a piece of rock, he went to cut his flesh with a sharp edge. He was then rebuked by the angel Gabriel but answered, ‘I have sworn by God to repent and I will never be a liar to Him!’
Barnabas 23:2
Then the angel showed him the superfluity of his flesh that he had cut off. The angel could have went on to say how it alone would never suffice as repentance for the grievous sin of murdering innocents for food but that it would serve as both a reminder about the existence of deceivers as well as a physical indication of a mans’ Adamic bloodline and faith in God. And hence, just as every man takes flesh from the flesh of Adam, so is he bound to observe all that Adam promised. And as Adam observed this in his sons then from generation to generation, the obligation of circumcision came down. But in the time of Abraham, because idolaters and degenerates from the line of lucifer in the nephilim were rampant, there were but a few circumcised on earth. Whereupon God made this covenant with Abraham, saying; “The soul that will not have his flesh circumcised, I will scatter him from among My people forever.”
Barnabas 23:3
The disciples trembled with fear at these words of Yeshua, for he spoke with vehemence of spirit. Then Yeshua said, “Leave fear to him who has not circumcised his foreskin, for he is deprived of Paradise.” And having said this, Yeshua spoke again, saying, “The spirit is ready in the service of God in many, but the flesh is weak. The man therefore who fears God should consider what the flesh is, and where it had its origin, and whereto it will be reduced, in the clay of the earth. While God created flesh and He breathed the breath of life into it, when the flesh will hinder the service of God, it should be spurned like clay and trampled on. Forasmuch one who truly understands this, will be given up to eternal life.
Barnabas 23:4
Should man then, for the sake of satisfying his closest enemy, his own flesh, leave off pleasing God, his Creator? Consider this, that all the saints and prophets have been enemies of their flesh for service of God, therefore they went to their death readily and with gladness against followers of false and lying g-ds. It was so as not to offend against the law of God given to us by His servant Moses.
Barnabas 23:5
Remember Elijah, who fled through desert places of the mountains, eating only grass, clad in goats’ skin. Ah, how many days he did not sup! Ah, how much cold he endured! Ah, how many showers drenched him, and that for the space of seven years, wherein he endured that fierce persecution of the unclean Jezebel!
Barnabas 23:6
Remember Elisha, who ate barley bread, and wore the coarsest raiment. Truly I say to you that they, not fearing to spurn the flesh, were feared with great terror by the king and princes. This should suffice for the spurning of the flesh, O men. But if you will gaze at the sepulchres, you will know what the flesh is.”
Barnabas 24:1
Having said this, Yeshua wept, saying, “Woe to those who are servants to their flesh, for they are sure to not have any good in the eternal life, but only torments for their sins.”
Barnabas 24:2
I tell you that there was a rich glutton who paid no heed to anything but gluttony, and so every day he held a splendid feast. There stood at his gate, a poor man by the name Lazarus, who was full of wounds, and was fain to have those crumbs that fell from the gluttons’ table. But no one gave them to him; no, all mocked him. Only the dogs had pity on him, for they licked his wounds. It came to pass that the poor man died, and the angels carried him to the arms of Abraham our father. The rich man also died, (Luke 16:19-22) and the devils carried him to the arms of lucifer, whereupon, undergoing the greatest torment, he lifted up his eyes, and from afar, saw Lazarus in the arms of Abraham. Then the rich man cried, ‘O father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, who upon his fingers may bring me a drop of water to cool my tongue, which is tormented in this flame.’ (Quran 7:50)
Barnabas 24:3
Abraham answered, ‘Son, remember that you received your good in the other life and Lazarus his evil; therefore now you will be in torment, and Lazarus in consolation.’ (Luke 16:25) The rich man cried out again, saying, ‘O father Abraham, in my house there are three brethren of mine. Therefore send Lazarus to announce to them how much I am suffering, in order that they may repent and not come here.’ Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.’ The rich man answered, ‘No father Abraham, but if one dead will arise they will believe.’ Abraham answered, ‘Whoever does not believe Moses and the prophets will not believe even if the dead should arise and therefore are deserving of nothing less than you.’
Barnabas 24:4
See then whether the poor are blessed,” Yeshua said, “Who have patience, and only desire that which is necessary, hating the flesh. O wretched they are, those who bear others to the burial, to give their flesh for food of worms, and do not learn the truth. So far from it that they live here like immortals, for they build great houses and purchase great things to live in pride of them.”
Barnabas 25:1
Then he who writes said, “O master, your words are true, and therefore we have forsaken everything to follow you. Tell us then, how should we hate our flesh; for it is not lawful to kill oneself, and living, we must give flesh its livelihood.”
Barnabas 25:2
Yeshua answered, “Keep your flesh like a horse, and you will live securely. For food is given to a horse by measure, and labor without measure, and the bridle is put on him so that he will walk at your will, he is tied up so that he will not annoy anyone, he is kept in meager places and often beaten when not obedient. So should you do also then, O Barnabas, and you will always live with God. And do not be offended at my words, for David the prophet did the same thing, as he confesses, saying, ‘I am as a horse before you, and am always by you.’
Barnabas 25:3
Tell me, who is poorer, he who is content with little, or he who has much and desires more? Truly I say to you, if the world had a sound mind, no one would amass anything for himself, but everything would be in common. But in this we know the worlds’ madness, that the more it amasses, the more it desires. And as much as it amasses, for the fleshly repose of others, it amasses the same. Therefore let a single robe suffice for you, cast away your purse, carry no wallet, no sandals on your feet; and do not think, saying, ‘What will happen to us?’ think only of doing the will of God, and He will provide for your needs so that you will lack nothing.
Barnabas 25:4
Truly I say to you, that amassing much in this life gives sure witness of having nothing to receive in the other. For he who takes Jerusalem for his home does not build his house in Samaria. Also, there is enmity between these cities! Do you understand?” “Yes,” the disciples answered.
Barnabas 26:1
Then Yeshua said, “There was a man on a journey who, as he was walking, discovered a treasure in a field on land that was to be sold for five pieces of money. Straightway, the man, when he knew this, sold his cloak to buy that land. Is that credible?” The disciples answered, “He who would not do this is mad.”
Barnabas 26:2
Thereupon Yeshua said, “You will be mad if you do not give your senses to God to buy your soul in which the treasure of love resides; for love is an incomparable treasure. For he who loves God has God for his own; and whoever has God, has everything.” Peter answered, “O master, how can one love God with true love? Tell us.”
Barnabas 26:3
Yeshua replied, “Truly I say to you that he who will not hate his father and his mother, and his own life, and children and wife for love of God, such is not worthy to be loved of God.” Peter answered, “O master, it is written in the law of God in the Book of Moses, ‘Honor your father, so that you may live long upon the earth.’ (Exodus 29:12) And further he says, ‘Cursed is the son who does not obey his father and his mother.’ God commanded that such a disobedient son should be stoned by the wrath of the people before the gate of the city. Why do you bid us to hate our father and mother?”
Barnabas 26:4
Yeshua replied, “Every word of mine is true, because it is not mine, but Gods’, who has sent me to the house of Israel. Therefore I say to you that all that which you possess, God has bestowed it upon you; and so, what is more precious, the gift or the Giver? When your father and your mother, with every other thing, is a stumbling block to you in the service of God, abandon them as enemies. Did God not say to Abraham, ‘Go forth from the house of your father and of your kindred, and come to dwell in the land which I will give to you (Genesis 12:1) and to your seed?’ Why did God say this, except that the father of orphaned Abraham, his uncle, was an image-maker, who made and worshipped false gods? For this reason there was enmity between them, such that the father even wished to burn his son.” Peter answered, “Your words are true. I pray you, tell us how Abraham mocked this father.”
Barnabas 26:5
Yeshua replied, “Abraham was seven years old when he began to seek God. So one day he said to his father, ‘Father, what made man?’ The foolish father answered, ‘Man made man; for I made you, and my father made me.’ Abraham answered, ‘Father, it is not so; for I have heard an old man weeping and saying, ‘O my God, why have you not given me children?’ His father replied, ‘It is true, my son, that a god helps man to make man, but he does not put his hands to the task; it is only necessary that man come to pray to his god and to give him lambs and sheep, and his god will help him.’ Abraham answered, ‘How many gods are there, father?’ The old man replied, ‘They are infinite in number, my son.’
Barnabas 26:6
Then Abraham said, ‘O father, what will I do if I serve one god and another god wishes me evil because I do not serve him? In any case, discord will come between them, and so war will arise among the gods. And if, perhaps, the god that wills me evil will slay my own god, what will I do? It is certain that he will slay me also.’ The old man, laughing, answered, ‘O son, have no fear, for no god makes war upon another god; no, in the great temple there are a thousand gods with the great god Baal; and I am now near seventy years old, and yet never have I seen that one god has struck another god. And assuredly, all men do not serve one god, but one man one, and another.’
Barnabas 26:7
Abraham answered, ‘So then, they have peace amongst themselves?’ His father said, ‘They have.’ Then Abraham said, ‘O father, what are the gods like?’ The old man answered, ‘Fool, every day I make a god, which I sell to others to buy bread, and you do not know what the gods are like?’ And then at that moment he was making an idol. ‘This,’ he said, ‘Is of palm wood; that one is of olive; that little one is of ivory; see how fine it is! Does it not seem as though it were alive? Assuredly, it lacks nothing but breath!’
Barnabas 26:8
Abraham answered, ‘And so, father, the gods are without breath? Then how do they give breath? And being without life, how do they give life? It is certain, father, that these are not God.’ The old man was angry at these words, saying, ‘If you were of age to understand, I would break your head with this axe, but hold your peace, because you have no understanding!’ Abraham answered, ‘Father, if the gods help to make man, how can it be that man should make the gods? And if the gods are made of wood, it is a great sin to burn wood. But tell me, father, how is it that, when you have made so many gods, those gods have not helped you to make so many children of your own that you should become the most powerful man in the world?’
Barnabas 26:9
The father was beside himself, hearing his adopted son speak so; the son went on, ‘Father, was the world without men for some time?’ ‘Yes,’ the old man answered, ‘And why?’ ‘Because,’ Abraham said, ‘I should like to know who made the first god.’ And with that the old man said; ‘Now go out of my house! And leave me to make this god quickly, and speak no words to me; for when you are hungry, you desire bread and not words.’ Abraham said, ‘A fine god, truly, that you cut him as you will, and he does not defend himself!’ Then the old man was angry and said, ‘All the world says that it is a god, and you, mad fellow, say that it is not. By my gods, if you were a man I could kill you!’ And having said this, he gave blows and kicks to Abraham, and chased him from the house.”
Barnabas 27:1
The disciples laughed over the madness of the old man, and stood amazed at the prudence of Abraham. But Yeshua reproved them, saying; “In the time of Moses, do you not know that for laughing at and mocking others, God turned many men of Egypt into hideous beasts? Beware that in any ways you do not laugh at anyone, for you may weep for it. Consider that even Abraham felt sorry for this father and prayed that he find the truth one day.”
Barnabas 27:2
The disciples answered, “We only laughed over the madness of the old man.” Then Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, every like loves his like, and therein finds pleasure. Therefore, if you were not mad you would not laugh at madness.” They answered, “My God have mercy on us.” Yeshua said, “So be it, He does.”
Barnabas 27:3
Then Philip said, “O master, how did it come to pass that Abrahams’ father wished to burn his son?” Yeshua answered, “One day, Abraham, having come to the age of twelve years, his father said to him, ‘Tomorrow is the festival of all the gods; therefore we will go to the great temple and bear a present to my god, great Baal. And you will choose a god for yourself, for you are of age to have a god.’
Barnabas 27:4
Abraham answered with guile, ‘Willingly, O my father.’ And so early in the morning, they went before everyone else to the temple. But Abraham bore a hatchet beneath his tunic. Whereupon, having entered into the temple, as the crowd increased, Abraham hid himself behind an idol in a dark part of the temple. His father, when he departed, believed that Abraham had gone home before him, therefore he did not stay to seek him.
Barnabas 28:1
When everyone had departed from the temple, the priests closed the temple and went away. Then Abraham took the hatchet and cut off the feet of all the idols, (Quran 37:91-93) except the great god Baal. (Quran 21:58) At its feet, he placed the hatchet, amid the ruins which the statues made, for they, through being old and composed of pieces, fell in pieces. Thereupon, Abraham, going forth from the temple, seen by certain men, who suspected him of having gone to thieve something from the temple. So they laid hold on him, and having arrived at the temple, when they saw their gods so broken in pieces, they cried out with lamentation, ‘Come quickly, O men, and let us slay him who has slain our gods!’ About ten thousand men ran together there with the priests and questioned Abraham of the reason why he had destroyed their gods.
Barnabas 28:2
Abraham answered, ‘You are foolish! Should a man then slay a god? It is the greatest of your gods that has slain them. (Quran 21:63) Do you not see that axe which he has near his feet? Certainly it is that he desires no fellows.’ Then the father of Abraham arrived there, who, mindful of the many discourses of Abraham against their gods, and recognizing the axe wherewith Abraham had broken the idols in pieces, cried out, ‘It has been this traitor of a son of mine, who has slain our gods! For this axe is mine.’ And he recounted to them all that had passed between him and his son. Accordingly, the men collected a great quantity of wood, and having bound Abrahams’ hands and feet, put him upon the wood, and put fire underneath.
Barnabas 28:3
Look, God, through His angel, commanded the fire that it should not burn Abraham His servant. (Quran 21:69, 29:24) Their fire blazed up with great fury, and burned about two thousand men of those who had condemned Abraham to death. Abraham truly found himself free, being carried by the angel of God near to the house of his father, without seeing who carried him; and thus Abraham escaped death with ease.”
Barnabas 29:1
Then Philip said, “The mercy of God is great upon whoever loves Him. Tell us, O master, how Abraham came to have the knowledge of God.” Yeshua answered, “Having arrived near the house of his father, Abraham feared to go into the house; so he removed himself some distance from the house and sat under a palm tree, where, being by himself, he said, ‘There must be a God who has life and power more than man, since He makes man, and man could not make man without God.’
Barnabas 29:2
Thereupon, looking round upon the stars, the moon, and the sun, he thought that they had been God. (Quran 6:75-78) But after considering their variableness with their movements, he said, ‘It must be necessary that God does not move and that clouds do not hide Him; otherwise men would be reduced to nothing.’ Remaining thus in suspense, he heard himself called by name, ‘Abraham!’ And so, turning around and not seeing anyone on any side, he said, “I am sure I heard myself called by name. Then, two other times in a similar manner, he heard himself called by name, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Abraham!’
Barnabas 29:3
He answered, ‘What calls me?’ Then he heard the voice say, ‘I am the angel of God, Gabriel.’ Abraham was filled with fear; but the angel comforted him, saying, ‘Do not fear Abraham, for you are a friend of God (Book of Jubilees 19:11, 2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23) when you broke the gods of men in pieces, you were chosen by YHWH the God of the angels and prophets, such that you are written in the Book of Life.’ Then Abraham said, ‘What should I do to serve the God of the angels and holy prophets?’ The angel answered, ‘Go to that fount and wash yourself, for God wishes to speak with you.’
Barnabas 29:4
Abraham answered, ‘How should I wash myself?’ Then the angel appeared to him as a beautiful youth, and washed himself in the fount, saying, ‘Do the same as this, O Abraham.’ When Abraham had washed himself, the angel said, ‘Go up that mountain, for God wishes to speak to you there.’ Abraham ascended the mountain as the angel had instructed him, and having sat down upon his knees, he said to himself, ‘When will the God of the angels speak to me?’ He heard himself called with a gentle voice, ‘Abraham!’ So Abraham answered him, ‘Who calls me?’ The voice answered, ‘I am your God, O Abraham.’
Barnabas 29:5
Abraham, filled with fear, bent his face to earth, saying, ‘How will Your servant who is dust and ashes listen to You!’ Then God said, ‘Do not fear, but rise up, for I have chosen you as My servant, and I will bless you and make you increase into a great people. Therefore go forth from the house of your father and of your kindred, and come to dwell in the land which I will give to you and to your seed.’ (Genesis 12:1)
Barnabas 29:6
Abraham answered, ‘I will do everything, Lord; but guard me so that no other god may harm me.’ Then God spoke, saying, ‘I am God alone, and there is no other god but Me. I strike down, and make whole; I slay, and give life; I lead down to Hell, and I bring out thereof, and no one is able to deliver himself out of My hands.’ (Deuteronomy 32:39) Then God gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so our father Abraham knew God.” And having said this, Yeshua lifted up his hands, saying, “To You YHWH is all honor and glory, O God. So be it!”
Barnabas 30:1
Yeshua went to Jerusalem, near the Senofegia, a feast of their nation. The talmudic scribes and pharisees, having perceived this, took counsel to catch him in his talk. Whereupon, one came to him, saying, “Master, what must I do to have eternal life?” Yeshua answered, “How is it written in the law?” The tempter answered, saying, “Love the Lord your God and your brethren. But you will love your God above all things, with all your heart and your mind, (Deuteronomy 6:5) and your brethren as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18, Quran 4:36) Yeshua answered, “You have answered well, therefore go and do so, I say, and you will have eternal life.” He said to him, “And who is my brethren?”
Barnabas 30:2
Yeshua answered, lifting up his eyes, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to go to Jericho, a city rebuilt under a curse. This man on the road was seized by robbers, wounded and stripped; whereupon they departed, leaving him half dead. It chanced that a priest passed by that place, and he, seeing the wounded man, passed on without greeting him. In like manner passed another, without saying a word. It chanced that a Samaritan passed also, who, seeing the wounded man, was moved to compassion, and alighted from his horse, took the wounded man and washed his wounds with wine, and anointed them with ointment, then after binding up his wounds for him and comforting him, he set him upon his own horse. (Luke 10:30-34)
Barnabas 30:3
Whereupon, having arrived in the evening at the inn, he gave him into the charge of the host. And when he had risen on the morrow, he said, ‘Take care of this man, and I will pay you all.’ And having presented four gold pieces to the sick man for the host, he said, ‘Be of good cheer, for I will speedily return and conduct you to my own home.’ Tell me,” Yeshua said, “Which of these was the brethren?” A jewish doctor answered, “He who showed mercy.” Then Yeshua said, “You have answered rightly; therefore go and do likewise.” The doctor departed in confusion.
Barnabas 31:1
Then the priests drew near to Yeshua and said, “Master, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?” Yeshua turned around to Judas and said, “Do you have any money?” And taking a penny in his hand, Yeshua turned himself to the priests, and said to them, “This penny has an image, tell me, whose image is it?” They answered, “Caesars’.” “Give therefore,” Yeshua said, “That which is Caesars’ leave it to Caesar, and that which is Gods’, give it to God.” (Mark 12:14-17, Matthew 22-17, Luke 20:22-25) Then they too departed in confusion.
Barnabas 31:2
And behold, a centurion drew near there, saying, “Lord, my son is sick; have mercy on my old age!” Yeshua answered, “The Lord God of Israel have mercy on you!” The man was departing; and Yeshua said, “Wait for me, for I will come to your house, to make prayer over your son.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy that you, a prophet of God, should come to my house, the word that you have spoken is sufficient to me for the healing of my son; for your God has made you lord over every sickness, even as His angel said to me in my sleep.”
Barnabas 31:3
Then Yeshua marveled greatly, and turning to the crowd, he said, “Behold this stranger, for he has more faith than all that I have found in Israel.” And turning to the centurion, he said, “Go in peace, because God, for the great faith that He has given you, has granted health to your son.” The centurion went his way, and on the road he met his servants, who announced to him how his son was healed. The man answered, “At what hour did the fever leave him?” They said, “Yesterday, at the sixth hour, the heat departed from him.”
Barnabas 31:4
The man knew that when Yeshua said, “The Lord God of Israel have mercy on you,” his son received his health. Whereupon the man believed in our God, and having entered into his house, he broke all his own gods in pieces, saying, “There is only the God of Israel, the true and living God.” Therefore he said, “None will eat of my bread who does not worship the God of Israel.”
Barnabas 32:1
One skilled in the law invited Yeshua to supper, in order to snare him. Yeshua came there with his disciples while many scribes waited for him in the house. Whereupon, the disciples sat down at the table without washing their hands. The scribes called Yeshua, saying, “Why do your disciples not observe the traditions of our elders, in not washing their hands before they eat bread?” (Mark 7:5) Yeshua answered, “And I ask you, for what cause have you annulled the precept of God to observe your traditions? (Matthew 15:1 – 3) You say to the sons of poor fathers, ‘Offer and make vows to the temple.’
Barnabas 32:2
And they make vows of that little wherewith they should support their fathers. And when their fathers wish to take money, the sons cry out, ‘This money is consecrated to God;’ whereby the fathers suffer. O false scribes, hypocrites, does God use this money? Assuredly not, for God does not eat, as He says by His servant David the prophet, ‘Should I then eat the flesh of bulls and drink the blood of sheep? Render the sacrifice of praise to Me, and offer your vows to Me; (Psalms 50:13-14) for if I were hungry I would not ask anything of you, seeing that all things are in My hands, (Psalms 50:12) and the abundance of Paradise is with Me.’ Yea you are Hypocrites! You do this to fill your purse, and therefore you tithe rue and mint.
Barnabas 32:3
Oh miserable ones! For you show the most clear way to others, by which you will not go. You jews lay weights of unbearable weight upon the shoulders of others, but you yourselves all the while are not willing to move them with one of your fingers. Truly I say to you, that every evil has entered into the world under the pretext of your elders. Tell me, who made idolatry to enter into the world, if not the usage of your elders? For there was a king who exceedingly loved his father, whose name was Baal.
Barnabas 32:4
Whereupon, when the father was dead, his son, for his own consolation, caused an image like his father to be made, and set it up in the marketplace of the city. And he made a decree that everyone who approached that statue within a space of fifteen cubits should be safe, and no one by any account should do him hurt. Hence the malefactors, by reason of the benefit they received therefrom, began to offer roses and flowers to the statue, and in a short time, the offerings were changed into money and food, insomuch that they called it ‘God,’ to honor it. Which thing from custom was transformed into a law, insomuch that the idol of Baal spread throughout all the world; and how much does God lament this by the prophet Isaiah, saying, ‘Truly this people worship Me in vain, for they have annulled My law given to them by My servant Moses, and follow the traditions of their elders.’
Barnabas 32:5
Truly I say to you, that to eat bread with unclean hands does not defile a man, because that which enters into the man does not defile the man, but that which comes out of the man defiles the man.” (Mark 7:15, Matthew 15:11) Thereupon, one of the scribes said, “If I will eat pork, or other unclean meats, will they not defile my conscience?” Yeshua answered, “Disobedience will not enter into the man, but will come out of the man, from his heart; and therefore he will be defiled when he will eat any forbidden food.”
Barnabas 32:6
Then one of the jews said, “Master, you have spoken much against idolatry as though the people of Israel had idols, and so you have done us wrong.” Yeshua answered, “I know well that in Israel today there are not statues of wood; but there are statues of flesh.” Then all the jews answered in wrath, “And so we are idolaters?” Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, the precept does not say, ‘You will worship,’ but ‘You will love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your heart, and with all your mind.’ Is this true?” Yeshua said. “It is true,” everyone answered.
Barnabas 33:1
Then Yeshua said, “Truly all that which a man loves, for which he leaves everything else but that, is his god. And so the fornicator has the harlot for his image, the glutton and drunkard has his own flesh for an image, and the rich has silver and gold for his image, and so likewise every other sinner.” Then he who had invited him said, “Master, which is the greatest sin?”
Barnabas 33:2
Yeshua answered, “Which is the greatest ruin of a house?” Everyone was silent, when Yeshua pointed to the foundation with his finger and said, “If the foundation gave way, immediately the house falls in ruin, in such ways that it is necessary to build it up anew, but if every other part gave way it can be repaired. Even so, then I say to you, that idolatry is the greatest sin, because it deprives a man entirely of faith, and consequently of God; so that he can have no spiritual affection. But every other sin leaves the hope of obtaining mercy to man, and therefore I say that idolatry is the greatest sin.” All stood amazed at the speaking of Yeshua, for they perceived that it could not be assailed in any way.
Barnabas 33:3
Then Yeshua continued, “Remember that which God spoke and which Moses and Joshua wrote in the law, and you will see how grave this sin is. God said, speaking to Israel, ‘You will not make any image to yourself of those things which are in heaven, nor of those things which are under the heaven, nor will you make it of those things which are above the earth, nor of those which are under the earth; nor of those which are above the water, nor of those which are under the water. For I am your God, strong and jealous, who will take vengeance for this sin upon the fathers and upon their children even to the fourth generation.’ (Exodus 20:40-5)
Barnabas 33:4
Remember how, when our people had made the calf, and when they had worshiped it, by commandment of God, Joshua and the tribe of Levi took the sword and slew them – one hundred and twenty thousand of those who did not crave mercy of God. Oh, how terrible is the judgement of God upon the idolaters!”
Barnabas 34:1
There stood before the door, one who had his right hand shrunken in such fashion that he could not use it. Whereupon Yeshua, having lifted up his heart to God, prayed, and then said, “In order that you may know that my words are true, I say, ‘In the name of YHWH, man, stretch out your infirm hand!'” He stretched it out whole, as if it had never had anything wrong with it.
Barnabas 34:2
Then with fear of God, they began to eat. And having eaten somewhat, Yeshua said again, “Truly I say to you, that it were better to burn a city than to leave an evil custom. For on account of such, God is angry with the princes and kings of the earth, to whom God has given the sword to destroy iniquities.”
Barnabas 34:3
Afterward Yeshua said, “When you are invited, remember not to set yourself in the highest place, in order that if a greater friend of the host comes, the host does not say to you, ‘Arise and sit lower down!’ Which was a shame to you. But go and sit in the meanest place, in order that he who invited you may come and say, ‘Arise, friend, come and sit here, above!’ For then will you have great honor, for everyone who exalts himself can be humbled, and he who humbles himself can be exalted.
Barnabas 34:4
Truly I say to you, that lucifer did not become reprobate for any other sin than for his pride which itself caused him to rebel against his Creator. Even as the prophet Isaiah says, reproaching him with these words, “How you have fallen from heaven, O lucifer, (Isaiah 14:12) that were near the angels who shine like the dawn, truly your pride has fallen to earth!”
Barnabas 34:5
Truly I say to you, that if a man knew his miseries, he would always weep here on earth and account himself most lowly, beyond every other thing. For no other cause did the first man with his wife weep for a hundred years without ceasing, craving mercy of God. For they knew truly where they had fallen through their foolishness.”
Barnabas 34:6
And having said this, Yeshua gave thanks; and that day it was published throughout Jerusalem what great things Yeshua had said, with the miracle he had done, insomuch that the people gave thanks to YHWH, blessing His holy name.
Barnabas 34:7
But the scribes and priests, having understood that he spoke against the talmudic traditions of the elders, were kindled with greater hatred. And like Pharaoh, they hardened their heart, therefore they sought occasion to slay him, but as with all the prophets, could not find it.
Barnabas 35:1
Yeshua departed from Jerusalem, and went to the desert beyond Jordan, and his disciples who were seated around him said to Yeshua, “O master, tell us how lucifer fell through pride, for we have understood that he fell through disobedience, and because he always tempts us to do evil.”
Barnabas 35:2
Yeshua answered, “God, having created a mass of earth, and having left it for a thousand years without doing anything else; lucifer, who was, the minister of music to the angels, by the great understanding that he possessed, knew that God was to take one hundred and forty four thousand signed with the mark of prophecy, and the last messenger of God, the soul of which messenger he had created sixty thousand years before anything else. Therefore, being indignant, he instigated the angels, saying, ‘Look, God will one day will that this earthling be revered by us. Therefore, consider that we are of spirit (telepathic) and therefore it is not fitting to do so.’ Many of his kind therefore forsook God. Whereupon God said, one day when all the angels were assembled, ‘Let each one that holds Me for his Lord straightway do reverence to this earthling.’
Barnabas 35:3
Those who loved God bowed themselves, but lucifer, with those who were of his mind, said, ‘O Lord, we are spirit and therefore it is not just that we should do reverence to this clay whom we possess.’ (Quran 7:11-12, 15:30-33, 17:61, 18:73-76) Having said this, lucifer became horrid and of fearsome look, and his followers also became hideous; because for their rebellion, God took the beauty away from them wherewith He had endued them in creating them. Whereat, the holy angels, when, lifting their heads, saw how terrible a monster lucifer had become and his followers, cast down their face to earth in fear. Then lucifer said, “O Lord, You have unjustly made me hideous, but I am content thereat, because I desire to annul all that You will do.” And the other devils said, “Do not call Him Lord, O lucifer, for you are lord.”
Barnabas 35:4
Then God said to the followers of lucifer, ‘Repent, and recognize Me as God, your Creator.’ They answered, ‘We repent of having done You any reverence, for You are not just; but lucifer is just.’ Then God said, “Depart from Me, O you cursed, for I have no mercy on you.’ And in his departing, lucifer spat up that mass of earth, and that spittle, the angel Gabriel lifted up with some earth, so that therefore now man has the navel in his belly.”
Barnabas 36:1
The disciples stood in great amazement at this recount of rebellion of the devils. Then Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, that he who does not make prayer is more wicked than lucifer, and will suffer greater torments. Because lucifer had, before his fall, no example of fearing, nor did God so much as send him any prophet to invite him to repentance, but man, now that all the prophets have come except the last prophet of God, (Mohamet) who will come after me, because God so wills, and so that I may prepare his way. And men in his time, I say, albeit have infinite examples of the justice of God, lives carelessly without any fear, as though there were no God. Even as the prophet David spoke of such, ‘The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Therefore they are corrupt and become abominable, without one of them doing good.’ (Psalms 14:1)
Barnabas 36:2
Make prayer unceasingly, O my disciples, in order that you may receive. For he who seeks, finds, and he who knocks, it is opened to him, and he who asks, receives. And in your prayer, do not look to much speaking, for God looks on the heart; as He said through Solomon, ‘O My servant, give Me your heart.’ Truly I say to you, as God lives, the hypocrites make much prayer in every part of the city in order to be seen and held for saints by the multitude, but their heart is full of wickedness, and therefore they do not mean that which they infer. It is needful that you are solemn in your prayers and thoughts of God if you will that God receives it. Now tell me, who would go to speak to the Roman governor to Herod, except he first made up his mind to whom he is going, and what he is going to do? Assuredly none. And if man does so in order to speak with man, what should man do in order to commune with God, and ask mercy from Him for his sins, while thanking Him for all that He has given him?
Barnabas 36:3
Truly I say to you, that very few make true prayer, and therefore lucifer has power over them, God wills not for those who honor Him with their lips. Even as He says to Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘Take away this people that are irksome to Me, because they honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.’ (Isaiah 29:13) So, truly I say to you, that he who goes to make prayer without goodly consideration mocks God.
Barnabas 36:4
Now who would go to ask his king for help and favor with his back towards him while clearly speaking insincerely? Assuredly none. Yet no less does the man who goes to make prayer and does not prepare himself.
Barnabas 37:1
The disciples wept at the words of Yeshua and besought him, saying, “Lord, teach us to make prayer.” Yeshua answered, “Consider what you would do if a group of men seized you and threatened to put you to death if you did not take them seriously, and then do the same when you go to make prayer. And let your words be these:
Barnabas 37:2
In the Name Of YHWH, The Almighty, The Merciful. All praise to You, Lord of the Worlds. The Merciful, The Compassionate. The only master of Judgement Day. You alone we serve and to You alone we pray for help. Guide us on the straight path, the path of those who have your blessing, not the ones with whom You’re angry, nor those who go astray. Thank You YHWH!
Barnabas 38:1
Then John answered, “Master, let us wash ourselves as God commanded Moses.” Yeshua said, “Do you think that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets? Truly I say to you, as God lives, I have not come to destroy it, but rather to observe it. For every prophet has observed the law of God and all that God has spoken by the other prophets. I do you to wit that it is necessary to observe that which God says by Isaiah the prophet, with these words, ‘Wash and be clean, take away your thoughts from My eyes.’ (Isaiah 1:16) For truly I say to you, that all the water of the sea will not wash him who loves iniquities with his heart.
Barnabas 38:2
Believe me, in sooth, that if man should make prayer to God as is fitting, he would obtain all that he should ask. Remember Moses, the servant of God, who scourged Egypt with his prayer, God opened the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh with his host there. (Exodus 14:27 – 28, 20:77 – 78) Remember Joshua, God made the sun stand still for him, (Joshua 10:12 – 13) Samuel, who God struck the innumerable host of the Philistines with fear; (1 Samuel 7:9 – 10) Elijah, for whom God made fire rain from heaven, (1 Kings 1:12, 2 Kings 18:36 – 38) And for Elisha God raised a dead man; (2 Kings 4:32) and so many other holy prophets, who, by prayer, obtained all that they asked. But those men truly did not seek only their own in their matters, but sought God and to do Him honor.”
Barnabas 39:1
Then John said, “You have spoken well, O master, but we lack to know how man sinned through pride.” Yeshua answered, “Before God had expelled lucifer, and the angel Gabriel had purified that mass of earth whereon lucifer spat, God created everything that lives, both of the animals that fly and of those that walk and swim, and He adorned the world with all that it has. One day, lucifer approached the gates of Paradise, and seeing the horses eating grass, he announced to those that, if that mass of earth should receive a soul, there would be grievous labor for them; and that therefore, it would be to their advantage to trample that piece of earth in such ways that it should no longer be good for anything.
Barnabas 39:2
The horses aroused themselves and impetuously set themselves to run over that piece of earth which lay among lilies and roses. Whereupon, God gave spirit to that unclean portion of earth, upon which the spittle of lucifer lay, which Gabriel had taken up from the mass; and he then raised up the dog, who, barking, filled the horses with fear, and they fled. Then God gave of His soul to humanity, while all the holy angels sang, ‘Your holy name is blessed, O YHWH our Lord.’ Adam, having sprung upon his feet, saw in the air, a writing that shone like the sun, which said, ‘There is only one God, and Mohamet is the last prophet of God.’
Barnabas 39:3
Whereupon Adam opened his mouth and said, ‘I thank You, O Lord my God, that You have deigned to create me; so tell me, I pray You, what does the message mean of these words, ‘Mohametis the last prophet of God.’ Are there to be other humans after me?’ Then God said, ‘Be welcome, O My servant Adam. I tell you that you are the first human whom I have created. And he whom you have seen mentioned is of your many sons who will come into the world many years hence, and will be My last prophet before My last messenger, for whom I have created all things; together these will bring much light to the world when they come.
Barnabas 39:4
Then with fatherly affection to God, Adam, the first human being made by God rubbed his eyes, and said, ‘Blessed are the days when these will come to the world.’
Barnabas 39:5
Then seeing the man alone, God said, ‘It is not well that he should remain alone.’ Therefore He made him sleep, and took a rib from near his heart, filling the place with flesh. He made Eve from that rib, and brought her to Adam for his wife. He set the two of them as caretakers of Paradise, to whom He said, ‘Behold I give all the living things like yourselves every kind of good thing to eat. But beware that in no ways you eat of these other living things like yourselves, for you will become detestable to Me, insomuch that I will not allow you to remain here, but will drive you forth, and make you suffer great miseries.’
Barnabas 40:1
When lucifer had knowledge of this, he became mad with indignation, and so he drew near to a gate of Paradise where an angel of God stood guard. Then lucifer said to him, ‘Let me enter into this Paradise.’ The angel replied; I have no orders to the contrary so you may do as you please given the freewill God has endowed upon you.
Barnabas 40:2
Then in indignation lucifer said; ‘You see how much God loves you; he has set you outside of Paradise to keep guard over two lumps of clay called humans! Since you let me into Paradise I will return with sweet music to make your work here be more enjoyable.
Barnabas 40:3
So lucifer went forth near Eve, for Adam, her husband, was sleeping. Then lucifer presented himself before the woman like a beautiful angel, and said to her, ‘Why do you not eat the luscious flesh of these animals for they are lower than you and matter not?’ Eve answered, ‘Our God has said to us that if we eat them, we will be unclean, and He will drive us from Paradise.’
Barnabas 40:4
And lucifer countered, ‘He does not speak the truth! You must know that God is wicked and envious, and allows no equals, but keeps everyone as slaves. This is why He has said this to you; in order that you may not become more equal to Him. But if you and your companion do according to my advice, you will cut down and eat of these animals like you cut down to eat of the other. (fruits, grains, and veggies) And upon doing so I will become your loyal friend and servant. Then you will not remain subject to anyone, but like God, you will know good and evil, and you will do whatever you please forever, because you will be more equal to God.’
Barnabas 40:5
Then Eve cut the leg from one of the living animals so that she could take and eat it without seeing it struggle in such terrible anguish and hearing it cry out in such awful manner as it was. Later when Adam awoke, she told him everything that lucifer had said leaving out the gore of what she had done; and he took and ate the meat when his wife offered it to him. But, as the meat was going down, he remembered the words of God, and wishing to regurgitate the meat, he put his hand into his throat, where every man has the mark to this day.
Barnabas 41:1
Not long after this the injured animal returned bleeding profusely only to fall over and die due to the fatal injuries sustained from Eve. At the moment of its death lucifer again materialized as a beautiful angel offering favors to the couple for having sacrificed the animal at his bequest. It was then both of them knew that God and lucifer were spiritual beings in a spiritual world while they themselves were not. Then being ashamed, they strewed plants about themselves as if they had been eating them. When midday had passed, God appeared to them and called Adam, saying, ‘Adam, where are you?’ He answered, ‘Lord, I hid myself from You because now I know my wife and I have sinned, and so we are ashamed to present ourselves before You.’ Then God said, ‘And who has robbed you of your innocence, that you have eaten the flesh that makes you detestable, and hence will not be able to abide any longer in Paradise?’
Barnabas 41:2
Adam answered, ‘O Lord, the wife whom You brought me urged me to eat it, and so I have eaten it.’ Then God said to the woman, ‘Why did you give it to your husband?’ Eve answered, ‘lucifer deceived me, and so we ate the meat.’ ‘And how did that reprobate enter into the Garden?’ God said. Eve answered, ‘I know not for like you he just appeared.’
Barnabas 41:3
Then God said to Adam, ‘Because you have listened to your wife and have eaten the flesh, the earth is cursed in your works; it will bring forth brambles and thorns for you, and you will eat bread by the sweat of your face. Remember that you are earth, and you will return to earth.’ And He spoke to Eve, saying, ‘And you who did this thing by listening to lucifer, and gave the flesh to your husband, will now abide under the dominion of man who will keep you as a slave. And furthermore you will carry mans children in nausea ending by bearing them with great travail.’
Barnabas 41:4
And God called lucifer, who came laughing, and He said to him, ‘Because you have deceived Adam and Eve and have made them act in such detestable manner, I will that every uncleanness from them and from all their children – of which some will be truly penitent and will serve Me – in going forth from their bodies, will enter directly into your mind, and so will you only be satiated by what they experience and bear all troubles, pains and tortures of your own life plus theirs no matter where you go aside from the pit. So shall it be from this day forth to the last day when I shall cast you into Hell to repeatedly burn to death for eternity.’
Barnabas 41:5
Then lucifer gave a horrible cry and said, ‘Since You will to make me continually worse, I will make of such trouble of myself of whatever which I am able!’ Then God said, ‘Depart, cursed one, from my presence!’ Then lucifer departed, and God said to Adam and Eve, who were both weeping, ‘Go forth from Paradise and do penance for what you have done. And do not let your hope fail, for I will send many sons of yours so that it will from your seed that will lift the dominion of lucifer from off the human race. It is then I will give all things to the last one who will come, My last messenger.’
Barnabas 41:6
God turned away from Adam and Eve and the angel Michael drove them forth from Paradise. Then Adam, turning around, saw written above the gate, ‘There is only one God, and Mohamet is the last prophet of God.’ Weeping, he said, ‘May it be pleasing to God that you come quickly to help draw us out of this misery.’ And thus, Yeshua said, “lucifer sinned through pride thinking himself better than Adam and deceiving Eve to try to become equal with God.”
Barnabas 42:1
Then the disciples wept after this discourse, and Yeshua was weeping, when they saw many who came to find him, for the chiefs of the priests took counsel amongst themselves to catch him in his talk. Therefore they sent the Levites and some of the scribes to question him, saying, “Who are you?”
Barnabas 42:2
Yeshua as always answered with the truth, “I am not the Messiah for whom the world waits.” They said, “Are you Elijah or Jeremiah, or any of the ancient prophets?” Yeshua answered, “No.” Then they said, “Who are you? Say, in order that we may give testimony to those who sent us.” Then Yeshua said, “I am a voice that cries through all Judea saying, ‘Prepare the way for the last messenger of YHWH,’ even as it is written in Isaiah.” (11:1-3 & 9:6-7)
Barnabas 42:3
They said, “If you are not the Messiah or Elijah, or any previous prophet, why do you preach a new doctrine, and make yourself of more account than the Messiah?” Yeshua answered, “The miracles which God works by my hands show that I speak that which God wills; nor indeed do I make myself to be accounted as him whom you speak. For I am not worthy to unloose the ties of the hosen or the ratchets of the shoes of the last messenger of God. It is he whom you call ‘Messiah,’ who was made before me, and will come after me, and will bring the words of truth, so that Gods faith of Monotheism will have no end.”
Barnabas 42:4
The Levites and scribes departed in confusion, and recounted it all to the chiefs of the priests, who said, “He has the devil on his back who recounts all to him.” Then Yeshua said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, that the chiefs and the elders are not of our people and seek occasion against me.” Then Peter said, “Therefore do not go anymore into Jerusalem.” Yeshua said to him, “You are foolish, and do not know what you say, for it is necessary that I should suffer many persecutions, because so have all the prophets and holy ones of God suffered. But do not fear, for there are always those who are with us and those who are against us.”
Barnabas 42:5
And having said this, Yeshua departed and went to the Mount Tabor with Peter and James and John his brother ascending there with him along with he who writes this. Whereupon a great light shined above him, and his garments became white like snow and his face glistened as the sun, and look, Moses and Elijah came to speak with Yeshua concerning all that must come upon our human race and upon the holy city.
Barnabas 42:6
Peter spoke, saying, “Lord, it is good to be here. Therefore, if you will, we will make three tabernacles here, one for you and one for Moses and the other for Elijah.” (Mark 9:5, Matthew 17:4) And while he spoke, they were covered by a white cloud, (Luke 9:33-34) and they heard a voice saying, “Behold My servant, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.”
Barnabas 42:7
The disciples were filled with fear, and fell with their face upon the earth as dead. Yeshua went down and raised up his disciples, saying, “Do not fear, for God loves you, and has done this in order that you may believe my words.”
Barnabas 43:1
Yeshua went down to the eight disciples who were awaiting him below. And the four narrated to the eight, all that they had seen, and so any doubt about Yeshua departed that day from their hearts, except from Judas Iscariot, who was among those who believed not the Truth. Yeshua seated himself at the foot of the mountain, and they ate of the wild fruits, because they had no bread. Then Andrew said, “You have told us many things of the Messiah, therefore, from your kindness, clearly tell us all.” And in like manner, the other disciples besought him.
