v 2.4

¹⁰ He rose up and went away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”

¹¹ And as she was going to bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg you, a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹² And she responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle. See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

¹³ And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your son.

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished, until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of the earth.’ ”

¹⁵ She went and acted in accord with the word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate. And from that day,

¹⁶ the jar of flour did not fail, and the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.

¹⁷ Now it happened that, after these things, the son of the woman who was the mother of the family became ill. And the sickness was very powerful, so that no breath remained in him.

¹⁸ Therefore, she said to Elijah: “What is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you entered to me, so that my iniquities would be remembered, and so that you would put to death my son?”

¹⁹ And Elijah said to her, “Give your son to me.” And he took him from her bosom, and he carried him to an upper room, where he himself was staying. And he placed him on his own bed.

²⁰ And he cried out to the Lord, and he said, “O Lord, my God, have you even afflicted the widow by whom I am, in a sense, sustained, so that you would put to death her son?”

²¹ And he stretched himself out beside the boy three times. And he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, let the soul of this boy, I beg you, return to his body.”

²² And the Lord heeded the voice of Elijah. And the soul of the boy returned to him, and he revived.

²³ And Elijah took the boy, and he brought him down from the upper room to the lower part of the house. And he gave him to his mother. And he said to her, “See, your son lives.”

²⁴ And the woman said to Elijah: “By this, I now realize that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”

¹⁶ And you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. But Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who is from Abelmeholah, you shall anoint to be a prophet in your place.

¹⁹ Therefore, Elijah, setting out from there, found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. And he himself was one of those who were plowing with the twelve yoke of oxen. And when Elijah had gone to him, he cast his mantle over him.

²⁰ And immediately, leaving behind the oxen, he ran after Elijah. And he said, “I beg you to let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him: “Go, and turn back. For what was mine to do, I have done concerning you.”

²¹ Then, turning back from him, he took a pair of oxen, and he slew them. And he cooked the flesh with the plow of the oxen. And he gave it to the people, and they ate. And rising up, he went and followed Elijah, and he ministered to him.

⁴ And he continued on, into the desert, for one day’s journey. And when he had arrived, and was sitting under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die. And he said: “It is enough for me, O Lord. Take my soul. For I am no better than my fathers.”

⁵ And he stretched himself out, and he slept deeply in the shadow of the juniper tree. And behold, an Angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him, “Rise up and eat.”

⁶ He looked, and behold, at his head was bread baked under ashes, and a container of water. Then he ate and drank, and again he slept deeply.

⁷ And the Angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him, and said to him: “Rise up, eat. For a great journey again stands before you.”

⁸ And he when he had risen up, he ate and drank. And he walked by the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights, as far as the mountain of God, Horeb.

⁹ And when he had arrived there, he stayed in a cave. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹¹ And he said to him, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by. And there was a great and strong wind, tearing apart the mountains, and crushing the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹² And after the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the whisper of a gentle breeze.

¹³ And when Elijah had heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, and going out, he stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there was a voice to him, saying: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he responded:

⁵ Then the Lord appeared to Solomon, through a dream in the night, saying, “Request whatever you wish, so that I may give it to you.”

⁷ And now, O Lord God, you have caused your servant to reign in place of David, my father. But I am a small child, and I am ignorant of my entrance and departure.

⁸ And your servant is in the midst of the people that you have chosen, an immense people, who are not able to be numbered or counted because of their multitude.

⁹ Therefore, give to your servant a teachable heart, so that he may be able to judge your people, and to discern between good and evil. For who will be able to judge this people, your people, who are so many?”

¹⁰ And the word was pleasing before the Lord, that Solomon had requested this kind of thing.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Solomon: “Since you have requested this word, and you have not asked for many days or for wealth for yourself, nor for the lives of your enemies, but instead you have requested for yourself wisdom in order to discern judgment:

¹² behold, I have done for you according to your words, and I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so much so that there has been no one like you before you, nor anyone who will rise up after you.

⁴¹ Moreover, the foreigner too, who is not of your people Israel, when he will have arrived from a distant land because of your name, for they shall hear about your great name, and your strong hand,

⁴² and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he arrives and prays in this place,

⁴³ you will listen in heaven, in the firmament of your dwelling place. And you will do all the things, for which that foreigner will have called upon you. So may all the peoples of the earth learn to fear your name, just as your people Israel do. And so may they show that your name has been invoked over this house, which I have built.