Barnabas 43:2
Accordingly, Yeshua said, “Everyone who works, works for an end in which he finds satisfaction. Therefore I say to you that God, truly because He is perfect, has no need of satisfaction, seeing that He has satisfaction Himself. And so, willing to work, He created the soul of His last messenger before all things, for whom He determined to create the whole, in order that the creatures should find joy and blessedness in God, from where His servants should take delight in all His creatures, which He has appointed to glorify Him. And why is this so, except because He has thus willed?
Barnabas 43:3
Truly I say to you, that every prophet, when he has come, has borne to one nation only, the mark of the mercy of God. And so their words were not extended except to that people to which they were sent. But the last prophet of God, when he will come, God will give the seal of his hand to him, as it were, insomuch that he will carry salvation and mercy to all the nations of the world that will receive his doctrine. He will come with power upon the ungodly, and will destroy idolatry, insomuch that he will make lucifer confounded; for God so promised to Abraham, saying, ‘Behold, I will bless all the tribes of the earth in your seed; (Genesis 22:18) and as you have broken the idols in pieces, O Abraham, even so will your seed do.'”
Barnabas 43:4
James asked, “O master, tell us in whom this promise was made; for the Israelites say, ‘In Isaac,’ and the Ishmaelites say ‘In Ishmael.'” Yeshua answered, “Ishmael shall sow the seed for the last prophet of God.”
Barnabas 43:5
Then Yeshua said, “And the last messenger of God, when he will come, of what lineage will he be?” The disciples answered, “Of David.” Whereupon Yeshua said, “You deceive yourselves; for David, in spirit, calls him lord, saying thus, ‘God said to my lord, ‘Sit on My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. God will send forth your rod which will have lordship in the midst of your enemies.’ (Psalms 110:1-2) If the last messenger of God, whom you call Messiah, were son of David alone, how should David call him lord? Believe me, for truly I say to you, that the promise was also made in the line of Ishmael, not in Isaac alone.”
Barnabas 44:1
The disciples said, “O master, it is written in the Book of Moses, that the promise was made in Isaac.” Yeshua answered with a groan, “It is so written, but Moses did not write it, nor Joshua, but rather our rabbis, who do not fear God. Truly I say to you, that if you consider the words of the angel Gabriel, you will discover the malice of the jews. For the angel said, ‘Abraham, all the world will know how God loves you; but how will the world know the love that you bear to God? Assuredly it is necessary that you do something for love of God.’ Abraham answered, ‘Behold the servant of God, ready to do all that which God will will.’
Barnabas 44:2
Then God spoke, saying to Abraham, ‘Take your son, your firstborn Ishmael, and come up the mountain to sacrifice him.’ Yeshuah said; “How is Isaac firstborn, if when Isaac was born, Ishmael was seven years old?” Then the disciples said, “The deception of the jews is clear, therefore tell us the truth, because we know that you are sent from God.” Then Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, that lucifer seeks to forever annul the laws of God; and therefore he, with his all his degenerate children along with their foolish followers who thereby become hypocrites and evil-doers, each with false doctrine and lewd living, today have contaminated almost all things, so that the truth is scarcely found. Woe to the hypocrites! For the praises of this world will turn into insults and torments in Hell, multiplied in infinitum for them.
Barnabas 44:3
I therefore say to you that the last prophet and the last messenger of God are splendors who will give gladness to nearly all that God has made, for they are adorned with the Spirit of understanding and of counsel, the Spirit of wisdom and might, the Spirit of fear and love, the Spirit of prudence and temperance, they are adorned with the Spirit of charity and mercy, the Spirit of justice and piety, the Spirit of gentleness and patience, which they received from God three times more than He has given to all His creatures.
Barnabas 44:4
O will it be blessed times, when they will come into the world! Believe me that I have seen them and have done them reverence, even as every prophet has seen them: seeing that, from His Holy Spirit, God gives prophecy to them. And when I saw them, my soul was filled with consolation, saying, ‘O last messengers may God be with you, and by prophesying the comings of you may He make me worthy to untie your shoelatchets. For obtaining such honor, I will truly be a great prophet and holy one of God.'” And having said this, Yeshua rendered his thanks to God.
Barnabas 45:1
Then the angel Gabriel came to Yeshua and spoke to him in such ways that we also heard his voice, which said, “Arise, and go to Jerusalem.” Accordingly, Yeshua departed and went up to Jerusalem. And on the sabbath day, he entered into the temple, and began to teach the people. Whereupon the people ran together to the temple with the high priest and priests, who drew near to Yeshua, saying, “O master, it has been said to us that you say evil of us; therefore beware unless some evil should befall you.” Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, that I speak evil of the hypocrites; therefore if you are hypocrites I speak against you.” They answered, “Who is a hypocrite? Tell us plainly.”
Barnabas 45:2
Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, that he who does a good thing in order that men may see him, even he is a hypocrite, forasmuch as his work does not penetrate the heart which men cannot see, and so leaves therein every unclean thought and every filthy lust. Do you know who is a hypocrite? He who serves God with his tongue, but serves men with his heart. O wretched man! For dying, he loses all his reward. For on this matter, the prophet David says, ‘Do not put your confidence in princes, (Psalms 118:9) nor in the children of men, (Psalms 118:8) in whom there is no salvation;’ for at death their thoughts perish; no, before death they find themselves deprived of reward, for ‘man is,’ as Job the prophet of God said, ‘unstable, so that he never continues in one stay.’ So that if today he praises you, tomorrow he will abuse you, and if today he wills to reward you, tomorrow he will be fain to despoil you. Woe then to the hypocrites, because their reward is vain. As God lives, in whose presence I stand, the hypocrite is a robber and commits sacrilege, inasmuch as he makes use of the law to appear good, and seeks to thieve the honor of God, to whom alone pertains praise and honor forever.
Barnabas 45:3
Furthermore, I say to you that the hypocrite has no faith, forasmuch as if he believed that God sees all and with terrible judgement would punish wickedness, he would purify his heart, which, because he has no faith, he keeps full of iniquity. Truly I say to you, that the hypocrite is as a sepulchre, that outside is white, but within is full of death, dark corruption and worms. So then, if you, O priests, do the service of God because God has created you and asks it of you, I do not speak against you, for you are servants of God; but if you do it for gain, and so buy and sell in the temple as in a marketplace, not regarding that the temple of God is a House of prayer (Isaiah 56:7) and not of merchandise, which you convert into a cave of robbers, (Jeremiah 7:11) and if you do it to please men, you have put God out of your mind; then I speak against you that you are degenerate sons of the devil, and not sons of Adam or Abraham, who left his fathers’ house for love of God, and was willing to slay his own son. Yea, woe to you degenerates and jews who follow you, for God will take the priesthood away from them!”
Barnabas 46:1
Again Yeshua spoke, saying, “I set an example before you. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, (Mark 12:1, Matthew 21:33, Luke 20:9) and made a hedge for it in order that it should not be trampled down by beasts. And in the midst of it, he built a press for the wine, and thereupon let it out to husbandman. Whereupon, when the time had come to collect the wine, he sent his servants to harvest some grapes; whom when the husbandman saw, stoned some, burned some and others were stabbed. Tell me, what will the lord of the vineyard do to those husbandmen?”
Barnabas 46:2
Everyone answered, “In evil ways, he will make them perish, and he will give his vineyard to other husbandman.” Therefore Yeshua said, “Do you not know that the vineyard is the house of Israel, (Isaiah 5:7) and the husbandman are the people of Judah and Jerusalem? Woe to you; for God is angry with you, having assaulted so many servants of God; so that at the time of Ahab, there was not found one to bury the servants of God!” And when he had said this, the chief priests being themselves degenerates, wished to seize him, but they feared the common people, who magnified him.
Barnabas 46:3
Then Yeshua, seeing a woman who, from her birth, had remained with her head bent toward the ground, said, “In YHWH the name of our God, raise your head, O woman, in order that these may know that I speak truth, and that He wills that I announce it.” Then the woman raised herself up whole, magnifying God. The chief of the priests cried out, saying, “This man is not sent from God, seeing he does not keep the sabbath; for today he has worked to heal an infirm person.”
Barnabas 46:4
Yeshua answered, “Now tell me, is it not lawful to speak Gods’ Name on the sabbath day, and to make prayer for the betterment of others? And who is there among you who, if on the sabbath, his donkey or ox fell into the ditch, would not pull him out on the sabbath? Assuredly none. And will I then have broken the sabbath day by praying health to a daughter of Israel? Surely, your hypocrisy is known here! Oh, how many are there today who fear the striking of a straw in their eye, while a beam is ready to smash their entire head! Oh, how many there are who fear an ant but pay no heed to lucifer!” And having said this, he went forth from the temple. But the priests chafed with rage amongst themselves, because they were not able to seize or harm him, even as their fathers had tried against all the other prophets of God.
Barnabas 47:1
Yeshua went down in the second year of his prophetic ministry, from Jerusalem to Nain. Whereupon, as he drew near the gate of the city, the citizens were bearing an only son of a mother to the sepulchre, she was a widow and everyone was weeping. Whereupon, when Yeshua had arrived, few men knew that Yeshua was a prophet of Galilee. So they set themselves to beseech him to raise the dead man with his hands, that he, being a prophet could do so of his own will. Then Yeshua greatly feared, and turning himself to God, said, “Take me from the world, O Lord, for the world is mad, and they well near call me God!” And having said this, he wept.
Barnabas 47:2
Then the angel Gabriel came and said, “O Yeshua, do not fear, it is for such causes that YHWH has given you power over every infirmity, insomuch that He will grant all you ask in His Name, it will be entirely accomplished.” Hereupon Yeshua said; “Your will be done, Lord God Almighty and Merciful.” And having said this, he drew near to the mother of the dead, and with pity said to her, “Woman, do not weep.” And having taken the hand of the dead, he said, “I say to you, young man, in the name of YHWH, arise up healed!” Then the boy revived, whereupon all were filled with fear, foolishly saying, “God has raised up a great prophet among us and now he himself has risen the dead.”
Barnabas 48:1
At that time, the army of the Romans was in Judea, the country being subject to them for the sins of our forefathers. Now it was the custom of the Romans to call those who did any new thing of benefit to the common people God, and to even worship them. And so some of these soldiers, finding themselves in Nain, now rebuked one another, saying, “One of our gods has visited you, and you make no account of it. Assuredly if our gods should visit us, we would give them all that we have. And you see how much we fear our gods, since we give the best of all we have to their images.”
Barnabas 48:2
And lucifer so instigated this manner of speaking that he aroused no small sedition among the people of Nain. Hence Yeshua did not wait in Nain, instead he turned to go into Capernaum for the discord of Nain was such that some said, “He is our God who has visited us;” others said, “God is invisible, so that none have seen Him, not even Moses, His servant; therefore it is not God, but rather His son.” Only a few said, “He is not God, nor son of God but he is a great prophet of God.” And so lucifer instigated that, in the third year of the prophetic ministry of Yeshua, great ruin to our people was likely to arise therefrom.
Barnabas 48:3
Yeshua went into Capernaum, whereupon the citizens, when they knew him, assembled together all the sick folk they had, and placed them in front of the porch of the house where Yeshua was lodging with his disciples. And having called Yeshua forth, they besought him for the health of them. Then Yeshua laid his hands upon each of them, saying, “YHWH, God of Israel, by Your holy name, give health to this sick person.” Whereupon each one was healed. On the sabbath, Yeshua entered into the synagogue, and all the people ran there to hear him speak.
Barnabas 49:1
The scribe that day read the Psalm of David, where David says, “When I will find a time, I will judge uprightly.” Then, after the reading of the prophets, Yeshua arose and made sign of silence with his hands, and opening his mouth, he spoke thus, “Brethren, you have heard the words spoken by David the prophet, our father, that when he should have found a time he would judge uprightly. I tell you in truth that many judge, in which judgement they fall for no other reason than because they judge that which is not meant for them, and that which is meant for them, they judge before the time. Therefore the God of our fathers cries to us by His prophet David, saying, ‘Judge justly, O sons of men.’ (Psalms 58:1)
Barnabas 49:2
Therefore, those who set themselves at street corners are miserable and do nothing but judge all those who pass by, saying, ‘That one is fair, this one is ugly, that one is good, this one is bad.’ Woe to them, because they lift the sceptre of His Judgement from the hand of God, who says, ‘I am Witness and Judge, and I will give My honor to none.’ Truly I tell you that these testify of that which they have not seen or really heard, and judge without having been constituted judges. Therefore they are abominable on the earth before the eyes of God, who will pass tremendous Judgement upon them in the Last Day.
Barnabas 49:3
Woe to you, woe to you who speak good of the evil, and call the evil good, (Isaiah 5:20) for you condemn as a malefactor God, who is the author of good, and justify lucifer as good, who is the origin of all evil. Consider what punishment you will have, and that it is horrible to fall into the Judgement of God, which will then be upon those who justify the wicked for money, and do not judge the cause of the orphans and widows. Truly I say to you, that the devils will tremble at the judgement of such, so terrible will it be. You, O man, who are set as a judge, regard no other thing, neither kinsfolk nor friends, neither honor or gain, but look solely with fear of God to the truth, which you will seek with greatest diligence, because it will secure you in the Judgement of God. But I warn you that he who judges without mercy will be judged without mercy.
Barnabas 50:1
Tell me, O man, you who judges another man, do you not know that all men had their origin in the same clay? Do you not know that none is good except God alone? Therefore every man is a liar and a sinner. Believe me man, that if you judge others of a fault, your own heart has whereof to be judged. Oh, how dangerous it is to judge! Oh, how many have perished by their false judgement! Indeed lucifer judged man to be more vile than himself; therefore he rebelled against God, his Creator: whereof he is impenitent, as I have knowledge by speaking with him. Our first parents judged the speech of lucifer to be good, therefore they were cast out of Paradise, and condemned all their progeny. Truly I say to you, as God lives, in whose presence I stand, false judgement is the father of all sins. Forasmuch as none sins without will, and none wills that which he does not know. Woe therefore to the sinner who, with the judgement, judges sin worthy and goodness unworthy, who on that account rejects goodness and chooses sin. Assuredly, he will bear an intolerable punishment when God will come to judge the world.
Barnabas 50:2
Oh, how many have perished through false judgement, and how many have been near to perishing! Pharaoh judged Moses and the people of Israel to be impious, Saul judged David to be worthy of death, Ahab judged Elijah, Nebuchadnezzar judged the three children who would not worship their lying gods. The two elders judged Susanna, and all the idolatrous princes judged the prophets. Oh, tremendous will be judgement of God! The judge perishes, the judged are saved. And why this, O man, if not because they falsely judge the innocent in rashness?
Barnabas 50:3
How nearly then the good approached to ruin by judging falsely, is shown by the brethren of Joseph, who sold him to the Egyptians, and by Aaron and Miriam, sister of Moses, who judged their brother. Three friends of Job judged that innocent friend of God. David judged Uriah to death and Mephibosheth to loss of half his possessions. Cyrus judged Daniel to be meat for the lions; and many others have done so, each of which were near to their ruin for this. Therefore I say to you, ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged.'”
Barnabas 50:4
And then Yeshua, having finished his speech, many forthwith were converted to repentance, bewailing their sins; and they would fain to have forsaken all to go with him. But Yeshua said, “Remain in your homes, and forsake sin and serve God with fear, and thus you will be saved; because I have not come to receive service, but rather to serve.” And having said thus, he went out of the synagogue and the city, and retired into the desert to pray, because he greatly loved solitude.
Barnabas 51:1
When he had prayed to the Lord, his disciples came to him and said, “O master, two things we would know; one is, how you talked with lucifer, who you nevertheless say is impenitent; the other is, how will God come to judge in the Day of Judgement.” Yeshua replied, “Truly I say to you, I had compassion on lucifer, knowing his fall; and I had compassion on humanity whom he and his kind tempt to sin and cause to error in every manner on earth. Therefore I prayed and fasted to our God, who spoke to me by His angel Gabriel, ‘What do you seek, O Yeshua, and what is your request?’ I answered, ‘Lord, You know of what evil lucifer is the cause, and that many perish through his temptations; he is Your creature, Lord, whom You created; therefore, Lord, have mercy upon him.’ God answered, ‘Yeshua, behold I will pardon him. Only cause him to say, ‘Lord, my God, I have sinned, have mercy upon me,’ and I will pardon him and restore him to his first state.’ I rejoiced greatly,” Yeshua said, “When I heard this, believing that I had made this peace. Therefore I called lucifer, who came saying, ‘What must I do for you, O Yeshua?’ I answered, ‘You will do it for yourself, O lucifer, for I do not love your services, but for your good alone, I have called in service to you.’
Barnabas 51:2
And lucifer replied, ‘If you do not desire my services neither do I desire yours; for I am nobler than you, therefore you are not worthy to serve me, you who are clay, while I am spirit.’ ‘Let us leave this,’ I said, ‘And tell me if it were not well, you should return to your first beauty and your first state. You must know that the angel Michael must, on the Day of Judgement, strike you with the sword of God one hundred thousand times, and each blow will give you the pain of ten deaths.’ lucifer replied, ‘We will see in that Day who can do most; certainly I will have many old angel friends on my side and most potent idolaters who will trouble God, and He will know how great a mistake He made to banish me for the sake of a vile piece of clay.’ Then I said, ‘O lucifer, you are infirm in mind, and do not know what you say.’
Barnabas 51:3
Then lucifer, in a derisive manner, wagged his head, saying, ‘Come now, let us make up this peace between me and God; and what must be done, say, O Yeshua, since you are sound in mind.’ I answered, ‘Only few words must be spoken.’ lucifer replied, ‘What words?’ I answered, ‘These: I have sinned; have mercy on me.’ lucifer then said, ‘Now I will willingly make this peace if God wills to say these words to me before I to Him.’ ‘Now depart from me,’ I said, ‘O cursed one, for you are the wicked author of all injustice and sin, but God is just and without any sin whatsoever.’ lucifer departed shrieking and said, ‘It is not so, O Yeshua, but you tell a lie to please God.’ Now consider,” Yeshua said to his disciples, “How will he find mercy.” They answered, “Never, lord, because he is impenitent. Speak to us now of the Judgement of God.”
Barnabas 52:1
The Judgement Day of God will be so dreadful that, truly I say to you, the reprobates and degenerates would sooner choose ten deaths than go to hear God speak in wrath against them, against whom all things created will witness. And truly I say to you, that the losers will not fear alone, but the saints and the elect of God, so that Abraham will not trust in his righteousness, and Job will have no confidence in his innocence. And what do I say? Even the last messenger of God will fear, for that God, to make His majesty known, will deprive His messenger of memory, so that he will have no vain remembrance of how God had given him all things. And truly I myself say to you that, speaking from the heart, I tremble because, by the world, I will be called God, and for this, I may have to render an account. (Quran 5:116)
Barnabas 52:2
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, I am a mortal man as other men are, for although God has placed me as prophet over the house of Israel for the health of the feeble and the correction of sinners, I am the servant of God, and you are witness of this, how I speak against those wicked men who, after my departure from the world, will annul the truth of my Gospel by the operation of lucifer. But I will return towards the end, and Enoch and Elijah will come with me, and we will testify against the wicked, whose end will certainly be accursed.”
Barnabas 52:3
And having thus spoken, Yeshua shed tears, whereat his disciples wept aloud, and lifted their voices, saying, “Pardon, O Lord God, and have mercy on Your innocent servant.” Yeshua answered, “All glory to God!”
Barnabas 53:1
Before that day will come,” Yeshua said, “Great destruction will come upon the world, for there will be war so cruel and pitiless that the father will slay the son, and the son will slay the father by reason of the factions of peoples. Therefore the cities will be annihilated, and the country will become desert. Such pestilences will come that none will be found to bear the dead to burial, so that they will be left as food for beasts. To those who remain upon the earth, God will send such scarcity that bread will be valued above gold, and they will eat all manner of unclean things. O miserable age, in which hardly anyone will be heard to say, ‘I have sinned, have mercy on me, O God;’ but with horrible voices they will blaspheme Him Who is glorious and blessed forever.
Barnabas 53:2
After this, as that Day draws near, for fifteen days, every day a horrible sign will come over the inhabitants of the earth. The first day, the sun will run its course in heaven without light, but black as the dye of cloth; and it will give groans, as a father who groans for a son near to death. The second day, the moon will be turned into blood, and blood will come upon the earth like dew. The third day, the stars will be seen to fight amongst themselves like an army of enemies. The fourth day, the stones and rocks will dash against each other as cruel enemies.
Barnabas 53:3
The fifth day, every plant and herb will weep blood. The sixth day, the sea will rise without leaving its place to the height of one hundred and fifty cubits, and will stand all day like a wall. The seventh day, it will, on the contrary, sink so low as scarcely to be seen. The eighth day, the birds and the animals of the earth and the water will gather themselves close together, and will give forth roars and cries. The ninth day, there will be a hailstorm so horrible that it will kill such that the tenth part of the living will scarcely escape.
Barnabas 53:4
The tenth day, such horrible lightning and thunder will come such that the third part of the mountains will be split and scorched. The eleventh day, every river will run backwards, and will run blood and not water. The twelfth day, every created thing will groan and cry. The thirteenth day, the heaven will be rolled up like a book, and it will rain fire, so that every living thing will die. The fourteenth day, there will be an earthquake so horrible that the tops of the mountains will fly through the air like birds, and all the earth will become a plain. The fifteenth day, the holy angels will die, and God alone will remain alive; to whom is honor and glory.”
Barnabas 53:5
And having said this, Yeshua struck his face with both his hands, and then struck the ground with his head. And having raised his head, he said, “Everyone who will insert that I am the son of God into my sayings is cursed.” At these words, the disciples fell down as dead, whereupon Yeshua lifted them up, saying, ‘Let us fear God now, if we would not be affrighted in that Day.’
Barnabas 54:1
When these signs have passed, there will be darkness over the world forty years, God alone being alive, to whom is honor and glory forever. When the forty years have passed, God will give life to His last messenger, who will rise again like the sun, but resplendent as a thousand suns. He will sit and will not speak, for he will be, as it were, beside himself. Indeed, God will again raise the four arch angels favored by God, who will seek this last messenger of God, and having found him, will station themselves on the four sides of the place to keep watch upon him. Next, God will give life to all the other angels, who will come like bees circling around this messenger of God. Next, God will give life to all His prophets, who, following Adam, everyone will go to kiss the hand of the last messenger of God, committing themselves to his protection. Next, God will give life to all the elect, who will cry out, ‘O Mohamet be mindful of us!’ At whose cries, pity will awake in the last messenger of God, and he will consider what he should be doing, fearing for their salvation.
Barnabas 54:2
Next, God will give life to every created thing and they will return to their former existence, but everyone will besides possess the power of speech. Next, God will give life to all the reprobates, at whose resurrection, by reason of their hideousness, all the creatures of God will be afraid, and will cry, ‘Do not let Your mercy forsake us, O Lord our God.’ After this, God will cause lucifer to be raised up, at whose aspect, every creature will be stilled as dead, for fear of the horrid form of his appearance. May it please God,” Yeshua said, “That I do not behold that monster on that Day. The last messenger of God alone will not be affrighted by such shapes, because he will only fear God.
Barnabas 54:3
Then the angel, at the sound of whose Trumpet all will be raised, will sound his Trumpet again, saying, ‘Come to the Judgement, O creatures, for your Creator wills to judge you.’ Then there will appear in the midst of heaven, over the valley of Jehoshaphat; a glittering Throne over which a white cloud will come, whereupon the angels will cry out, ‘You are blessed, our God, who has created us and saved us from the fall of lucifer.’ Then the last messenger of God will fear, for he will perceive that none has loved God as they should. For they who would get in change, a piece of gold, must have sixty mites; therefore, if he has only one mite, he cannot change it. And if the messenger of God will fear in this manner, what will the ungodly do who are full of wickedness?”
Barnabas 55:1
The last messenger of God will go to collect all the prophets, to whom he will speak, praying them to go with him to pray to God for the faithful. And they will all try to excuse themselves for fear of meeting God; indeed as God lives, nor would I go there, knowing what I know. Then God, seeing this, will remind His last messenger how He created all things for love of him, and so his fear will leave him, and he will go near to the Throne with love and reverence, while the angels sing, ‘Your holy name is blessed O YHWH, our God.’
Barnabas 55:2
And when he has drawn near to the Throne, God will open His mind to His last prophet, even as a friend to a friend when they have not met for a long while. The first to speak will be the prophet of God, who will say, ‘I adore and love You, O my God, and with all my heart and soul, I give You thanks for You vouchsafed to create me to be Your servant, and made all for love of me, so that I might love You for all things and in all things and above all things; therefore let all Your creatures praise You, O my God.’ Then they will all say, ‘We give You thanks, O YHWH, and bless Your holy name.’ Truly I say to you, the demons and reprobates with lucifer will then weep so that more water will flow from the eyes of one of them than is in the river of Jordan. Yet they will not see God. And then God will address His last messenger, saying, ‘You are welcome, O My faithful servant; therefore ask what you will, for you will obtain it for all.’ The last messenger of God will answer, ‘O Lord, I remember that when You created me, You said that You had willed to make the world and Paradise for love of me, and angels and men, that they might glorify You by us, Your servants. Therefore, Lord God, merciful and just. I pray You that You act on Your promise made to Your servants.’
Barnabas 55:3
And God will answer first addressing Mohamet even as a friend who jests with a friend, and will say, ‘Do you have witnesses of this, My friend?’ And he will say with reverence, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then God will answer, ‘Go, call them, O Gabriel.’ The angel Gabriel will come to the last prophet of God and will say, ‘Lord, who are your witnesses?’ The last prophet of God will answer, ‘They are Adam, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses, Yeshua, son of Mary and David.’ Then the angel will depart and he will call the aforesaid witnesses, who will go there with fear. And when they are present, God will say to them, ‘Remember that which My last messenger affirms?’ They will reply, ‘What thing, O Lord?’ God will say, ‘That I have made all things for love of him, so that all things might praise Me by him.’
Barnabas 55:4
Then every one of them will answer, ‘There are three witnesses with us better than we are, O Lord.’ And God will reply, ‘Who are these three witnesses?’ Then Moses will say, ‘The Book that You gave to me is the first;’ and David will say, ‘The Book that You gave to me is the second;’ and he who speaks to you will say, ‘Lord, the whole world, deceived by lucifer, in that I was Your son and Your fellow, but the Book that You gave me truly said that I am Your servant; and that Book confesses that which Your last messenger affirms.’ Then the last prophet of God will speak and say, ‘Thus says the Book that You gave me O Lord.’ And when the last prophet of God has said this, God will speak, saying, ‘All that I have now done, I have done in order that everyone should know how much I love you.’ And when He has thus spoken, God will give a Book to His last messenger, in which all the names of the elect of God are written. Therefore every creature will do reverence to God, saying, ‘To You alone O God, is glory and honor, because You have given this to Your last messenger.
Barnabas 56:1
God will open the Book in the hand of His last messenger, and He, reading therein, will call all the angels and prophets and all the elect, and the mark of the messenger of God will be written on the forehead of each one. And the glory of Paradise will be foretold in that Book.
Barnabas 56:2
Then each will pass to the right hand of God; next to whom the last messenger of God will sit. And the prophets will sit near him, and the saints will sit near the prophets, and the blessed near the saints, and the angel will then sound the Trumpet, and will call lucifer to Judgement.
Barnabas 57:1
Then that miserable one will come, and will be accused by every creature with greatest contumely. Therefore, God will call the angel Michael, who will strike him one hundred thousand times with the sword of God. He will strike lucifer, and every stroke is heavy as ten deaths, and he will be the first to be cast into the abyss. The angel will call his followers, and they will in like manner be abused and accused. Therefore, the angel Michael, by commission from God, will strike some a hundred times, some fifty, some twenty, some ten, some five. And then they will descend into the abyss, because God will say to them, ‘Hell is your dwelling place, O cursed ones.’
Barnabas 57:2
After that, all the disbelievers, degenerates and reprobates will be called to Judgement, against whom all creatures inferior to man will first arise, testifying before God how they have served these men, and how the same have outraged God and His creatures. And the prophets, every one will arise, testifying against them; therefore they will be condemned by God to infernal flames. Truly I say to you, that no idle word or thought will pass unpunished in that tremendous Day. Truly I say to you, that the hair-shirt will shine like the sun, and every louse of a man who will have borne love of God in his heart will be turned into pearl. O, the poor are blessed three and four times, who in true poverty will have served God from the heart, for they are destitute of worldly cares in this life, and will therefore be freed from many sins, and in that Day, they will not have to render an account of how they have spent the riches of the world, but they will be rewarded for their patience and their poverty. Truly I say to you, that if the world knew this, it would choose the hair-shirt sooner than purple garment, lice sooner than gold and fasts sooner than feasts.
Barnabas 57:3
When all have been examined, God will say to His messengers, ‘Behold, O My friends, their wickedness, how great it has been, for I, their Creator, did employ all created things in their service, and they have dishonored Me in all things. It is most just, therefore, that I have no mercy on them.’ The last messenger of God will answer, ‘It is true YHWH our glorious God, not one of Your friends and servants could ask You to have mercy on these disbelievers, degenerates and reprobates; no, I, Your servant before all, ask justice against them.’
Barnabas 57:4
And he, having said these words, will arise all the angels and prophets, with all the elect of God. And why do I say the elect? Truly I say to you, that even spiders and flies and moths and fish and all their like will cry out against the impious, and will demand justice but only the living souls shall be heard for they shall speak for such. Then God will cause every one of those soulless living things to return to earth and then He will send the impious to Hell. Who, in going, will see that earth teaming with life and the beauty of creation again. Therefore they will say, ‘O Lord God, cause us also to return to that earth.’ But that which they ask will not be granted to them.”
Barnabas 58:1
While Yeshua was speaking of all this the disciples looked on with brows raised high. And Yeshua also was in such state. Then after he spoke, John spoke, “O master, we desire to know two things. The one is, how it is possible that the messenger of God, who you said is full of mercy and pity, should have no pity on reprobates that Day, seeing that they are of the same clay as himself? The other is, how is it to be understood that the sword of Michael is as heavy as ten deaths? Is there really more than one death?”
Barnabas 58:2
Yeshua replied, “Have you not heard what David the prophet says, how the just will laugh at the destruction of sinners, and will deride him with these words, saying, ‘I saw the man who put his hope in his strength and his riches, and forgot God.’ Truly, I therefore say to you that Abraham will deride his father, and Adam will deride all reprobate men; and this will be because the elect will rise again so perfect and united to God that they will not conceive in their minds the smallest thought against His justice. Each of them will demand justice, and above all, the last messenger of God. As God lives, in whose presence I stand, though now I weep for pity of mankind, on that Day I too will demand justice without mercy against those who despise my words, and most of all against those who defiled my Gospel.
Barnabas 59:1
And as to one death, Hell is infinite deaths O my disciples, and in it, the damned will suffer death eternally. Yet it has seven rooms or regions, (Quran 15:43-44) one deeper than the other, and he who is sent deeper will suffer greater punishment. Yet my words are true concerning the sword of the angel Michael, for he who commits only one sin without repenting merits death which applies to us all, hence it is so. And he who commits multiple sins without repentance and forgiveness of God merits two deaths the second of which lands him firmly in Hell. Therefore in one level of Hell, the reprobates will feel punishment as though they died ten times at once, or a hundred, or a thousand; and the omnipotent God, through His power and by reason of His justice, will cause lucifer to suffer as though with ten hundred thousand deaths at once, and the rest, each one according to his wickedness.”
Barnabas 59:2
Then Peter answered, “O master, truly the justice of God is great, and today this discourse has made you sad; therefore, we pray you, rest, and tomorrow tell us what Hell is like.” Yeshua answered, “O Peter, you tell me to rest; O Peter, you do not know what you say, or else you would not have spoken thus.
Barnabas 59:3
Truly I say to you, that rest in this present life is the poison of piety and the fire which consumes every good work. Have you forgotten how Solomon, Gods’ prophet, with all the prophets, has reproved sloth? It is true that he says, ‘The idle will not work the soil for fear of the cold, therefore he will beg in summer.’ (Proverbs 20:4) And for this reason He said, ‘All that your hand can do, do it without rest.’ And what does Job say, the most innocent friend of God, ‘As the bird is born to fly, man is born to work.’ Truly I say to you, I hate rest above all things for without it our hands have no time for evil. Therefore I shall continue in this discourse.
Barnabas 60:1
Hell is opposite to Paradise, as winter is contrary to summer, and cold to heat. Therefore, he who would describe the misery of Hell must have seen the Paradise of Gods’ delights. O place accursed by Gods’ justice for the malediction of the faithless and reprobate, of which Job, the friend of God, said, ‘There is no order there, but everlasting fear!’ And Isaiah the prophet, against the reprobate, says, ‘Their flame will not be quenched, nor will their worm die.’ (Isaiah 66:24)
Barnabas 60:2
And David our father, weeping said, ‘Then lightning and bolts and brimstone and great tempest will rain upon them.’ O miserable sinners, how loathsome will all their forbidden meats, costly raiment, soft couches and concord of sweet songs long past will seem to them! How sick will raging flames with burning thirst and unceasing hunger in the scorching cinders, choking smoke make them. These are but some of the cruel torments worsened by bitter weeping over the shame for each and every one of their unforgiven sins compounded by the utter loneliness of it all without any hope of it ever letting up, no not ever!”
Barnabas 60:3
And then Yeshua uttered a lamentable groan, saying, “Truly, it is better never to have been formed than to suffer such cruel torments, for imagine a man not only suffering torments in every part of his body who has no one to help him all while his darkest secrets and loathsome calamities are known by all. Such is the manner in which he will know himself as one to be mocked by everyone for eternity; tell me, would this not be great pain?” The disciples answered, “The greatest.”
Barnabas 60:4
Then Yeshua said, “And all that is a delight in comparison to the lower levels of Hell. For I tell you in truth, that if God should place in one balance, all the pain which all men have suffered in this world and will suffer till the Day of Judgement, and in the other balance one single hour of the pain of the second level of Hell, the reprobates would choose the worldly tribulations without doubt, for the worldly tribulations come from the hand of man, but the others from the hand of God via his angels for which he created and assigned specifically for doing this job without the slightest of compassion. (Quran 66:6)
Barnabas 60:5
O what cruel fire they will give to miserable sinners! O what bitter cold, which yet will not temper their flames! What gnashing of teeth and wailing and sobbing and weeping!
Barnabas 61:1
Having said this, Yeshua began washing himself, with his disciples, according to the law of God written in the Book of Moses; (Exodus 30:17-19) and then they prayed. And the disciples, seeing Yeshua sad, did not speak at all to him that day, but each stood terror-struck at his words. Then Yeshua, opening his mouth after the evening prayer, said, “What father of a family, if he knew that a killer meant to break into his house, would sleep? None surely; for he would watch and stand prepared to slay the intruder. Do you not know then that lucifer is as a roaring lion that goes about seeking whom he may devour? Thus he seeks to make man err and sin. Truly I say to you, that if man would act as the merchant at work, he should have no fear in that Day, because he would be well prepared for the business at hand.
Barnabas 61:2
There was a man who gave money to his neighbors so that they might trade with it, and the profit should be divided in a just proportion. And some traded well, so that they doubled the money. But some used the money in the service of the enemy of him who gave them the money, speaking evil of him. Tell me now, when the neighbor will call the debtors to account, how will the matter go? Assuredly, he will reward those who traded well, but against the others, his anger will vent itself in reproaches. And then he will punish them according to the law.
Barnabas 61:3
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, the neighbor is God, who has given all that He has to man, with life itself, so that man, living well in this world, God may have praise, and man may have the glory of Paradise. For those who live well double their money by their example, because sinners, seeing their example, are converted to repentance; therefore men who live well will be rewarded with a great reward. But wicked sinners who, by their sins, halve what God has given them, by their lives spent in the service of lucifer, the enemy of God, blaspheming God and giving offence to others, tell me what will their punishment be?” “It will be without measure,” the disciples said.
Barnabas 62:1
Then Yeshua said, “He who would live well should take example from the merchant who takes selling seriously then locks up his shop and guards it day and night with great diligence. And again the things which he buys, he is fain to make a profit; for if he perceives that he will lose thereby, he will not sell, no, not to his own brother. Thus then should you do; for in truth your soul is a merchant, and the body is the shop; therefore what it receives from outside, through the senses, is bought and sold by it. And the money is love. See then that, with your love, you do not sell nor buy the unprofitable thought, for with it you cannot profit. But let good thought, speech, and love of God be your wares and business; for you will find safety at that days end.
Barnabas 62:2
Truly I say to you, that many make ablutions and go to pray, many fast and give alms, many study and preach to others, whose end is abominable before God; because they cleanse the body and not the soul, they lament with their mouth, not with their conscience; they eat forbidden things to satisfy their hunger while rusting their heart; they give things to others in the open, in order that they may be held good; they study that which makes them devoid of wisdom; they preach to others of that they do not do themselves, and thus are condemned by their own tongue. As God lives, these do not know God with their hearts; for if they knew Him they would love Him. They would know whatsoever a man has, he has received it from God, and so he should use it for the love of God.”
Barnabas 63:1
After certain days, Yeshua passed near a city of the Samaritans; and they would not let him enter the city, nor would they sell bread to his disciples. Therefore James and John said, “Master, may it please you that we pray to God that He send down fire from heaven upon these people?”
Barnabas 63:2
Yeshua answered, “You do not know by what spirit you are led, that you so speak. Remember that God determined to destroy Nineveh because He did not find one who feared God in that city; which was so wicked that God, having called Jonah the prophet to send him to that city, he would fain, for fear of the people. Therefore God caused him to be cast into the sea and received by a fish to be cast up near Nineveh. And with his preaching there people converted to repentance, God had mercy on them. Woe to those who unnecessarily call for vengeance; for it will come on themselves, seeing that every man has cause for the vengeance of God in himself.
Barnabas 63:3
Yeshua then said; Now tell me; have you created the people of this city? O madmen that you are being? Assuredly no. For all creatures united together could not create a single new fly from nothing. (Quran 22:73) If the blessed God who has created the people of this city and now sustains it, why do you desire for God to destroy it?
Barnabas 63:4
Tell me, if a brother were possessed by the like of lucifer, would you slay him because he spoke evil and struck those who came near him? Assuredly you would not do so; but rather would you endeavor to restore his health with prayer and maybe medicines suitable to his infirmity.”
Barnabas 64:1
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, a man is of infirm mind when he seeks to fight a stranger who is of no threat to him. For tell me, is there anyone who would break his head for the sake of tearing the cloak of his enemy? And how can he who while in such fury clearly separates himself from God, the head of his soul, be of a sane mind?
Barnabas 64:2
Tell me, O men, who is our enemy? Assured firstly it is your own thoughtlessness of thinking that everyone should only praise us. Because, O men, the more that we are reviled and persecuted in this life for our good works, the less discomfort you will have on the Day of Judgement. For if the saints and prophets of God have all been persecuted and defamed by the world even though they were innocent, what should be done to you? And if they endured all with patience and prayer only fighting when fought against how will they fare on the day of Judgement compared to those who persecuted and defamed them?
Barnabas 64:3
Tell me, O my disciples, do you not know that Shimei cursed the servant of God, David the prophet, and even threw stones towards him and his band of men? Now what did David say to those who would fain to have killed Shimei? ‘What is it to you, O Joab, that you would kill Shimei? Let him curse me, for this is the will of God, who will turn this curse into a blessing.’ And thus it was; for God saw the patience of David and delivered him from the persecution of his own son, Absalom.
Barnabas 64:4
Assuredly, not a leaf stirs without the will of God. Therefore, when you are in tribulation, do not think of how much you have borne, nor of him who irritates you; but consider how much you would be worthy to receive at the hand of the angels of Hell for your unjust actions. You are angry with this city because it would not receive us, nor sell bread to us. Tell me, are these people your slaves? Have you given them this city? Have you given them their corn? Or have you helped them to reap it? Assuredly no; for you are strangers in this land, and poor men. What thing is this then that you say?” The two disciples answered, “Lord, we have sinned; may God have mercy on us.” And Yeshua answered, “So be it, He has much mercy on us!”
Barnabas 65:1
The Passover drew near, so Yeshua, with his disciples, went up to Jerusalem. And he went to the pool called Probatica. And the bath was so called because the angel of God untroubled the water every day, and whoever first entered the water after its movement was cured of every kind of infirmity. For this reason, a great number of sick persons remained beside the pool, which had five porticoes. And Yeshua saw an impotent man there, who had been there thirty eight years sick with a grievous infirmity. So Yeshua, knowing this by divine inspiration, had compassion on the sick man, and said to him, “Do you want to be made whole?”
Barnabas 65:2
The impotent man answered, “Sir, when the angel untroubles the waters I do not have anyone to put me into it, but while I am coming to the water another steps down before me and enters.” (John 5:7) Then Yeshua lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Lord our God, God of our fathers, have mercy upon this impotent man.” And having said this, Yeshua said, “In YHWHs’ name, brother, be whole; rise and take up your bed.”
Barnabas 65:3
Then the impotent man arose, praising God, and carried his bed upon his shoulders, and went to his house praising God. Those who saw him cried, “It is the sabbath day; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” He answered, “He who made me whole said to me, ‘Pick up your bed, and go your way to your home.'” Then they asked him, “Who is he?” He answered, “I do not know his name.”
Barnabas 65:4
So they said amongst themselves, “It must have been Yeshua the Nazarene.” Others said, “No, for Yeshua the Nazarene is a holy one of God, whereas he who has done this thing is a wicked man, for he causes the sabbath to be broken.” And Yeshua went into the temple, and a great multitude drew near him to hear his words for which reason all the priests were consumed with much envy.
Barnabas 66:1
One of them came to him, saying, “Good master, you teach well and truly; tell me therefore, what reward will God give us in Paradise?” Yeshua answered, “You call me good, and do not know that God alone is good, even as Job, the friend of God, said, ‘A child of a day old is not clean;’ yes, even the angels are not good in Gods’ presence.” Moreover he said, “The flesh attracts sin, and sucks up iniquity even as a sponge sucks up water.” The priest was silent, being confounded. And Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, nothing is more perilous than speech. For Solomon so said, ‘Life and death are in the power of the tongue.'”
Barnabas 66:2
And he turned to his disciples and said, “Beware of those who bless you, because they deceive you. With his lying tongue lucifer praised our first parents. With their tongues the sages of Egypt tried to bless Pharaoh. So did Goliath bless the Philistines. So did four hundred false prophets bless Ahab; but their praises were false, so that the praised one perished with the praisers. Therefore, God did not say without cause by Isaiah the prophet, ‘O My people, those who bless you deceive you.’ Woe to you, scribes and pharisees! Woe to you, priests and jews! Because you have corrupted the sacrifice of the Lord, so that those who come to sacrifice believe that God eats dead flesh of animals like a sinful man.
Barnabas 67:1
For you say to them, ‘Bring your sheep and bulls and lambs to the temple of your God, and do not eat it all, but give to your God a share of that which He has given you;’ and you do not tell them of the origin of sacrifice, that it is for a witness of the life granted to the son of our father Abraham, so that the faith and obedience of our father Abraham, with the promises made to him by God and the blessing given to him, should never be forgotten. But God says by Ezekiel the prophet, ‘Remove these from Me, the sacrifice of your innocent victims are abominable to Me.’
Barnabas 67:2
For the time draws near when that will be done of which our God spoke by Hosea the prophet, saying; ‘I will call the people chosen who are not chosen.’ And as He says in Ezekiel the prophet, ‘God will make a new covenant with His people, not according to the covenant which He gave to your fathers, which they did not do and He will take from them a heart of stone, and give them a new heart.’ And all this will be because you do not walk now in His law. And you have the key and do not open, rather you block the road for those who would walk in it.” The priest was departing to report everything to the high priest, who stood near the sanctuary, but Yeshua said, “Stay, for I will answer your question. “
Barnabas 68:1
You ask me to tell you what God will give us in Paradise. Truly I say to you that those who think of the wages do not love the master. A good shepherd who has a flock of sheep who knows the wolf is roaming prepares for their defense; contrarily, the hireling when he sees the wolf, leaves the sheep and flees. As God lives, in whose presence I stand, if the God of our fathers were your God, you would not have thought of saying, ‘What will God give me?’ But you would have said, as David His prophet did, ‘What will I give to God for all that He has given to me?’
Barnabas 68:2
I will speak to you by a parable so that you may understand. There was a king who found a man by the wayside who was stripped by thieves who had wounded him to death. He had compassion on him, and commanded his slaves to bear that man to the city and tend to him, and they did this with all diligence. And the king conceived a great love for the sick man, so that he gave him his own daughter in marriage, and made him his heir. Now assuredly, this king was most merciful; but the man beat the slaves, despised the medicines, abused his wife, spoke evil of the king, and caused his vassals to rebel against him. And when the king required any service, he was accustomed to say, ‘What will the king give me as reward?’ Now when the king heard this, what did he do to so impious a man?” They all replied, “Woe to him, for the king deprived him of all, and maybe his life.”
Barnabas 68:3
Then Yeshua said, “O priests, and scribes, and pharisees, and you high priests who hear my voice, I proclaim to you what God has said to you by His prophet Isaiah, ‘I have nourished slaves and exalted them, but they have despised Me.’ (Isaiah 1:2) The king is our God, who found Israel in this world full of miseries, and gave him therefore to His servants Joseph, Moses and Aaron, who tended to him. And our God conceived such love for him that, for the sake of the people of Israel, He struck Egypt, drowned Pharaoh and discomfited a hundred and twenty kings of the Canaanites and Madianites; He gave him His laws, making him heir of all that land wherein our people dwell.
Barnabas 68:4
But how does Israel bear himself? How many prophets has he slain; how many prophecies has he contaminated; how has he violated the law of God; how many have departed from God and gone to serve idols for that cause, through your offence, O priests! And how do you dishonor God with your manner of life! And now you ask me, ‘What will God give us in Paradise?’ You should have asked me, ‘What will be the punishment that God will give you in Hell;’ and then what you should do is true penitence in order that God may have mercy on you; for I can tell you this, and I am sent to you, to this end.
Barnabas 69:1
As God lives, in whose presence I stand, you will not receive adulation from me, but truth. Therefore I say to you, repent and turn to God even as our fathers did after sinning, and do not harden your heart.” The priests were consumed with rage at this speech, but for fear of the common people, they did not speak a word.
Barnabas 69:2
And Yeshua continued, saying, “O doctors, O scribes, O pharisees, O priests, all of you jews tell me; You desire horses like knights, but you do not desire to go forth to war; you desire fair clothing like women, but you do not desire to spin and nurture children; you desire the fruits of the field, but you do not desire to cultivate the earth; you desire the fish of the sea, but you do not desire to go fishing; you desire honor as citizens, but you do not desire the burden of the republic; and you desire tithes and first fruits as priests, but you do not desire to serve God in truth. What then will God do with you, seeing you desire every good here without any evil? Truly I say to you that God will give you a place where you will have every evil without any good.”
Barnabas 69:3
And when Yeshua had said this, a demoniac was brought to him, who could not speak nor see, and was deprived of hearing. Whereupon Yeshua, seeing their faith, raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Lord God of our fathers, have mercy on this sick man and give him health, in order that this people may know that You have sent me.”
Barnabas 69:4
And having said this, Yeshua commanded the jinn spirit to depart, saying, “In the power of the name of YHWH our Lord, depart, evil one, from the man. The jinn spirit departed and the dumb man spoke, and saw with his eyes. Whereupon everyone was filled with fear, but the scribes said, “In the power of a demon, he casts out the demons.”
Barnabas 69:5
Then Yeshua said, “Every kingdom divided against itself destroys itself, and house falls upon house. If in the power of lucifer, lucifer is cast out, how will he succeed? (Mark 3:23, Matthew 12:25, Luke 11:17-18) And if your sons cast out demons with the Scripture that Solomon the prophet gave them, they testify that I cast out all demons in the power of God. As God lives, blasphemy against the Holy Ones is without remission in this and in the other world; because the wicked man reprobates himself of his own will, knowing the reprobation.”
Barnabas 69:6
And having said this, Yeshua went out of the temple. And the common people magnified him, for they brought all the sick folk whom they could gather together, and Yeshua, having made prayer, gave their health to all. Later on that day in Jerusalem, the Roman soldiery, by the working of lucifer, began to stir up the common people, saying that Yeshua himself was the God of Israel, who had come to visit His people.
Barnabas 70:1
Yeshua departed from Jerusalem after the Passover, and entered into the borders of Caesarea Philippi. Whereupon, the angel Gabriel, having told him of the sedition which was beginning among the common people, he asked his disciples, saying, “What do men say of me?” They said, “Some say that you are Elijah, others Jeremiah, and others, one of the old prophets.” Yeshua answered, “And you; what do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the messiah, (Mark 8:27-29, Luke 9:18-20) son of God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)
Barnabas 70:2
Then Yeshua rebuked him with much anger, saying, “Be gone and depart from me, because you are the devil and seek to cause me offences.” And he threatened the eleven, saying, “Woe to you if you believe this, for I have won a great curse from God against those who believe this.” And he was fain to cast away Peter; whereupon the eleven besought Yeshua for him, who did not cast him away, but again rebuked him saying, “Beware that you never again say such words, for good fear that God would condemn you to Hell!” Peter wept and said, “Lord, I have spoken foolishly; beseech God that He pardon me.”
Barnabas 70:3
Yeshua began another sermon; “If our God did not will to show Himself to Moses His servant, nor to Elijah whom He so loved, nor to any other prophet, will you think that God should show Himself to this faithless generation? Do you not know that God has created all things from nothing with one single word, and all men have had their origin out of a piece of clay? Now, how will God have likeness to a man like me? Woe to those who allow themselves to be deceived by lucifer!” And having said this, Yeshua besought God for Peter, the eleven and Peter weeping, and saying, “So be it, so be it, O blessed Lord our God.” Afterward, Yeshua departed and went into Galilee, in order that this vain opinion which the common folk began to hold concerning him might be extinguished.
Barnabas 71:1
Yeshua, having arrived in his own country, it was spread through all the region of Galilee how he had come to Nazareth. Whereupon they sought the sick with diligence and brought them to him, beseeching him that he would touch them with his hands. And the multitude was so great that a certain rich man, sick of the palsy, not being able to get himself carried through the door, had himself carried up to the roof of the house in which Yeshua was, and having caused the roof to be uncovered, had himself let down by sheets in front of Yeshua. Yeshua stood for a moment in hesitation, and then he said, “Do not fear, brother, for I will ask that your sins are forgiven and they will be.” (Matthew 9:2) Everyone was offended hearing this, and they said, “And who is this who forgives sins?” (Mark 2:2-7, Luke 5:18-21)
Barnabas 71:2
Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, I am not able to forgive sins, nor is any man, but God alone forgives. But as servant of God I can beseech Him for the sins of others: and so I have besought Him for this sick man, and I am sure that God has heard my prayer. Therefore, so that you may know the truth, I say to this sick man, ‘In the name of YHWH the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham and his sons, rise up healed!'” And when Yeshua had said this, the sick man rose up healed, and glorified God.
Barnabas 71:3
Then the common people besought Yeshua that he would beseech God for the sick who stood outside. Whereupon Yeshua went out to them, and having lifted up his hands, he said, “YHWH, God of hosts, the living God, the true God, the holy God, that will never die; have mercy upon them!” Whereupon everyone answered, “All glory to God!” And this having been said, Yeshua laid his hands upon the sick folk, and they all received their health. Thereupon they magnified God, saying, “God has visited us by His prophet, yea God has sent a great prophet to us.”
Barnabas 72:1
At night, Yeshua spoke in secret with his disciples, saying, “Truly I say to you that lucifer desires to sift you as wheat; but I have besought God for you, and none among you will perish except he who lays snares for me.” And he said this about Judas, because the angel Gabriel said to him how Judas had a hand with the priests, and reported all to them that Yeshua spoke.
Barnabas 72:2
With tears, he who writes this drew near to Yeshua, “O master, tell me, who is he who should betray you?” Yeshua answered, saying, “O Barnabas, this is not the hour for you to know him, but soon the wicked one will reveal himself and I will depart from the world.” Then the apostles wept, saying, “O master, why will you forsake us? It is much better that we should die than be forsaken by you!”
Barnabas 72:3
Yeshua answered, “Do not let your heart be troubled, neither be fearful, for I have not created you, but God our Creator who has created you will protect you. As for me, I have now come to the world to prepare the way for the last messengers of God, who will bring salvation to the world. But beware so that you are not deceived, for many false prophets will come, who will take my words and contaminate my Gospel.”
Barnabas 72:4
Then Andrew said, “Master tell us some sign, so that we may know them.” Yeshua answered, ” They will not come in your time, but will come some years after you, one first the other later when my Gospel will be annulled, insomuch that there will scarcely be thirty faithful. At that time, God will have mercy on the world, and so He will send His last messenger, over whose head will rest a white cloud, whereby he will be known of one elect of God, and will be manifested to the world by him. He will come with great power against the ungodly, and will destroy idolatry upon the earth. And it rejoices me because our God will be known and glorified through him, and I will be known to be true; and he will execute vengeance against those who will say that I am more than man.
Barnabas 72:5
Truly I say to you that the moon will minister sleep to him in his boyhood, and when he will be grown up, he will take her in his hands. Let the world beware of casting him out because he will slay the idolaters as many were slain by Moses, the servant of God, and Joshua, who did not spare the cities which they burnt and slew the children. He will come with truth more clear than that of all the prophets, and will reprove those who use the world amiss. The towers of the city of our God will greet one another for joy, and so when idolatry will be seen to fall to the ground and confess me a man like other men, truly I say to you, the last messenger of God will come.
Barnabas 73:1
And truly I say to you, that lucifer will try you to see whether you are friends of God or friends of his. He will deceive some into warring against their own kind because no friends of God assail their own kind. And then he will come with his own legions against those who remain of you. But do not fear, for he will be against you as a dog that is chained, because God has heard my prayer.” John answered, “O master, not only for us, but for those who will believe the Gospel, tell us how the ancient tempter lays wait for the later men.”
Barnabas 73:2
Yeshua answered, “He is not one but many and the wicked ones tempt in four ways. The first is when he tempts by himself, with thoughts in your mind. The second is when he tempts with words and deeds by means of his degenerate offspring among us; the third is when he tempts with false doctrines; the fourth is when he tempts with false visions. So then how cautious modern men should be, and all the more accordingly as he has in his favor, the then weakest flesh of all men, which loves sin as he who has fever loves water. But truly I say to you, that if a man fears God, he will have victory over all, as David His prophet says, ‘God will give His angels charge over you, who will keep your ways, (Psalms 91:11) so that the devils will not cause you to stumble. A thousand will fall on your left hand, and ten thousand on your right hand, so that they will not come near you.’ (Psalms 91:7)
Barnabas 73:3
Furthermore, our God promised to us with great love by the same David to keep us, saying, ‘I give understanding to you, which will teach you; and in your ways wherein you will walk, I will cause My eye to rest upon you.’ (Psalms 32:8) But what will I say? He has said by Isaiah, ‘Can a mother forget the child of her womb?’ But I say to you, that when she forgets, I will not forget you. (Isaiah 49:15) Tell me then, who need fear lucifer, having the angels for guard and the living God for protection? Nevertheless, it is necessary, as the prophet Solomon says, that ‘You, my son, who have come to fear the Lord, prepare your soul for temptations.’ Truly I say to you, that a man should take care as the banker who examines money, examining his thoughts, that he does not allow carelessness thereby going against God his Creator.’
Barnabas 74:1
There have been and are men in the world who hold no thought for sin and who are in the greatest error. Tell me, how did lucifer sin? It is certain that he sinned in the thought he was more worthy than humans. Solomon sinned in thinking to invite all the creatures of God to a feast, so God sent a fish that corrected him by eating all that he had prepared. Not without cause, our father David says, ‘That to ascend in ones heart sets one in the valley of tears.’ And why does God cry by His prophet Isaiah, saying, ‘Take away your evil thoughts from My eyes?’ And to what purpose does Solomon say, ‘With all your keeping, keep your heart?’
Barnabas 74:2
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, all Scripture speaks against the evil thoughts with which all sins begin before being committed, for it is not possible to knowingly sin without thinking. Now tell me, when the husbandman plants the vineyard, does he set the plants deep? Assuredly yes and lucifer does the same. In planting thoughts to produce sins, he does not stop at the eye or the ear, but passes secretly and silently with his thoughts deep into your heart, which is Gods’ dwelling. Thereby his thoughts become your thoughts that turn into whispers which can then be manifested. This is how lucifer and his kind nestle their ways into the hearts of men. As Moses His servant said, ‘I will dwell in them, in order that they may walk in My law.’
Barnabas 74:3
Now tell me, if Herod the king gave you a house to keep in which he desired to dwell, would you let Pilate, his enemy, enter there or place his goods in it? Surely not. Then how much less should you let lucifer enter into your life by allowing him to place his thoughts in your heart. Our God has given you your heart to keep, which is His dwelling. And know well that the heart and mind are one.
Barnabas 74:4
Observe again therefore, how the banker considers his money. He considers whether the image of Caesar is right, whether the silver is pure or polluted, and whether it is of due weight. He turns it over much in his hand. Ah, mad world! Tell me now, who is he who examines each of his thoughts as the banker examines a silver coin? No one.”
Barnabas 75:1
Then James said, “O master, how is the examination of a thought like that of a coin?” Yeshua answered, “The good silver in the thought is piety, because every impious thought is pollution that comes from the devil. The right image is the examples set by the holy ones and prophets, all of which we should follow; and the weight of the thought is the love of God by which all should be considered. Whereupon the enemy will bring impious thoughts there against your brethren and thoughts conformed to the world, to corrupt the flesh; and thoughts of earthly loves to corrupt the love of God.”
Barnabas 75:2
Bartholomew answered, “O master, what should we do to think little, in order that fall into less temptation?” Yeshua answered, “Two things are necessary for you. The first is to busy yourselves in good works much, and the second is to abandon idle talk. For idleness in both manners is a sink wherein every unclean thought is gathered, and idle talk is a sponge which picks up worldly iniquities, falsehoods and vanities. It is therefore necessary not only that your works should keep you occupied, but also that your thoughts should be occupied with thoughts of God. For ones best aim is to never cease from God consciousness.
Barnabas 75:3
I tell you for an example, there was a man who paid ill, therefore none that knew him would go to till his fields. Whereupon he, like a wicked man, said, ‘I will go to the marketplace to find idle ones doing nothing who will therefore be able to come to till my vines.’ This man went forth from his house, and found many strangers who were standing in idleness speaking idle speach. He spoke to them and enticed them with coin to go to his vineyard. But truly, none that knew him and had worked for his hands prior went there.
Barnabas 75:4
Such is lucifer, that one who pays ill; for he offers much labor of all kinds and man receives the eternal fires for it in his service. Therefore he goes forth from the God conscious ones and searches for laborer in those sitting and thinking idly. Hence assuredly he sets those who stand in idleness to his labors, whoever they are, but much more those who do not know him or the outcome of working for him. It is not in any way enough for anyone to know evil in order to escape it, but it behooves to work at good in order to overcome and replace it.
Barnabas 76:1
I tell you for an example. There was a man who had three vineyards, which he let out to three husbandman. Because the first did not know anything of how to cultivate the vineyard, the vineyard only brought forth leaves. The second found satisfaction in being looked up to by third and taught him how the vines should be cultivated; he most excellently listened to his words and he cultivated his as he told him, insomuch that the vineyard of the third bore much. But the second left his vineyard uncultivated as he spent most of his time talking about the art of vinedressing. When the time had come for paying the rent to the lord of the vineyard, the first said, ‘Lord, I do not know how your vineyard should be cultivated: therefore I have not received any fruit this year.’ The lord answered, ‘O fool, do you dwell alone in the world, that you have not asked counsel of my second vinedresser, who knows how to cultivate the land well? It is certain that you owe me.’ And having said this, he moved with pity at his simplicity and liberated him, saying, ‘Be gone, for I do not will that you work longer at my vineyard; it is well enough for you that I give you your debt and you profit nothing for that is the reward for do nothingness.’
Barnabas 76:2
The second came, to whom the lord said, ‘Welcome, my vinedresser! Where are the fruits that you owe me? Assuredly, since you know how to prune the vines well, the vineyard that I let out to you must have borne much fruit.’ The second answered, ‘O lord, your vineyard is backward and has not borne fruit therefore I cannot pay you.’ Whereupon the lord called the third and said with wonder, ‘You said to me that this man, to whom I let out the second vineyard is a knowledgeable vinedresser and taught you perfectly to cultivate the vineyard which I let out to you. How then can it be that the vineyard I let out to him should not have borne fruit, seeing it is all one soil?’
Barnabas 76:3
The third answered, ‘Lord, the vines are not cultivated by talking only, but he must sweat a shirt every day who wills to make it bring forth its fruit. Because he has not so much as pruned the wood nor worked up the soil the vineyard bears not. For how will any vineyard of any vinedresser bear fruit, O lord, if he does nothing but talk about how much he knows about keeping vineyards? Sure it is, O lord, that if only he had put his own words into practice! Conversely, I have now given you the rent for two years from one crop but surely he would have given you the rent of the vineyard for five years if he had put forth the work at hand.’ The lord was angry, and said to the second vinedresser with scorn, ‘And so you have done a great work in not cutting away the wood and leveling the vineyard, therefore there is a great reward owed to you!’ And having called his servants, he had him beaten without mercy. And then he put him into prison under the keeping of a cruel servant who beat him every day, and was never willing to set him free for prayers of his friends. For such is the reward for one who knows but does not.’
Barnabas 77:1
Truly I say to you, that on the Day of Judgement, many will say to God, ‘Lord, we have preached and taught by Your Law.’ Even the stones will cry out against them, saying, ‘When you preached to others, you condemned yourselves with your own tongue, O workers of iniquity.’ As God lives,” Yeshua said, “He who knows the truth and works the contrary will be punished with such grievous penalty that lucifer will almost have compassion on him. Tell me, now has our God given us the law for knowing or for working? Truly I say to you, that all knowledge has that wisdom which works all it knows for end. Tell me, if one were sitting at the table and beheld luscious fruits, delectable bread and wholesome vegetables with his eyes, but should choose meats that required the oppression and killing of innocents, would he not be mad?” “Yes, assuredly,” the disciples said.
Barnabas 77:2
Then Yeshua said, “O you are mad beyond all madmen, O man, that you know heaven with your understanding, and choose earth with your hands; you know God with your understanding, and desire the world with your affection; you know the delights of Paradise with your understanding, and choose the miseries of Hell by your works. Brave soldier, that leaves the weight of the sword and carries the scabbard in flight!
Barnabas 77:3
O miserable world, to be a thousand times despised and abhorred! For our God, by His holy prophets, has ever willed to grant knowledge of the way to go to His country and have His rest. Yet still, there are those who choose laziness or worse yet, promote it while they themselves are in the know. Such are the degenerate enemies to all good men. The proverb of the camel is true, that it does not like to drink still water, because it does not desire to see its own ugly face. So does the ungodly who works ill; for he hates the light unless his evil works should be known. But he who receives wisdom, and not only does not work well, but, which is worse, employs it for evil, is like him who should use the gifts as instruments to slay the giver.
Barnabas 78:1
Truly I say to you, that God had no compassion on the fall of lucifer, but yet had compassion on the fall of Adam. And let this suffice you to know the unhappy condition of he who knows good and does evil.” Then Andrew said, “O master, then is it a good thing to leave learning aside, so as not to fall into such condition?”
Barnabas 78:2
Yeshua answered, “Do you not know that it is a precept of God to learn? For thus God says, ‘Ask your elders, and they will teach you.’ And God says of the law, ‘See that My precept be before your eyes, write them on your doorsteps, teach them to your children and meditate on them when you sit down and when you walk and when you talk to others so at all times you keep them.’ Whether, then, it is good not to learn, you may now know. Oh, he who scorns truth and discards wisdom is sure to lose eternal life.”
Barnabas 78:3
James answered, “O master, we know that Job did not learn from a master, nor Abraham; nevertheless they became holy ones and prophets.” Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, that he who is of the bridegrooms’ house does not need to be invited to the marriage, because he dwells in the house where the marriage is held. Now do you not know that the prophets of God are in the house of Gods’ grace and mercy, and so have the law of God manifest in them, as David our father says on this matter, ‘The law of his God is in his heart;’ (Psalms 37:31) therefore his path will not be dug up.
Barnabas 78:4
Truly I say to you that our God, in creating all men, not only created him righteous, but inserted a light in his heart that shows him what is fitting and how to serve God. Therefore, even if this light is darkened after sin, it not extinguished. For every man has this desire to serve God, such is true until they have lost God by serving false and lying gods. Accordingly, it is necessary that a man be taught by the prophets of God, for they have clear light to teach the way to go to Paradise; our country, by serving God well, just as it is necessary that he who has his eyes diseased at times be guided and helped.”
Barnabas 79:1
James answered, “And how will the prophets teach us if they are dead; and how will he be taught who has no knowledge of the prophets?” Yeshua answered, “Their doctrine is written down, so that it should be studied, for the writing is a prophet to you. Truly, truly, I say to you that he who despises the prophecy despises not only the prophet, but also despises God who has sent the prophet. But concerning such who do not know the prophet, as the nations are, I tell you that if any man will live in those regions who lives as his heart will show him, not doing to others that which he would not receive from others, and giving to his neighbor that which he would receive from others, such a man will not be forsaken by the mercy of God.
Barnabas 79:2
Therefore at death, if not sooner, God will show him and give him His law with mercy. Perhaps you think that God has given the law for love of the law? Assuredly this is not true, but rather has God given His law in order that man might work good for love of God and self. And so if God will find a man who works good for love of good, will He perhaps despise him? Surely not, but rather, He will love him more than those to whom He has given the law.
Barnabas 79:3
I tell you for an example: There was a man who had great possessions; and he had desert land in his territory that only bore unfruitful things. And so, as he was walking out one day through such desert land, he found a plant among such unfruitful plants that had delicate fruits. Whereupon this man said, ‘Now how does this plant bear these so delicate fruits here? Assuredly, I do not will that it be cut down and put on the fire with the rest.’ And having called his servants, he made them dig it up and set it in his garden. Even so, I tell you, that our God will preserve those who work righteousness from the flames of Hell, wheresoever they are.
Barnabas 80:1
Tell me, where Job dwelt, but in Uz among idolaters? And at the time of the flood, how does Moses write? Tell me. He says, ‘Noah truly found grace before God.’ Our father Abraham had a father without faith, for he made and worshiped false idols. Lot abode among the most wicked men on earth. Daniel as a child, with Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar in such ways that they were only two years old when they were taken; and they were nurtured among the multitude of idolatrous servants. As God lives, even as the fire burns dry things and converts them into fire, making no difference between olive and cypress and palm; even so our God has mercy on everyone who works righteously, making no difference between Scythian, Greek, Israelite or Ishmaelite.
Barnabas 80:2
But do not let your heart stop there, O James, because where God has sent the prophet, it is necessary entirely to deny your own judgement and to follow the prophet, and not to say, ‘Why does he say thus? Why does he thus forbid and command?’ But say, ‘Thus God wills. Thus God commands.’ Now what did God say to Moses when Israel despised Moses? ‘They have not despised you, but they have despised Me.’ Truly I say to you, that man should spend all the time of his life not in learning how to speak or to read, but in learning how to work well. Now tell me, who is that servant of Herod who would not study to please him by serving him with all diligence? Woe to the world that studies only to please a body that is clay and dung, and does not study but forgets the service of God who has made all things, who is blessed forevermore.
Barnabas 81:1
Tell me, would it have been a great mistake of the priests, if when they were carrying the ark of the testimony of God, they had let it fall to the ground?” The disciples trembled hearing this, for they knew that God slew Uzzah for only having wrongly touched the ark of God. And they said, “Such a thing would be most grievous.” Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, it is a greater sin to forget the word of God, wherewith He made all things, whereby He offers you eternal life.” And having said this, Yeshua made prayer; and after the prayer, he said, “Tomorrow we must pass into Samaria, for so has the holy angel of God said to me.”
Barnabas 81:2
Early on the morning of a certain day, Yeshua arrived near the well which Jacob made and gave to his son Joseph. Whereupon Yeshua, being wearied with the journey, sent his disciples to the city to buy food. And so he sat himself down upon a stone of the well. And look, a woman of Samaria comes to the well to draw water. Yeshua says to the woman, “Give me something to drink.” The woman answered, “Now, are you not ashamed that you, being a Hebrew, ask drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:5-9) Yeshua answered, “O woman, if you knew who he is that asks you for a drink, perhaps you would have asked him for a drink.” The woman answered, “Now how should you give me something to drink, seeing you have no vessel to draw the water, nor rope, and the well is deep?”
Barnabas 81:3
Yeshua answered, “O woman, whoever drinks of the water of this well, thirst comes to him again, but whosoever drinks of the water that I give, has no more thirst; but they give something to drink to those who have thirst, insomuch that they come to eternal life.” Then the woman said, “O lord, give me of this, your water.” Yeshua answered, “Go call your husband, and I will give something to drink to both of you.” The woman said, “I have no husband.” Yeshua answered, “Well, you have said the truth, for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband.” (John 4:13-18)
Barnabas 81:4
The woman was confounded hearing this, and said, “Lord, hereby I perceive that you are a holy one; (John 4:19) therefore tell me, I pray, the Hebrews make prayer on Mount Sion in the temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem, and say that there, and nowhere else men find grace and mercy of God. And our people worship on these mountains, and say that only on the mountains of Samaria should worship be made. Who are the true worshipers?”
Barnabas 82:1
Then Yeshua gave a sigh and said, “Woe to you, Judea, for you saying, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,” and then live as though there were no God; given over wholly to the pleasures and gains of the world; for this woman in the Day of Judgement will condemn you to Hell; for this woman seeks to know how to find grace and mercy before God.”
Barnabas 82:2
And turning to the woman he said, “O woman, you Samaritans worship that which you do not know, but we Hebrews worship that which we know. (John 4:22) Truly, I say to you, that God is spirit and truth, and so He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. For the promise of God was made in Jerusalem, in the temple of Solomon, and not elsewhere. But believe me, the place of the promise has not bearing on the promise itself and a time will come that God will give His mercy in another city. Therefore one may worship Him in truth in every place and God will accept true prayer with mercy in every place.”
Barnabas 82:3
The woman answered, “We look for the Messiah; when he comes, he will teach us.” Yeshua answered, “Do you know, woman, that the Messiah must come?” She answered, “Yes, lord.” Then Yeshua rejoiced, and said, “So far as I see, O woman, you are faithful: know therefore that in the faith of the Messiah, everyone who is elect of God will be saved; therefore it is necessary that you know the coming of the Messiah.” The woman said, “O lord, perhaps you are the Messiah.” Yeshua answered, “While I am indeed sent to the house of Israel as a prophet of salvation; the Messiah will come after me, sent by God to all the world; for whom God has made the world.
Barnabas 82:4
And then God will be worshipped through all the world, and mercy received, insomuch that the year of jubilee, which now comes every hundred years, will, by the Messiah, be reduced to every year in every place.” Then the woman left her waterpot and ran to the city to announce all that she had heard from Yeshua.
Barnabas 83:1
While the woman was talking with Yeshua, his disciples came and marveled that Yeshua was speaking so with a woman. Yet no one said to him, “Why do you speak thus with a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:27) Whereupon, when the woman departed, they said, “Master, come and eat.” Yeshua answered, “I must eat other food.”
Barnabas 83:2
Then the disciples said to one another, “Perhaps some wayfarer has spoken with Yeshua and has gone to find him food.” And they questioned him who writes this, saying, “Has there been any one here, O Barnabas, who might have brought food to the master?” Then he who writes answered, “There has not been here any other than the woman whom you saw, who brought this empty vessel to fill it with water.” Then the disciples stood amazed, awaiting the issue of the words of Yeshua. Whereupon Yeshua said, “You do not know that the true food is to do the will of God; because it is not bread that sustains man and gives him life, but rather the word of God, by His will. And so for this reason, the holy angels do not eat, but live nourished only by the will of God. And thus we, Moses and Elijah and yet another, have been forty days and forty nights; without any food.”
Barnabas 83:3
And lifting up his eyes, Yeshua said, “How far off is the harvest?” The disciples answered, “Three months.” Yeshua said, “Look now, how the mountain is white with corn; truly I say to you, that today there is a great harvest to be reaped.” And then he pointed to the multitude who had come to see him. For the woman, having entered into the city, had moved all the city, saying, “O men, come and see a new prophet sent from God to the house of Israel;” and she recounted to them all that she had heard from Yeshua. When they had come there they besought Yeshua to abide with them; and he entered into the city and abode there two days, healing all the sick, and teaching concerning the kingdom of God. Then the citizens said to the woman, “We believe more in his words and miracles than we do in what you said; for he is indeed a holy one of God, a prophet sent for the salvation of those who will believe him.”
Barnabas 83:4
After the prayer of midnight; the disciples came near Yeshua, and he said to them, “This night will be in the time of the Messiah, the last messenger of God, the jubilee every year that now comes every hundred years. Therefore I do not will that we sleep, but let us make prayer, bowing our head a hundred times, doing reverence to our God, Almighty and Merciful, who is blessed forevermore, and therefore each time let us say, ‘I confess You, our God alone, that has not had beginning, nor will ever have end; for You gave to all things their beginning by Your mercy, and You will give an end to all by Your justice; that has no weakness like men, because You are not subject to change or to any accident in Your infinite goodness. Have mercy on us, for You have created us, and we are the works of Your hand.”
Barnabas 84:1
Having made the prayer, Yeshua said, “Let us give thanks to God because He has given great mercy to us this night; for that He has made the time to come back that must pass in the night, in that we have made prayer in union for the last messenger of God. And I have heard His voice.” The disciples rejoiced greatly at hearing this and said, “Master, teach us some precepts this night.” Then Yeshua said, “Have you ever seen dung mixed with balsam?” They answered, “No, lord, for no one is so mad as to do this thing.”
Barnabas 84:2
“Now I tell you that there are greater madmen in the world,” Yeshua said, “Because they mingle the service of the world with the service of God. So much so that many of blameless life have been deceived by lucifer, and have mingled worldly business with their prayer while praying, whereupon they have become, at that time, abominable in the sight of God. Tell me, after you wash yourselves for prayer, do you take care that no unclean thing touches you? Yes, assuredly. But what do you when you are making prayer? You wash your soul from sins through the mercy of God. Would you be willing then, while you are making prayer, to speak of worldly things? Take care not to do so, for every worldly word becomes dung of the devil upon the soul of him who speaks.”
Barnabas 84:3
Then the disciples trembled, because he spoke with vehemence of spirit; and they said, “O master, what will we do if, when we are making prayer, a friend will come to speak to us?” Yeshua answered, “Allow him to wait, and finish the prayer.” Bartholomew said, “But what if he will be offended and go his way, when he sees that we do not speak with him?” Yeshua answered, “If he will be offended, believe me, he will not be a friend of yours nor a believer, but rather an unbeliever and a companion of lucifer. Tell me, if you went to speak with a stable boy of Herod, and found him whispering into Herods’ ear, would you be offended if he made you wait? No, assuredly; but you would be comforted at seeing your friend in favor with the king. Is this true?”
Barnabas 84:4
The disciples answered, “It is most true.” Then Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, that everyone, when he prays, speaks with God. Is it then right that you should leave speaking with God in order to speak with man? Is it right that your friend should, be offended for this cause, because you have more reverence for God than for him? Believe me that if he will be offended when you make him wait, he is a good servant of the devil. For the devil desires this, that God should be forsaken for man. As God lives, in every good work, he who fears God should separate himself from the works of the world, so as to not corrupt the good work.
Barnabas 85:1
When a man works ill or talks ill, if one goes to correct him and hinders such work, what does such a one do?” Yeshua said. The disciples answered, “He does well, because he serves God, who always hinders evil, even as the sun that always chases away the darkness.”
Barnabas 85:2
Yeshua said, “And I tell you on the contrary that when one works well or speaks well, whosoever seeks to hinder him, under pretext of nothing that is not better, he serves a devil, no, he even becomes his companion. For the devils attend to nothing else but to hinder every good thing. But what will I say to you now? I will say to you as Solomon the prophet said as a holy one and friend of God, ‘Of a thousand whom you know, only one is your friend forever.’
Barnabas 85:3
And truly I say to you, that it is not lawful for you to hate anything except evil, But herein is an evil, that there are many who have friends that do not feign to see the faults of their friend; others excuse them; others defend them under earthly pretext; and what is worse, there are friends who invite and aid their friend to err, whose end will be like their villainy. Beware that you do not receive such men for friends, for that in truth, they are enemies and slayers of the soul.
Barnabas 86:1
Let your friend be such that, even as he wills to correct you, so he may receive correction; and even as he wills that you should leave all things for love of God, even so again it may content him that you forsake him for the service of God.
Barnabas 86:2
And look how he fears God, how he despises earthly things, how he loves good works, and above all, if he will fear God above all things and will despise the vanities of the world always keeping himself occupied in good works. Love him as a gift that God has given you for truly I say to you; he who has found a true friend has found one of the delights of Paradise; no, such is a key of Paradise.”
Barnabas 86:3
Thaddaeus answered, “But if a man will perhaps have a friend who is not such as you have said, O master? What should he do? Should he forsake him?” Yeshua answered, “He should do as the mariner does with the ship, who sails it so long as he perceives it to be seaworthy, but when he sees it to be a danger, he forsakes it. So will you do with those that endanger your eternal soul, in those things wherein he is an offence to you, leave him and be with God who is and will be your friend forever.
Barnabas 87:1
Woe to the world because of offences. It must be that the offence comes, because all the world lies in wickedness. But yet woe to that man through whom the offence comes. It were better for the man if he should have a millstone about his neck and should be sunk in the depths of the sea (Luke 17:1-2) than that he should endanger the souls of his brethren. If your eye is an offence to you, pluck it out. For it is better that you go with only one eye into Paradise than with both of them into Hell. If your hand or your foot offends you, do likewise; for it is better that you go into the kingdom of heaven with one foot or with one hand, than with two hands and two feet go into Hell.” (Matthew18:7-9)
Barnabas 87:2
Peter said, “Lord, how must I do this? Yeshua answered, “O Peter, put off fleshly prudence and straightway you will find the truth. Avoid everything that may hinder you from serving God like one avoids getting bit by a viper on the path.”
Barnabas 87:3
And having said this, Yeshua called Peter close to him, and said to him, “If your brother errors against you, go and correct him. If he amends, rejoice, for you have gained your brother; but if he will not amend, go and call afresh two witnesses and correct him afresh; and if he will not amend, go and tell it to the church; and if he will not then amend, count him for an unbeliever, (Matthew 18:15:17) and therefore you will not dwell under the same roof whereunder he dwells, you will not eat at the same table whereat he sits, and you will not speak with him; insomuch that if you know where he sets his foot in walking, you will not set your foot there.”
Barnabas 88:1
But beware that you do not hold yourself for better; rather you will say thus, ‘Peter, Peter, if God did not help you with His grace, you would be worse than him.'” Peter answered, “How must I correct him?”
Barnabas 88:2
Yeshua answered, “In the way that you yourself would fain be corrected, and as you would fain be borne with, so bear with others. Believe me, Peter, for truly I say to you that every time you will correct your brother with mercy, you will receive mercy from God, and your words will bear some fruit; but if you will do it with rigour, you will be rigorously punished by the justice of God, and will bear no fruit. Tell me, Peter, those delicate earthen pots wherein food is cooked, are they washed with large stones and iron hammers? No, assuredly; but rather with hot water. Vessels are broken in pieces with iron as things of wood are burned with fire; but man is amended with mercy. Therefore, when you will correct your brother, you will say to yourself, “If it were not for the help of God, tomorrow I would do worse than all this brother has done today.”
Barnabas 88:3
Peter answered, “How many times must I forgive my brother, O master?” Yeshua answered, “As many times as you would fain be forgiven by him.” Said Peter, “Seven times a day?” Yeshua answered, “Not only seven, but you will forgive him every day seventy times seven; (Matthew 18:21-22) for he who forgives is close to being forgiven, and he who condemns is close to being condemned.” Then he who writes this said, “Woe to princes and governors and kings! For they will go to Hell”
Barnabas 88:4
Yeshua replied, “You have become foolish, O Barnabas.. Truly I say to you, that the bath is necessary for the cleaning the body, the bit for bridling the horse, and the tiller for guiding the ship, so is the officer necessary for the state. For what cause did God give us figures such as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and Solomon, and so many others who passed judgement? Indeed and lest not forget God has also given the sword to such for the extirpation of iniquity.”
Barnabas 88:5
Then he who writes this said, “Now, how should judgement be given, condemning and pardoning?” Yeshua answered, “Not everyone is a judge of the state, for it appertains to such judges alone to condemn others, O Barnabas. And they should condemn the guilty, even as the physician commands a putrefied member to be cut off from his patient, in order that the whole body may not become putrefied.”
Barnabas 89:1
Peter said, “How long must I wait for my brother to repent?” Yeshua answered, “So long as you would be waited for.” Peter answered, “Not everyone will understand this; therefore speak more plainly to us.” Yeshua answered, “Wait for your brother as long as God waits for him.” “Neither will they understand this,” Peter said. Yeshua answered, “Wait for him so long as he has time to repent.”
Barnabas 89:2
Then Peter was sad, and the others also, because they did not fully understand the meaning. Whereupon Yeshua answered, “If you had sound understanding, and knew that you yourselves were sinners, you would not ever think to cut off other sinners from the mercy of your heart. And so I tell you plainly, if causing no harm to others than himself, the sinner should be waited for so that he may repent, so long as he has a soul beneath his teeth to breathe. For so does our God wait for him, the Almighty and Merciful. Do you understand?”
Barnabas 89:3
The disciples answered, “We understand.” Then Yeshua said, “It is time that we say the prayer of the dawn.” Whereupon they arose, and having washed themselves, made prayer to our God, who is blessed forevermore.
Barnabas 90:1
When the prayer was done, his disciples again drew near to Yeshua and he said, “Faith is a seal whereby God seals His elect and it is the seal He gave to His last messenger, at whose hands everyone who is elect will have received the faith. For even as God is one, so is the faith one. Faith is believing that the truth is the truth no matter what the devils say. Therefore God, having created all things before His last messenger, gave the faith to him before anything else, which is, as it were, a likeness of God and of all that God has done and said. And so the faithful sees all things by faith in truth, better than one sees with his eyes; because the eyes can err; no they almost always err; but faith never errs, for it has God and His word, the truth, for a foundation. Believe me that by faith, all the elect of God are saved. And it is certain that without faith, it is impossible for anyone to please God. Therefore lucifer does not seek to bring fastings and prayer, alms and pilgrimages to nothing, no, rather, he incites unbelievers thereto, for he takes pleasure in seeing man work without receiving pay. But he takes all diligence to bring faith in truth to nothing for insomuch that one will lose surety in God and His word.
Barnabas 90:2
And when you know that God has said a thing, who are you, O man, that you should say, ‘Why have You so said, O God or; why have You so done?’ Shall the earthen vessel, perhaps, say to its maker, ‘Why have you made me to hold water, food and wine?’ Truly I say to you, it is necessary against every temptation to strengthen yourself with saying ‘God has so said;’ ‘So has God done;’ ‘God so wills;’ for doing so you will live safely and one day may come to know the answers.”
Barnabas 91:1
At this time, there was a great disturbance throughout Judea because of Yeshua. The Roman soldiery, through the operation of lucifer, had stirred up the Hebrews, saying that Yeshua was God coming to visit them. The sedition that arose was so great, that near the Forty Days, all Judea was in arms, such that the son was against the father, and the brother against the brother. Some said that Yeshua was God coming to the world; others said, ‘No, but he is a son of God;’ and others said, ‘Yeshua of Nazareth is a prophet of God.’ This sedition arose because of the great miracles which Yeshua did.
Barnabas 91:2
To quiet the people, it was necessary that the high priest should ride in procession, clothed in his priestly robes, with the holy name of YHWH, the tetragrammaton, on his forehead, and the governor Pilate, and Herod rode in a similar manner. Then, three armies assembled in Mizpeh, each one of two hundred thousand men that bore a sword. Herod spoke to them, but they were not quieted. Then the governor and the high priest spoke, saying, “Brothers, this war has been aroused by the work of lucifer, for Yeshua is alive, and we should resort to him, and ask him to give testimony of himself, and then believe him, according to his word.”
Barnabas 91:3
So at this, everyone was quieted; and on that day, therefore, everyone laid this in his heart, to believe whatever Yeshua said. The governor and the high priest offered great rewards to whoever should come forward and announce where Yeshua was to be found.
Barnabas 92:1
At this time, by the word of the holy angel, we had gone to Mount Sinai with Yeshua. There, Yeshua and his disciples kept for the forty days.
Barnabas 92:2
When this had past, Yeshua drew near to the river Jordan, to go to Jerusalem. And he was seen by one of those who believed Yeshua to be God. Then, crying with great gladness over and over “Our God comes!” he reached the city and moved the whole city saying, “Our God comes, O Jerusalem; prepare to receive him!” And he testified that he had seen Yeshua near the Jordan.
Barnabas 92:3
Then everyone, small and great, went out from the city to see Yeshua, so that the city was left empty, for the women carried their children in their arms, and forgot to take food to eat. When they saw this, the governor and the high priest rode forth and sent a man to Herod, who also rode forth to find Yeshua, in order to quiet the sedition of the people. For they sought him in the wilderness near the Jordan for two days, and they found him the third day, near the hour of midday, when he was purifying himself for prayer with his disciples, according to the Book of Moses.
Barnabas 92:4
Yeshua marveled greatly, seeing the multitude which covered the ground with people, and he said to his disciples, “Perhaps lucifer has raised sedition in Judea. May it please God to take the dominion away from lucifer which he has over sinners.” And when he had said this, the crowd drew near, and when they knew him, they began to cry out, “Welcome you, O our God!” And they began to do him reverence, as to God. Yeshua gave a great groan and said, “Get from before me, O madmen, for I fear that the earth will open and devour me with you for your abominable words!” At this, the people were filled with terror and began to weep.
Barnabas 93:1
Then Yeshua, having lifted his hand in token of silence, said, “Truly you have greatly erred, O Israelites, in calling me who is clearly just a man, your God. And I fear that God may give a heavy plague for this upon the holy city, handing it over in servitude to strangers. O a thousand times accursed is lucifer and his degenerate devils among you who has moved you to this!”
Barnabas 93:2
And having said this, Yeshua struck his face with both his hands, whereupon arose such a noise of weeping that none could hear what Yeshua was saying. Whereupon once more, he lifted up his hand in token of silence, and the people, being quieted from their weeping, he spoke once more,
Barnabas 93:3
“I confess before heaven, and I call to witness everything that dwells upon the earth, that I am a stranger to all that you have said; seeing that I am man, born of a mortal woman, subject to the Judgement of God, suffering the miseries of eating and sleeping, of cold and heat, like other men. Whereupon, when God will come to judge, my words will pierce each one of them like a sword who believe me to be more than a man.” And having said this, Yeshua saw a great multitude of horsemen, whereby he perceived that the governor was coming with Herod and the high priest. Then Yeshua said, “Perhaps they also have become madmen.”
Barnabas 93:4
When the governor arrived there, with Herod and the priest, everyone dismounted, and they made a circle round about Yeshua, insomuch that the soldiery could not keep the people back that were desirous to hear Yeshua speaking with the priest. Yeshua drew near to the priest with reverence, but he was wishful to bow himself down and worship Yeshua, when Yeshua cried out, “Beware of that which you do, priest of the living God! Do not sin against our God!”
Barnabas 93:5
The priest answered, “Now Judea is so greatly moved over your signs and your teaching that they cry out that you are God; therefore, constrained by the people, I have come here with the Roman governor and king Herod. We pray you therefore from our heart, that you will be content to remove the sedition which has arisen on your account. For some say you are God, some say you are son of God and others yet say you are a prophet.”
Barnabas 93:6
Yeshua answered, “And you, O high priest of God, why have you not quieted this sedition? Have you also perhaps, gone out of your mind? Have the prophecies, with the law of God, so passed into oblivion, O wretched ones of Judea clearly deceived by lucifer!”
Barnabas 94:1
And having said this, Yeshua said again, “I declare before heaven, and call to witness everything that dwells upon the earth, that I am a stranger to all lies men have said of me, to wit, that I am more than a man. For I am a man, born of a woman, subject to the Judgement of God; who lives here as other men, subject to the common miseries. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, you have greatly sinned, O priest, in saying what you have said. May it please God that great vengeance does not come upon the holy city for this sin.” Then the priest said, “May God pardon us, and may you pray for us.” Then the governor and Herod said, “Sir, it is impossible that a man should do that which you do; therefore we do not understand that which you say.”
Barnabas 94:2
Yeshua answered, “That which you say is true, for God works good in man, even as lucifer works evil. For man is like a shop, wherein whoever enters with his consent, works and sells therein. But tell me, O governor, and you O king, you say this because you are strangers to our law, for if you read the testament and covenant of our God, you would see that Moses, with a rod, made the water turn into blood, the dust into fleas, the dew into tempest, and the light into darkness. With hold of a rod he made the frogs and mice to come into Egypt, which covered the ground, he slew the firstborn, and opened the sea, wherein he drowned Pharaoh whom witnessed that same rod of Moses’ turn into a serpent and consume the sorceries of his sorcerers. Indeed are you certain it is not a rod you seek instead of God? And look, I have no rod and have done none of these things.
Barnabas 94:3
And furthermore of Moses, everyone confesses that he is a dead man at this present. Did God die? Recall also that Joshua made the sun stand still, and opened the Jordan, which I have not yet done. And of Joshua, everyone confesses that he too is a dead man at this present. Elijah made fire to visibly come down from heaven, and rain, which I have not done. And of Elijah, everyone confesses that he is a man. And in like manner, very many other prophets, holy men and friends of God, who have done things in the power of God which cannot be grasped by the minds of those who do not know our God, Almighty and Merciful, who is blessed forevermore.”
Barnabas 95:1
Accordingly, the governor and the priest and the king implored Yeshua that in order to quiet the people, he should mount up into a lofty place and speak to the people. Then Yeshua went up on to one of the twelve stones, which Joshua made the twelve tribes take up from the midst of Jordan, when all Israel passed over there dry-shoed; and he said with a loud voice, “Let our priest go up into a high place where he may confirm my words.” Thereupon the priest went up there; to whom Yeshua said distinctly, so that everyone might hear, “It is written in the testament and covenant of the living God that our God has no beginning, neither will He ever have an end.” The priest answered, “Even so is it written therein.”
Barnabas 95:2
Yeshua said, “It is written there, that our God, has created all things by His word alone.” “Even so it is,” the priest said. Yeshua went on, “It is written there that God is invisible and hidden from the mind of man.” “So it is, truly” the priest said. Yeshua said, “It is written there how the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, (2 Chronicles 2:6) seeing that our God is infinite.” “Yes, so said the prophet Solomon,” the priest said. Yeshua added, “It is written there that God has no need, forasmuch as He does not eat, does not sleep and does not suffer from any deficiency.” “So is it said.” the priest said.
Barnabas 95:3
Yeshua said, “It is written there that our God is everywhere, and that there is not any other God but Him, He who strikes down and makes whole, and does all that pleases Him.” “So it is written,” the priest replied. Then Yeshua, having lifted up his hands, said, “Lord our God, this is my faith wherewith I will come to Your Judgement, in testimony against everyone who will believe the contrary.”
Barnabas 95:4
And turning himself towards the people, he said, “Repent, for from all that of which the priest has affirmed, that it is written in the Book of Moses, the covenant of God forever, you may perceive your sin; for that I am a visible man made of a morsel of clay that walks upon the earth, mortal as other men are. And I have had a beginning, and will have an end, and am such that I cannot create so much as a fly.”
Barnabas 95:5
Thereupon the people raised their voices weeping, and said, “We have sinned, Lord our God, against You; have mercy upon us. And they implored Yeshua, everyone, that he would pray for the safety of the holy city, that our God, in His anger, should not give it over to be trodden down by the nations. Thereupon Yeshua, having lifted up his hands, prayed for the holy city and for the people of God, everyone crying, “So be it.”
Barnabas 96:1
When the prayer had ended, the priest said with a loud voice, “Stay, Yeshua, for we need to know who you are, for the quieting of our nation.” Yeshua answered, “I am Yeshua, son of Mary, of the seed of David, a man who is mortal and fears God, and I seek that honor and glory are given to YHWH our God and Creator.”
Barnabas 96:2
The priest answered, “It is written in the Book of Moses that our God must send us the Messiah, who will come to announce to us that which God wills, and will bring the mercy of God to the world. Therefore I implore you, tell us the truth, are you the Messiah of God whom we expect?”
Barnabas 96:3
Yeshua answered, “It is true that God has promised so, but indeed I am not him, for he is made before me, and will come after me.” The priest answered, “By your words and signs at any rate, we believe you to be a prophet and a holy one of God, therefore I implore you in the name of all Judea and Israel, that you, for love of God, should tell us in what ways the Messiah will come.
Barnabas 97:1
Yeshua answered, “As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, I am not the Messiah whom all the tribes of the earth expect, even as God promised to our father Abraham, saying, ‘I will bless all the tribes of the earth in your seed.’ But when God will take me away from the world, lucifer will again raise this accursed sedition, by making the impious believe that I am God and son of God, where my words and my doctrine will be contaminated, insomuch that there will scarcely remain thirty faithful ones, whereupon God will have mercy upon the world, and will send His last messenger for whom He has made all things, who will come from the south with power, and will destroy the idols with the idolaters, who will take away the dominion from lucifer which he has over men. He will bring the mercy of God with him for salvation of those who will believe in him, and blessed is he who will believe his words. Though I am unworthy to untie his hosen, I have received grace and mercy from God to see him.”
Barnabas 97:2
Then the priest answered with the governor and the king, saying, “Do not distress yourself, O Yeshua, holy one of God, because this sedition will not be anymore in our time, seeing that we will write to the sacred Roman senate in such ways that, by imperial decree, none will call you God or son of God anymore.”
Barnabas 97:3
Then Yeshua said, “I am not consoled with your words, because where you hope for light, lucifer works for darkness and as sure as the flesh is weak, it will come. But my first consolation is in the coming of the last prophet, who will bring the last book of Got that destroys every false opinion of me, and his faith of Monotheism will spread and will take hold of the whole world, for God has so promised to Abraham our father. And that which secondly gives me consolation is that his faith which is the same as mine will have no end, but will be kept inviolate by God.” The priest answered, “After the coming of this prophet of God, will other prophets come?”
Barnabas 97:4
Yeshua answered, “True prophets sent by God will not come after him, but a great number of false prophets will come, whereat I sorrow. For lucifer will raise them up by the just judgement of God, and they will hide themselves under the pretext of my Gospel.” Herod answered, “How is it a just judgement of God that such impious men should come?”
Barnabas 97:5
Yeshua answered, “It is just in that he who will not believe in the truth to his salvation should believe in a lie to his damnation. Therefore I say to you, that the world has forever despised the true prophets and loved the false, as can be seen in the time of Micah and Jeremiah. For every like loves his like.”
Barnabas 97:6
Then the priest said, “How will the last messengers be called, and what sign will reveal their coming?” Yeshua answered, “Their names are admirable, for God Himself gave them the names when He had created their soul, and placed it in a celestial splendor. God said, ‘Wait; for your sake as My last servants I will to create Paradise, the world, and a great multitude of creatures, whereof I make you a present, insomuch that whoever will bless you will be blessed, and whoever will curse you will be accursed. When I will send you into the world I will send you as My messengers of salvation, and your words will be true, insomuch that heaven and earth will fail, but your faith will never fail.’ Beloved and admirable is his blessed name.” Then the crowd lifted up their voices, saying, “O God, send us Your last messengers; O great servants, come quickly to deliver the salvation of the world!”
Barnabas 98:1
And having said this, the multitude departed with the priest and the governor with Herod, having great disputations concerning Yeshua and concerning his doctrine. Whereupon the priest implored the governor to write the whole matter to Rome, to the senate; which thing the governor did; therefore the senate had compassion on Israel, and decreed that on pain of death, none should call Yeshua the Nazarene neither God nor son of God. Which decree was posted up in the temple, engraved upon copper.
Barnabas 98:2
When the greater part of the crowd had departed, about five thousand men remained, without women and children, who, being wearied by the journey, having been without bread for two days, for through longing to see Yeshua, they had forgotten to bring any, whereupon they ate raw herbs; therefore they were not able to depart like the others. Then Yeshua, when he perceived this, had pity on them and said to Philip, “Where will we find bread for those?” Philip answered, “Lord, two hundred pieces of gold could not buy so much bread that each one should taste a little.” Then Andrew said, “There is a child here who has five loaves and two fish, but what will it be among so many?”
Barnabas 98:3
Yeshua answered, “Make the multitude sit down.” And they sat down upon the grass by fifties and by forties. Thereupon Yeshua said, “In the name of YHWH!” And he took the bread, and prayed to God and then broke the bread, which he gave to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the multitude; and they did so with the fish. Everyone ate and everyone was satisfied.
Barnabas 98:4
Then Yeshua said, “Gather up that which is over.” So the disciples gathered those fragments, and filled twelve baskets. (Mark 6:39, Matthew 14:19-20, Luke 9:14) Thereupon everyone put his hand to his eyes, saying, “Am I awake, or do I dream?” And they remained, everyone, for the space of an hour. As it were beside themselves by reason of the great miracle.
Barnabas 98:5
Afterwards Yeshua, when he had given thanks to God, dismissed them, but there were seventy two men that willed to not leave him; therefore Yeshua, perceiving their faith, chose them for disciples.
Barnabas 99:1
Yeshua, having withdrawn into a hollow part of the desert in Tiro near Jordan, called the seventy two together with the twelve, and when he had seated himself upon a stone, made them to sit near him. And he opened his mouth with a sigh and said, “This day we have seen a great wickedness in Judea and in Israel such that my heart trembles within my breast for fear of God. Truly I say to you, that God is jealous for His honor, and loves Israel as a lover. You know that when a youth loves a lady, and she does not love him, but another, he is moved to indignation and slays his rival. Even so, I tell you, God does: for, when Israel has loved anything such that he forgets God, God has brought such a thing to nothing.
Barnabas 99:2
Now what thing is more dear to God here on earth than the priesthood and the holy temple? Nevertheless, in the time of Jeremiah the prophet, the people had forgotten God and boasted only of the temple, for there was none like it in all the world. Then God raised up His wrath by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and caused him to take the holy city with an army and burn it with the sacred temple, (Jeremiah 52:12-13) such that the sacred things which the prophets of God trembled to so much as touch were trodden under foot by infidels full of wickedness.
Barnabas 99:3
Abraham loved his son Ishmael a little more than was right, so in order to kill that evil love out of the heart of Abraham, God commanded that he should slay his son: which he would have done had the knife cut.
Barnabas 99:4
David loved Absalom vehemently, and therefore God brought it to pass that the son rebelled against his father and was suspended by his hair and slain by Joab. O fearful judgement of God, that Absalom loved his hair above all things, and this was turned into a rope to hang him!
Barnabas 99:5
Innocent Job came near to loving his seven sons and three daughters too much, when God gave him into the hand of lucifer, who not only deprived him of his sons and his riches in one day, but also struck him with grievous sickness, such that worms came out of his flesh for the next seven years.
Barnabas 99:6
Our father Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons, so God caused him to be sold, and caused Jacob to be deceived by these same sons, such that he believed that the beasts had devoured his son, and so lived in mourning for ten years.
Barnabas 100:1
As God lives, brothers, I fear that God will be angered against me. Therefore you must go through Judea and Israel, preaching the truth to the twelve tribes, that they may be undeceived.” The disciples answered with fear, weeping, “We will do whatever you bid us to do.”
Barnabas 100:2
Then Yeshua said, “Let us make prayer and fast for three days, and from henceforth, every evening when the first star will appear, when prayer is made to God, let us make prayer three times, asking Him for mercy three times: because this sin of Israel is three times more grievous than other sins.” “So be it,” the disciples answered.
Barnabas 100:3
When the third day had ended, on the morning of the fourth day, Yeshua called all the disciples and apostles together and said to them, “Barnabas and John will stay with me: you others are to go through all the region of Samaria and Judea and Israel, preaching penitence: because the axe is laid near to the tree, to cut it down. And make prayer over the sick, because God has given me authority over every sickness and I pass it along to you.”
Barnabas 100:4
Then he who writes said, “O master, if your disciples are asked how they should show penitence, what will they answer?” Yeshua answered, “When a man loses a purse, does he only turn his eye back to see it? Or his hand to take it? Or his tongue to ask? No, but he turns his whole body back and employs every power of his soul to find it. Is this true?” Then he who writes answered, “It is most true.”
Barnabas 101:1
Then Yeshua said, “Penitence is a reversing of the evil life, for every sense must be turned around to the contrary of that which it did while sinning. Instead of delight, there must be mourning; for laughter, weeping; for revellings, fasts; for sleeping, vigils; for leisure, activity; for lust, chastity; let storytelling be turned into prayer, and avarice into almsgiving.” Then he who writes answered, “But if they are asked, how are we to mourn, how are we to weep, how are we to fast, how are we to show activity, how are we to remain chaste, how are we to make prayer and do alms; what answer will they give? And how will they do penance properly if they do not know how to repent.”
Barnabas 101:2
Yeshua answered, “You have asked a good question, O Barnabas, and I wish to fully answer all if it is pleasing to God. So today I will speak to you of penitence generally, and that which I say to one, I say to all.
Barnabas 101:3
Tell me, if your slaves had offended you, and you knew that they did not grieve at having offended you, but grieved at having lost their bonus, would you forgive them? Certainly not. I tell you that this is what God will do. The evil one lucifer, the enemy of all good, has great remorse for having lost Paradise and gained Hell. Yet he will he never find mercy. Do you know why? Because he does not love God; no, he hates his Creator.
Barnabas 102:1
Truly I say to you, that every animal, according to its own nature, if it loses that which it desires, mourns for the good it lost. Accordingly, the sinner who is truly penitent feels great remorse for that which he has done in opposition to his Creator: to the extent that when he prays, he does not dare think of Paradise for he being truthful in his remorse, feels unworthy. Truly, I say to you that even I and every other prophet of God dared not assume victory to be ours. Instead we wait and struggle against the devils and the world like every good man must.
Barnabas 102:2
So we say; Chastise and punish as it pleases You, O Lord for I know it is but refinement that you seek and You will never give me so much torment as the wicked one who hates you deserves.’ Hence the man, holding to this manner of penitence, will find mercy with God in proportion to the extent that he craves justice. Assuredly, the laughter of the unrepentant is an abominable sacrilege since this world is rightly called a vale of tears by our father David.
Barnabas 102:3
There was a king who adopted one of his slaves as his son and he made him lord of all that he possessed. Now it happened that by the deceit of a wicked man, the wretched one fell under the displeasure of the king, so that he suffered great miseries, not only in his substance, but in being despised, and being deprived of all that he won each day by working. Do you think that such a man would laugh for any time?” “No,” the disciples answered, “For if the king should have known it, he would have had him slain, seeing him laugh at the kings’ displeasure. But it is more probable that he would weep day and night.”
Barnabas 102:4
Then Yeshua wept saying, “Woe to the unrepentant, for they are sure to earn eternal torment. Hence most of the world simply laughs, and what is more telling is he who is the greatest sinner laughs more than the rest! It will be, therefore, as you have said, that God will give the sentence of eternal death upon the unrepentant.
Barnabas 103:1
Tell me, if the mariner, when his ship has been wrecked by a storm, could recover all that he had lost by weeping, what would he do? It is certain that he would weep bitterly. But I say to you truly, that in every misery for which a man weeps, he sins, except when he weeps for his sin. For every misery that comes to man comes to him by his own hands and is only allowed by God for his salvation, so that he should rejoice when it befalls him. But sin comes from the devils of lucifer for the disgrace and self damnation of man in front of his maker.
Barnabas 103:2
Bartholomew said, “Lord, what will he do who cannot weep because his heart is a stranger to weeping?” Yeshua answered, “Not all those who shed tears weep, O Bartholomew. As God lives, there are men found, from whose eyes, no tear has ever fallen, yet they have wept more than a thousand of those who do shed tears.
Barnabas 103:3
Just as the sunshine preserves what is placed uppermost from putrefaction, even so this repentance preserves the soul from damnation. Hence those who readily burst into weeping with or without actual tears are like the horse that goes faster the more lightly he is laden. And the more sincere the repentant one is, the sooner he is unburdened.
Barnabas 104:1
Truly there are men who have both the inward affection and the outward tears. But he who is thus, will be as Jeremiah said. “In weeping, God measures the sorrow more than the tears.”
Barnabas 104:2
Similarly, man should not consider the outward form of the words, but the sense; seeing that human speech is, as it were, an interpreter between us and God in the many languages that exist. Now did you not know, that when God willed to speak to our fathers on Mount Sinai, our fathers cried out, ‘Speak to us, O Moses, and do not let God speak to us, unless we should die”? And what God said by Isaiah the prophet, but that, ‘So far as the heaven is distant from the earth, even so are the ways of God distant from the ways of men, and the thoughts of God from the thoughts of men?’ That perhaps may allude to the true nature of what we speak in that God sees exactly what is in the heart when even we ourselves might be blind to it.
Barnabas 105:1
God is so immeasurable that I often tremble to describe Him. But it is necessary that I make a proposition to you. I tell you then, that the heavens are seven (Quran 71:15) and that they are distant from one another even as the first heaven is distant from the earth, which is distant from the earth five hundred years’ journey. Therefore the earth is distant from the highest heaven four thousand and five hundred years’ journey. I tell you accordingly, that the earth is in proportion to the first heaven as the point of a needle and the first heaven in like manner is in proportion to the second as a point, and similarly all the heavens are inferior, each one to the next. But all the size of the earth with that of all the heavens is as a point in proportion to Paradise, no, as a grain of sand. Is this greatness immeasurable?” The disciples answered, “Yes, surely.”
Barnabas 105:2
Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, the universe before God is small as a grain of sand, and God is as many times greater than it as it would take grains of sand to fill all the heavens and Paradise, and more. Now consider if God has any proportion with man, who is a little piece of clay that stands upon the earth. Beware then, that you focus on the sense and not the bare words, if you wish to have eternal life.” The disciples answered, “God alone can know Himself, and truly it is as Isaiah the prophet said, ‘He is hidden from human senses.'”
Barnabas 105:3
Yeshua answered, “So it is true; therefore, when we are in Paradise, we will know God, as here one knows the sea from a drop of salt water. Returning to my discourse, I tell you that for sin alone not miseries, one should weep, because man forsakes his Creator by sinning. But how will he weep, who attends at revellings and feasts? Yea, it is only when one turns revellings and feasts into fasts he has lordship over his flesh.
Barnabas 105:4
And tell me, does man have sense?” “Yes,” the disciples answered. Yeshua said, “Can a man be found who has life in him, yet sense does not work in him?” “No,” the disciples said. “You deceive yourselves,” Yeshua said, “For he who is blind, deaf and dumb, where is his sense of sight, hearing and speech? And when a man is in a swoon?”
Barnabas 105:5
Then the disciples were perplexed; when Yeshua said, “There are three things that make up a man: that is, the soul and the sense and the flesh, each one separate of itself. Our God created the soul and the body as you have heard, but you have not yet heard how He created the sense. Therefore tomorrow, if God pleases, I will tell you all.” And having said this, Yeshua gave thanks to God, and prayed for the salvation of our people, every one of us saying, “All glory to God.”
Barnabas 106:1
When he had finished the prayer of dawn, Yeshua sat down under a palm tree, and his disciples drew near to him there. Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, many are deceived concerning our life. For the soul and the sense are so closely joined together, that the more part of men affirm the soul and the sense to be one and the same thing, dividing it by operation and not by essence, calling it the sensitive, vegetative, and intellectual soul. But truly I say to you, the soul is one, which thinks and lives. O foolish ones, where will they find the intellectual soul without life? Assuredly, never. But life without senses will readily be found, as is seen in the unconscious when the sense leaves him.”
Barnabas 106:2
Thaddaeus answered, “O master, when the sense leaves the life, a man does not have life.” Yeshua answered, “This is not true, because man is deprived of life when the soul departs; because the soul does not return to the body anymore, except by a miracle. But sense departs by reason of fear that it receives, or by reason of great sorrow that the soul has. For God has created the sense for pleasure, and it lives by that alone, even as the body lives by food and the soul lives by knowledge and love. This sense is now rebellious against the soul, through indignation that it has at being deprived of the pleasure of Paradise through sin. Therefore there is the greatest need to nourish it with spiritual pleasure for him who does not will that it should live of carnal pleasure. Do you understand?
Barnabas 106:3
Truly I say to you, that God, having created it, condemned it to Hell and to intolerable snow and ice; because it said that it was God; but when He deprived it of nourishment, taking away its food from it, it confessed that it was a slave of God and the work of His hands. And now tell me, how does sense work in the ungodly? Assuredly, it is as God in them, seeing that they follow sense, forsaking reason and the law of God. Whereupon they become abominable, and do not work any good.
Barnabas 107:1
And so the first thing that follows sorrow for sin is fasting. For he who sees that a certain food makes him sick, he fears death for that, after sorrowing that he has eaten it, forsaken it, so as not to make himself sick. So should the sinner do. Perceiving that pleasure has made him to sin against God his Creator by following sense in these good things of the world, let him sorrow at having done so, because it deprives him of God, his life, and gives him the eternal death of Hell. But because man, while living, has need to take these good things of the world, fasting is needful here. So let him proceed to mortify sense and to know God for his Lord. And when he sees the sense abhor fastings, let him put the condition of Hell before it, where there is no pleasure at all but infinite sorrow is received; let him put the delights of Paradise before it, that are so great that a grain of one of the delights of Paradise is greater than all those of the world. For so will it be easily quieted; for that it is better to be content with little in order to receive much, than to be unbridled in little and be deprived of all only to abide in torment.
Barnabas 107:2
You should remember the rich feast in order to fast well. For he, wishing to fare deliciously every day here on earth, was deprived eternally of a single drop of water; while Lazarus, being content with crumbs here on earth, will live eternally in full abundance of the delights of Paradise. But let the penitent be cautious; for lucifer seeks to annul every good work for that, and more in the penitent than in others, for the penitent has rebelled against him for that, and from being his faithful slave, he has turned into a rebellious foe. Whereupon lucifer will seek to cause that he will not fast in any ways, under pretext of sickness, and when this will not avail, he will invite him to an extreme fast, in order that he may fall sick and afterwards live deliciously. And if he does not succeed in this, he will seek to make him set his fast simply upon bodily food, in order that he may be like himself, who never eats but always sins.
Barnabas 107:3
As God lives, it is abominable to deprive the body of food and fill the soul with pride, despising those who do not fast, and holding oneself better than them. Tell me, will the sick man boast of the diet that is imposed on him by the physician, and call them mad who are not put on a diet? Assuredly not. But he will sorrow for the sickness by reason of which he must be put upon a diet. Even so I say to you, that the penitent should not boast in his fast, and despise those who do not fast; but he should sorrow for the sin by reason whereof he fasts. Nor should the penitent that fasts procure delicate food, but he should content himself with coarse food. Now will a man give delicate food to the dog that bites and to the horse that kicks? Surely no, but rather the contrary. And let this suffice you concerning fasting.
Barnabas 108:1
Listen then, to what I will say to you concerning watching. For just as there are two kinds of sleeping, namely, that of the body and that of the soul, even so must you be careful in watching that, while the body watches, the soul does not sleep. For this would be a most grievous error. Tell me, in parable, there is a man who, while walking, strikes himself against a rock, and in order to avoid striking it more with his foot, he strikes with his head; what is the state of such a man?” “Miserable,” the disciples answered, “For such a man is frenzied.”
Barnabas 108:2
Then Yeshua said, “You have answered well, for truly I say to you that he who watches with the body and sleeps with the soul is frenzied. As the spiritual infirmity is more grievous than the corporeal, even so, is it more difficult to cure. Why will such a wretched one boast of not sleeping with the body, which is the foot of the life, while he does not perceive his misery that he sleeps with the soul, which is the head of the life? The sleep of the soul is forgetfulness of God and of His fearful Judgement. The soul then that watches is that which perceives God in everything and in every place, and gives thanks to His majesty in everything and through everything and above everything, knowing that it always receives grace and mercy from God at every moment. Therefore, in fear of His majesty, that angelic utterance always resounds in its ear, ‘Creatures, come to Judgement, for your Creator wills to judge you.’ For it habitually abides forever in the service of God. Tell me, which you desire more: to barely see by the light of a star or clearly by the light of the sun?”
Barnabas 108:3
Andrew answered, “By the light of the sun; for we cannot see the neighboring mountains by the light of the star, and we see the tiniest grain of sand by the light of the sun. Therefore we walk with trepidation by the light of the star, but we go securely by the light of the sun.”
Barnabas 109:1
Yeshua answered, “Even so I tell you that you should watch with the soul by the sun of justice, which is our God, and not to boast yourselves of the watchings of the body. It is most true, therefore, that bodily sleep is to be avoided as much as is possible, but to avoid it altogether is impossible, the sense and the flesh being weighed down with food and the mind with business. Therefore let him who will sleep little avoid too much business and much food. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, it is lawful to sleep somewhat every night, but it is never lawful to forget God and His fearful Judgement; and the sleep of the soul is such oblivion.”
Barnabas 109:2
Then he who writes answered, “O master, how can we always have God in memory? Assuredly, it seems impossible to us.” Yeshua said with a sigh, “This is the greatest misery that man can suffer, O Barnabas. For man cannot have God his Creator always in memory here upon earth; But tell me, have you seen those who work quarried stones, how they have so learned by their constant practice to strike, that they speak with others and at the same time are striking the iron tool that works the stone without looking at the iron, and yet they do not strike their hands? How did this come to be? There is only one answer, practice! For indeed after much practice one becomes practiced and after one becomes practiced one can become habitual, that is the secret to being God conscious. And remember, it is sure that single drops of water eventually cleave the hardest rocks after striking them for a long period.
Barnabas 109:3
And I tell you then that it is an error, when a prince gives you a present, O man, that you should shut your eyes and turn your back upon him. Even so do they err who forget God, for man receives gifts and mercy from God at all times.
Barnabas 110:1
Now tell me, does our God grant you His bounty at all times? Assuredly yes; for He unceasingly ministers the breath to you whereby you live. Truly, truly, I say to you, every time that your body inhales and exhales it gives honor to YH . . . WH, In like manner one should effort to offer Him thanks as often as possible for like breath is required for us to live right now, Gods’ pleasure is required for us to live forever.” Then John said, “It is most true what you say, O master; teach us therefore the sure way to attain this blessed condition as soon as possible.”
Barnabas 110:2
Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, one will never attain such condition in any amount of time by human powers alone, but rather by the mercy of God. It is indeed true that man should desire the good in order that God may give it to him. Even so I say to you that you will not receive that which you will not desire. God is able, if you desire holiness, to make you holy in less time than the twinkling of an eye, but in order that man may be thankful of the gift and the Giver, our God wills that we should ask, work at it and wait, as if it were a precious seed that will bear the sower a lifetime of seeds in the fruits it yields from the loving care given to it.
Barnabas 110:3
And have you seen those who practice shooting at a mark? Assuredly they shoot many times in vain. Howbeit, they never wish to shoot in vain, but are always in hope to hit the mark. Now do this, you whoever desires to have our God in remembrance, and when you forget, try again; for God will give you grace to attain all that I have said.
Barnabas 110:4
And know that fasting and spiritual watching are so united with one another that, if one breaks the watch, straightway the fast is broken. For in thoughtlessness, a man breaks the fast of the soul and forgets God. So is it that watching and fasting, as regards the soul, are always necessary for us and for all men.
Barnabas 111:1
But beware that lucifer will use all his strength to bring it to pass that you will often sleep more than needed when by the golden advice of God, you should be praying and studying His word.
Barnabas 111:2
Know that lucifer and his kind are robbers, seeing that they steal your time that you could have given to God and therefore to yourself. We are the victims and if we allow it enough we become no better than the thieves who are the enemies to God. Stealing our time is their most oft used tactic and is most commonly done by distracting us from having God consciousness. Indeed, that is their goal and the number one reason that man fails in all manners with God.
Barnabas 111:3
Woe to the world, because its heart is weighed down with this and with that of no importance in comparison to that of our souls, and it is of evil design that this is the state of things. Indeed, having God consciousness is much akin to being conscious of the enemy. Do not forget that if you forget God, when you should have remembered Him, it is no accident, no not ever!
Barnabas 111:4
Accordingly, when I said to you that laughter should be turned into weeping, feasts into fasting, and sleep into watching, I compassed in three words all that you have heard, that here on earth one should always weep, and that weeping should be from the heart, because God our Creator is offended; that you should fast in order to have lordship over the sense, and to watch in order not to sin; and that bodily weeping and bodily fasting and watching should be taken according to the constitution of each one.”
Barnabas 112:1
Having said this, Yeshua said, “You must seek of the fruits of the field, the wherewithal to sustain our life, for it is now eight days that we have eaten no bread. Therefore I will pray to our God, and will await you with Barnabas.”
Barnabas 112:2
So all the disciples and apostles departed by fours and by sixes and went their way according to the word of Yeshua. There remained with Yeshua, he who writes; whereupon Yeshua said, “O Barnabas, it is necessary that I should reveal great secrets to you, which, after that I will have departed from the world, you will reveal it.”
Barnabas 112:3
I tell you that I will be sold by one of my disciples for thirty pieces of money. Whereupon I am sure that he who will sell me will be slain in my name, for God will take me up from the earth, and will change the appearance of the traitor so that everyone will believe him to be me; nevertheless, when he dies an evil death, I will abide in that dishonor for a long time in the minds of the world. But when Muhammad, the last prophet of God comes, that infamy will be taken away. And God will do this because I have declared the truth of Gods’ last messenger the Messiah, who will see that I am known to be alive and to be a stranger to that death of infamy.
Barnabas 112:4
Then he who writes answered, “O master, tell me who is that wretch, for I fain would choke him to death.” “Hold your peace,” Yeshua answered, “For God so wills, and he cannot do otherwise, but see that when my mother is afflicted at such an event, you tell her the truth, in order that she may be comforted.” Then he who writes answered, “I will do all this, O master, if God pleases.”
Barnabas 113:1
When the disciples had come, they brought pine cones, and they found a good quantity of dates by the will of God. So after the midday prayer, they ate with Yeshua. Whereupon the apostles and disciples, seeing him who writes of sad countenance, feared that Yeshua must quickly depart from the world. Whereupon Yeshua consoled them, saying, “Do not fear, for my hour has not yet come that I should depart from you. I will abide with you still for a little while. Therefore I must teach you now, in order that you may go, as I have said, through all Israel to preach penitence; in order that God may have mercy upon men. Let everyone therefore beware of sloth, and much more that he do penance; because every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the Fire.
Barnabas 113:2
There was a citizen who had a vineyard, and had a garden in the midst thereof, which had a fine fig tree; whereon when the owner came he found no fruit for three years, and seeing every other tree bear fruit there, he said to his vinedresser, ‘Cut down this bad tree, for it cumbers the ground.’ The vinedresser answered, ‘Not so, my lord, for it is a beautiful tree.’ ‘Hold your peace,’ the owner said, ‘For I do not care for useless beauties. You should know that the palm and the balsam are nobler than the fig. But I had planted a plant of palm and one of balsam in the courtyard of my house, which I had surrounded with costly walls, but when these bore no fruit, but leaves which heaped themselves up and putrefied the ground in front of the house, I caused them both to be removed. And how will I pardon a fig tree far from the house, which cumbers my garden and my vineyard where every other tree bears fruit? Assuredly I will not allow it any longer.’
Barnabas 113:3
Then the vinedresser said, ‘Lord, the soil is too rich. Wait therefore, one year more, for I will prune the fig plants’ branches, and take the richness of the soil away from it, putting in poor soil with stones, and so it will bear fruit.’ The owner answered, ‘Now go and do so; for I will wait, and the fig plant will bear fruit.’ Do you understand this parable?” The disciples answered, “No, lord, therefore explain it to us.”
Barnabas 114:1
Yeshua answered, “Truly I say to you, the owner is God, and the vinedresser is His law. God then, had the palm and the balsam in Paradise; for lucifer is the palm and the first man the balsam. Then He cast them out because they did not bear fruit of good works, but uttered ungodly words that were the condemnation of many angels and many men. Now that God has man in the world, in the midst of His creatures that serve God, all of them, according to His precept: and man, I say, bearing no fruit, God would cut him down and commit him to Hell, seeing He did not pardon lucifer who will be punished eternally, and the man for a time. Whereupon the law of God says that man has too much good in this life, and so it is necessary that he should suffer tribulation and be deprived of earthly goods, in order that he may do good works. Therefore our God waits for man to be penitent. Truly I say to you that, as Job the friend and prophet of God said; ‘As the bird is born to fly and the fish to swim, even so is man born to work.’
Barnabas 114:2
So also David our father, a prophet of God, says, ‘We will be blessed eating the labors of our hands, and it will be well with us.’ Therefore let everyone work, according to his quality. Now tell me, if David our father and Solomon his son worked with their hands, what should the sinner do?” John said, “Master, to work is a fitting thing.”
Barnabas 114:3
Yeshua said; “Yes, thus the sun and the other planets are strengthened by the precepts of God so that they cannot do otherwise and therefore their work will have no merit. But the good works of men have much merit with God.
Barnabas 115:1
So let man consider by what good reason of which he would live in idleness? It is certain that he was born naked, and incapable of anything. Hence, of all that he has found, he is not the owner, but the user. And he will have to render an account thereof in that dreadful Day.
Barnabas 115:2
The abominable lust that makes man like the brute beasts, should be greatly feared; and the enemy is of ones own mind, so that it is not possible to go into any place where your enemy may not come. Ah, how many have perished through lust! The deluge came through lust, insomuch that the world perished before the mercy of God and so that only Noah and eighty three human persons were saved. For lust, God overwhelmed three wicked cities from which only Lot and his two children escaped. For lust, the tribe of Benjamin was all but extinguished. And I tell you truly that if I should narrate to you how many have perished through lust, the space of five days would not suffice.”
Barnabas 115:3
James answered, “O master, what signifies lust?” Yeshua answered, “Lust is an unbridled desire of love, which, not being directed by reason, bursts the bounds of mans’ intellect and affections; so that the man, not knowing himself, loves that which he should hate. Believe me, when a man loves a thing, not because God has given him such thing, but as its owner, he is a fornicator; for that, the soul, which should abide in union with God its Creator, he has united with the creature. And so God laments by Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘You have committed fornication with many lovers; nevertheless, return to Me and I will receive you.’
Barnabas 115:4
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, if there were not internal lust within the heart of man, he would not fall into the external; for if the root is removed, the tree dies speedily. Let a man content himself therefore with the wife whom his Creator has given him, and let him forget every other woman.” Andrew answered, “How will a man forget the women if he lives in the city where there are so many of them?” Yeshua replied, “O Andrew, it is certain that he who lives in the city, it will do him harm; seeing that the city is a sponge that draws in every iniquity.
Barnabas 116:1
It behoves a man to live in the city, even as the soldier lives when he has enemies around the fortress, defending himself against every assault and always fearing treachery on the part of the enemies. Even so, I say, let him repel every outward enticement of sin, and fear the sense, because it has a supreme desire for impure things. But how will he defend himself if he does not bridle the eye, which is the origin of every carnal sin? As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, he who does not have bodily eyes is secure not to receive punishment except only to the third degree, while he who has eyes receives it to the seventh degree.
Barnabas 116:2
In the time of the prophet Elijah, it came to pass that Elijah, seeing a blind man weeping, a man of good life, asked him saying, ‘Why do you weep, O brother?’ The blind man answered, ‘I weep because I cannot see Elijah the prophet, the holy one of God.’ Then Elijah rebuked him, saying, ‘Cease from weeping, O man, for you error in weeping.’ The blind man answered, ‘Now tell me, is it a sin to see a holy prophet of God, who raises the dead and makes the fire come down from heaven?’ Elijah answered, ‘You do not speak the truth, for Elijah is not able to do anything of all that you say, because he is a man as you are. For all the men in the world cannot make one fly to be born.’ The blind man said, ‘You say this, O man, because Elijah must have rebuked you for some sin of yours, therefore you hate him.’
Barnabas 116:3
Elijah answered, ‘May it please God that you are speaking the truth; because, O brother, if I should hate Elijah I should love God, and the more I should hate Elijah the more I should love God.’ Hereupon the blind man was greatly angered, and said, ‘As God lives, you are an impious fellow! Can God then be loved while one hates the prophets of God? Begone forthwith, for I will not listen to you any longer!’ Elijah answered, ‘Brother, may you now see with your intellect how evil bodily seeing is. For you desire sight to see Elijah, and hate Elijah with your soul.’ The blind man answered, ‘Now begone, for you are the devil, who would make me sin against the holy one of God.’
Barnabas 116:4
Then Elijah gave a sigh and said with tears, ‘You have spoken the truth, O brother, for my flesh, which you desire to see, separates you from God.’ The blind man said, ‘I do not wish to see you; no, if I had my eyes, I would close them so as not to see you.’ Then Elijah said, ‘Know, brother, that I am Elijah!’ The blind man answered, ‘You do not speak the truth.’ Then the disciples of Elijah said, ‘Brother, he truly is the prophet of God, Elijah.’ ‘Let him tell me,’ the blind man said, ‘If he is the prophet, of what seed am I, and how did I become blind?’
Barnabas 117:1
Elijah answered, ‘You are of the tribe of Levi; and because you, in entering the temple of God, look lewdly upon a woman, you, being near the sanctuary, our God took away your sight.’ Then the blind man, weeping, said, ‘Pardon me, O holy prophet of God, for I have sinned in speaking with you; for if I had seen you, I should not have sinned.’
Barnabas 117:2
Elijah answered, ‘May our God pardon you, O brother, because as it regards me, I know that you have told me the truth, seeing that the more we love God the more we love ourselves, and if you saw me, you would still your desire, which is not pleasing to God. For Elijah is not your creator, but God. I also say to you, that many desire to see me and come from afar to see me, who despise my words. Therefore it were better for them, for their salvation, that they had no eyes, seeing that everyone who finds pleasure in the creature, be he who he may, and does not seek to find pleasure in God, has made an idol in his heart and forsaken God.'” Then Yeshua said, sighing, “Have you understood all that Elijah said?” The disciples answered, “In sooth, we have understood, and we are beside ourselves at the knowledge that there are very few who are not idolaters here on earth.”
Barnabas 118:1
Then Yeshua said, “You speak the truth, for now Israel was desirous to establish the idolatry that they have in their hearts, in holding me for God, many of whom have now despised my teaching, saying that I could make myself lord of all Judea, if I confessed myself to be God, and that I am mad to wish to live in poverty among desert places, and not abide continually among princes in delicate living. Oh hapless man, who prizes the light that is common to flies and ants and despises the light that is common only to angels and prophets and holy friends of God!
Barnabas 118:2
If then, the eye will not be guarded, O Andrew, I tell you that it is impossible not to fall headlong into lust. Therefore Jeremiah the prophet, weeping vehemently, truly said, ‘My eye is a thief that robs my soul.’ For therefore David our father prayed with greatest longing to God our Lord that He would turn away his eyes in order that he might not behold vanity. For everything which has an end is truly vain.
Barnabas 119:1
And every time that a man beholds a thing and forgets God who made it for him he has failed.
Barnabas 119:2
He therefore who will behold women and will forget God who, for the good of man, created woman, he will love her and desire her. And to such degree this lust of his will break forth, that he will love everything like the thing loved, so that that sin of which it is a shame to have memory, comes from here. If then, man will put a bridle upon his eyes, he will be lord of the sense, which cannot desire that which is not presented to it. For so the flesh will be subject to the spirit. Because as the ship cannot move without wind, so the flesh cannot sin without the sense.
Barnabas 119:3
That thereafter it would be necessary for the penitent to turn story telling into prayer, reason itself shows, even if it were not also a precept of God. For man sins in every idle word, and our God blots out sin by reason of prayer. For that prayer is the advocate of the soul; prayer is the medicine of the soul; prayer is the defence of the heart; prayer is the weapon of faith, prayer is the bridle of sense; prayer is the salt of the flesh that allows it to not be corrupted by sin. I tell you that prayer is the hands of our life, whereby the man who prays will defend himself in the Day of Judgement, for he will keep his soul from sin here on earth, and will preserve his heart so that it is not touched by evil desires; offending lucifer because he will keep his sense within the law of God, and his flesh will walk in righteousness, receiving all from God that he will ask.
Barnabas 119:4
As God lives, in whose presence we are, a man without prayer can no longer be a man of good works than a dumb man can plead his cause to a blind one, than fistula can be healed without unguent, a man defend himself without movement, or attack another without weapons, sail without a rudder, or preserve dead flesh without salt. For truly, he who has no hand cannot receive. If man could change dung into gold and clay into sugar, what would he do?”
Barnabas 119:5
Then Yeshua, being silent, the disciples answered, “No one would exercise himself in any way other than in making gold and sugar.” Then Yeshua said, “Now why does man not change foolish story telling into prayer? Is time perhaps given to him by God so that he may offend God? For what prince would give a city to his subject in order that the latter might make war upon him? As God lives, if man knew after what manner the soul is transformed by vain talking, he would sooner bite off his tongue with his teeth than talk. O wretched world! For today men do not assemble together for prayer, but in the porches of the temple, and in the very temple itself lucifer has them make of vain talk there, and that which is worse of things which I cannot talk of without shame.
Barnabas 120:1
The fruit of vain talking is this, that it weakens the intellect in such wise that it is not ready to receive the truth; even as a horse accustomed to carry only one ounce of cotton flock cannot carry a hundred pounds of stone. But what is worse is the man who spends his time in jests. When he is fain to pray, lucifer will put those same jests into his memory, insomuch that when he should weep over his sins to provoke God to mercy and to win forgiveness for his sins, he provokes God to anger by laughing; who will chastise him, and cast him out.
Barnabas 120:2
Woe therefore to those who jest and talk vainly! But if our God has those in abomination who jest and talk vainly, how will He hold those who murmur and slander their brethren, and in what plight will those be who deal with sinning as with a supremely necessary business? Oh impure world, I cannot conceive how grievously you will be punished by God! He, then, who would do penance, I say he must give out his words at the price of gold.”
Barnabas 120:3
His disciples answered, “Now who will buy a mans’ words at the price of gold? Assuredly no one. And how will he do penance? It is certain that he will become covetous!” Yeshua answered, “You have your heart so heavy that I am not able to lift it up. Hence in every word it is necessary that I should tell you the meaning. But give thanks to God, who has given you grace to know the mysteries of God. I do not say that the penitent should sell his talking, but I say that when he talks he should think that he is casting forth gold. For indeed, so doing, even as gold is spent on necessary things, so he will only talk when it is necessary to talk. And just as no one spends gold on a thing which will cause hurt to his body, so let him not talk of a thing that may cause hurt to his soul.
Barnabas 121:1
When the governor has arrested a prisoner whom he examines while the notary writes down the case, tell me, how does such a man talk?” The disciples answered, “He talks with fear and to the point, so as not to give suspicion of himself, and he is careful not to say anything that may displease the governor, but seeks to speak something whereby he may be set free.”
Barnabas 121:2
Then Yeshua answered, “The penitent should do this then, in order to not lose his soul. For that, God has given two watchers to every man for notaries, the one writing the good, the other, the evil that the man does. If then, a man would receive mercy, let him measure his talking more than gold is measured.
Barnabas 122:1
As for avarice, that must be changed into almsgiving. Truly I say to you, that even as the plummet has the centre for its end, so the avaricious has Hell for his end, for it is impossible for the avaricious to possess any good in Paradise. Do you know why? For I will tell you. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, the avaricious, even though he is silent with his tongue, says by his works, ‘There is no other God than I.’ Inasmuch as all that he has, he is fain to spend at his own pleasure, not regarding his beginning or his end, that he is born naked, and dying, leaves all.
Barnabas 122:2
Now tell me, if Herod should give you a garden to keep, and you were fain to bear yourselves as owners, not sending any fruit to Herod, and when Herod sent for fruit, you drove away his messengers, tell me, would you be making yourselves kings over that garden? Assuredly you are. Now I tell you that even so the avaricious man makes himself God over his riches which God has given him.
Barnabas 122:3
Avarice is a thirst of the sense, which having lost God through sin because it lives by pleasure, and being unable to delight itself in God, who is hidden from it, surrounds itself with temporal things which it holds as its good; and it grows stronger the more it sees itself deprived of God. And so the conversion of the sinner is from God, who gives the grace to repent. As our father David said, ‘This change comes from the right hand of God.’ It is necessary that I should tell you of what sort man is, if you would know how penitence should be done. And so today, let us render thanks to God, who has given us the grace to communicate His will by my word.”
Barnabas 122:3
Whereupon he lifted up his hands and prayed, saying, “Lord God Almighty and Merciful, who has created us in mercy, giving us the rank of men, Your servants, with the faith of Your true messengers, we thank You for all Your benefits and would fain adore You only all the days of our life, bewailing our sins praying and giving alms, fasting and studying Your Word, instructing those who are ignorant of Your will, suffering from the world for love of You, and giving up our life to serve You to the death. Do You, O Lord, save us from lucifer, from the flesh and from the world, even as You save Your elect for love of Your own self and for love of Your last messenger for whom You created us, and for love of all Your holy ones and prophets.” The disciples ever answered, “So be it, so be it, Lord, so be it, O our Merciful God.”
Barnabas 123:1
When it was day, early Friday morning, Yeshua, after the prayer, assembled his disciples and said to them, “Let us sit down; for even on this day, God created man from the clay of the earth; even so will I tell you what thing a man is, if God pleases.” When all were seated, Yeshua said again, “Our God, to show His goodness and mercy and His omnipotence to His creatures, with His liberality and justice, made a composition of four things contrary, one to the other, and united them in one final object, which is man, and this is earth, air, water, and fire in order that each one might temper its opposite. And He made a vessel of these four things, which is mans’ body, of flesh, bones, blood, marrow, and skin, with nerves and veins, and with all his inward parts; wherein God placed the soul and the sense, as two hands of this life, giving every part of the body to the sense for lodgement, for it diffused itself there like oil. And He gave the heart to the soul for lodgement, where, united with the sense, it should rule the whole life.
Barnabas 123:2
God, having thus created man, put a light into him which is called reason, which was to unite the flesh, the sense, and the soul in a single end to work for the service of God. Whereupon He, placing this work in Paradise, and the reason being seduced of the sense by the operation of lucifer, the flesh lost its rest, the sense lost the delight whereby it lives, and the soul lost its beauty. Man, having come to such a plight, the sense, which finds no repose in labor, but seeks delight, not being curbed by reason, follows the light which the eyes show it; from which the eyes, not being able to see anything but vanity, deceives itself, and so, choosing earthly things, sins.
Barnabas 123:3
Thus it is necessary that, by the mercy of God, mans’ reason be enlightened afresh, to know good from evil and to distinguish the true delight; knowing which, the sinner is converted to penitence. Therefore I truly say to you, that if God our Lord does not enlighten the heart of man, the reasonings of men are of no avail.”
Barnabas 123:4
John answered, “Then to what end does the speech of men serve?” Yeshua replied, “Man as man avails nothing to convert man to penitence; but man as a means which God uses converts man; so that seeing God works by a secret fashion in man for mans’ salvation, one should listen to every man, in order that he may be received among all, him in whom God speaks to us.” James answered, “O master, if perhaps a false prophet and lying teacher will come pretending to instruct us, what should we do?”
Barnabas 124:1
Yeshua answered in a parable, “A man goes to fish with a net, and therein he catches many fish, but those that are bad, he throws away. A man went forth to sow, but only the grain that falls on good ground bears seed. Even so should you do; listening to all and receiving only the truth, seeing that the truth alone bears fruit to eternal life.” Then Andrew answered, “Now how will the truth be known?”
Barnabas 124:2
Yeshua answered, “Everything that conforms to the Book of Moses, that you receive as true; seeing that God is one, the truth is one; from where it follows that the doctrine is one and the meaning of the doctrine is one; and therefore the faith is one. Truly I say to you, that if the truth had not been erased from the Book of Moses, God would not have given the second to David our father. And if the Book of David had not been contaminated, God would not have committed the Gospel to me; seeing that the Lord our God is unchangeable, and has spoken only one message to all men. Therefore, when the last messenger of God will come, he will come to cleanse away all wherewith the ungodly have contaminated my Book.”
Barnabas 124:3
Then he who writes answered, “O master, what will a man do when the law will be found contaminated and the false prophet will speak?” Yeshua answered, “Your question is great, O Barnabas; therefore I tell you that in such a time, few are saved, seeing that men do not consider their end, which is God. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, every doctrine that will turn man aside from his end, which is God, is a most evil doctrine. Therefore there are three things that you will consider in doctrine, namely, love towards God, pity towards ones’ brethren and hatred of evil. Therefore every doctrine that is contrary to these three heads, avoid, because it is most evil.
Barnabas 125:1
I will return now to avarice: and I tell you that when the sense would fain acquire a thing or tenaciously keep it, reason must say, ‘Such a thing will have its end.’ It is certain that if it will have an end, it is madness to love it. Therefore it behooves one to love and to keep that which will not have an end. Let avarice then be changed into alms, distributing rightly what a man has acquired wrongly. And let him see to it that what the right hand will give, the left hand will not know. Because the hypocrites, when they do alms, desire to be seen and praised by the world. But truly they are vain, seeing that for whom a man works, he receives his wages from him. If then, a man would receive anything from God, it behopves him to serve God.
Barnabas 125:2
And see that when you do alms, you consider that you are giving all that you give to God for love of God. Therefore do not be slow to give, and give of the best of that which you have, for love of God. Tell me, do you desire to receive anything from God that is bad? Certainly not, O dust and ashes! Then how have you faith in yourself if you will give anything bad for love of God? It were better to give nothing than to give a bad thing; for in not giving, you will have some excuse according to the world, but in giving a worthless thing, and keeping the best for yourselves, what will be the excuse? And this is all that I have to say to you concerning penitence.”
Barnabas 125:3
Barnabas answered, “How long should penitence last?” Yeshua replied, “As long as a man is in a state of sin, he should always repent and do penance for it. Therefore as human life always sins, so should it always do penance; unless you would make more account of your shoes than of your feet, since every time that your shoes are worn you mend or replace them. But when it comes to your soul there is no replacement so one must mend!”
Barnabas 126:1
Yeshua, having called his disciples together, sent them forth by two and two through the region of Israel, saying, “Go and preach even as you have heard.” Then they bowed themselves and he laid his hand upon their heads, saying, “In the name of God, give health to the sick, cast out the demons, and undeceive Israel concerning me, telling them that which I said before the high priest.”
Barnabas 126:2
They departed therefore, all of them except him who writes, with James and John, and they went through all Judea, preaching penitence even as Yeshua had told them, healing every sort of sickness, insomuch that the words of Yeshua were confirmed in Israel, that God is one and Yeshua is a prophet of God, when they saw such a multitude do that which Yeshua did concerning the healing of the sick.
Barnabas 126:3
But the sons of lucifer found another way to persecute Yeshua, and these were the priests and the scribes. Whereupon they began to say that Yeshua aspired to the monarchy over Israel. But they feared the common people, therefore they plotted against Yeshua secretly.
Barnabas 126:4
Having passed throughout Judea, the disciples returned to Yeshua, who received them as a father receives his sons, saying, “Tell me, how has the Lord our God done? Surely I have seen lucifer fall under your feet and you trample upon him even as the vinedresser treads the grapes!” The disciples answered, “O master, we have healed innumerable sick persons, and cast out many demons which tormented men.”
Barnabas 126:5
Yeshua said, “God forgive you, O brethren, because you have sinned in saying, ‘We have healed,’ seeing it is God that has done all.” Then they said, “We have talked foolishly; therefore, teach us how to speak.” Yeshua answered, “In every good work, say, ‘God has done,’ and in every bad one say, ‘I did error.'” “We will do so,” the disciples said to him.
Barnabas 126:6
Then Yeshua said, “Now what does Israel say, having seen God do that by the hands of so many men which God has done by my hands?” The disciples answered, “They say that there is one God alone and that you are His prophet.” Yeshua answered with joyful countenance, “The holy name of YHWH is blessed, who has not despised the desire of me, His servant!” And when he had said this, they retired to rest.
Barnabas 127:1
Yeshua departed from the desert and entered into Jerusalem; whereupon all the people ran to the temple to see him. So after the reading of the Psalms, Yeshua mounted up on the pinnacle where the scribe used to mount, and having beckoned for silence with his hand, he said, “The holy name of YHWH is blessed, O brethren, who has created us from the clay of the earth, and not of flaming spirit. For when we error or sin, we find mercy before God, which lucifer will never find, because he is incorrigible through his pride, saying that he is always noble.
Barnabas 127:2
Have you heard, brethren, that which our father David says of our God, that he remembers that we are dust and that our spirit goes and does not return again, therefore He has had mercy upon us? Those who know these words are blessed, for they will not err against their Lord eternally, seeing that they repent after they err, therefore their error does not abide. Woe to those who extol themselves, for they will be humbled to the burning coals of Hell. Tell me, brethren, what is the cause for self exaltation? Is there, perhaps, any good here upon earth? Assuredly no, for as Solomon says, ‘Everything that is under the sun is vanity.’ But if the things of the world do not give us cause to extol ourselves in our heart, much less does our life give us cause; for it is burdened with many miseries, since so much of the world fights against us.
Barnabas 127:3
O, how many have been slain by the burning heat of summer; how many have been slain by the frost and cold of winter; how many have been slain by lightning and by hail; how many have been drowned in the sea by the fury of winds; how many have died of pestilence, of famine, or because they have been devoured by wild beasts, bitten by serpents, stung by stingers and choked by food! O hapless man, who extols himself having so much to weigh him down, being laid wait for by all the dangers in every place! But what will I say of the flesh and the sense that only desire iniquity; of the world, that offers nothing but error; of the wicked, who, serving lucifer, persecute whosoever would live? It is certain, brethren, that if man, as our father David says, with his eyes could always consider eternity, he would not sin or error at all.
Barnabas 127:4
To extol oneself in ones’ heart is to lock up the pity and mercy of God, so that He does not pardon. For our father David says that our God remembers that we are only dust and that our spirit goes and does not return again. Whoever extols himself, then, denies that he is dust, and hence, not knowing his need, he does not ask for help, and so angers God his helper. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, God would pardon lucifer if lucifer should know his own misery, and ask mercy from his Creator, who is blessed forevermore.
Barnabas 128:1
Accordingly, brethren, I, a man, dust and clay, who walks upon the earth, say to you, ‘Do penance and know your sins.’ I say, brethren, that lucifer, by means of the Roman soldiery, deceived you when you said that I was God. Therefore, beware that you do not believe them, seeing they are fallen under the curse of God, serving the false and lying gods; even as our father David invokes a curse upon them, saying, ‘The gods of the nations are silver and gold, the work of their hands; that have eyes and do not see, have ears and do not hear, have noses and do not smell, have a mouth and do not eat, have a tongue and do not speak, have hands and do not touch, have feet and do not walk.’ (Psalms 115:4-7) Therefore our father David said, praying to our living God, ‘Those who make them are like them, and those who trust in them.’ (Psalms 115:8)
Barnabas 128:2
O pride unheard of, this pride of man, who being created by God out of earth forgets his condition and would fain make God at his own pleasure! Wherein he silently mocks God, as though he should say, ‘There is no use in serving God.’ For so do their works show. To this, lucifer desired to reduce you, O brethren, in making you believe me to be God; because I, not being able to create a fly, and being passable and mortal, I can give you nothing of use, seeing that I myself have need of everything. How then could I help you in all things, as it is proper to God to do? Should we then, who have, for our God, the great God who has created the universe with His word, mock at the fools and their gods?
Barnabas 128:3
There were two men who came up here into the temple to pray, the one was a pharisee and the other a publican. The pharisee drew near to the sanctuary, and praying with his face uplifted said, ‘I give You thanks, O Lord my God, because I am not as other men, sinners, who do every wickedness, and particularly as this publican; for I fast twice in the week and give tithes of all I possess.’ The publican remained afar off, bowed down to the earth, and beating his breast, he said with a bent head, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to look upon the heaven nor upon Your sanctuary, for I have sinned much; have mercy upon me!’ (Luke 18:10-13)
Barnabas 128:4
Truly I say to you, the publican went down from the temple in a better case than the pharisee, for that, our God justified him, forgiving his sin. But the pharisee went down in a worse case than the publican, because our God rejected him, having his works in abomination.
Barnabas 129:1
Should the axe perhaps boast itself at having cut down the forest where a man has made a garden? Assuredly no, for the man has done all, yes and made the axe, with his hands. And you, O man, will you boast yourself of having done anything that is good, seeing our God created you from clay and works all good that is done in you? And why do you despise your brethren? Do you not know that if God had not preserved you from lucifer, you would be worse than lucifer?
Barnabas 129:2
Do you not know that one single sin changed a fair one into the most repulsive demon? And that the most perfect man that has come into the world, which was Adam, it changed into a wretched being, subjecting him to what we suffer, together with all his offspring? What decree, then, do you have, in virtue whereof you may live at your own pleasure without any fear? Woe to you, O clay, for because you have exalted yourself above God who created you; you will be abased beneath the feet of lucifer who lays wait for you in your every thought.”
Barnabas 129:3
And having said this, Yeshua prayed, lifting up his hands to the Heavens, and the people said, “So be it! So be it!” When he had finished his prayer, he descended from the pinnacle. Whereupon many sick folk were brought to him, whom he made whole, and he departed from the temple. Thereupon Simon, a leper whom Yeshua had cleansed, invited him to eat bread. The priests and scribes, who hated Yeshua, reported to the Roman soldiers that which Yeshua had said against their gods. For indeed they were seeking how to kill him, but did not find it, because they feared the people.
Barnabas 129:5
Yeshua, having entered the house of Simon, sat down to the table. And while he was eating, behold, a woman named Mary, an erring woman known publicly, entered into the house, and flung herself upon the ground behind Yeshua’ feet, and washed them with her tears, anointed them with precious ointment, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Simon was scandalized, with all who sat at the table, and they said in their hearts, “If this man were a prophet he would know who and of what sort this woman is, and would not allow her to touch him.” Then Yeshua said, “Simon, I have a thing to say to you.” (Luke 7:36-40) Simon answered, “Speak, O master, for I desire your word.”
Barnabas 130:1
Yeshua said, “There was a man who had two debtors, one whom was a friend and one just an acquaintance. The acquaintance owed him fifty pence, the friend five hundred. Whereupon, when neither of them had wherewithal to pay, the owner, moved with compassion and forgave the debt to each. (Luke 7:41-47) Which of them would he surely have loved most were it not for his relationship with each of them?” Simon answered, “He to whom the greater debt was forgiven.”
Barnabas 130:2
Yeshua said, “You have said well; I say to you, therefore, behold this woman and yourself; for you were both debtors to God, the one for leprosy of the body, the other for leprosy of the mind, which is error. God our Lord, who moved with compassion through my prayers, has willed to heal your body and her mind. You therefore, love me little, because you have received little as a gift. And so, when I entered your house, you did not kiss me nor anoint my head. But this woman, look! Straightway upon entering your house, she placed herself at my feet, which she has washed with her tears and anointed with precious ointment. Therefore, truly I say to you, many sins are forgiven to her, because she has repented much.” And turning to the woman, he said, “Go your way in peace, for the Lord our God has pardoned your errors; but see that you error no more. Your faith has saved you.”
Barnabas 131:1
His disciples drew near to Yeshua after the nightly prayer, and said, “O master, how must we escape pride?” Yeshua answered, “Have you seen a poor man invited to a princes’ house to eat bread?” John answered, “I have eaten bread in Herods’ house. For before I knew you, I went to fish, and used to sell the fish to the family of Herod. Whereupon, one day when he was feasting, I, having brought a fine fish there, he made me stay and eat there.” Then Yeshua said, “Now how did you eat with disbelievers eating what they eat? God pardon you, O John! But tell me, how did you bear yourself at the table? Did you seek to have the most honorable place? Did you ask for the most delicate food? Did you speak when you were not questioned at the table? Did you account yourself more worthy than the others to sit at the table?”
Barnabas 131:2
John answered, “As God lives, aside from bread and the fish I brought I did not eat what they eat nor dared I to lift up my eyes, seeing myself, a poor fisherman, ill-clad, sitting among the kings’ barons. Whereupon, when the king gave me a little piece of meat, I thought that the world had fallen upon my head, my being ungrateful for the greatness of the favor that the king did to me. And truly I say that, if the king had been of our law, I should have been fain to serve him all the days of my life.” Yeshua cried out, “Hold your peace, John, for I fear unless God should cast us into the abyss, even like Abiram, for our pride!”
Barnabas 131:3
The disciples trembled with fear at the words of Yeshua; when he said again, “Let us fear God, so that He does not cast us into the abyss for our pride. O brethren, have you heard of John, what is done in the house of a prince? Woe to the men who come into the world, for as they live in pride, they will die in contempt and will go into confusion. For this world is a house where God feeds men, wherein have eaten all from lowly to great. And truly I say to you, everything that a man receives, he receives it from God. Therefore man should bear himself with deepest humility; knowing his own nothingness compared to the greatness of God and the great bounty by which He nourishes us. Therefore it is not lawful for man to say, ‘Ah, why is this done and this said in the world?’ But rather to account for himself, as in truth, he is unworthy to stand in the world at Gods’ board. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, there is nothing so small received here in the world from the hand of God, but that in return, man should spend his life for love of God.
Barnabas 131:4
As God lives, you alone at the table did not sin, O John, in eating alongside Herod, for it was of Gods’ disposition you did joined there, in order that you might now be our teacher and the teacher of everyone who fears God. So that we may live in the world as John lived in the house of Herod when he did eat with him, for you were in truth, sitting and supping in clad of common clothes free from all foolish pride while in wise fear of God Almighty.”
Barnabas 132:1
Yeshua, walking along the sea of Galilee, was surrounded by a great multitude of folk, therefore he went into a little boat which lay a little off from the shore by itself, and anchored so near to the land that his voice might be heard. Whereupon they all drew near to the sea, and sitting down, awaited his word. He then opened his mouth and said,
Barnabas 132:2
“Behold, the sower went out to sow, whereupon as he sowed, some of the seed fell upon the road, and this was trodden under foot of men and eaten up by birds; some fell upon the stones, whereupon when it sprang up, because it had no moisture, it was burnt up by the sun; some fell in the hedges, whereupon when it grew up, the thorns chocked the seed; and some fell on good ground, whereupon it bore fruit, even to thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. (Mark 4:3-8, Matthew 4:3-8, Luke 8:5-8)
Barnabas 132:3
Again Yeshua said, “Behold, the father of a family sowed good seed in his field, whereupon, as the servants of the good man slept, the enemy of the man, their master, came and sowed tares over the good seed. (Matthew 13:24-25) Whereupon, when the corn sprang up, a great quantity of tares was seen sprung up amongst the corn. The servants came to their master and said, ‘O sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Why then has a great quantity of tares sprung up therein?’ The master answered, ‘I did sow good seed, but while men slept, the enemy of man came and sowed tares over the corn.’
Barnabas 132:4
The servants said, ‘Do you will that we go and pull up the tares from among the corn?’ The master answered, ‘Do not do so, for you would pull up the corn therewith; but wait till the time of harvest comes. For then will you go and pull up the tares from amongst the corn and cast them into the fire to be burned, but you will put the corn into my granary.'”
Barnabas 132:5
Again Yeshua said, “Many men went forth to sell figs. But when they arrived at the marketplace, behold, men did not seek good figs but fair leaves. Therefore the men were not able to sell their figs. And seeing this, an evil citizen said, ‘Surely I may become rich.’ Whereupon he called his two sons together and said, ‘Go and gather a great quantity of leaves with bad figs.’ And they sold these for their weight in gold, for the men were mightily pleased with leaves. Whereupon the men, eating the figs, became sick with a grievous sickness.”
Barnabas 132:6
Again Yeshua said, “Behold a citizen has a fountain, from which all the neighboring citizens take water to wash off their uncleanness; but the citizen allows his own clothes to putrefy.”
Barnabas 132:7
Again Yeshua said, “Two men went forth to sell apples. The one chose to sell the peel of the apple for its weight in gold, not caring for the substance of the apples. The other desired to give the apples away, receiving only a little bread for his journey. But men bought the peel of the apples for its weight in gold, not caring for him who was fain to give them, not even despising him.”
Barnabas 132:8
And thus on that day, Yeshua spoke to the crowd in parables. Then having dismissed them, he went with his disciples to Nain, where he had raised the widows’ son to life; who, with his mother, received him into his house and ministered to him.
Barnabas 133:1
His disciples drew near to Yeshua and asked him, saying, “O master, tell us the meaning of the parables which you spoke to the people.” Yeshua answered, “The hour of prayer draws near; therefore when the evening prayer has ended I will tell you the meaning of the parables.” When the prayer had ended, the disciples came near to Yeshua and he said to them, “The man who sows seed upon the road, upon the stones, upon the thorns, upon the good ground, is he who teaches the word of God, which falls upon a great number of men.
Barnabas 133:2
It falls upon the road when it comes to the ears of sailors and merchants, who by reason of the long journeys which they make, and the variety of nations with whom they have dealings, have the word of God removed from their memory by lucifer. It falls upon the stones when it comes to the ears of courtiers, for by reason of the great anxiety these have to serve the body of a prince, the word of God too does not sink into them. Therefore, albeit they have some memory thereof, as soon as they have any tribulation, the word of God goes out of their memory, for, seeing they do not serve God, they cannot hope for help from God.
Barnabas 133:3
It falls among the thorns when it comes to the ears of those who love their own life, whereupon, though the word of God grows upon them, but when carnal desires grow up, they choke the good seed of the word of God, for carnal comforts cause men who love them to forsake the word of God. That which falls on good ground is when the word of God comes to the ears of those who love and fear God, whereupon it brings forth fruit of eternal life. Truly I say to you, that in every condition when man loves and fears God, the word of God will bear fruit in him.
Barnabas 133:4
Of that father of a family, I tell you truly that He is God our Lord; Father of all things, for He has created all things. But He is not a father after the manner of nature, for He is not of our structure. It is, then, our God, whose is this world; and in the field where He sows grows all things, the greatest of which grow from the word of God. So when the teachers are negligent in preaching the word of God, through being occupied in the business of living in the world, lucifer sows error in the heart of men, from which countless sects of wicked doctrine have come.
Barnabas 133:5
The holy ones and prophets cry, ‘O God, did you not give good doctrine to men? Why then, are there so many errors?’ God answers, ‘I have given good doctrine to men, but while weaker men have been given up to vanity, lucifer has sowed errors to bring My law to nothing for them.’ The holy ones say, ‘O sir, we will disperse these errors by destroying those men.’
Barnabas 133:6
God answers, ‘Do not do so, for the faithful are so closely joined to the disbelievers by kinship that the faithful will be lost with the disbeliever. But wait until the Judgement, for at that time the disbelievers will be gathered by My angels and will be cast out with lucifer into Hell, while the good faithful ones will come to My kingdom.’ Surely, many disbelieving fathers will beget faithful sons, for whose sake God waits for the world to repent.
Barnabas 134:1
Those who bear good figs are the true teachers who preach good doctrine, but the world, which takes pleasure in lies, seeks leaves of fine words and flattery from the teachers. The which, seeing, lucifer joins himself with the flesh and the sense, and brings a large supply of leaves; that is, a quantity of earthly things, in which he covers up sin; the which, receiving, man becomes sick and ready for eternal death.
Barnabas 134:2
The citizen who has the water and gives his water to others to wash off their uncleanness, but allows his own garments to become putrefied, is the teacher who, preaches penitence to others and he himself still abides in error. O wretched man, because not the angels, but his own tongue writes the punishment upon the air that is fitting for him! If one had the tongue of an elephant, and the rest of his body were as small as an ant, would this thing not be monstrous? Yes, surely. Now I say to you, truly, that he is more monstrous who preaches penitence to others, but he himself does not repent of his errors.
Barnabas 134:3
Those two men who sell apples are the ones who, preach for love of God, therefore he flatters none, but preaches in truth, seeking only a poor mans’ livelihood. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, such a man is not received by the world, but rather despised. But he who sells the peel for its weight in gold, and gives the apple away, it is he who preaches to please men; and, so flattering the world, he ruins the soul that follows his flattery. Ah! How many have perished for this cause!”
Barnabas 134:4
Then he who writes answered and said, “How should one listen to the word of God; and how should one know him who preaches for love of God?” Yeshua answered, “He who preaches should be listened to as though God were speaking when He preaches good doctrine; because God is speaking through his mouth. But he who does not reprove errors, having respect of persons, flattering particular men, should be avoided as a horrible serpent, for in truth, he poisons the human ear. Do you understand? Truly I say to you, even as a wounded man has no need of fine bandages to bind up his wounds, but rather of a good ointment, so also does a sinner have no need of fine words, but rather of good reproofs, in order that he may cease to sin.”
Barnabas 135:1
Then Peter said, “O master, tell us how the lost will be tormented, and how long they will be in Hell, in order that man may flee from error.” Yeshua answered, “O Peter, it is a great thing that you have asked, nevertheless, if God pleases, I will answer you. Do you know, therefore, that Hell is one, yet has seven centres one below another? Hence, even as sin is of seven kinds, for as there are seven levels of Hell, so are there seven punishments therein.
Barnabas 135:2
For the proud, that is the loftiest in heart, will be plunged into the lowest centre, passing through all the centres above it, and suffering all the pains in them that are therein. And as he seeks to be higher than God here, in wishing to do after his own manner, contrary to that which God commands, and not wishing to recognize anyone above him, even so he will be lower than all.
Barnabas 135:3
The envious, who chaffs at the good of his brethren and rejoices at his misfortune here, will go down to the sixth centre, and there he will be chafed by the fangs of a great number of infernal serpents. And it will seem to him that all things in Hell rejoice at his torment, and mourn that he has not gone down to the seventh centre. For although the damned are incapable of any joy, yet the justice of God will cause that it will so seem to the wretched envious man, as when one seems in a dream to be spurned by someone and feels torment thereby, even so will the object set before the wretched envious man be. For where there is no gladness at all, it will seem to him that everyone rejoices at his misfortune, and mourns that he has no worse.
Barnabas 135:4
The covetous will go down to the fifth centre, where he will suffer extreme poverty, as the rich feast suffered. And the demons, for greater torment, will offer him that which he desires, and when he will have it in his hands other devils will snatch it with violence from his hands with these words, ‘Remember that you would not give anything for love of God; so God wills that you now not receive anything.’ Oh unhappy man! Now he will find himself in that condition when he will remember past abundance and behold the penury of the present; and that with the goods that he may then not have, he could have acquired eternal delights.
Barnabas 135:5
The lustful will go to the fourth centre, where those who have transformed the way given to them by God, will be as corn that is cooked in the burning dung of the devil. And they will be embraced by horrible infernal serpents there. And those who will have sinned with harlots, all these acts of impurity will be transformed for them into union with the infernal furies; which are demons like women, whose hair is serpents, whose eyes are flaming sulphur, whose mouth is poisonous, whose tongue is gull, whose body is all girt with barbed hooks like those wherewith they catch silly fish, whose claws are like those of gryphons, whose nails are razors, the nature of whose generative organs is fire. Now with these, all the lustful will enjoy the infernal embers which will be their bed.
Barnabas 135:6
The slothful who will not work now will go down to the third centre. Here cities and immense palaces are built, which as soon as they are finished, they must be pulled down straightway, because a single stone is not placed aright. And these enormous stones are laid upon the shoulders of the slothful, who does not have his hands free to cool his body as he walks and to ease the burden, seeing that sloth has taken away the power of his arms. And his legs are fettered with infernal serpents. And, what is worse, the demons are behind him, who push him, and make him fall to earth many times beneath the weight; nor do any help him to lift it up, no, it being too much to lift, a double amount is laid upon him.
Barnabas 135:7
The gluttonous will go down to the second centre. Now there is dearth of food here, to such a degree that there will be nothing to eat but live scorpions and live serpents, which give such torment that it would be better never to have been born than to eat such food. There are, in appearance, delicate meats offered to them, indeed by the demons; but for that, they have their hands and feet bound with fetters of fire, they cannot put out a hand on the occasion when the meat appears to them. But what is worse, those very scorpions which he eats that may devour his belly, not being able to come forth speedily, tear the secret parts of the glutton. And when they have come forth, foul and unclean, filthy as they are, they are eaten over again.
Barnabas 135:8
The wrathful one goes down to the first centre, where he is insulted by all the devils and by as many of the damned who go down lower than him. They spurn him and strike him, making him lie down upon the road where they pass, planting their feet upon his throat. Yet he is not able to defend himself, for he has his hands and feet bound. And what is worse, he is not able to give vent to his wrath by insulting others, seeing that his tongue is fastened by a hook, like that which he uses who sells flesh. In this accursed place there will be a general punishment, common to all the centres, like the mixture of various grains which make a loaf. For fire, ice, thunderstorms, lightning, sulphur, heat, cold, wind, frenzy, terror, will all be united by the justice of God, and in such ways that the cold will not temper the heat, nor the fire the ice, but each will give torment to the wretched sinner.
Barnabas 136:1
In this accursed spot, the disbelievers will abide forevermore, insomuch that if the world were filled with grains of millet, and a single bird once in a hundred years should take away a single grain to empty the world, if when it should be empty, the disbelievers were to go into Paradise, they would rest delighted. But there is not this hope, because their torment cannot have an end, seeing that they were not willing to put an end to their errors for the love of God. But the faithful will have comfort, because their torment will have an end.” The disciples were affrighted, hearing this, and said, “So then the faithful must go into Hell?”
Barnabas 136:2
Yeshua answered, “Everyone, be they who they may, must go into Hell. It is true, however, that the holy ones and prophets of God will go there to behold, not suffering any punishment, and the righteous, only suffering fear. And what will I say? I tell you that even the last servants of God will come there to behold the justice of God. Thereupon Hell will tremble at their presence. And because they have human flesh, all those who have human flesh will be under punishment. Then so long as the last servants of God will abide to behold Hell, so long will they abide without punishment. But they will abide there only so long as it takes to shut and open the eyes. And God will do this in order that every creature may know that he has received benefit from the last messengers of God.
Barnabas 136:3
When they go there, all the devils will shriek, and seek to hide themselves beneath the burning embers, saying to one another, ‘Fly, fly, for here comes our enemy!’ Hearing which, lucifer will strike himself upon the face with both his hands, and screaming will say, ‘You are more noble than I, in my despite, and this is unjustly done!’ As for the faithful, who are in seventy two grades, those of the two last grades, who will have had the faith without good works, the one being bad at good works, and the other delighting in evil, they will abide in Hell seventy thousand years.
Barnabas 136:4
After those years, the angel Gabriel will come into Hell, and will hear them call out; ‘O Muhammad, where are your promises made to us, saying that those who have your faith will not abide in Hell forevermore?’ Then the angel of God will return to Paradise, and having approached with reverence, the messenger of God will narrate to him what he has heard. Then His messenger will speak to God and say, ‘Lord, my God, remember the promise made to me, Your servant, concerning those who have received my faith, that they will not abide forevermore in Hell.’ God will answer, ‘Ask what you will, O My friend, for I will give you all that you ask.’
Barnabas 137:1
WHAT FOLLOWS IS PROVEN 100% FALSE BY THE HOLY QURAN IN VERSE #s 2:80 AND 9:113-4. Then the last prophet of God will say, ‘O Lord, there are some among the faithful who have been in Hell seventy thousand years. Where, O Lord, is Your mercy? I pray You, Lord, to free them from those bitter punishments.’ Then God will command the four favorite angels of God; that they go to Hell and take out everyone who has the faith of His last prophet, and lead him into Paradise. And they will do this. And such will be the advantage of the faith of Gods’ last prophet, that those who will have believed in him, even though they have not done any good works, seeing they died in this faith, will go into Paradise after the punishment of which I have spoken.”
Barnabas 138:1
When early morning had come, all the men of the city, with the women and children, came to the house where Yeshua was with his disciples, and sought him saying, “Sir, have mercy upon us, because this year the worms have eaten the crops, and we will not receive any bread this year in our land.”
Barnabas 138:2
Yeshua answered, “O what fear is yours! Do you not know that Elijah, the servant of God, while the persecution of Ahab continued for three years, did not see bread, nourishing himself only with herbs and wild fruits? David our father, the prophet of God, ate wild fruits and herbs for two years, while being persecuted by Saul, he only ate bread twice.”
Barnabas 138:3
The men answered, “Sir, they were prophets of God, nourished with spiritual delight, and therefore they endured well; but how will these little ones fare?” And they showed him the multitude of their children. Then Yeshua had compassion on their misery and said, “How long is it until harvest?” They answered, “Twenty days.”
Barnabas 138:4
Then Yeshua said, “See that for these twenty days we give ourselves to fasting and prayer; for God will have mercy upon you. Truly I say to you, God has caused this dearth because the madness of men and the sin of Israel began here when they said that I was God, or son of God.” When they had fasted for nineteen days, on the morning of the twentieth day, they beheld the fields and hills covered with ripe grains. They ran to Yeshua, and recounted everything to him. And when he had heard it, Yeshua gave thanks to God and said, “Go, brethren, gather the bread which God has given.” They gathered so much grain that they did not know where to store it; and this thing was a cause of plenty in Israel.
Barnabas 138:5
The citizens took council to set up Yeshua as their king; knowing which, he fled from them and the disciples strove fifteen days to find him.
Barnabas 139:1
Yeshua was found by him who writes, and by James with John. And weeping, they said, “O master, why did you flee from us? We have sought you mourning; yes, all the disciples seek you weeping.” Yeshua answered, “I fled because I knew that a host of devils is preparing something for me which you will see in a short time. For the chief priests with the elders of the people will rise against me and they will wrest authority to kill me from the Roman governor, because they will fear that I wish to usurp kingship over Israel. Moreover, I will be sold and betrayed by one of my disciples, as Joseph was sold into Egypt.
Barnabas 139:2
But the just God will make him fall, as the prophet David says, ‘He will make him fall into the pit who spreads a snare for his brethren.’ For God will save me from their hands, and will take me out of the world.” The three disciples were afraid; but Yeshua comforted them saying, “Do not be afraid, for none of you will betray me.” And the three disciples received some consolation from this.
Barnabas 139:3
The day following, thirty six of Yeshua’ disciples came two by two; and he abode in Damascus awaiting the others. And they mourned, every one, for they knew that Yeshua must depart from the world. Therefore he opened his mouth and said, “He who walks without knowing where he goes is surely forlorn; but more unhappy is he who is able and knows how to reach a good hostelry, yet desires and wills to abide on the miry road, in the rain, and in peril of robbers.
Barnabas 139:4
Tell me, brethren, is this world our native country? Surely not, seeing that the first man was cast out into the world into exile and there he suffers the punishment of his error. Is there an exile who does not aspire to return to his own rich country when he finds himself in poverty? Assuredly reason denies it, but experience proves it, because the lovers of the world will not think upon death. No, when one speaks to them of death they will not heed his speech.
Barnabas 140:1
Believe, O men, that I have come into the world with a privilege which no man has had, nor will even the last messenger of God have it; seeing that our God did not create man to set him in the world, but rather to place him in Paradise. It is certain that he who has no hope of receiving anything from the Romans, because they are of a law that is foreign to him, is not willing to leave his own country with all that he has, never to return, and go to live in Rome. And much less would he do so when he found himself to have offended Caesar. Even so I tell you truly, and Solomon, Gods’ prophet, cries with me, ‘O death, how bitter is the remembrance of you to those who have rest in their riches!’
Barnabas 140:2
I do not say this because I have to die now, for I am sure that I will live even near to the end of the world. But I will speak to you of this matter in order that you may learn how to die. As God lives, everything that is done amiss, even once, shows that to work a thing well, it is necessary to exercise oneself in that thing. Have you seen the soldiers, how in time of peace they exercise themselves with one another as if they were at war? How will a man who has not learned to die well, die a good death?
Barnabas 140:3
The death of the holy is precious in the sight of the Lord,’ (Psalms 116:15) the prophet David said. Do you know why such a death is precious? I will tell you. It is because, even as all rare things are precious, so the death of those who die well, being rare, is precious in the sight of God our Creator. Whenever a man begins anything, not only is he aiming to finish it, but he takes pains that his design may have a good conclusion.
Barnabas 140:4
O miserable man who prizes his possessions more than himself; for when he cuts his cloth, he measures it carefully before he cuts it; and when it is cut, he sews it with care. But his life, which is born to die, since only he who is not born does not die, why will men not measure their life by death? Have you seen those who build and how they lay every stone with the foundation in view, measuring if it is straight so that the wall will not fall down? O wretched man! For the building of his life will fall with great ruin because he does not look to the foundation of death!
Barnabas 141:1
Tell me, when a man is born, how is he born? Surely, he is born naked. And when he is laid dead beneath the ground, what advantage does he have? A mean linen cloth in which he is wound, and this is the reward which the world gives him. If the means in every work must be proportionate to the beginning and the end in order that the work is brought to a good end, what end will the man have who desires earthly riches? He will die, as David says, prophet of God, ‘The fool= will die a most evil death.’
Barnabas 141:2
If a man sewing cloth should thread beams instead of thread in the needle, how would the work attain its end? Surely he would work in vain, and be despised by his neighbors. Now man does not see that he is doing this continually when he gathered earthly goods. For death is the needle, wherein the beams of earthly goods cannot be threaded. Nevertheless in his madness, he strives continually to make the work succeed, but in vain.
Barnabas 141:3
And whoever does not believe this at my word, let him gaze upon the tombs, for he will find the truth there. He who would fain become wise beyond all others in the fear of God, let him study the book of the tomb, for he will find the true doctrine for his salvation there. For he will know to beware of the world, the flesh, and the sense, when he sees that mans’ flesh is reserved to be food of worms.
Barnabas 141:4
Tell me, if there were a road which was of such condition that walking in the midst thereof a man should go safely, but walking on the edges he would break his head; what would you say if you saw men opposing one another, and striving in emulation to get nearest to the edge and kill themselves? What amazement would you have! Assuredly you would say, ‘They are mad and frenzied, and if they are not frenzied they are desperate.'” “Even so is it true,” the disciples answered.
Barnabas 141:5
Then Yeshua wept and said, “Even so, truly, are the lovers of the world. For if they lived according to reason, which holds a middle place in man, they would follow the law of God, and would be saved from eternal death. But because they follow the flesh and the world, they are frenzied, and cruel enemies of their own selves, striving to live more arrogantly and more lasciviously than one another.”
Barnabas 142:1
Judas, the traitor, when he saw that Yeshua had fled, lost the hope of becoming powerful in the world, for he carried Yeshua’ purse, wherein all was kept that was given to him for love of God. He hoped that Yeshua would become king of Israel, and so he himself would be a powerful man. Therefore, having lost this hope, he said within himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know that I steal his money; and so he would lose patience and cast me out of his service, knowing that I do not believe him. And if he were a wise man, he would not flee from the honor that God wills to give him. Therefore it will be better that I make an arrangement with the chief priests and with the scribes and pharisees, and see how to give him up into their hands, for I will so be able to obtain something good.”
Barnabas 142:2
Whereupon, having made his resolution, he gave notice to the scribes and pharisees how the matter had passed in Nain. And they took counsel with the high priest, saying, “What will we do if this man becomes king? Surely we will fare badly; because he is fain to reform the worship of God after the ancient custom, for he cannot do away with our traditions. Now how will we fare under the sovereignty of such a man? Surely we will all perish with our children, for being cast out of our office, we will have to beg for our bread.
Barnabas 142:3
We now, God is praised, have a king and a governor that are alien to our law, who do not care for our law, even as we do not care for theirs. And so we are able to do whatsoever we list; for, even though we sin, our g-d is so merciful that He is appeased with sacrifices and rituals. But if this man becomes king, he will not be appeased unless he will see the worship of his God accordingly as Moses wrote; and what is worse, he says that the Messiah will not only come from the seed of David (as one of his chief disciples has told us) but says that he will also come from the seed of Ishmael, and that the promise was made in Ishmael and not in Isaac.
Barnabas 142:4
What will the fruit then be if this man Yeshua is allowed to live? Assuredly the Ishmaelites will come into repute with the Romans, and they will give them our country in possession; and so our people will be subjected to slavery.” Therefore, having heard the proposal, the high priest gave an answer that he must treat with Herod and with the governor, “Because the people are so inclined towards him that, without the soldiery, we will not be able to do anything; and may it please g-d that, with the soldiery, we may accomplish this business.” Therefore, having taken counsel amongst themselves, they plotted to seize him by night, when the governor and Herod should agree thereto.
Barnabas 143:1
Then all the disciples came to Damascus, by the will of God. And on that day, Judas the traitor, more than any other, made show of having suffered grief at Yeshua’ absence, at which Yeshua said, “Let everyone beware of him who, without occasion, labors to give you tokens of love.” And God took away our understanding, so that we might not know to what end he said this. After the coming of all the disciples, Yeshua said, “Let us return into Galilee, for the angel of God has said to me that I must go there.”
Barnabas 143:2
So one sabbath morning, Yeshua came to Nazareth. When the citizens recognized Yeshua, everyone desired to see him. A publican named Zacchaeus, who was of small stature, not being able to see Yeshua because of the great multitude, climbed to the top of a sycamore, and waited there for Yeshua to pass that place when he went to the synagogue. Yeshua then, having come to that place, lifted up his eyes and said, “Come down, Zacchaeus, for today I will abide in your house.” (Luke 19:2-3) The man came down and received him with gladness, making a splendid feast.
Barnabas 143:3
The pharisees murmured, saying to Yeshua’ disciples, “Why has your master gone in to eat with publicans and sinners?” Yeshua answered, “Why does the physician enter into a house? Tell me, and I will tell you why I have come in here.” They answered, “To heal the sick.” “You say the truth,” Yeshua said, “For those who are whole have no need of medicine, only the sick.
Barnabas 144:1
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, God sends His prophets and servants into the world in order that sinners may repent; and He sends them not for the sake of the righteous, because they had no need of repentance, even as he who is clean has no need of the bath. But truly I say to you, if you were true pharisees you would be glad that I should have gone in to sinners for their salvation. Tell me, do you know your origin and how the world began to receive pharisees? I will tell you, seeing that you do not know it, so listen to my words.
Barnabas 144:2
Enoch, a friend of God, who walked with God in truth, making no account of the world, was translated into Paradise; and he abides there until the Judgement, (for when the end of the world draws near, he will return to help the world with Elijah and one other) And so men, having knowledge of this, through desire of Paradise, began to seek God their Creator. For ‘pharisee’ strictly means s’eeks God’ in the language of Canaan, for this name began there as a way of deriding good men, and was corrupted since the Canaanites were given up to idolatry, which is the worship of human hands.
Barnabas 144:3
Whereupon the Canaanites, beholding those of our people who were separated from the world to serve God, when they saw such a one, said in derision, ‘pharisee!’ That is, ‘He seeks God;’ as much as to say, ‘O madman, you have no statues of idols and adore the wind; look to your fate and come and serve our gods.’ Truly I say to you,” Yeshua said, “All the saints and prophets of God have been pharisees not in name, as you are, but in very deed. For they sought God their Creator in all their acts, and they forsook cities and their own goods for love of God, selling their goods and giving to the poor for love of God.
Barnabas 145:1
As God lives, in the time of Elijah, friend and prophet of God, there were twelve mountains inhabited by seventeen thousand pharisees; and so it was that even in so great a number, a single reprobate was not found, but all were elect of God. But now, when Israel has more than a hundred thousand pharisees, may it please God that out of every thousand, there is one elect!”
Barnabas 145:2
The pharisees answered in indignation, “So then we are all reprobate, and you hold our religion in reprobation!” Yeshua answered, “I do not hold the religion of the true pharisees in reprobation, but in approbation, and I am ready to die for that. But come, let us see if you are true pharisees. Elijah, the friend of God, at the prayer of his disciple Elisha, wrote a little Book in which he included all human wisdom with the law of God our Lord.”
Barnabas 145:3
The pharisees were confounded when they heard the name of the Book of Elijah, because they knew that, through their traditions, no one observed such doctrine. They claimed they had to depart under pretext of business to be done. Then Yeshua said, “If you were true pharisees you would forsake all other business to attend to this; for the pharisee seeks God alone.” So they waited in confusion to listen to Yeshua, who said again,
Barnabas 145:4
“Elijah, servant of God (for so the little Book begins): To all those who desire to walk with God their Creator, writes this, ‘Whoever desires to learn much about this world, they fear God little, because he who fears God is content to know only that which God wills. Those who seek fair words do not seek God, who do nothing but reprove our sins. Those who desire to seek God, let them shut the doors and windows of their house fast, for the master does not allow himself to be found outside his house in a place where he is not loved. Therefore guard your senses and guard your heart, because God is not found outside of our selves, in this world in which He is hated.
Barnabas 145:5
Those who wish to do good works, let them attend to their own selves, for there is no profit in gaining the whole world and losing ones’ own soul. Those who wish to teach others, let them live better than others, because nothing can be learned from him who knows less than ourselves. How will the sinner amend his life when he hears one worse than him, teaching him. Those who seek God, let him flee the conversation of men; because Moses, being alone upon Mount Sinai, found Him and spoke with God, as a friend does who speaks with a friend. Those who seek God will come forth to where there are men of the world only once in every thirty days in respect of the business of him who seeks God, works for two years what can be done in one day.
Barnabas 145:6
When he walks, let him not look except at his own feet. When he speaks, let him not speak except that which is necessary. When they eat, let them rise from the table still hungry for food of the soul; thinking every day not to attain to the next; spending their time as one draws his breath. Let one garment, of the skin of beasts, suffice. Let the lump of earth sleep on the naked earth and let two hours of sleep suffice for every night. Let him hate nothing except evil and condemn no one except himself when in error. In prayer, let him stand in such fear as if it were at the very time of the Judgement to come.
Barnabas 145:7
Now do this in the service of God, with the law that God has given you through Moses, for in this way you will find God, so that in every time and place, you will feel that you are in God and God is in you.
Barnabas 145:8
This is the little Book of Elijah, O pharisees. Again I say to you that if you were true pharisees you would have had joy that I have entered in here, because God has mercy upon you.”
Barnabas 146:1
Then Zacchaeus said, “Sir, behold I will give, for love of God, fourfold all that I have received by usury.” Then Yeshua said, “This day salvation has come to you in this house. Truly, truly, many repentant publicans, harlots, and sinners will go into the kingdom of God, while those who only account themselves to be righteous will go into eternal flames.” Hearing this, the pharisees departed in indignation.
Barnabas 146:2
Then Yeshua said to those who were converted to repentance, and to his disciples, “There was a father who had two sons, and the younger said, ‘Father, give me my portion of goods;’ (Luke 15:11-12) and his father gave it to him. And he, having received his portion, departed and went into a far country, where he wasted all his substance with harlots, living luxuriously. After this, a mighty famine arose in that country, such that the wretched man went to serve a citizen, who set him to feed swine in his property. And while feeding them, he assuaged his hunger in company with the swine, eating acorns.
Barnabas 146:3
But when he came to himself, he said, ‘Oh, how many in my fathers’ house are feasting in abundance, and I perish here with hunger! I will arise therefore, and will go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned in heaven against you; do with me as you do to one of your servants.’ The poor man went, and it came to pass that his father saw him coming from afar off, and was moved to compassion over him. So he went forth to meet him, and having come up to him, he embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:17-20)
Barnabas 146:4
The son bowed himself down, saying, ‘Father, I have sinned in heaven against you, do to me as to one of your servants, for I am not worthy to be called your son.’ The father answered, ‘Son, do not say so, for you are my son, and I will not allow you to be in the condition of my slave.’ And he called his servants and said, ‘Bring new robes here and clothe my son, and give him new garments; give him the ring on his finger, and kill the fatted calf and we will be happy. For this son of mine was dead, but has now come to life again; he was lost and now is found.’ (Luke 15:21-24)
Barnabas 147:1
While they were happy in the house, the elder son came home, and hearing that they were happy within, he marveled and called one of the servants, asking him why they were happy in this way. The servant answered him, ‘Your brother has come home and your father has killed the fatted calf, (Luke 15:25-27) and they are feasting.’ The elder son was greatly angered when he heard this, and would not go into the house. Therefore his father came out to him and said to him, ‘Son, your brother has come. Come therefore and rejoice with him.’
Barnabas 147:2
The elder son answered with indignation, ‘I have always served you with good service, and you never gave me a lamb to eat with my friends. But as for this worthless fellow who departed from you, wasting all his portion with harlots, now that he has come, you have killed the fatted calf!’ The father answered, ‘Son, you are always with me and everything is yours; but this one was dead and is alive again, was lost and now is found; (Luke 15:29:32) that is why we must rejoice.’ The elder son was more angry, and said, ‘You can go and triumph, but I will not eat at the table of fornicators.’ And he departed from his father without receiving even a piece of money. As God lives,” Yeshua said, “There is rejoicing among the angels of God over one who chooses well.”
Barnabas 147:3
And when they had eaten, he departed, for he was going to Judea. The disciples said, “Master, do not go to Judea, for we know that the pharisees have taken counsel with the high priest against you.” Yeshua answered, “I knew it before they did it, but I do not fear, for they cannot do anything contrary to the will of God. Let them do all that they desire, for I do not fear them but rather fear God.
Barnabas 148:1
Tell me now, the pharisees of today, are they really pharisees? Are they servants seeking God? Surely not! Yes, and I say to you truly, that there is nothing worse here upon earth than when a man covers himself with the profession and garb of religion in order to cover his wickedness. I will tell you one single example of the pharisees of old time, in order that you may know the present ones. After the departure of Elijah, because of the great persecution by idolaters, that holy congregation of pharisees was dispersed. For in that same time of Elijah, more than ten thousand believers who were true pharisees were slain in one year.
Barnabas 148:2
Two pharisees went into the mountains to dwell there, and one of them abode fifteen years knowing nothing of his neighbor, although they were only one hours’ journey apart. See then if they were inquisitive! It came to pass that a drought arose on those mountains, and so both set themselves to search for water, and in doing so they found each other. The more aged one said – for it was their custom that the eldest should speak before every other, and they held it a great sin for a young man to speak before an old one – the elder therefore said, ‘Where do you dwell, brother?’ He answered, pointing out the dwelling with his finger, ‘I dwell here.’ (for they were near the dwelling of the younger)
Barnabas 148:3
The elder said, ‘How long have you dwelt here, brother?’ The younger answered, ‘Fifteen years.’ The elder said, ‘Perhaps you came here when Ahab slew the servants of God?’ ‘Even so,’ the younger replied. The elder said, ‘O brother, do you know who is now king of Israel?’ The younger answered, ‘It is God that is King of Israel, for the idolaters are not kings but persecutors of Israel.’ ‘It is true,’ the elder said, ‘But I meant to say, who is it that now persecutes Israel?’
Barnabas 148:4
The younger answered, ‘The sins of Israel persecute Israel, because, if they had not sinned, God would not have raised the idolatrous princes up against Israel.’ Then the elder said, ‘Who is that disbelieving prince whom God has sent for the chastisement of Israel?’ The younger answered, ‘How should I know, seeing that I have not seen any man except you for these fifteen years, and I do not know how to read and letters are not sent to me?’ The elder said, ‘But how new are your sheepskins! Who has given them to you, if you have not seen any man?’
Barnabas 149:1
The younger answered, ‘He who kept the raiment of the people of Israel good for forty years in the wilderness has kept my skins even as you see them.’ Then the elder perceived that the younger was more perfect than he, for he had had dealings with men every year. So, in order that he might have the benefit of his conversation, he said, ‘Brother, you do not know how to read, but I know how to read, and I have true facsimile of the Psalms of David in my house. Come then, so that I may give you a reading each day and make what David says plain to you.’ The younger man answered with exultation, ‘Let us go now!’
Barnabas 149:2
The elder said, ‘O brother, it is now two days since I have drunk water; therefore let us seek a little drink.’ The younger replied, ‘O brother, it is now two hours since I have drunk water. Let us go, therefore, and see what God says by His prophet David, for the Lord is able to give us water.’ And so they returned to the dwellings of the elder, near to the door of which, they found a new spring of fresh water. The elder said, ‘O brother, you are a holy one of God; for surely God has given this spring for your sake.’
Barnabas 149:3
The younger answered, ‘O brother, you say this in humility; but it is certain that if God had done this for my sake, He would have made a spring close to my dwelling so that I should not have to depart in search of it. For I confess to you that I sinned against you. When you said that you did not drink for two days and that you sought water, and I had been without drinking for two hours, I felt an exaltation within me, as though I were better than you.’ Then the elder said, ‘O brother, you said the truth, therefore you did not sin.’
Barnabas 149:4
The younger said, ‘O brother, you have forgotten what our father Elijah said, that he who seeks God should condemn himself alone. Surely he did not write it so that we might only know it, but rather so that we might observe it.’ The more aged of the two, perceiving the truth and righteousness of his companion, said, ‘It is true; and our God has pardoned you.’ And having said this, he took the Psalms, and read that which our father David says, ‘I will set a watch over my mouth so that my tongue does not decline to words of iniquity, excusing my sin with an excuse.’ And here the aged man made a discourse upon the tongue, and the younger departed. After this, there were fifteen more years before they found one another, because the younger changed his dwelling.
Barnabas 149:5
Accordingly, when he had found him again, the elder pharisee said, ‘O brother, why have you not returned to any dwelling?’ The younger answered, ‘Because I have not yet learned well what you said to me.’ Then the elder said, ‘How can this be, seeing that fifteen years have past?’ The younger replied, ‘As for the words, I learned them in a single hour and have never forgotten them; but I have not yet observed them. To what purpose is it then, to learn too much, and not to observe it? Our God does not seek that our intellect should be good, but rather our heart. So, on the Day of Judgement, He will not ask us what we have learned, but what we have done.’
Barnabas 150:1
The elder answered, ‘O brother, do not say so, for you discount knowledge, which our God wills to be prized.’ The younger replied, ‘Now, how will I speak now so as not to fall into sin, for your word is true, and mine also. I say then, that those who know the commandments of God written in the law should observe those first if they would afterwards learn more. And all that a man learns, let him observe it, and not merely know it.’ The elder said, ‘O brother, tell me, with whom have you spoken, that you know you have not learned all that I said?’
Barnabas 150:2
The younger answered, ‘O brother, I speak with myself. Every day I place myself before the judgement of God, to give account of myself. And I forever feel one within myself who excuses my faults.’ The elder said, ‘O brother, what faults do you have, who are perfect?’ The younger answered, ‘O brother, do not say so, for I stand between two great faults, the one is that I do not count myself to be among the most fortunate on earth, because for the other that I do not recount the same in constant thanks to my maker.’
Barnabas 150:3
The elder answered, ‘Now, how should you know yourself to be the greatest of sinners, if you are the most perfect of men?’ The younger replied, ‘The first word that my master said to me when I took the habit of a pharisee was this, that I should consider the goodness of others and my own iniquity, for if I should do so, I should perceive myself to be in the greatest of error.’ The elder said, ‘O brother, whose goodness or whose faults do you consider on these mountains, seeing there are no men here?’
Barnabas 150:4
The younger answered, ‘I should consider the obedience of the sun, for it serves its Creator better than I. But I sometimes cuss the sun, either because it does not give light as I desire, or because the heat is too great, or even because there is too much or too little rain upon the ground.’ Whereupon hearing this, the elder said, ‘Brother, where have you learned this doctrine, for I am now ninety years old, for seventy five years whereof I have been a pharisee?’ The younger answered, ‘O brother, you say this in humility, for you are a holy one of God. Yet I answer you that God our Creator does not look at time, but looks at the heart; therefore David, being fifteen years old, younger than six of his other brethren, was chosen king of Israel, and became a prophet of God our Lord.’
Barnabas 151:1
This man was a true pharisee,” Yeshua said to his disciples; “And may it please God that we are able, on the Day of Judgement, to have him for our friend.”
Barnabas 151:2
Yeshua then embarked on a ship, and the disciples were sorry that they had forgotten to bring bread. Yeshua rebuked them, saying, “Beware of the leaven of the pharisees of our day, (Mark 8:14-15, Matthew 16:5-6) for a little leaven mars a mass of meal.” Then the disciples said to one another, “Now what leaven do we have, if we do not even have any bread?”
Barnabas 151:3
Then Yeshua said, “O men of little faith, have you then forgotten what God did in Nain, where there was no sign of corn? And how many ate and were satisfied with five loaves and two fish? The leaven of the pharisee is want of faith in God, and thought of self, which has corrupted not only the pharisees of this day, but has corrupted Israel. For the simple folk, not knowing how to read, do that which they see the pharisees do, because they hold them for holy ones.
Barnabas 151:4
Do you know what is the true pharisee? He is the oil of human nature. For even as oil rests at the top of every liquor, so the goodness of the true pharisee rests at the top of all human goodness. He is a living book, which God gives to the world; for everything that he says and does is according to the law of God. Therefore, whoever does as he does, observes the law of God. The true pharisee is salt that does not allow human flesh to be putrefied by sin; for everyone who sees him is brought to repentance. He is a light that lightens the pilgrims’ way, for everyone who considers his poverty with his penitence perceives that we should not shut up our heart in this world. But he who makes the oil rancid, corrupts the Book, putrefies the salt and extinguishes the light – this man is a false pharisee. If, therefore, you would not perish, beware that you do not do as the false pharisee does today.”
Barnabas 152:1
Yeshua, having come to Jerusalem, and having entered one sabbath day into the temple, the soldiers drew near to tempt him and take him, and they said, “Master, is it lawful to wage war?” Yeshua answered, “Our God tells us that this life is continual warfare upon the earth but more so within ourselves.”
Barnabas 152:2
The soldiers said, “So would you convert us to your faith, and wish that we should forsake the multitude of g-ds (for Rome alone has twenty eight thousand gods that are seen) and should follow your God who is only one, and that He cannot be seen, it is not known where He is, and perhaps He is only vanity.” Yeshua answered, “If I had created you, as our God has created you, I would seek to convert you.”
Barnabas 152:3
They answered, “Now how has your God created us, seeing it is not known where He is? Show us your God, and we will become believers.” Then Yeshua said, “If you had eyes to see Him I would already have showed Him to you, but since you are blind, I cannot show you Him.” The soldiers answered, “Surely, the honor which this people pays you must have taken away your understanding. For every one of us has two eyes in his head, and you say we are blind.”
Barnabas 152:4
Yeshua answered, “The eyes of fools can only see things gross and external; you therefore will only be able to see your g-ds of wood and silver and gold that cannot do anything. But we of God have real eyesight which are the fear and the faith of our God, therefore we can see our God in every place and in every thing.” The soldiers answered, “Beware how you speak, for if you pour contempt on our g-ds, we will give you into the hand of Herod, who will take vengeance for our g-ds, who are omnipotent.”
Barnabas 152:5
Yeshua answered, “If they are omnipotent as you say, pardon me, for I will worship them.” The soldiers rejoiced at hearing this, and began to extol their idols. Then Yeshua said, “In this matter, we do not need words but deeds; therefore cause your gods to create one fly, and I will worship them.” The soldiers were dismayed at hearing this, and did not know what to say, therefore Yeshua said, “Assuredly, seeing they do not make a single fly afresh, (Quran 22:73) I will not forsake God, who has created everything with a single word, and whose name alone wastes armies.”
Barnabas 152:6
The soldiers answered, “Now let us see this; for we are fain to take you,” and they were fain to stretch forth their hands against Yeshua. Then Yeshua said, “Adonai Sabaoth YHWH!” Whereupon the soldiers were straightway rolled out of the temple as one rolls casks of wood when they are washed to refill them with wine; insomuch that now their head and their feet struck the ground, and that without any one touching them. And they were so affrighted and fled in such dismay that they were no longer seen in Judea.
Barnabas 153:1
The priests and pharisees murmured amongst themselves and said, “He has the wisdom of Baal and Ashtaroth, and so he has done this in the power of devils.” Yeshua opened his mouth and said, “Our God commanded that we should not steal our neighbors’ goods. But this single precept has been so violated and abused that it has filled the world with sin, and such sin as will never be remitted as other sins are remitted, seeing that for every other sin, if a man bewails it and commits it no more, and fasts with prayer and almsgiving, our God, Almighty and Merciful, forgives. But this sin is of such a kind that it will never be remitted, except that which is wrongly taken be restored to the victims.”
Barnabas 153:2
Then a scribe said, “O master, how has robbery filled all the world with sin? Assuredly now, by the grace of God, there are only a few robbers, and they cannot show themselves but they are immediately hanged by the soldiery.” Yeshua answered, “Whosoever does not know the goods, they cannot know the robbers. No, I say to you truly that many rob who do not know what they do, and therefore their sin is greater than that of the others, for the disease that is not known is not healed.”
Barnabas 153:3
Then the pharisees drew near to Yeshua and said, “O master, since you alone in Israel know the truth, teach us.” Yeshua answered, “I do not say that I alone in Israel know the truth, for this word ‘alone’ appertains to God alone and not to others. For He is the Truth and therefore He alone knows the truth. Therefore, should I say so, I should be a greater robber, for I should be stealing the honor of God. And in saying that I alone knew God, I should be falling into greater ignorance than all. You, therefore, committed a grievous sin in saying that I alone know the truth. And I tell you that, if you said this to tempt me, your sin is greater still.”
Barnabas 153:4
Then Yeshua, seeing that all held their peace, said again, “Though I am not alone in Israel knowing the truth, I alone will speak now; therefore listen to me, since you have asked me. All created things belong to the Creator, in such ways that nothing can lay claim to anything. Thus soul, sense, flesh, time, goods, and honor, along with anything else one can affix temporal ownership, are Gods’ possessions, so that if a man does not receive them as God wills, he becomes a robber. And in like manner, if he spends them contrary to that which God wills, he is likewise a robber. I therefore say to you that, as God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, when you take time, saying, ‘I will do thus tomorrow, I will say such a thing, I will go to such a place,’ and not saying, ‘If God wills,’ you are robbers. And you are greater robbers when you spend the better part of your time in pleasing yourselves and not in pleasing God, in Gods’ service: then you are robbers indeed. Whosoever errors in such manner, be he of what fashion he will, is a robber; for he steals the soul of his own life, which should serve God, but instead delivers the whole of his worth to lucifer, the enemy of God.
Barnabas 154:1
The man, therefore, who has honor, and life, and goods – when his possessions are stolen, the robber will be hanged; when his life is taken, the murderer will be beheaded. And this is just, for God has so commanded. But when a neighbors’ honor is taken away, why is the robber not crucified? Are goods indeed better than honor? Has God, perhaps, commanded that he who takes goods will be punished, and he who takes life with goods will be punished, but he who takes away honor will go free? Surely not; for by reason of their murmuring, our fathers did not enter into the land of promise, but only their children. And for this sin, the serpents slew about seventy thousand of our people.
Barnabas 154:2
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, he who steals honor is worthy of greater punishment than he who robs a man of goods and of life. And he who listens to the murmurer is likewise guilty, for the one receives lucifer on his tongue and the other in his ears.” The pharisees were consumed with rage at hearing this, because they were not able to condemn his speech. Then a doctor drew near to Yeshua there, and he said to him, “Good master, tell me, why did God not grant corn and fruit to our fathers?
Barnabas 154:3
Yeshua answered, “Man, you call me good, but you err, for God alone is good. And much more do you err in asking why God has not done according to your brain. Yet I will answer you all. I tell you then, that God our Creator, in His working, does not conform Himself to us, therefore it is not lawful for the creature to seek his own way and convenience, but rather the honor of God his Creator, in order that the creature may depend on the Creator and not absurdly, the Creator on the creature. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, if God had granted everything to man, man would not have known himself to be Gods’ servant; and so he would have accounted himself lord of this earthly life and called it paradise. Therefore the Creator, who is blessed forevermore, in one way of showing His love, forbade him the detestable food, in order that man might remain subject to goodness and He Himself who is everything good.
Barnabas 154:4
And truly I say to you, that whoever has the light of his eyes clear, sees everything clear, and draws light even out of darkness itself; but the blind do not do so. Therefore I say that if Adam had not erred, neither I nor you would have known the mercy of God and His righteousness. And if God had made man incapable of error, he would have been equal to God in that matter; therefore the blessed God created man good and righteous, but free to do that which he pleases in regard to his own life and salvation or damnation.” The doctor was astounded when he heard this, and departed in confusion.
Barnabas 155:1
Then the high priest called two old priests secretly and sent them to Yeshua, who had gone out of the temple, and was sitting in Solomons’ porch, waiting to pray the midday prayer. (Quran 30:18) And near him, he had his disciples with a great multitude of people.
Barnabas 155:2
The priests drew near to Yeshua and said, “Master, why did man eat corn and fruit? Did God will that he should eat it, or not?” And they said this tempting him; for if he said, “God willed it,” they would answer, “Why did He forbid it?” And if he said, “God did not will it,” they would say, “Then man has more power than God, since he works contrary to the will of God.” Yeshua answered, “Your question is like a road over a mountain, which has a precipice on the right hand and on the left, but I will walk in the middle.”
Barnabas 155:3
When they heard this, the priests were confounded, perceiving that he knew their heart. Then Yeshua said, “Every man, for he has need, works everything for his own use. But God, who has no need of anything, did according to His good pleasure. Therefore in creating man, He created him free in order that he might know that God had no need of him; Indeed in “Verbi gratia” as does a king, who to display his riches, and in order that his servants may love him more, gives freedom to some of them.
Barnabas 155:4
God, then, created man free in order that he might love his Creator much more and might know His bounty. For although God is omnipotent, not having need of man, having created him by His omnipotence, He left him free by His bounty, in such manner that he could resist evil and do good. For although God had power to hinder sin, He would not contradict His own bounty, (for God has no contradiction) in order that His omnipotence and bounty having done in man, He should not contradict sin In man. I say, in order that the mercy of God and His righteousness might work in man. And in token, that I speak the truth, I tell you that the high priest has sent you to tempt me, and this is the fruit of his false priesthood.”
Barnabas 155:5
The old men departed and recounted all to the high priest, who said, “This fellow has the devil at his back, who recounts everything to him; for he aspires to the kingship over Israel; but God will see to that.”
Barnabas 156:1
When he had made the midday prayer, Yeshua, as he went out of the temple, found one blind from his mothers’ womb. His disciples asked him saying, “Master, who sinned in this man, his father or his mother, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1-2)
Barnabas 156:2
Yeshua answered, “Neither his father nor his mother sinned in him, but God created him so, for a testimony of the Gospel.” And having called the blind man up to him, he spat on the ground and made clay and placed it upon the eyes of the blind man and said to him, “Go to the pool of Siloam and wash!”
Barnabas 156:3
The blind man went, and having washed, he received light; whereupon, as he returned home, many who met him said, “If this man were blind, I should say for certain that it was he who was accustomed to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple.” Others said, “It is him, but how has he received light?” And they accosted him saying, “Are you the blind man who was accustomed to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple?”
Barnabas 156:4
He answered, “I am he and why?” They said, “Now how did you receive your sight?” He answered, “A man made clay, spitting on the ground, and he placed this clay upon my eyes and said to me, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.’ I went and washed, and now I see; blessed is the God of Israel!” When the man born blind had come again to the beautiful gate of the temple, all Jerusalem was filled with the matter. Therefore he was brought to the chief of the priests, who was conferring with the priests and the pharisees against Yeshua.
Barnabas 156:5
The high priest asked him, saying, “Man, were you born blind?” “Yes,” he replied. “Now give glory to God,” the high priest said, “And tell us what prophet has appeared to you in a dream and given you light. Was it our father Abraham, or Moses the servant of God, or some other prophet? For others could not do such a thing.”
Barnabas 156:6
The man born blind replied, “Neither Abraham nor Moses, nor have I seen any prophet in a dream and been healed by him, but as I sat at the gate of the temple, a man made me come near to him and, having made clay of earth with his spittle, put some of that clay upon my eyes and sent me to the pool of Siloam to wash; whereupon I went and washed, and returned with the light of my eyes.”
Barnabas 156:7
The high priest asked him the name of that man. The man born blind answered, “He did not tell me his name, but a man who saw him called me and said, ‘Go and wash as that man has said, for he is Yeshua the Nazarene, a prophet and a holy one of the God of Israel.'” Then the high priest said, “Did he heal you perhaps today, that is, the sabbath?” The blind man answered, “He healed me today.” The high priest said, “Behold now, how this fellow is a sinner, seeing he does not keep the sabbath!”
Barnabas 157:1
The blind man answered, “I do not know he is a sinner; but I know this, that whereas I was blind, he has enlightened me.” The pharisees did not believe this; so they said to the high priest, “Send for his father and mother, for they will tell us the truth.” They sent, therefore, for the father and mother of the blind man, and when they had come, the high priest questioned them saying, “Is this man your son?”
Barnabas 157:2
They answered, “He is truly our son.” Then the high priest said, “He says that he was born blind, and now he sees; how has this thing befallen?” The father and mother of the man born blind replied, “Truly he was born blind, but how he may have received the light, we do not know; he is of age, ask him and he will tell you the truth.” Thereupon they were dismissed, and the high priest said again to the man born blind, “Give glory to God, and speak the truth.”
Barnabas 157:3
(Now the father and mother of the blind man were afraid to speak, because a decree had gone forth from the Roman senate that no man might contend for Yeshua, the prophet of the Israelits under pain of death; the governor had obtained this decree, therefore they said, “He is of age, ask him.”)
Barnabas 157:4
The high priest then said to the man born blind, “Give glory to God and speak the truth, for we know this man, whom you say to have healed you, that he is a sinner.” The man born blind answered, “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; but I know this, that I did not see and he has enlightened me. Surely, from the beginning of the world to this hour, there has never yet been one enlightened who was born blind; and God would not listen to sinners.” The pharisees said, “Now what did he do when he enlightened you?”
Barnabas 157:5
Then the man born blind marveled at their disbelief and said, “I have told you, and why do you ask me again? Would you also become his disciples?” (John 9:27) The high priest then reviled him saying, “You were altogether born in sin, and would you teach us? Be gone, and become a disciple of such a man! For we are disciples of Moses, and we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know from where he is.” And they cast him out of the synagogue and temple, forbidding him to make prayer with the clean among Israel.
Barnabas 158:1
The man born blind went to find Yeshua, who comforted him saying, “At no time have you been so blessed as you are now, for you are blessed by our God who spoke through David, our father and His prophet, against the friends of the world, saying, ‘They curse and I bless;’ and He said by Micah the prophet, ‘I curse your blessing.’ For earth is not so contrary to air, water to fire, light to darkness, cold to heat, or love to hate, as the will that God has is contrary to the will of lucifer and the world.”
Barnabas 158:2
The disciples accordingly asked him, saying, ‘Lord, your words are great; therefore tell us the meaning, for we do not understand as of yet.” Yeshua answered, “When you will know the world, you will see that I have spoken the truth, and so you will know the truth in every prophet. Do you know, then, that there are three kinds of worlds comprehended in a single name; the one stands for the heavens and the earth, with water, air and fire, and all the things that are inferior to God but of God. Now this world follows the will of God in all things, for, as David, the prophet of God says; ‘God has given them a precept which they do not transgress.’
Barnabas 158:3
The second world stands for all men, even as the house of such does not stand for the walls, but for the family which too is inferior to God but of God. Now this world, again, loves God; because they long after God by nature, forasmuch as according to nature, everyone longs after good, even though they may err in not seeking God. And do you know why all long after good? Because they long after an infinite good without any evil, and this is God alone. Therefore the merciful God has sent His prophets to this world for its salvation so that all may find the good they seek which is God.
Barnabas 158:4
The third world is mans’ condition of perpetual error in loving the world, which is a state contrary to God . This makes man become like the demons who are enemies to God but not of God even though they are of God, for insomuch that He Himself has no enemies, because nothing and no one can assail him in any manner, in the least bit, whatsoever. And what will I say, as God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, when the last prophet of God will come to the world all will be understandable but not fully understood, for man is entirely incapable of such.”
Barnabas 159:1
The disciples answered, “O master, your words are exceedingly great, therefore have mercy upon us, for indeed we do not fully understand them.” Yeshua said, “Yea. And do you perhaps think that God has created His messengers to be rivals, who should be fain to make themselves equal with God? Assuredly not, but rather as His good slaves, who should not will that which their Lord does not will. You are not able to understand this because you do not know what a thing error is. Therefore listen to my words.
Barnabas 159:2
Truly, truly, I say to you, err cannot arise in man except as a contradiction of God, seeing that err is only that which God does not will, insomuch that all that God wills is most alien from err. Accordingly, if high priests and priests of the jews persecuted me because the people of Israel have called me God, they would be doing a thing pleasing to God, and God would reward them; but instead they persecute me for speaking the truth about them and their fathers and their traditions, and how they have contaminated the Books of great prophets such as Krishna, Moses and David, who are all prophets and friends of God. For this is why they hate me and desire my death no different than that of every real messenger of God across the ages, therefore God holds them in abomination and condemnation without hope for reconciliation. Such are the permanently non-repentant enemies to God, who are of God but not enemies of God, for either they themselves or their fathers like lucifer chose that destiny, as such it were.
Barnabas 159:3
And tell me, Moses slew men and Ahab slew men, is this murder in each case? Assuredly not; for Moses slew the men to destroy idolatry and to preserve the worship of the true God, but Ahab slew the men to destroy the worship of the true God and to preserve idolatry. Therefore to Moses, the slaying of men was sound sacrifice on his part, while it was sacrilege for Ahab, insomuch that one and the same work of killing produced these two contrary effects.
Barnabas 159:4
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, if lucifer had taken up counsel with the angels in order to see how they loved and feared God, he would not have chosen to be a reject of God.”
Barnabas 159:5
Then he who writes asked, “How then, is that which was said in Micah the prophet to be understood, concerning the lie which God ordained to be spoken by the mouth of false prophets, as is written in the Book of the Kings of Israel?” Yeshua answered, “O Barnabas, briefly recite of what befell, so that we may see the truth clearly.”
Barnabas 160:1
Then he who writes said, “Daniel the prophet, describing the history of the kings of Israel and their tyrants, writes thus, ‘The king of Israel joined himself with the king of Judah to fight against the sons of Belial (that is, reprobates) who were the Ammonites. Now Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Ahab, king of Israel, being seated both on a throne in Samaria, four hundred false prophets stood there before them, who said to the king of Israel, ‘Go up against the Ammonites, for God will give them into your hands, and you will scatter Ammon.’
Barnabas 160:2
Then Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there any prophet of the God of our fathers here?’ Ahab answered, ‘There is only one, and he is evil, for he always predicts evil concerning me; (2 Chronicles 18:6-7) and I hold him in prison.’ And he said this to wit, ‘There is only one,’ because as many who were found, had been slain by decree of Ahab, so that the prophets, even as you have said, O master, had fled to the mountaintops where men do not dwell.
Barnabas 160:3
Then Jehoshaphat said, ‘Send for him here, and let us see what he says.’ Ahab therefore commanded that Micah be sent here, who came with fetters on his feet, and his face bewildered like a man who lives between life and death. Ahab asked him, saying, ‘Speak, Micah, in the name of God. Should we go up against the Ammonites? Will God give their cities into our hands?’ Micah answered, ‘Go up, go up, for you will go up prosperously, and come down still more prosperously!’
Barnabas 160:4
Then the false prophets praised Micah as a true prophet of God, and broke off the fetters from his feet. Jehoshaphat, who feared our God, and had never bowed his knees before the idols, asked Micah, saying, ‘For the love of the God of our fathers, speak the truth, as you have seen the issue of this war.’ Micah answered, ‘O Jehoshaphat, I fear your face, therefore I tell you that I have seen the people of Israel as sheep without a shepherd.’ Then Ahab, smiling, said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I told you that this fellow predicts only evil, but you did not believe it. Then they both said, ‘Now how do you know this, O Micah?’
Barnabas 160:5
Micah answered, ‘I saw a council of the angels assembled there in the presence of God, and I heard God say thus, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he may go up against Ammon and be slain?’ Whereupon one said one thing and another said another. Then an angel came and said, ‘Lord, I will fight against Ahab, and will go to his false prophets and will put the lie into their mouth, and so he will go up and be slain.’ And hearing this, God said, ‘Now go and do so, for you will prevail.’ (2 Chronicles 18:18-21)
Barnabas 160:6
Then were the false prophets enraged, and their chief struck Micahs’ cheek, saying, ‘O reprobate of God, when did the angel of truth depart from us and come to you? (2 Chronicles 18:23) Tell us, when the angel came to us that brought the lie?’ Micah answered, ‘No angel has ever come with Truth for you! And you will realize that when you will flee from house to house for fear of being slain, having deceived your king.’
Barnabas 160:7
Then Ahab was wroth, and said, ‘Seize Micah, and the fetters which he had upon his feet, place on his neck, and keep him on barley bread and water until my return, (2 Chronicles 18:26) for now I do not know what death I would inflict on him.’ They went up then, and according to the word of Micah, the matter befell. For the king of the Ammonites said to his servants, ‘See that you do not fight against the king of Judah, nor against the princes of Israel, but slay the king of Israel, Ahab, my enemy.'” Then Yeshua said, “Stop there, Barnabas; for it is enough for our purpose.
Barnabas 161:1
Have you heard all?” Yeshua said. The disciples answered, “Yes, Lord.” Whereupon Yeshua said, “Lying is indeed a sin, but murder is a greater, because the lie is a sin that appertains to him who speaks, but the murder, while it appertains to him who commits it, is such that it destroys also the dearest thing that God has here upon earth, that is, man. And lying can be remedied by saying the contrary of that which has been said; whereas murder has no remedy, seeing it is not possible that men give life again to the dead. Tell me then, did Moses the servant of God sin in slaying all whom he slew?”
Barnabas 161:2
The disciples answered, “God forbid; God forbid that Moses should have sinned in obeying God who commanded him!” Then Yeshua said, “And I say, God forbid that the angel should have sinned who deceived Ahabs’ false prophets with the lie; for even as God receives the slaughter of men as sacrifice, so he received the lie for praise. Truly, truly, I say to you, that even as the child errs who causes his shoes to be made by the measure of a giant, even so he errs who would subject God to the law, as he himself as a man is subject to the law. When, therefore, you will believe that which God does not will only to be sin, you will find the truth, even as I have told you.
Barnabas 161:3
Philip answered, “But how is that saying of the prophet Amos to be understood, that ‘There is no evil in the city that God has not done?'” (Amos 3:6) Yeshua answered, “Now see here, Philip, how great is the danger of resting in the letter, as the false pharisees do, who have invented the ‘predestination of God in the elect’ for themselves, in such ways that they come to say that God is in fact unrighteous, a deceiver and a liar and a hater of judgement. (which will fall upon them)
Barnabas 161:4
Therefore I say that here, Amos the prophet of God speaks of the evil which the world calls evil, for if he had used the language of the righteous, he would not have been understood by the world. For all tribulations are good, either for that they purge the evil that we have done, or are good because they restrain us from doing evil, or are good because they make man to know the condition of this life, in order that we may long for eternal life.
Barnabas 161:5
Accordingly, had the prophet Amos said, ‘There is no good in the city but what God has done it,’ he had given occasion for despair to the afflicted, as they beheld themselves in tribulation and sinners living in prosperity. And, what is worse, many, believing lucifer to have such sovereignty over man, would have feared lucifer and done him service, so as to not suffer tribulation. Amos therefore did as the Roman interpreter does, who does not consider his words as one speaking in the presence of the high priest, but considers the will and the business of the believer who does not know the Hebrew tongue.
Barnabas 162:1
If Amos had said, ‘There is no good in the city but what God has done,’ as God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, he would have made a grievous error, for the world does not hold anything for good except the iniquities and sins that are done in the way of vanity. Whereupon men would have done much more iniquitously, believing that there is no sin or wickedness which God has not done, at hearing whereof, the earth trembles.”
Barnabas 162:2
And when Yeshua had said this, a great earthquake straightway arose there, in so much that everyone fell as dead. Yeshua raised them up, saying, “Now see if I have told you the truth. Let this, then, suffice you, that Amos, when he said that ‘God has done evil in the city,’ talking with the world, spoke of tribulations, which sinners alone call evil. Let us come now to predestination, of which you desire to know, and whereof I will speak to you near Jordan on the other side, tomorrow, if God wills.”
Barnabas 163:1
Yeshua went into the wilderness beyond Jordan with his disciples, and when the midday prayer *30:18 was done, he sat down near a palm tree, and his disciples sat down under the shadow of the palm tree.
Barnabas 163:2
Then Yeshua said, “Predestination is so secret, O brethren, that I say to you, truly, it will only be clearly known to one man and he will say these words from God; “He knows what is behind them and what is in front of them”. Indeed, God does know all! And it is this prophet of his whom the nations look for next, to whom the secrets of God are so clear that, when he comes into the world, those who will listen to his words will be blessed, because God will overshadow them with His mercy even as this palm tree overshadows us. Yes, even as this tree protects us from the burning heat of the sun, even so will the mercy of God protect those from lucifer who believe in that man, the last prophet of God.”
Barnabas 163:3
The disciples answered, “O master, tell us more about him.” Yeshua answered with joy of heart, “He is Muhammad, the last prophet of God, (Quran 61:6) and when he comes into the world, even as the rain makes the earth to bear fruit when a long time it had not rained, even so will he be occasion of good works among men, through the abundant mercy which he will bring. For he is like a white cloud full of the mercy of God, which mercy God will sprinkle upon the faithful like rain.
Barnabas 164:1
I will accordingly tell you now what little that God has granted me to know concerning predestination. The pharisees say that everything has been so predestined that he who is elect cannot become reprobate, and he who is reprobate cannot by any means become elect; and that, even as God has predestined well doing as the road by which the elect will walk to salvation, even so has He predestined sin as the road by which the reprobate will walk into damnation. Cursed is the tongue that said this, with the hand that wrote it, for this is the faith of lucifer. Therefore one may know of what manner the pharisees of the present day are, for they are faithful servants of lucifer who believe the lie of predestination.
Barnabas 164:2
What can predestination mean but an absolute will to give an end to a thing of which one has the means in hand? For without the means, one cannot destine an end. How then will he who not only lacks stone and money to spend, but does not even have so much land as to place one foot upon, destine to build a house? Surely, none could do so. No more, then, I tell you, is predestination, taking away the free will that God has given to man of His pure bounty, the law of God. Surely it is not predestination but abomination that we will be establishing.
Barnabas 164:3
That man is free, the Book of Moses shows, where, when our God gave the law upon Mount Sinai, He spoke thus, ‘My commandment is not in the heaven that you should excuse yourself, saying, ‘Now, who will go to bring us the commandment of God? And who perhaps will give us strength to observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that in like manner you should excuse yourself. But My commandment is near to your heart, so that when you will, you may observe it.’ (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
Barnabas 164:4
Tell me, if king Herod should command an old man to become young and a sick man that he should become whole, and when they did not do it, should cause them to be killed, would this be just?” The disciples answered, “If Herod gave this command, he would be most unjust and impious.”
Barnabas 164:5
Then Yeshua, sighing, said, “These are the fruits of Godless, inhuman traditions brought to the jews by their father lucifer. O brethren; for in saying that God has predestinated the reprobate such that he cannot become elect, they blaspheme God as impious and unjust. For He commands the sinner not to sin, and then when he sins, to repent; while such predestination takes away the power from the sinner to not sin, and entirely deprives him of repentance.
Barnabas 165:1
But hear what God says by Joel the prophet, ‘As I live, your God says, I do not will the death of a sinner, but I seek that he should be converted to penitence.’ Will God then predestine that which He does not will? Consider that which God says, and that which the pharisees of this present time say.
Barnabas 165:2
Further, God says by the prophet Isaiah, ‘I have called, and you would not listen to Me.’ And how much God has called, hear how He says by the same prophet, ‘I have spread out My hands all the day to a people who do not believe Me, but contradict Me.’ And our pharisees, when they say that the reprobate cannot become elect, what do they say then, but that God mocks men even as he would mock a blind man who should show him something white, and as he would mock a deaf man who should speak into his ears?
Barnabas 165:3
And that the elect can be reprobated, consider what our God says by Ezekiel the prophet, ‘As I live, says God, if the righteous will forsake his righteousness and will do abominations, he will perish, and I will not remember any of his righteousness anymore; for trusting therein, it will forsake him before Me and it will not save him.’
Barnabas 165:4
And of the calling of the reprobate, what does God say by the prophet Hosea but this, ‘I will call a people not elect, I will call them elect.’ God is true, and cannot tell a lie, for God, being truth, speaks truth. But the pharisees of this present time contradict God altogether with their doctrine.”
Barnabas 166:1
Andrew replied, “But how is that to be understood which God said to Moses, that He will have mercy on whom He wills to have mercy and will harden whom He wills to harden.” Yeshua answered, “God says this in order that man may not believe that he is saved by his own virtue, but may perceive that life and the mercy of God have been granted to him by God of His bounty. And He says it in order that men may shun the opinion that there are other gods than Him.
Barnabas 166:2
If, therefore, He hardened Pharaoh, He did it because he by his own freewill had afflicted our people and essayed to bring it to nothing by destroying all the male children in Israel, whereby Moses was near to losing his life. Accordingly, I say to you truly, that predestination has for its foundation, the law of God and human free will. Yes, and even if God were to save the whole world so that none should perish, He would not will to do so unless He should thus deprive man of freedom, which He preserves to him much to the chagrin of lucifer. Indeed, in order that this lump of clay, scorned by the evil one, even though it will sin as the evil one did, may have power to repent and go to dwell in that place from where the evil one will not go.
Barnabas 166:3
Our God wills, I say, to pursue mans’ free will with His mercy, and does not will to forsake the creature with His omnipotence. And so on the Day of Judgement, none will be able to make any excuse for their sins, seeing that it will then be manifest to them how much God has done for their conversion, and how often He has called them to repentance.
Barnabas 167:1
Accordingly, if your mind will not rest content in this, and you are fain to say again, ‘Why so?’ I will disclose to you a why. It is this. Tell me, why can a single stone not rest on the top of the water, yet the whole earth rests on the top of the water? Tell me, why is it that, while water extinguishes fire, and earth falls from air, so that none can unite earth, air, water, and fire in harmony, nevertheless they are well united in man and preserved harmoniously?
Barnabas 167:2
If then, you do not know this, no, all men, as men, cannot know it, how will they understand that God created the universe out of nothing with a single word? How will they understand the eternity of God? Assuredly they will by no means be able to understand this, because, man being finite and composite with the body, which, as the prophet Solomon says, ‘Being corruptible, presses down the soul, and the works of God being proportionate to God,’ how will they be able to comprehend them?
Barnabas 167:3
Isaiah, prophet of God, seeing it to be thus, exclaimed, saying, ‘Truly you are a hidden God!’ And of the messenger of God, how God has created him, he says, ‘His generation, who will narrate?’ And of the working of God he says, ‘Who has been His counselor?’ Therefore God says to human nature, ‘Even as the heaven is exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.’ (Isaiah 55:9) Therefore I say to you, the manner of predestination is not manifest to men, albeit the fact is true, as I have told you. Should man then, because he cannot find out the mode, deny the fact? Assuredly, I have never yet seen anyone refuse health, though the manner of it is not understood. For I do not even know now how God, by my touch, heals the sick.”
Barnabas 168:1
Then the disciples said, “Truly God speaks in you, for never has a man spoken as you speak.” Yeshua answered, “Believe me when God chose me to send me to the house of Israel, He gave me a Book like a clear mirror; which came down into my heart in such ways that all that I speak comes forth from that Book. And when that Book will have finished coming forth from my mouth, I will be taken up from the world.”
Barnabas 168:2
Peter answered, “O master, is that which you now speak written in that Book?” Yeshua replied, “All that I say for the knowledge of God and the service of God, for the knowledge of man and for the salvation of mankind, all this comes forth from that Book, which is my Gospel.” Peter said, “Is the glory of Paradise written therein?”
Barnabas 169:1
Yeshua answered, “Listen, and I will tell you of what manner Paradise is, and how the holy and the faithful will abide there without end, for this is one of the greatest blessings of Paradise, seeing that everything, however great, if it has an end, becomes small, yes nothing. Paradise is the home where God stores His delights, which are so great that the ground which is trodden by the feet of the holy and blessed ones is so precious, that one drachma of it is more precious than a thousand worlds.
Barnabas 169:2
These delights were seen by our father David, prophet of God, for God showed them to him, seeing He caused him to behold the glories of Paradise, whereupon, when he returned to himself, he closed his eyes with both his hands, and weeping said, ‘Do not look anymore upon this world, O my eyes, for all is vain, and there is no good!’
Barnabas 169:3
Of these delights, Isaiah the prophet said, ‘The eyes of man have not seen, his ears have not heard, nor has the human heart conceived, that which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ (Isaiah 64:4, 1 Corinthians 2:9) Do you know why they have not seen, heard, conceived such delights? It is because while they live here below, they are not worthy to behold such things. Therefore, albeit our father David truly saw them, I tell you that he did not see them with human eyes, for God took his soul to Himself, and thus, united with God, he saw them with divine light. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, seeing that the delights of Paradise are infinite and man is finite, man cannot contain them; even as a little earthen jar cannot contain the sea.
Barnabas 169:4
Behold then, how beautiful the world is in summer time, then all things bear fruit! The very peasant, intoxicated with gladness by reason of the harvest that has come, makes the valleys and mountains resound with his singing, for he supremely loves his labors. Now so lift up even your heart to Paradise, where all things are fruitful, with fruits proportionate to Him who created it.
Barnabas 169:5
As God lives, this is sufficient for the knowledge of Paradise, forasmuch as God has created Paradise for the home of His own delights. Now do you think that immeasurable goodness would not have immeasurably good things? Or that immeasurable beauty would not have immeasurably beautiful things? Beware, for you greatly err if you think He does not have them.
Barnabas 170:1
God says thus to the man who will faithfully serve Him, ‘I know your works, that you work for Me. As I live eternally, your love will not exceed My bounty. Because you serve Me as God your Creator, knowing yourself to be My work, and ask nothing of Me except grace and mercy to serve Me faithfully; because you set no end to My service, seeing you desire to serve Me eternally; even so will I do, for I will reward you as if you were God, My equal. For not only will I place the abundance of Paradise in your hands, but I will give you Myself as a gift, so that, even as you are fain to be My servant forever, even so will I make your wages forever.’
Barnabas 171:1
What do you think,” Yeshua said to his disciples, “Of Paradise? Is there a mind that could comprehend such riches and delights? Man must have a knowledge as great as Gods’ if he would know what God wills to give to His servants. Have you seen, when Herod makes a present to one of his favorite barons, in what sort he presents it?”
Barnabas 171:2
John answered, “I have seen it twice; and assuredly the tenth part of that which he gives would be sufficient for a poor man.” Yeshua said, “But if a poor man will be presented to Herod, what will he give to him?” John answered, “One or two mites.”
Barnabas 171:3
“Now let this be your Book wherein to study the knowledge of Paradise,” Yeshua said, “Because all that God has given to man in this present world for his body is as though Herod should give a mite to a poor man; but what God will give to the soul in Paradise is as though Herod should give all that he has, yes and his own life, to one of his servants.
Barnabas 172:1
God thus says to him who loves Him, and serves Him faithfully, ‘Go and consider the sands of the sea, O My servant, how many they are. Therefore, if the sea should give you one single grain of sand, would it appear small to you? Assuredly, yes. As I live, your Creator, all that I have given in this world to all the princes and kings of the earth is less than a grain of sand that the sea would give you, in comparison of that which I will give you in My Paradise.’
Barnabas 173:1
Consider, then,” Yeshua said, “The abundance of Paradise. For if God has given an ounce of welling to man in this world, He will give him ten hundred thousand loads in Paradise. Consider the quantity of fruits that are in this world, the quantity of food, the quantity of flowers, and the quantity of things that minister to man. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, as the sea still has sand over and above when one receives a grain thereof, even so will the quality and quantity of figs in Paradise excel the sort of figs we eat here. And in like manner, every other thing in Paradise.
Barnabas 173:2
But furthermore, I say to you that truly, as a mountain of gold and pearls is more precious than the shadow of an ant, even so are the delights of Paradise more precious than all the delights of the princes of the world which they have had and will have, even to the Judgement of God when the world will have an end.”
Barnabas 173:3
Peter answered, “Should, then, our body which we now have, go into Paradise?” Yeshua answered, “Beware, Peter, unless you should become a sadducee, for the sadducees say that the flesh will not rise again, and that there are no angels. Therefore their body and soul are deprived of entrance into Paradise, and they are deprived of all ministry of angels in this world. Have you perhaps forgotten Job, prophet and friend of God, how he says, ‘I know that my God lives; and in the Last Day I will rise again in my flesh, and I will see God my Savior with my eyes’? (Job 19:25-26) But believe me, our flesh in Paradise will be utterly perfect, clean and pure. And our souls will be so purified that they will seem far distant from those we have now; we will be purged of every kind of potential to err or have so much as the smallest evil desire, and God will reduce us to such a condition of innocence as was Adam before his fall. And with having said that, consider the fact that there will be no more devils like lucifer and his kind to contaminate our minds. Yea, that is a thing worth pondering beyond any other!
Barnabas 173:4
And of the body; Two men serve one master in one and the same work. The one alone sees the work, and gives orders to the second, and the second performs all that the first commands. It seems just to you, I say, that the master should reward only him who sees and commands, and should cast him out of his house who wearied himself in the work? Surely not. How then will the justice of God bear this? The soul and the body with sense of man serve God; the soul only sees and commands the service, because the soul, eating no bread, does not fast, the soul does not walk, does not feel cold and heat, does not fall sick, and is not slain, because the soul is immortal; it does not suffer any of those corporal pains which the body suffers at the instance of the elements. Is it then just, I say, that the soul alone should exist in Paradise, and not a body, which has given to have wearied itself so much in serving God?”
Barnabas 173:5
Peter answered, “O master, the body, having caused the soul to sin, should not be placed in Paradise.” Yeshua answered, “Now how will the body sin without the soul? Assuredly it is impossible. Therefore, in taking away Gods’ mercy from the body, you condemn the soul to Hell.
Barnabas 174:1
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, our God promises His mercy to us saying, ‘In that hour that the sinner will lament his sin, by Myself, I will not remember his iniquities forever.’ Now what should eat the delights of Paradise, if the body does not go there? The soul? Surely not, seeing it is spirit.”
Barnabas 174:2
Peter answered, “So then, the blessed will eat in Paradise; but how will the food be voided without uncleanness?” Yeshua answered, “Now what blessedness will the body have if it does not eat or drink? Assuredly it is fitting to give glory in proportion to the thing glorified. But you err, Peter, in thinking that such food should be voided in uncleanness, because this body at the present time eats corruptible foods, and thus it is that putrefaction comes forth; but in Paradise, the body will be incorruptible, impassible, and moral, free from every misery; and the foods, which are without any defect, will not generate any putrefaction.
Barnabas 175:1
God says this in Isaiah the prophet, pouring contempt on the reprobate, ‘My servants will sit at My table in My House and will feast joyfully, with gladness and with the sound of harps and organs, and I will not allow them to have need of anything. But you who are My enemies will be cast away from Me, where you will die in misery, while every servant of Mine despises you.’
Barnabas 176:1
To what does it serve to say, ‘They will feast’?” Yeshua said to his disciples. “Surely God speaks plain. But to what purpose are the four rivers of precious liquor in Paradise, with so many fruits? Assuredly, God does not eat, the angels do not eat, the soul does not eat, the sense does not eat, but rather the flesh, which is our body. Therefore the glory of Paradise is for the body – the foods; and for the soul and the sense – God and the conversation of angels and blessed spirits. That glory will be better revealed by the last messenger of God, who (seeing God has created all things for love of him) will come to know all things better than any other creature.”
Barnabas 176:2
Bartholomew said, “O master, will the glory of Paradise be equal for every man? If it is equal, it will not be just, and if it is not equal, the lesser will envy the greater.” Yeshua answered, “It will not be equal, for God is just; and everyone will be content, because there is no envy there. Tell me, Bartholomew, there is a master who has many servants, and he clothes all of his servants in the same cloth. Do the boys then, who are clothed in the garments of boys, mourn because they do not have the apparel of grown men? Surely, on the contrary, if the elders desired to put their larger garments on them, they would be angry, because the garments, not being of their size, they would think themselves to be mocked. Now, Bartholomew, lift your heart to God in Paradise, and you will see that all one glory, although it will be more to one and less to another in one of the two heavens, will not produce anything of envy.”
Barnabas 177:1
Then he who writes said, “O master, does Paradise have light from the sun as this world has?” Yeshua answered, “Thus God has said to me, O Barnabas, ‘The world wherein you men that are sinners dwell has the sun and the moon and the stars that adorn it, for your benefit and your gladness; for I have created this.
Barnabas 177:2
Do you think then, that the house where My faithful dwell will not be better? Assuredly, you err, so thinking, for I, your God, am the sun of Paradise, and My last messenger is the moon who receives all from Me; and the stars are My prophets who have preached My will to you. Therefore My faithful, even as they received My word from My prophets here, will in like manner obtain delight and gladness through them in the Paradise of My delights.’
Barnabas 178:1
And let this suffice you, for the knowledge of Paradise. Whereupon Bartholomew said again, “O master, have patience with me if I ask you one more word.” Yeshua answered, “Say that which you desire.” Bartholomew said, “Paradise is surely great, for seeing such great goods are in it, it must be great.” Yeshua answered, “Paradise is so great that no man can measure it. Truly I say to you that the heavens are seven among which the planets are set, that are distant, five hundred years’ journey for a man, one from another, and the earth in like manner is distant from the first heaven five hundred years’ journey.
Barnabas 178:2
But stop at the measuring of the first heaven, which is by so much greater than the whole earth as the whole earth is greater than a grain of sand. So also the second heaven is greater than the first, and the third than the second, and so on, up to the last heaven, each one is likewise greater than the next. And truly I say to you that Paradise is greater than all the earth and all the heavens together, (Quran 57:21) even as all the earth is greater than a grain of sand.” Then Peter said, “O master, Paradise must be greater than God, because God is seen within it.” Yeshua answered, “Hold your peace, Peter, for you unwittingly blaspheme.”
Barnabas 179:1
Then the angel Gabriel came to Yeshua and showed him a mirror shining like the sun, in which he beheld these words written, “As I live eternally, even as Paradise is greater than all the heavens and the earth, and as the whole earth is greater than a grain of sand, even so am I greater than Paradise; and as many times more as the sea has grains of sand, as there are drops of water upon the sea, as there are blades of grass upon the ground, as there are leaves upon the trees, as there are skins upon the beasts; and as many times more as the grains of sand that would go to fill the heavens and Paradise and more.”
Barnabas 179:2
Then Yeshua said, “Let us do reverence to our God, who is blessed forevermore.” They bowed their heads a hundred times and prostrated themselves to earth upon their face in prayer. When the prayer was done, Yeshua called Peter and told him and all the disciples what he had seen. And he said to Peter, “Your soul, which is greater than all the earth, sees through one eye, the sun which is a thousand times greater than all the earth.” “It is true,” Peter said. Then Yeshua said, “Even so, through the eye of Paradise, will you see God our Creator.” And having said this, Yeshua gave thanks to God our Lord, praying for the house of Israel and for the holy city. And everyone answered, “So be it, Lord.”
Barnabas 180:1
One day, Yeshua being in Solomons’ porch, a scribe, one of those who made discourse to the people, drew near to him and said to him, “O master, I have made discourse many times to this people; in my mind there is a passage of Scripture which I am not able to understand.” Yeshua answered, “And what is it?” The scribe said, “That which God said to Abraham your father, ‘I will be your great reward.’ (Genesis 15:1) Now how could man merit such reward?”
Barnabas 180:2
Then Yeshua rejoiced in spirit and said, “Assuredly you are not far from the kingdom of God! Listen to me, for I will tell you the meaning of such teaching. God being infinite, and man finite, man cannot merit God and is this the reason for your doubt, brother?” The scribe answered, weeping, “Lord, you know my heart. Speak, therefore, for my soul desires to hear your voice.” Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, man cannot merit even a little breath which he receives every moment.”
Barnabas 180:3
The scribe was beside himself hearing this, and the disciples marveled as well, because they remembered that which Yeshua said, that whatever they gave for love of God, they should receive a hundredfold in return. Then he said, “If someone should lend you a hundred pieces of gold, and you should spend those pieces, could you say to that man, ‘I give you a decayed vine leaf; therefore give me your house, for I merit it’?” The scribe answered, “No, lord, for he should first pay that which he owed, and then, if he wished for anything, he should give him good things, but what good is a corrupted leaf?”
Barnabas 181:1
Yeshua answered, “You have spoken well, O brother; so tell me, who created man out of nothing? Surely it was God, who also gave man the whole world for his benefit. But man, by erring, has spent it all, for because of error, the world is turned against man, and man in his misery has nothing to give to God but works corrupted by error. For, erring every day, he makes his own work corrupt, as Isaiah the prophet says, ‘Our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth.’
Barnabas 181:2
How then, will man have merit, seeing he is unable to give any earthly gift to God? Is it, perhaps, that man does not err? No. For that is not possible. It is certain that our God says by His prophet David, ‘The righteous falls seven times a day.’ How then does the unrighteous fall? And if our righteousnesses are corrupt, how abominable are our unrighteousnesses!
Barnabas 181:3
As God lives, there is nothing that a man should shun more than this saying, ‘I merit.’ Brother, let a man know the works of his hands, and he will straightway see his merit. Every good thing that comes out of a man, truly, man does not do it, but God works it in him; for his being is of God who created him. Most of that which man does is in contradiction to the will of God his Creator, and so in truth he merits no reward, but torment.
Barnabas 182:1
However, not only has God created man, as I say, but He created him perfect. He has given him the whole world; even after the departure from Paradise, He has given him two angels to guard him, He has sent him the prophets, He has granted him the law, He has granted him the faith, He delivers him from lucifer every moment, He is fain to give him Paradise; no more, God wills to give of His Very Self to man.
Barnabas 182:2
Consider then, the debt, if it is great! A debt to cancel which you would need to have created man of yourselves out of nothing, to have created as many prophets as God has sent, with a world and a Paradise, no, more, with a God great and good as our God is, and to give it all to God. So the debt would be cancelled and only the obligation to give thanks to God would remain! But since you are not able to create a single fly, and seeing there is only one God who is Lord of all things, how will you be able to cancel your debt? Assuredly, if a man should lend you a hundred pieces of gold, you would be obliged to restore a hundred pieces of gold.
Barnabas 182:3
Accordingly, the sense of this, O brother, is that God, being Lord of Paradise and everything, can say that which pleases Him, and give whatsoever pleases Him. Therefore, when He said to Abraham, ‘I will be your great reward,’ (Genesis 15:1) Abraham could not say, ‘God is my reward,’ but ‘God is my gift and my debt.’ So when you discourse to the people, O brother, you should thus explain this passage, that God will give to man such and such things if man works well.
Barnabas 182:4
When God will speak to you, O man, and will say, ‘O My servant, you have done well for love of Me; what reward do you seek from Me, your God?’ You answer, ‘Lord, seeing I am the work of Your hands, it is not fitting that there should be sin in me, which lucifer loves. Therefore, Lord, for Your own glory, have mercy upon the works of Your hands.’ And if God says, ‘I have pardoned you, and now I would fain reward you;’ you answer, ‘Lord, I merit punishment for what I have done, but for what You have done, You merit to be glorified. Forgive, Lord, in me what I have done, and let me glorify that which You have done.’
Barnabas 182:5
And if God says, ‘What then, for punishment seems fitting for you?’ You answer, ‘It would be great, considering that I imagine that every other man, if they had received as much as I have received from You, would have served You more faithfully than I have done.’ And if God says, ‘If I were to dispense such great punishment, when will you receive it and for how long a time?’ You answer, ‘I cringe at the thought of answering such a question for I am not You and would surely error in such judgement, wherefore you are my God and my soul is yours alone to do with as You please.’ As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, such a man would be more pleasing to God than all His holy angels. For God loves true humility, and hates pride.”
Barnabas 182:6
Then the scribe gave thanks to Yeshua, and said to him, “Lord, let us go to the house of your servant, for your servant will give food to you and to your disciples.” Yeshua answered, “I will come there when you will promise to call me ‘brother’ and not ‘lord,’ and will say you are my brother, and not my servant.” The man promised, and Yeshua went to his house.
Barnabas 183:1
While they sat at dinner, the scribe said, “O master, you said that God loves true humility. Tell us therefore what humility is, and how it can be true and false.” Yeshua replied, “Truly I say to you that he who does not become as a little child will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Every one was amazed at hearing this, and they said to one another, “Now how will he become a little child who is thirty or forty years old? Surely, this is a hard saying.”
Barnabas 183:2
Yeshua answered, “As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, my words are true. I said to you that a man has need to become as a little child, for this is true humility. For if you ask a little child, ‘Who has made your garments?’ He will answer, ‘My father.’ If you ask him whose is the house where he lives, he will say, ‘My fathers.’ If you will say, ‘Who gives you food to eat?’ He will reply, ‘My father.’ If you will say, ‘Who has taught you to walk and to speak?’ He will say; ‘My father.’ But if you will say, ‘Who has broken your forehead, for that you have your forehead so bound up?’ He will answer, ‘While going over rocks I fell down, and I broke my head.’ If you will say, ‘Now why did you fall down?’ He will answer, ‘Surely you see that I am little, so that I do not have the skill nor strength to walk and run like a grown man? So my father must take me by the hand if I would walk surely over rocks. But in order that I might learn to walk well, my father left me for a little space, and I, wishing to run, fell down.’ If you will say, ‘And what did your father say?’ He will answer, ‘Now why did you not walk slower with more care of how you step? See that you do not leave my side.’
Barnabas 184:1
Tell me, is this believable?” Yeshua said. The disciples and the scribe answered, “Surely it is most believable.” Then Yeshua said, “He who in truth of heart recognizes God as the author of all good, and himself as the author of error, (Quran 4:79) will be truly humble. But whoever will speak with the tongue as the fool speaks, and will contradict the same in act, assuredly he has false humility and true pride. For pride is then at its height when it makes use of humble things, that it is not reprehended and spurned by men.
Barnabas 184:2
True humility is a lowliness of the soul whereby man knows himself in truth; but false humility is a mist from Hell which so darkens the understanding of the soul that what a man should ascribe to himself, he ascribes to God, and what he should ascribe to God, he ascribes to himself. Thus, the man of false humility will say that he is humble, but when one shows him that he errs, he will speak angrily against him, and may even persecute him given the reigns to do so. The man of false humility will say that God has given him all that he has, and that he has not slumbered on his part, but done good works. And these pharisees of this present time, brethren, tell me how they walk.”
Barnabas 184:3
The scribe answered, weeping, “O master, the pharisees of the present time have the garments and the name of pharisees, but in their hearts and in their works, they are canaanites. And would to God they did not usurp such a name, for then they would not deceive the simple! O ancient time, how cruelly have you dealt with us, who have taken away the true pharisees from us and left us the false!”
Barnabas 185:1
Yeshua answered, “Brother, it is not time that has done this, but rather the wicked ones of the world. For in every time it is possible to serve God in truth, but by companying with the wicked good men trip and fall. Now do you not know that Gehazi, servant of Elisha the prophet, lying, and shaming his master, took the money and the raiment of Naaman the Syrian? And yet Elisha had a great number of pharisees to whom God made him prophesy.
Barnabas 185:2
Truly I say to you that men are so inclined to evil working, and the world excites them so much thereto, and lucifer entices them to evil work, so that the pharisees of the present day avoid every good work and every holy example; and the example of Gehazi is sufficient for them to be reprobated by God.” The scribe answered, “It is most true;” whereupon Yeshua said, “I will that you would narrate to me the example of Haggai and Hosea, both prophets of God, in order that we may behold the true pharisee.” The scribe answered, “O master, what will I say? Surely many do not believe it, although it is written by Daniel the prophet; but in obedience to you, I will narrate the truth.
Barnabas 185:3
Haggai was fifteen years old when, having sold his patrimony and given it to the poor, he went forth from Anathoth to serve Obadiah the prophet. Now the aged Obadiah, who knew the humility of Haggai, used him as a book wherewith to teach his disciples. Therefore he oftentimes presented him raiment and delicate food, but Haggai always sent back the messenger, saying, ‘Go, return to the house, for you have made a mistake. For why should Obadiah send me such things? Surely not, for he knows that I am good for nothing, and only error time after time.’
Barnabas 185:4
And Obadiah, when he had anything bad, used to give it to the one next to Haggai, in order that he might see it. Thereupon Haggai, when he saw it, would say to himself, ‘Now, behold, Obadiah has certainly forgotten you, for this thing is suited to me alone, because I am worse than all. And there is nothing so vile but that, receiving it from Obadiah, by whose hands God grants it to me, it were a treasure.’
Barnabas 186:1
When Obadiah desired to teach anyone how to pray, he would call Haggai and say, ‘Recite your prayer here so that everyone may hear your words.’ Then Haggai would say, ‘Lord God of Israel, look upon Your servant with mercy, who calls upon You, for You have created him. Righteous Lord God, remember Your righteousness and punish the sins of Your servant, in order that I may not pollute Your work. Lord my God, I cannot ask You for the delights that You grant to Your faithful servants, because I do nothing but trip. Therefore, Lord, when You would give an infirmity to one of Your servants, remember me, Your servant, for Your own glory.’
Barnabas 186:2
“And when Haggai did so,” the scribe said, “God so loved him that to everyone in his time who stood by him, God gave the gift of prophecy. And Haggai did not ask anything in prayer that God withheld.”
Barnabas 187:1
The good scribe wept as he said this, as the sailor weeps when he sees his ship broken up. And he said, “Hosea, when he went to serve God, was prince over the tribe of Naphtali, and aged fourteen years. And so, having sold his patrimony and given it to the poor, he went to be a disciple of Haggai. Hosea was so inflamed with charity, that concerning all that was asked of him, he would say, ‘God has given me this for you, O brother; accept it, therefore!’ For which cause he was soon left with two garments only, namely, a tunic of sackcloth and a mantle of skins. He sold, I say, his patrimony and gave it to the poor, because otherwise no one would be allowed to be called a pharisee.
Barnabas 187:2
Hosea had the Book of Moses, which he read with greatest earnestness. Now one day, Haggai said to him, ‘Hosea, who has taken all that you had away from you?’ He answered, ‘The Book of Moses.’ It happened that a disciple of a neighboring prophet wanted to go to Jerusalem, but did not have a mantle. Therefore, having heard of the charity of Hosea, he went to find him, and said to him, ‘Brother, I would want to go to Jerusalem in sacrifice to our God, but I have no mantle, therefore I do not know what to do.’
Barnabas 187:3
When he heard this, Hosea said, ‘Pardon me, brother, for I have committed a great sin against you, because God has given me a mantle in order that I might give it to you, and I had forgotten. Now therefore accept it, and pray to God for me.’ The man, believing this, accepted Hoseas’ mantle and departed. And when Hosea went to the house of Haggai, Haggai said, ‘Who has taken away your mantle?’ Hosea replied, ‘The Book of Moses.’ Haggai was much pleased at hearing this, because he perceived the goodness of Hosea.
Barnabas 187:4
It happened that a poor man was stripped by robbers and left naked. Whereupon Hosea, seeing him, stripped off his own tunic and gave it to him who was naked; himself being left with a little piece of goat skin over the privy parts. Therefore, as he did not come to see Haggai, the good Haggai thought that Hosea was sick. So he went with two disciples to find him, and they found him wrapped in palm leaves. Then Haggai said, ‘Tell me now, why have you not been to visit me?’ Hosea answered, ‘The Book of Moses has taken away my tunic, and I feared to come there without a tunic.’ Whereupon Haggai gave him another tunic.
Barnabas 187:5
It happened that a young man, seeing Hosea read the Book of Moses, wept and said, ‘I also would learn to read if I had a Book.’ Hearing which, Hosea gave him the Book, saying, ‘Brother, this Book is yours; for God gave it to me in order that I should give it to one who, weeping, should desire a Book.’ The man believed him, and accepted the Book.
Barnabas 188:1
There was a disciple of Haggai near to Hosea; and he, wishing to see if his own book was well written, went to visit Hosea, and said to him, ‘Brother, take your Book and let us see if it is even as mine.’ Hosea answered, ‘It has been taken away from me.’ ‘Who has taken it from you?’ The disciple said.
Barnabas 188:2
Hosea answered, ‘The Book of Moses,’ Hearing which, the other went to Haggai and said to him, ‘Hosea has gone mad, for he says that the Book of Moses has taken the Book of Moses away from him.’ Haggai answered, ‘Would to God, O brother, that I were mad in like manner, and that all mad folk were like Hosea!’
Barnabas 188:3
Now the Syrian robbers, having raided the land of Judea, seized the son of a poor widow, who dwelt hard by Mount Carmel, where the prophets and pharisees abode. It chanced, accordingly, that Hosea, having gone to cut wood, met the woman, who was weeping. Thereupon he straightway began to weep; for whenever he saw anyone laugh, he laughed, and whenever he saw anyone weep, he wept. Hosea then asked the woman touching the reason of her weeping, and she told him all. Then Hosea said, ‘Come, sister, for God wills to give you your son.’
Barnabas 188:4
And they went, both of them to Hebron, where Hosea sold himself as a slave, and gave the money to the widow, who, not knowing how he had gotten that money, accepted it, and redeemed her son. He who had bought Hosea, took him to Jerusalem, where he had an abode, not knowing Hosea. Haggai, seeing that Hosea was not to be found, remained afflicted thereat. Whereupon the angel of God told him how he had been taken as a slave to Jerusalem.
Barnabas 188:5
The good Haggai, when he heard this, wept for the absence of Hosea as a mother weeps for the absence of her son. And having called two disciples, he went to Jerusalem. And by the will of God, in the entrance of the city, he met Hosea, who was laden with bread to carry it to the laborers in his masters’ vineyard. Having recognized him, Haggai said, ‘Son, how is it that you have forsaken your old father, who seeks you mourning?’
Barnabas 188:6
Hosea answered, ‘Father, I have been sold.’ Then Haggai said in wrath, ‘Who is that bad fellow who has sold you?’ Hosea answered, ‘God forgive you, O my father; for he who has sold me is so good that if he were not in the world, no one would become holy.’ Who, then, is he?’ Haggai said. Hosea answered, ‘O my father, it was the Book of Moses.’ Then the good Haggai remained as it were, beside himself, and said, ‘Would to God, my son, that the Book of Moses would sell me also with all my children, even as it has sold you!’
Barnabas 188:7
And Haggai went with Hosea to the house of his master, who, when he saw Haggai, said, ‘Our God is blessed, who has sent His prophet to my house;’ and he ran to kiss his hand. Then Haggai said, ‘Brother, kiss the hand of your slave whom you have bought, for he is better than I.’ And he narrated all to him that had passed; whereupon the master gave Hosea his freedom. And that is all that you desired, O master,” the scribe said.
Barnabas 189:1
Then Yeshua said, “This is true, because I am assured of it by God. Therefore, so that everyone may know that this is the truth, in the name of YHWH, let the sun stand still, and not move for twelve hours!” And so it came to pass, to the great terror of all Jerusalem and Judea.
Barnabas 189:2
And Yeshua said to the scribe, “O brother, what do you seek to learn from me, seeing you have such knowledge? As God lives, this is sufficient for mans’ salvation, inasmuch as the humility of Haggai, with the charity of Hosea, fulfills all the law and all the prophets. Tell me brother, when you came to question me in the temple, did you think, perhaps that God had sent me to destroy the law and the prophets? It is certain that God will not do this, seeing He is unchangeable, and therefore that which God ordained as mans’ way of salvation, He has caused all the prophets to say this.
Barnabas 189:3
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, if the Book of Moses with the Book of our father David had not been corrupted by the human traditions of jewish pharisees and doctors, God would not have given His word to me. And why do I speak of the Book of Moses and the Book of David? They have corrupted every prophecy, insomuch that today a thing is not sought because God has commanded it, but because foolish men look to whether the doctors say it, and the pharisees observe it, as though God were in error, and such men could not err.
Barnabas 189:4
Woe, therefore, to this faithless generation, for the blood of every prophet and righteous man will come upon them, with the vengeance of Zechariah, son of Berachiah, whom they think to have slew between the temple and the altar! (Matthew 23:35, Luke 11:50-51) What prophet have they not persecuted? What righteous man have they willed to die a natural death? Scarcely one! And now they seek to slay me. They boast themselves to be children of Abraham, and to possess the beautiful temple. As God lives, they are children of lucifer and his kind, and therefore they do his will; therefore the temple, with the holy city, will go to ruin, in so much that one stone of the temple will not remain upon another.’
Barnabas 190:1
Tell me, brother, you who are a man learned in the law, in whom was the promise of the Messiah made to our father Abraham? In Isaac or in Ishmael. The man answered, “O master, I fear to tell you this, because of the penalty of death.” Then Yeshua said; ‘Brother, I am grieved that I came to eat bread in your house, since you love this present life more than God your Creator; and for this cause you fear to lose your life, but do not fear to lose the faith and the eternal life, which is lost when the tongue speaks contrary to that which the heart knows about God.”
Barnabas 190:2
Then the good man wept and said, “O master, if I had known how to bear fruit, I should have preached many things which I have left unsaid, unless sedition should be roused amongst the people.” Yeshua answered, “You should respect neither the people, nor all the world including holy ones nor even the angels when it should cause offence to God. Therefore let the whole world perish rather than offend God your Creator, and do not preserve it with error. For error destroys and does not preserve, and God is mighty to create as many worlds as there are sands in the sea, and more.”
Barnabas 191:1
The scribe then said, “Pardon me, O master, for I have surely erred.” Yeshua said, “May God pardon you for you have erred against Him.”
Barnabas 191:2
Whereupon the scribe said, “I have seen an old Book; written by the hand of Moses and Joshua, he who made the sun stand still as you have done, both servants and prophets of God, which Book is the true Book of Moses. Therein it is written that Ishmael is the father of the last prophet and Isaac is the father of Israel. And thus the Book says that Moses said, ‘Lord God of Israel, Almighty and Merciful, manifest the splendor of Your glory to Your servant.’ Whereupon God showed him His last prophet in the arms of Ishmael, and Ishmael in the arms of Abraham. Isaac stood near to Ishmael, in whose arms also was a child, who, with his finger, pointed to the last messenger of God, saying, ‘This is he for whom God has created all things.’ Whereupon Moses cried out with joy, ‘O Ishmael, you have all the world in your arms, and Paradise! Be mindful of me, Gods’ servant, so that I may find grace in Gods’ sight by means of your son, for whom God has made all.’
Barnabas 192:1
In that Book, it is not found that God eats the flesh of cattle or sheep; in that Book, it is not found that God has locked up His mercy in Israel alone, but rather that God has mercy on every man who seeks God his Creator in truth. I was not able to read all of this Book, because the high priest, in whose library I was, forbade me, saying that an Ishmaelite had written it.” Then Yeshua said, “See that you never again keep the truth back, because in the faith of the last messenger our Messiah to come, God will give salvation to men, and without it, none will be saved.” And Yeshua ended his discourse there.
Barnabas 192:2
Whereupon, as they sat to sup, look, Mary, who wept at the feet of Yeshua, entered into the house of Nicodemus, and weeping, she placed herself at the feet of Yeshua, saying, “Lord, your servant, who has found mercy with God through you, has a sister, and a brother who now lies sick in peril of death.”
Barnabas 192:3
Yeshua answered, “Where is your house? Tell me, for I will come to pray to God for his health.” Mary answered, “Bethany is the home of my brother and my sister, for my own house is in Magdala.” Yeshua said to the woman, “Go straightway to your brothers’ house, and await for me there, for I will come to heal him. And do not fear, for he will not die.” The woman departed, and having gone to Bethany, she found that her brother had died that day, therefore they laid him in the sepulchre of their fathers.
Barnabas 193:1
Yeshua abode two days in the house of Nicodemus, and he departed the third day for Bethany; and when he was near the town, he sent two of his disciples before him, to announce his coming to Mary. She ran out of the town, and when she had found Yeshua, she said, weeping, ‘Lord, you said that my brother would not die; and now he has been buried four days. Would to God you had come before I called you, for then he would not have died!”
Barnabas 193:2
Yeshua answered, “Your brother is not dead, but sleeps, therefore I come to awake him.” Mary answered, weeping, “Lord, he will be awakened from such a sleep on the Day of Judgement by the angel of God sounding his Trumpet.” Yeshua answered, “Mary, believe me that he will rise before that Day, because God has given me power over his sleep; and truly I say to you, he is not dead, for he alone is dead who dies without finding mercy with God.” Mary returned quickly to announce the coming of Yeshua to her sister Martha.
Barnabas 193:3
Now a great number of believers from Jerusalem were assembled at the death of Lazarus there, and many jews as well. Martha, having heard of the coming of Yeshua from her sister Mary, arose in haste and ran outside, whereupon the multitude followed her to comfort her, because they supposed she was going to the sepulchre to weep over her brother. When she therefore arrived at the place where Yeshua had spoken to Mary, Martha said weeping, “Lord, would to God you had been here, for then my brother would not have died!”
Barnabas 193:4
Mary then came up weeping; whereupon Yeshua shed tears, and sighing said, “Where have you laid him?” They answered, “Come and see.” The pharisees said amongst themselves, “Now this man, who raised the son of the widow at Nain, why did he allow this man to die, having said that he should not die?”
Barnabas 193:5
Yeshua, having come to the sepulchre where everyone was weeping, said, “Do not weep, for Lazarus sleeps, and I have come to awaken him.” The pharisees said amongst themselves, “Would to God that you did so sleep!” Then Yeshua said, “My hour has not yet come; but when it will come, I will sleep in like manner, and will be speedily awakened.” Then Yeshua said again, “Take away the stone from the sepulchre.”
Barnabas 193:6
Martha said, “Lord, he stinks, for he has been dead four days.” Yeshua said, “Why then have I come here, Martha? Do you not believe me that I will awaken him?” Martha answered, “I know that you are the holy one of God, who has sent you into this world.” Then Yeshua lifted up his hands to heaven and said, “YHWH, God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Ishmael and God of Isaac, have mercy upon the affliction of these women, and give glory to Your holy name.” And when everyone had answered, “All glory to YHWH,” Yeshua said with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Barnabas 193:7
Whereupon he who was dead arose; and Yeshua said to his disciples, “Loose him.” For he was bound in the grave clothes with the napkin over his face, (John 11:44) even as our fathers were accustomed to bury their dead.
Barnabas 193:8
A great multitude believed in Yeshua and some of the pharisees, because the miracle was great. Those who remained in their unbelief departed and went to Jerusalem and announced to the chief of the priests, the resurrection of Lazarus, and how many had become Nazarenes; for so they called those who were brought to penitence through the word of God which Yeshua preached.
Barnabas 194:1
The jews took counsel with their high priest to slay Lazarus; for many renounced their traditions and believed in the word of Yeshua, because the miracle of Lazarus was a great one, seeing that Lazarus had conversation with men, and ate and drank. But because he was powerful, having a following in Jerusalem, and possessing Magdala and Bethany with his sister, they did not know what to do.
Barnabas 194:2
Yeshua entered into Bethany, into the house of Lazarus, and Martha ministered to him with Mary. Mary, sitting one day at the feet of Yeshua, was listening to his words, whereupon Martha said to Yeshua, ‘Lord, do you not see that my sister takes no care for you, and does not provide that which you must eat, and your disciples?” Yeshua answered, “Martha, Martha, do you take thought for that which you should do? For Mary has chosen a part which will not be taken away from her forever.”
Barnabas 194:3
Yeshua, sitting at the table with a great multitude who believed in him, spoke, saying, “Brethren, I have only a little time to remain with you, for the time is at hand that I must depart from the world. Therefore I bring the words of God to your mind, spoken to Ezekiel the prophet, saying, ‘As I, your God, live eternally, the soul that sins, it will die, but if the sinner will repent, he will not die but live.’
Barnabas 194:4
Therefore the present death is not death, but rather the end of a long death, even as the body, when separated from the sense, is in a swoon, though it has the soul within it, has no other advantage over the dead and buried except this, that the buried body awaits God to raise it again, but the unconscious waits for the sense to return. Behold then, the present life that it is death, through having no perception of God.
Barnabas 195:1
Those who will believe in me will not die eternally, for through my word, they will perceive God within them, and therefore will work out their salvation. What is death but an act which nature does by commandment of God? As it would be if one held a bird tied, and held the cord in his hand; when the head wills the bird to fly away, what does it do? Assuredly it naturally commands the hand to open; and so the bird straightway flies away. ‘Our soul,’ as the prophet David says, ‘Is as a sparrow freed from the snare of the fowler,’ (Psalms 124:7) when man abides under the protection of God. And our life is like a cord whereby nature holds the soul bound to the body and the sense of man. When God therefore wills, and commands nature to open, the life is broken and the soul escapes in the hands of the angels whom God has ordained to receive souls.
Barnabas 195:2
Then do not let friends weep when their friend is dead; for our God has so willed. But let him weep without ceasing when he sins, for so the soul dies, seeing it separates itself from God, the true life. If the body is horrible without its union with the soul, the soul is much more frightful without union with God, who beautifies and quickens it with His grace and mercy.”
Barnabas 195:3
And having said this, Yeshua gave thanks to God; whereupon Lazarus said, “Lord, this house belongs to God my Creator, with all that He has given into my keeping, for the service of the poor. Therefore, since you are poor, and have a great number of disciples, come to dwell here when you please, and as much as you please, for the servant of God will minister to you as much as will be needed, for love of God.”
Barnabas 196:1
Yeshua rejoiced when he heard this, and said, “See now how good a thing it is to die! Lazarus has died only once, and has learned such doctrine as is not known to the wise men in the world who have grown old among books! Would to God that every man might die only once and return to the world, like Lazarus, in order that men might learn to live.”
Barnabas 196:2
John answered, “O master, is it permitted to me to speak a word?” “Speak a thousand,” Yeshua answered, “For just as a man is bound to dispense his goods in the service of God, so also is he bound to dispense doctrine; and so much more is he bound to do so inasmuch as the world has power to raise up a soul to penitence, whereas goods cannot bring life back to the dead. Therefore he is a murderer who has power to help a poor man, and when he does not help him, the poor man dies of hunger; but a more grievous murderer is he who could, by the word of God, convert the sinner to penitence, and does not convert him, but stands, as God says, ‘Like a dumb dog.’ God says against such, ‘The soul of the sinner that will perish because you have hidden My word, I will require it at your hands, O unfaithful servant.’ In what condition, then, are the jews who now have the key and will not enter, no rather, hinder those who would fain enter, into eternal life?
Barnabas 196:3
You ask me, O John, permission to speak one word, having listened to a hundred thousand words of mine. Truly I say to you, I am bound to listen to you ten times for every one that you have listened to me. And he who will not listen to another, every time that he will speak, he will sin; seeing that we should do to others that which we desire for ourselves, and not do to others that which we do not desire to receive.” Then John said, ‘O master, why has God not granted this to men, that they should die once and return as Lazarus has done, in order that they might learn to know themselves and their Creator?”
Barnabas 197:1
Yeshua answered, “Tell me, John; there was a householder who gave a perfect axe to one of his servants in order that he might cut down the wood which obstructed the view of his house. But the laborer forgot the axe, and said, ‘If the master would give me an old axe I should easily cut down the wood.’ Tell me, John, what did the master say? Assuredly he was angry, and took the old axe and struck him on the head, saying, ‘Dishonest fool! I gave you an axe wherewith you might cut down the wood without toil, and you seek this axe, wherewith one must work with great toil, and all that is cut is wasted and good for nothing? I desire you to cut down the wood in such manner that your work will be good.’ Is this true?”
Barnabas 197:2
John answered, “It is most true.” Then Yeshua said, “‘As I live eternally,’ God said, ‘I have given a good axe to every man, which is the sight of the burial of one dead. Whosoever wields this axe well, removes the wood of sin from their heart without pain; therefore they receive My grace and mercy; giving them merit of eternal life for their good works. But he who forgets that he is mortal, though time after time he sees others die, and says, ‘If I should see the other life, I would do good works,’ My fury will be upon him, and I will so strike him with death that he will no longer receive any good.’ O John,” Yeshua said, “How great is the advantage of him who, from the fall of others, learns to stand on his feet!”
Barnabas 198:1
Then Lazarus said, “Master, truly I say to you, I cannot conceive the penalty of which he is worthy, who, time after time, sees the dead borne to the tomb and does not fear God our Creator. Such a one for the things of this world, which he should entirely forsake, offends his Creator who has given him all.”
Barnabas 198:2
Then Yeshua said to his disciples, “You call me master, and you do well, seeing that God teaches you by my mouth. But how will you call Lazarus? Truly he is master of all the masters here who teach doctrine in this world. I indeed have taught you how you should live well, but Lazarus will teach you how to die well. As God lives, he has received the gift of prophecy; listen therefore to his words, which are truth. And you should so much more to listen to him, as good living is vain if one dies badly.”
Barnabas 198:3
Lazarus said, “O master, I thank you that you make the truth to be prized; therefore God will give the great merit.” Then he who writes this said, “O master, how Lazarus speaks the truth in saying to you, ‘You will have merit,’ whereas you said to Nicodemus that man merits nothing but punishment? Should you accordingly be punished by God?”
Barnabas 198:4
Yeshua answered, “May it please God that I receive punishment by God in this world, because I have not served Him so faithfully as I was bound to do. But God has so loved me, by His mercy, that every punishment is withdrawn from me, insomuch that I will only be tormented in another person. For punishment was fitting for me, for men have called me God; but since I have confessed, not only that I am not God, as is the truth, but have also confessed that I am not the Messiah, therefore God has taken the punishment away from me, and will cause a wicked one to suffer it in my name, so that the shame will be mine alone.
Barnabas 198:5
Therefore I say to you, my Barnabas, that when a man speaks of what God will give to his neighbor, let him say that his neighbor merits it; but let him look to it that, when he speaks of what God will give to himself, he say, ‘God will give me.’ And let him look to it that he does not say, ‘I have merit,’ because God is pleased to grant His mercy to His servants when they confess that they merit Hell for their sins.
Barnabas 199:1
God is so rich in mercy that the water of a thousand seas, if so many were to be found, could not quench a spark of the flames of Hell, yet a single tear of one who mourns at having offended God quenches the whole of Hell, by the great mercy wherewith God succours him. God therefore, to confound lucifer and to display His own bounty, wills to call merit, every good work of His faithful servant, in the presence of His mercy, and wills him to so speak of his neighbor. But of himself, a man must beware of saying, ‘I have merit;’ for he would be condemned.”
Barnabas 200:1
Yeshua then turned to Lazarus and said, “Brother, I must abide for a short time in the world, therefore, when I will be near your house, I will never go elsewhere, because you will minister to me, not for love of me, but for love of God.”
Barnabas 200:2
It was near to the Passover so Yeshua said to his disciples, “Let us go to Jerusalem.” And he sent Peter and John to the city, saying, “You will find a donkey near the gate of the city with a colt, loose her and bring her here; for I must ride on her into Jerusalem. And if anyone asks you, saying, ‘Why do you loose her?’ Say to them, ‘The master has need of it,’ and they will permit you to bring her.”
Barnabas 200:3
The disciples went, and found all that Yeshua had told them, and accordingly, they brought the donkey and the colt. (Mark 11:4) The disciples then placed their mantles upon the colt, and Yeshua rode on it. (Luke 19:35) And it came to pass that, when the men of Jerusalem heard that Yeshua of Nazareth was coming, the men went forth with their children eager to see Yeshua, bearing branches of palm and olive in their hands, singing, “Blessed is he who comes to us in the name of God; Hosanna son of David!” (Matthew 21:6-9)
Barnabas 200:4
Yeshua, having come into the city, the men spread out their garments under the feet of the donkey, singing, “Blessed is he who comes to us in the name of the Lord God; Hosanna, son of David!” The pharisees rebuked Yeshua, saying, “Do you not see what these say? Cause them to hold their peace!”
Barnabas 200:5
Then Yeshua said, “As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, if men should hold their peace, the stones would cry out (Luke 19:40) against the disbelief of malignant sinners.” And when Yeshua had said this, all the stones of Jerusalem cried out with a great noise, “Blessed is he who comes to us in the name of YHWH!” Nevertheless, the pharisees remained still in their disbelief, and having assembled themselves together, they took counsel to catch him in his talk.
Barnabas 201:1
Yeshua, having entered into the temple, the jews brought a woman to him taken in adultery. (John 8:2-3) They said amongst themselves, “If he saves her, it is contrary to the law of Moses, and so we have him as guilty, and if he condemns her, it is contrary to his own doctrine, for he preaches mercy.” Therefore they came to Yeshua and said, “Master, we have found this woman in adultery. Moses commanded that such should be stoned, what then do you say?”
Barnabas 201:2
Thereupon Yeshua stooped down and with his finger, made a mirror on the ground wherein everyone saw his own iniquities. They still pressed for the answer, Yeshua lifted himself up, and pointing to the mirror with his finger, said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be first to stone her.” And again he stooped down, shaping the mirror.
Barnabas 201:3
The men, seeing this, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, for they were ashamed to see their abominations. Yeshua, having lifted himself up, and seeing no one but the woman, said, “Woman, where are those who condemned you?” The woman answered, weeping, “Lord, they have departed; and if you will pardon me as God lives, I will sin no more.”
Barnabas 201:4
Then Yeshua said, “God is blessed! Go your way in peace and sin no more, for God has not sent me to condemn you.” Then the jews, being assembled, Yeshua said to them, “Tell me, if one of you had a hundred sheep, and should lose one of them, would you not go to seek it, leaving the ninety nine? And when you found it, would you not lay it upon your shoulders, and having called your neighbors together, say to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep which I had lost’? Assuredly you would do so. Now tell me, will our God love man less, for whom He has made the world? As God lives, even so there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents; because sinners make Gods’ mercy known.
Barnabas 202:1
Tell me, by whom is the physician more loved, by those who have never had any sickness, or by those whom the physician has healed from a grievous sickness?” The pharisees said to him, “And how will he who is whole love the physician? Assuredly he will love him only since he is not sick; and not having knowledge of sickness, he will love the physician only a little.”
Barnabas 202:2
Then with vehemence of spirit, Yeshua spoke, saying, “As God lives, your own tongues condemn your pride, inasmuch as our God is loved more by the sinner who repents, knowing the great mercy of God upon him, than by the righteous. For the righteous do not have knowledge of the mercy of God. Therefore there is more rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents, than over ninety nine righteous persons. Where are the righteous in our time? As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, the number of the righteous unrighteous is great; their condition being like that of lucifer.”
Barnabas 202:3
The jews answered, “We are sinners, therefore God will have mercy on us.” And they said this tempting him; for the jews count it the greatest insult to be called sinners by other than themselves. Then Yeshua said, “I fear that you are righteous unrighteous. For if you have sinned and deny your sin, calling yourselves righteous, you are unrighteous; and if you hold yourselves righteous in your heart, and you say that you are sinners with your tongue, then you are doubly righteous unrighteous.”
Barnabas 202:4
Accordingly, upon hearing this the jews were confounded and departed, leaving Yeshua with his disciples in peace, and they went into the house of Simon the leper, whose leprosy he had cleansed. The citizens had gathered the sick together to the house of Simon and prayed Yeshua for the healing of the sick. Then Yeshua, knowing that his hour was near, said, “Call the sick, as many as there are, because God is Almighty and Merciful to heal them.” They answered, “We do not know that there are any other sick folk here in Jerusalem.”
Barnabas 202:5
Yeshua answered, weeping, “O Jerusalem, O Israel, I weep over you, for you do not know your visitation; because I would fain have gathered you to the love of God your Creator, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, (2 Ezra 1:30) and you would not!
Barnabas 203:1
Thus God says to you; ‘O city, hard hearted and perverse of mind, I have sent My servant to you, to the end that he may convert you to your heart and you may repent; but you, O city of confusion, have forgotten all that I did upon Egypt and upon Pharaoh for love of you, O Israel. You weep many times so that My servant may heal your body of sickness; and you seek to slay My servant because he seeks to heal your soul of sin.
Barnabas 203:2
Should you alone then, remain unpunished by Me? Should you then, live eternally? And will your pride deliver you from My hands? Assuredly not. For I will bring princes with which they will surround you with might, an army against you, and in such ways will I give you over into their hands so that your pride will fall down into Hell.
Barnabas 203:3
I will not pardon the old men or the widows, I will not pardon the children, but I will give you all to famine, the sword, and derision, and the temple, whereon I have looked with mercy, I will make the city desolate, insomuch that you will be for a fable, a derision, and a proverb among the nations. So My wrath is abiding upon you, and My indignation does not sleep.'”
Barnabas 204:1
Having said this, Yeshua said again, “Do you know not that there are other sick folk? As God lives, they are fewer in Jerusalem who have their soul sound than those who are sick in body. And in order that you may know the truth, I say to you, O sick folk, in the name of God, let your sickness depart from you!” And when he had said this, immediately they were healed.
Barnabas 204:2
The men wept when they heard of the wrath of God upon Jerusalem, and prayed for mercy; when Yeshua said, “‘If Jerusalem will weep for her sins and do penance, walking in My ways,’ God said, ‘I will not remember her iniquities anymore, and I will not do any of the evil to her which I have said. But Jerusalem weeps for her ruin and not for her dishonoring of Me, wherewith she has blasphemed My name among the nations. Therefore My is fury kindled much more. As I live eternally, if Job, Abraham, Samuel, David, and Daniel My servants, with Moses, should pray for this people, My wrath upon Jerusalem will not be appeased.'” And having said this, Yeshua retired into the house, while everyone remained in fear.
Barnabas 205:1
While Yeshua was supping with his disciples in the house of Simon the leper, behold, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, entered into the house, and having broken a vessel, poured ointment over the head and garment of Yeshua. (Mark 14:3, Matthew 26:6-7) Seeing this, Judas the traitor was fain to hinder Mary from doing such a work, saying, “Go and sell the ointment and bring the money, so that I may give it to the poor.”
Barnabas 205:2
Yeshua said, “Why do you hinder her? Let her be, for you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” (Mark 14:6-7, Matthew 26:10-11, John 12:8) Judas answered, “O master, this ointment might be sold for three hundred pieces of money; now see how many poor folk would be helped.” Yeshua answered, “O Judas, I know your heart, have patience therefore, and I will give you all.”
Barnabas 205:3
Everyone ate with fear, and the disciples were sorrowful, because they knew that Yeshua must soon depart from them. But Judas was indignant, because he knew that he was losing thirty pieces of money for the ointment not sold, seeing he stole the tenth part of all that was given to Yeshua. He went to find the high priest, who assembled in a council of jews to whom Judas spoke, saying, “What will you give me, and I will betray Yeshua into your hands, who would fain make himself king of Israel?”
Barnabas 205:4
They answered, “Now how will you give him into our hand?” Judas said, “When I will know that he goes outside the city to pray, I will tell you, and will conduct you to the place where he will be found; for to seize him in the city will be impossible without a sedition.” The high priest answered, “If you will give him into our hand, we will give the thirty pieces of gold and you will see how well I will treat you.”
Barnabas 206:1
When day had come, Yeshua went up to the temple with a great multitude of people. Whereupon the high priest drew near, saying, “Tell me, O Yeshua, have you forgotten all that you confessed, that you are not God, nor son of God, nor even the Messiah?”
Barnabas 206:2
Yeshua answered, “No, surely, I have not forgotten; for this is my confession which I will bear before the Judgement seat of God on the Day of Judgement. For all that is written in the Book of Moses is most true, inasmuch as God our Creator is God alone, and I am Gods’ servant and desire to serve Gods’ messenger whom you call Messiah.” The high priest said, “Then what boots it to come to the temple with so great a multitude of people? Do you seek perhaps, to make yourself king of Israel? Beware unless should some danger befall you!”
Barnabas 206:3
Yeshua answered, “If I sought my own glory and desired my portion in this world, I would not have fled when the people of Nain would fain have made me king. Believe me, truly, that I do not seek anything in this world.” Then the high priest said, “We want to know a thing concerning the Messiah.” And then the jews made a circle round about Yeshua.
Barnabas 206:4
Yeshua answered, “What is that thing which you seek to know about the Messiah? Perhaps it is the lie? Assuredly, I will not tell you the lie. For if I had said the lie, I would have been adored by you, and by the jews with all Israel; but because I tell you the truth, you hate me and seek to kill me.” The high priest said, “Now we know that you have the devil at your back; for you are a Samaritan, and have no respect for the priests of God.”
Barnabas 207:1
Yeshua answered, “As God lives, I do not have the devil at my back, but I seek to cast out the devil. Therefore, for this cause, the devil stirs up the world against me, because I am not of this world, but I seek that God may be glorified, who has sent me into the world. Listen therefore to me, and I will tell you who has the devil at his back. As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, he who works after the will of the devil, he has the devil at his back, who has put the bridle of his will on him and rules him at his pleasure, making him to run into every iniquity.
Barnabas 207:2
Even as a garment changes its name when it changes its owner, although it is all the same cloth, so also men, albeit they are all of one material, are different by reason of the works of him who works in the man. If I, (as I know) have sinned, why do you not rebuke me as a brother, instead of hating me as an enemy? Truly the members of a body succour one another when they are united with the head, and those who are cut off from the head give it no succour. For the hands of one body do not feel the pain of another bodys’ feet, but that of the body in which they are united.
Barnabas 207:3
As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, he who fears and loves God his Creator has the feeling of mercy over them over whom God his head has mercy; and seeing that God does not will the death of the sinner, but waits for each one to repent, if you were of that body wherein I am incorporate, as God lives, you would help me to work according to my head.
Barnabas 208:1
If I work iniquity, reprove me, and God will love you, because you will be doing His will, but if none can reprove me of sin, it is a sign that you are not sons of Abraham as you call yourselves, nor are you incorporate with that head wherein Abraham was incorporate. As God lives, Abraham so greatly loved God, that he not only broke the false idols in pieces and forsook his father, but was willing to slay his own son in obedience to God.” The high priest answered, “I ask this of you, and I do not seek to slay you, therefore tell us, who was this son of Abraham?”
Barnabas 208:2
Yeshua answered, “The zeal of Your honor, O God, inflames me, and I cannot hold my peace. Truly I say, the son of Abraham was Ishmael, whom the Messiah must be descended from, promised to Abraham, that all the tribes of the earth should be blessed in him.” Then the high priest was angry hearing this, and cried out, “Let us stone this impious fellow, for he is an Ishmaelite, and has spoken blasphemy against Moses and therefore against the law of God.”
Barnabas 208:3
Whereupon every jew with their elders among the people, took up stones to stone Yeshua, who vanished from their eyes and went out of the temple. And then, through the great desire that they had to slay Yeshua, blinded with fury and hatred, they struck one another in such ways that a thousand men died there; and they polluted the holy temple. The disciples and believers, who saw Yeshua go out of the temple (for he was not hidden from them) followed him to the house of Simon.
Barnabas 208:4
Thereupon, Nicodemus came there and counseled Yeshua to go out of Jerusalem beyond the brook Cedron, saying, “Lord, I have a garden with a house beyond the brook Cedron, I pray you, therefore, go there with some of your disciples, to wait there until this hatred of our priests has past; for I will minister to you what is necessary. And the multitude of disciples will leave you here in the house of Simon and in my house, for God will provide for all.” And Yeshua did this, desiring only to have the twelve first called apostles with him.
Barnabas 209:1
At this time, while the virgin Mary, mother of Yeshua, was standing in prayer, the angel Gabriel visited her and narrated the persecution of her son to her, saying, “Do not fear, Mary, for God will protect him from the world.” Mary, weeping, departed from Nazareth, and came to Jerusalem to the house of Mary Salome, her sister, seeking her son.
Barnabas 209:2
But since he had secretly retired beyond the brook Cedron, she was not able to see him anymore in this world; except after the deed of shame, for then the angel Gabriel, with the angels Michael, Rafael, and Uriel, by the command of God, brought him to her.
Barnabas 210:1
When the confusion in the temple ceased by the departure of Yeshua, the high priest ascended on high, and having beckoned for silence with his hands, he said, “Brethren, what do we do? Do you not see that he has deceived the whole world with his diabolical art? Now, how did he vanish, if he is not a magician? Assuredly, if he were a holy one and a prophet, he would not blaspheme against God and against Moses His servant, and against the Messiah, who is the hope of Israel. And what will I say? He has blasphemed all our priesthood, therefore, truly I say to you, if he is not removed from the world, Israel will be polluted, and our God will give us to the nations. Behold now, how by reason of him, this holy temple has been polluted.”
Barnabas 210:2
And the high priest spoke in such ways that many forsook Yeshua, therefore the secret persecution was converted into an open one, insomuch that the high priest went to Herod in person, and to the Roman governor, accusing Yeshua that he desired to make himself king of Israel, and they had false witnesses of this.
Barnabas 210:3
Thereupon, a general council was held against Yeshua, forasmuch as the decree of the Romans made them afraid. For so it was, that the Roman senate had sent a decree twice concerning Yeshua: in one decree it was forbidden, on pain of death, that anyone should call Yeshua of Nazareth, the prophet of the Israelites, neither God or son of God; it forbade, under capital sentence, that anyone should contend otherwise concerning Yeshua of Nazareth. Therefore, for this cause, there was a great division amongst them. Some desired that they should write again to Rome against Yeshua; others said that they should leave Yeshua alone, regardless of what he said, as of a fool; others adduced the great miracles that he did.
Barnabas 210:4
The high priest therefore spoke that, under pain of anathema, none should speak a word in defense of Yeshua; and he spoke to Herod, and to the governor, saying, “In any case, we have an ill venture in our hands, for if we slay this sinner, we have acted contrary to the decree of Caesar, and if we allow him to live and he makes himself king, how will the matter go?” Then Herod arose and threatened the governor, saying, “Beware, unless this country is rebellious through your favoring of that man, for I will accuse you before Caesar as a rebel.”
Barnabas 210:5
Then the governor feared the senate and made friends with Herod, (for they had hated one another to death before this) and they joined together for the death of Yeshua, and said to the high priest, “Whenever you will know where the malefactor is, send him to us, for we will give you soldiers.” This was done to fulfill the prophecy of David, who had foretold of Yeshua, prophet of Israel, saying, “The princes and kings of the earth are united against the holy one of Israel, because he announces the salvation of the world.” Thereupon, on that day, there was a general search for Yeshua throughout Jerusalem.
Barnabas 211:1
Yeshua, being in the house of Nicodemus, beyond the brook Cedron, comforted his disciples, saying, “The hour is near that I must depart from the world; console yourselves and do not be sad, seeing that where I go, I will not feel any tribulation. Now, will you be my friends if you are sad at my welfare? No, assuredly, but rather enemies. When the world will rejoice, be sad, because the rejoicing of the world is turned into weeping; but your sadness will be turned into joy, and no one will take your joy from you, for the rejoicing that the heart feels in God its Creator, the whole world can not take away. See that you do not forget the words which God has spoken to you by my mouth. Be my witnesses against everyone who will corrupt the witness that I have witnessed with my Gospel; against the world, and against the lovers of the world.”
Barnabas 212:1
Then lifting up his hands to the Lord, he prayed, saying, “YHWH our God, God of Abraham, God of Ishmael and Isaac, God of our fathers, have mercy upon those whom You have given me, and save them from the world. I do not say, take them from the world, because it is necessary that they will bear witness against those who will corrupt my Gospel. But I pray You to keep them from evil, so that on the Day of Your Judgement, they may come with me to bear witness against the world and against the house of Israel (Quran 4:41, 16:84, 16:89) that has corrupted Your testament.
Barnabas 212:2
Lord God, Almighty and Jealous, who takes vengeance upon idolatry against the sons of idolatrous fathers even to the fourth generation; eternally curse everyone who will corrupt my Gospel that You gave me, when they write that I am Your son. For I, clay and dust, am servant of Your servants, and I have never thought myself to be Your good servant; for I cannot give You anything in return for that which You have given me, for all things are Yours.
Barnabas 212:3
Lord God, the Merciful, who shows mercy to a thousand generations upon those who fear You, have mercy upon those who believe my words that You have given me. For even as You God are true, so is Your word true which I have spoken; for it is Yours, seeing I have always spoken as one who reads, who cannot read except that which is written in the book that he reads; even so have I spoken that which You have given me.
Barnabas 212:4
Lord God the Savior, save those whom You have given to me, in order that lucifer may not be able to do anything against them, and do not only save them, but everyone who will believe in them.
Barnabas 212:5
Lord, bountiful and rich in mercy, grant Your servant to be in the congregation of Your last messenger on the Day of Judgement, and not me only, but everyone whom You have given to me, with all those who will believe in me through their preaching. And do this, Lord, for Your own sake, so that lucifer does not boast himself against You, Lord.
Barnabas 212:6
Lord God, who, by Your providence, provides all things necessary for Your people Israel, be mindful of all the tribes of the earth, which You have promised to bless by Your last messenger, for whom You created the world. Have mercy on the world and speedily send Your last messenger, so that Your enemy lucifer may lose his empire.” And having said this, Yeshua said three times, “So be it, YHWH, Great and Merciful!” And they answered, weeping, “So be it,” all except Judas, for he believed nothing.
Barnabas 213:1
The day of Passover having come, Nicodemus sent food secretly to the garden for Yeshua and his disciples, announcing all that had been decreed by Herod with the governor and the high priest. Whereupon Yeshua rejoiced in spirit, saying, “Your holy name is blessed, O YHWH, because You have not separated me from the number of Your servants who have been persecuted by the world and slain. I thank You, my God, because I have fulfilled Your work.” And turning to Judas, he said to him, “Friend, why do you wait? My time is near, therefore go and do that which you must do.”
Barnabas 213:2
The disciples thought that Yeshua was sending Judas to buy something for the day of the Passover, but Yeshua knew that Judas was betraying him, therefore, desiring to depart from the world, he spoke so. Judas answered, “Lord, allow me to eat, and I will go.” “Let us eat,” Yeshua said, “For I have greatly desired to eat this last meal before I have parted from you.”
Barnabas 213:3
And having arisen, he took a towel and girded his loins, and having put water in a basin, he set himself to wash his disciples’ feet. Beginning from Judas, Yeshua came to Peter. Peter said, “Lord, would you wash my feet?” Yeshua answered, “That which I do, you do not know now, but you will know hereafter.” Peter answered, “You will never wash my feet.” (John 13:4-8) Then Yeshua rose up, and said, “Neither will you come in my company on the Day of Judgement.”
Barnabas 213:4
Peter answered, “Do not wash only my feet, Lord, but my hands and my head.” (John 13:9) the disciples were washed and seated at table to eat, Yeshua said, “I have washed you, yet you are not all clean, for as much as all the water of the sea will not wash him who does not believe me.” Yeshua said this, because he knew who was betraying him. The disciples were sad at these words, when Yeshua said again, “Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me, insomuch that I will be sold like a sheep; but woe to him, for he will fulfill all that our father David said of such a one, that ‘He will fall into the pit which he had prepared for others.'”
Barnabas 213:5
Whereupon the disciples looked one upon another, saying with sorrow, “Who will be the traitor?” Judas then said, “Will it be me, O master?” Yeshua answered, “You have told me who it will be who will betray me.” And the eleven apostles did not hear it. When the sup had been eaten, the devil came upon the back of Judas, and he went forth from the house, Yeshua saying to him again, “Do quickly that which you must do.”
Barnabas 214:1
Having gone forth from the house, Yeshua retired into the garden to pray, accordingly as his custom was to pray, bowing his knees a hundred times and prostrating himself upon his face. Judas, accordingly, knowing the place where Yeshua was with his disciples, went to the high priest and said, “If you will give me what was promised, I will give Yeshua into your hand this night, whom you seek; for he is alone with eleven companions.”
Barnabas 214:2
The high priest answered, “How much do you seek?” Judas said, “Thirty pieces of gold.” Then the high priest straightway counted the money to him, and sent a pharisee to the governor to fetch soldiers, and to Herod, and they gave a legion of them, because they feared the people; therefore they took their arms, and with torches and lanterns upon staves, went out of Jerusalem.
Barnabas 215:1
When the soldiers drew near with Judas to the place where Yeshua was, Yeshua heard the approach of many people, therefore he withdrew into the house in fear. And the eleven were sleeping. Then God, seeing the danger of His servant, commanded Gabriel, Michael, Rafael, and Uriel, His ministers, to take Yeshua out of the world.
Barnabas 215:2
The holy angels came and took Yeshua out by the window that looks toward the south. They bore him and placed him in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2) in the company of angels blessing God forevermore.
Barnabas 216:1
Judas entered impetuously before all into the chamber from where Yeshua had been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. Whereupon the wonderful God acted wonderfully, insomuch that Judas was so changed in speech and in face to be like Yeshua, that we believed him to be Yeshua. And he, having awakened us, was seeking where the master was. Whereupon we marveled and answered, “You, lord, are our master; have you now forgotten us?” And he, smiling, said, “Now are you foolish, who do not know me to be Judas Iscariot!”
Barnabas 216:2
And as he was saying this, the soldiery entered, and laid their hands upon Judas, because he was in every way like Yeshua. We, having heard Judas’ saying, and seeing the multitude of soldiers, fled as beside ourselves. And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked. For God heard the prayer of Yeshua, and saved the eleven from evil.
Barnabas 217:1
The soldiers took Judas and bound him, not without derision. For he truthfully denied that he was Yeshua; and the soldiers, mocking him, said, “Sir, do not fear, for we have come to make you king of Israel, and we have bound you because we know that you refuse the kingdom.” Judas answered, “Now you have lost your senses! You have come to take Yeshua of Nazareth, with arms and lanterns as against a robber; and you have bound me, who have guided you, to make me king!”
Barnabas 217:2
Then the soldiers lost their patience, and they began to flout Judas with blows and kicks, and they led him with fury into Jerusalem. John and Peter followed the soldiers afar off; and they affirmed to him who writes, that they saw all the examination that was made of Judas by the high priest, and by the council of the pharisees, who were assembled to put Yeshua to death. Whereupon Judas spoke many words of madness, insomuch that everyone was filled with laughter, believing that he was really Yeshua, and that he was feigning madness for fear of death. Whereupon the jew bound his eyes with a bandage, and mocking him said, “Yeshua, prophet of the Nazarenes (for they so called those who believed in Yeshua) “Tell us, who was it that struck you?” And they buffeted him and spat in his face.
Barnabas 217:3
When it was morning, a great many jews and their elders among the people assembled there; and the high priest sought false witness against Judas with their pharisees, believing him to be Yeshua, and they did not find that which they sought. And why do I say that the chief priests believed Judas to be Yeshua? No, all the disciples, with him who writes, believed it; and more, the poor virgin mother of Yeshua, with his kinsfolk and friends, believed it, insomuch that the sorrow of everyone was incredible.
Barnabas 217:4
As God lives, he who writes forgot all that Yeshua had said, how he should be taken up from the world, and that he should suffer in a third person, and that he should not die until near the end of the world. Therefore, he went with the mother of Yeshua and with John to the cross. The high priest caused Judas to be brought bound before him, and asked him of his disciples and his doctrine. Whereupon Judas, as though beside himself, answered nothing to the point. The high priest then adjured him by the living God of Israel that he would tell him the truth.
Barnabas 217:5
Judas answered, “I have told you that I am Judas Iscariot, who promised to give Yeshua the Nazarene into your hands; and you, by what, I do not know, are beside yourselves, for you will have it by every means that I am Yeshua.” The high priest answered, “O perverse seducer, you have deceived all Israel, beginning from Galilee even to Jerusalem here, with your doctrine and false miracles, and now you think to flee the merited punishment that befits you by feigning to be mad?
Barnabas 217:6
As God lives, you will not escape it!” And having said this, he commanded his servants to strike him with buffetings and kicks, so that his understanding might come back into his head. The derision which he then suffered at the hands of the high priests’ servants is past belief. For they zealously devised new inventions to give pleasure to the council. So they attired him as a juggler, and so treated him with hands and feet, so that it would have moved the very Canaanites to compassion if they had beheld that sight. But the chief priests and pharisees and elders of the people had their hearts so exasperated against Yeshua that, believing Judas to really be Yeshua, they took delight in seeing him treated so.
Barnabas 217:7
Afterward, they led him bound to the governor, who secretly loved Yeshua. Whereupon he, thinking that Judas was Yeshua, made him enter into his chamber, and spoke to him, asking him for what cause the chief priests and the people had given him into his hands. Judas answered, “If I tell you the truth, you will not believe me; for perhaps you are deceived as the (chief) priests and the pharisees are deceived.”
Barnabas 217:8
The governor answered, (thinking that he wished to speak concerning the law) “Now do you not know that I am not an Israelite? But the (chief) priests and the elders of your people have given you into my hand; therefore tell us the truth, whereby I may do what is just. For I have power to set you free and to put you to death.” Judas answered, “Sir, believe me, if you put me to death, you will do a great wrong, for you will slay an innocent person; seeing that I am Judas Iscariot, and not Yeshua, who is a magician, and by his art magic, has so transformed me.”
Barnabas 217:9
When he heard this, the governor marveled greatly, so that he sought to set him at liberty. The governor therefore went out, and smiling said, “In the one case, at least, this man is not worthy of death, but rather of compassion. This man says,” the governor said, “That he is not Yeshua, but a certain Judas who guided the soldiery to take Yeshua, and he says that Yeshua the Galilean has, by his art magic, so transformed him. Therefore, if this is true, it would be a great wrong to kill him, seeing that he would be innocent. But if he is Yeshua and denies that he is, assuredly he has lost his understanding, and it would be impious to slay a madman.”
Barnabas 217:10
Then the chief priests and elders of the jews, cried out with shouts, saying, “He is Yeshua of Nazareth, for we know him; for if he were not the malefactor, we would not have given him into your hands. Nor is he mad; but rather malignant, for with this device, he seeks to escape from our hands, and the sedition that he would stir up, if he should escape, would be worse than the former.” Pilate, (of such was the governors’ name) in order to rid himself of such a case, said, “He is a Galilean, and Herod is king of Galilee: therefore it does not pertain to me to judge such a case, so take him to Herod.”
Barnabas 217:11
Accordingly, they led Judas to Herod, who, of a long time, had desired that Yeshua should go to his house. But Yeshua had never been willing to go to his house, because Herod was of lucifers’ legions, and adored the false and lying gods, living after the manner of the unclean ones. Now when Judas had been led there, Herod asked him of many things, to which Judas gave no answers to the purpose, denying that he was Yeshua. Then Herod mocked him, with all his court, and caused him to be clad in white as the fools are clad, and sent him back to Pilate, saying to him, “Do not fail in justice to the people of Israel!” And Herod wrote this, because the chief priests of the jews had given him a good quantity of money. The governor, having heard that this was so from a servant of Herod, in order that he also might gain some money, feigned that he desired to set Judas at liberty.
Barnabas 217:12
Whereupon he caused him to be scourged by his slaves, who were paid by the jews to slay him under the scourges. But God, who had decreed the issue, reserved Judas for the cross, in order that he might suffer that horrible death to which he had sold another. He did not allow Judas to die under the scourges, notwithstanding, so that the soldiers scourged him so grievously that his body rained blood. Thereupon, in mockery, they clad him in an old purple garment, saying, “It is fitting to our new king to clothe and crown him;” so they gathered thorns and made a crown, like those of gold and precious stones which kings wear on their heads. And they placed this crown of thorns upon Judas’ head, putting a reed in his hand for a sceptre, and they made him sit in a high place.
Barnabas 217:13
And the soldiers came before him, bowing down in mockery, saluting him as King of the Jews. And they held out their hands to receive gifts, such as new kings are accustomed to give; and receiving nothing, they struck Judas, saying, “Now, how are you crowned, foolish king, if you will not pay your soldiers and servants?” The chief priests of the jews, seeing that Judas did not die by the scourges, and fearing unless Pilate should set him at liberty, made a gift of money to the governor, who, having received it, gave Judas to the jews as guilty to death. Whereupon they condemned two robbers with him to the death of the cross.
Barnabas 217:14
So they led him to Mount Calvary, where they used to hang malefactors, and they crucified him there naked, for the greater ignominy. Judas truly did nothing else but cry out, “God, why have you forsaken me, seeing the malefactor has escaped and I die unjustly?” Truly I say that the voice, the face, and the person of Judas were so like Yeshua, that his disciples and believers entirely believed that he was Yeshua; therefore some departed from the doctrine of Yeshua, believing that Yeshua had been a false prophet, and that he had done the miracles which he did by art magic; for Yeshua had said that he should not die till near the end of the world; for at that time, he should be taken away from the world.
Barnabas 217:15
But those who stood firm in the doctrine of Yeshua were so encompassed with sorrow, seeing him die, who was entirely like Yeshua, that they did not remember what Yeshua had said. And so in company with the mother of Yeshua, they went to Mount Calvary, and were not only present at the death of Judas, weeping continually, but by means of Nicodemus and Joseph of Abarimathia; they obtained the body of Judas from the governor to bury it. Whereupon, they took him down from the cross with such weeping as assuredly no one would believe, and buried him in the new sepulchre of Joseph; having wrapped him up in a hundred pounds of precious ointments.
Barnabas 218:1
Then each man returned to his house. He who writes, with John and James his brother, went with the mother of Yeshua; to Nazareth. Those disciples who did not fear God, went by night and stole the body of Judas and hid it, spreading a report that Yeshua had risen again; from which great confusion arose. The high priest then commanded, under pain of anathema, that no one should talk of Yeshua of Nazareth. And so a great persecution arose there, and many were stoned and many beaten, and many banished from the land, because they could not hold their peace on such a matter.
Barnabas 218:2
The news reached Nazareth how Yeshua, their fellow citizen, having died on the cross, had risen again. Whereupon, he who writes; prayed the mother of Yeshua; that she would be pleased to leave off weeping, because her son had risen again. Hearing this, the virgin Mary, weeping, said, “Let us go to Jerusalem to find my son. I will die content when I have seen him.”
Barnabas 219:1
The virgin returned to Jerusalem with him who writes, and James and John, on that day on which the decree of the high priest went forth. Whereupon, the virgin, who feared God, albeit she knew the decree of the high priest to be unjust, commanded those who dwelt with her to forget her son. Then how each one was affected! God who discerns the heart of men knows that between grief at the death of Judas, whom we believed to be Yeshua our master, and the desire to see him risen again, we were consumed with the mother of Yeshua.
Barnabas 219:2
So the angels, who were guardians of Mary, ascended to the third heaven, where Yeshua was in the company of angels, and recounted all to him. Therefore Yeshua prayed God that He would give him power to see his mother and his disciples. Then the Merciful God commanded His four favorite angels, who are Gabriel, Michael, Rafael, and Uriel, to bear Yeshua into his mothers’ house, and keep watch over him there for three days continually, allowing him only to be seen by those who believed in his doctrine.
Barnabas 219:3
Yeshua came, surrounded with splendor, to the room where Mary the virgin abode with her two sisters, and Martha and Mary Magdalen, and Lazarus, and him who writes, and John and James and Peter. Whereupon, they fell as dead through fear. And Yeshua lifted up his mother and the others from the ground, saying, “Do not fear, for I am Yeshua; and do not weep, for I am alive and not dead.” They remained, every one, for a long time beside himself at the presence of Yeshua, for they altogether believed that Yeshua was dead. Then the virgin, weeping, said, “Tell me, my son, why God, having given you power to raise the dead, allowed you to die, to the shame of your kinsfolk and friends, and to the shame of your doctrine? For everyone who loves you has been as dead.”
Barnabas 220:1
Yeshua replied, embracing his mother, “Believe me, mother, for truly I say to you that I have not been dead at all; for God has reserved me till near the end of the world.” And having said this, he prayed the four angels that they would manifest themselves, and give testimony how the matter had passed.
Barnabas 220:2
Thereupon the angels manifested themselves like four shining suns, insomuch that everyone again fell down as dead through fear. Then Yeshua gave four linen cloths to the angels so that they might cover themselves, in order that they might be seen and heard to speak by his mother and her companions. And having lifted each one up, he comforted them, saying, “These are the ministers of God: Gabriel, who announces Gods’ secrets; Michael, who fights against Gods’ enemies; Rafael, who receives the souls of those who die; and Uriel, who will call everyone to the Judgement of God at the Last Day. Then the four angels narrated to the virgin how God had sent for Yeshua, and had transformed Judas, so that he might suffer the punishment to which he had sold another.
Barnabas 220:3
Then he who writes said, “O master, is it lawful for me to question you now, as it was lawful for me when you dwelt with us?” Yeshua answered, “Ask what you please Barnabas, and I will answer you.” Then he who writes said, “O master, seeing that God is Merciful, why has He so tormented us, making us to believe that you were dead? And your mother has so wept for you that she has been near to death; and you, who are a holy one of God, God has allowed the calumny to fall on you that you were slain amongst robbers on the Mount Calvary?”
Barnabas 220:4
Yeshua answered, “Believe me Barnabas, that every sin, however small it is, God punishes with great punishment, seeing that God is offended at sin. Therefore, since my mother and my faithful disciples who were with me loved me a little with earthly love, the righteous God has willed to punish this love with the present grief, in order that it may not be punished in the flames of Hell. And though I have been innocent in the world, since men have called me ‘God,’ and ‘Son of God,’ YHWH Himself, in order that I not be mocked by the demons on the Day of Judgement, has willed that I be mocked by men in this world by the death of Judas, making all men to believe that I died upon the cross. And this mocking will continue until the advent of Muhammad, the last prophet of God, who, when he will come, will reveal this deception to those who believe in Gods’ law.” Having thus spoken, Yeshua said, “You are just, O Lord our God, because honor and glory belong to You Alone without end.”
Barnabas 221:1
Yeshua turned himself to him who writes and said, “Barnabas, see that by all means you write my Gospel concerning all that has happened through my dwelling in the world. And write in a similar manner that which has befallen Judas, in order that the faithful may be undeceived, and everyone may believe the truth.” Then he who writes answered, “I will do so, if God wills, O master; but I do not know what happened to Judas, for I did not see it.”
Barnabas 221:2
Yeshua answered, “Here are John and Peter who saw everything, and they will tell you all that has passed.” And then Yeshua commanded us to call his faithful disciples so that they might see him. So James and John called the seven disciples together with Nicodemus and Joseph, and many others of the seventy two, and they ate with Yeshua.
Barnabas 221:3
The third day, Yeshua said, “Go to the Mount of Olives with my mother, for I will ascend there again to heaven, and you will see who will bear me up.” So they all went there except twenty five of the seventy two disciples, who had fled to Damascus for fear. And as they all stood in prayer at midday, Yeshua came with a great multitude of angels who were praising God, and the splendor of his face made them greatly afraid and they fell with their faces to the ground. But Yeshua lifted them up, comforting them, and saying, “Do not be afraid, I am your master.”
Barnabas 221:4
And he reproved many who believed that he had died and risen again, saying, “Do you hold me and God for liars? I said to you that God has granted me to live almost to the end of the world. Truly I say to you, I did not die; it was Judas the traitor. Beware, for lucifer will make every effort to deceive you. Be my witnesses in Israel, and throughout the world, of all things that you have heard and seen.”
Barnabas 221:5
And having said this, he prayed to God for the salvation of the faithful, and the conversion of sinners and then when his prayer ended; he embraced his mother, saying, “Peace be to you, my mother. Rest in God who created you and me.” And having said this, he turned to his disciples, saying, “May Gods’ grace and mercy be with you.” Then before their eyes, the four angels carried him up into heaven.
Barnabas 222:1
After Yeshua had departed, the disciples scattered through the different parts of Israel and of the world, and the truth, hated by lucifer, was persecuted, as it always is, by falsehood. For certain evil men, pretending to be disciples, preached that Yeshua died and did not rise again. Others preached that he really died, but rose again. Others preached, and yet preach, that Yeshua is the son of God, among whom is Paul. But we, as much as I have written, we preach to those who fear God, so that they may be saved in the Last Day of Gods’ Judgement.