²⁰ And it happened that, in the course of days, Hannah conceived and bore a son. And she called his name Samuel, because she had requested him from the Lord.

²¹ Now her husband Elkanah ascended with his entire house, so that he might immolate to the Lord a solemn sacrifice, with his vow.

²² But Hannah did not go up. For she said to her husband, “I will not go, until the infant has been weaned, and until I may lead him, so that he may appear before the sight of the Lord, and may remain always there.”

²⁴ And after she had weaned him, she brought him with her, along with three calves, and three measures of flour, and a small bottle of wine, and she led him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. But the boy was still a young child.

²⁵ And they immolated a calf, and they presented the boy to Eli.

²⁶ And Hannah said: “I beg you, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before you here, praying to the Lord.

²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted to me my petition, which I asked of him.

²⁸ Because of this, I have also lent him to the Lord, for all the days when he shall be lent to the Lord.” And they adored the Lord in that place. And Hannah prayed, and she said:

¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: “How long will you mourn for Saul, though I have rejected him, so that he would not reign over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and approach, so that I may send you to Jesse of Bethlehem. For I have provided a king from among his sons for myself.”

⁶ And when they had entered, he saw Eliab, and he said, “Could he be the Christ in the sight of the Lord?”

⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel: “You should not look with favor on his face, nor on the height of his stature. For I have rejected him. Neither do I judge by the appearance of a man. For man sees those things that are apparent, but the Lord beholds the heart.”

¹⁰ And so Jesse brought his seven sons before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”

¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Could the sons now be completed?” But he responded, “There still remains a little one, and he pastures the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse: “Send and bring him. For we shall not recline to eat, until he arrives here.”

¹² Therefore, he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy, and beautiful to behold, and with a stately face. And the Lord said, “Rise up, anoint him! For it is he.”

¹³ Therefore, Samuel took the horn of oil, and he anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord was guiding David from that day and thereafter. And Samuel rose up, and he went away to Ramah.

² And Saul rose up, and he descended into the desert of Ziph, and with him three thousand elect men of Israel, so that he might seek David in the desert of Ziph.

⁷ Therefore, David and Abishai went to the people by night, and they found Saul lying down and sleeping in the tent, with his spear fixed in the ground at his head. And Abner and the people were sleeping all around him.

⁸ And Abishai said to David: “God has enclosed your enemy this day in your hands. Now therefore, I will pierce him with my lance, through to the ground, once, and there will not need to be a second.”

⁹ And David said to Abishai: “You shall not kill him. For who may extend his hand against the Christ of the Lord, and yet be innocent?”

¹² And so, David took the spear, and the cup of water that was at Saul’s head, and they went away. And there was no one who saw it, or realized it, or awakened, but they were all sleeping. For a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen over them.

¹³ And when David had crossed over to the opposite side, and had stood upon the top of the hill far away, so that there was a great interval between them,

²² And responding, David said: “Behold, the king’s spear. Let one of the servants of the king cross over and take it.

²³ And the Lord will repay each one according to his justice and faith. For the Lord has delivered you this day into my hand, but I was not willing to extend my hand against the Christ of the Lord.

³ And so, to prevent the lamp of God from going out, Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

⁴ And the Lord called Samuel. And responding, he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ And he ran to Eli, and he said, “Here I am. For you called me.” And he said: “I did not call. Return and sleep.” And he went away, and he slept.

⁶ And again, the Lord continued to call to Samuel. And rising up, Samuel went to Eli, and he said: “Here I am. For you called me.” And he responded: “I did not call you, my son. Return and sleep.”

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.

⁸ And the Lord continued, and he called to Samuel still a third time. And rising up, he went to Eli.

⁹ And he said: “Here I am. For you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy. And he said to Samuel: “Go and sleep. And if he calls to you from now on, you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” Therefore, Samuel went away, and he slept in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, just as he had called the other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” And Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

¹⁹ And Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.

¹⁴ Then too, all the leaders of the priests, with the people, transgressed iniquitously, in accord with all the abominations of the Gentiles. And they polluted the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Then the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising in the night and daily admonishing them. For he was lenient to his people and to his habitation.

¹⁶ But they ridiculed the messengers of God, and they gave little weight to his words, and they mocked the prophets, until the fury of the Lord ascended against his people, and there was no remedy.

¹⁹ The enemies set fire to the house of God, and they destroyed the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the towers. And whatever was precious, they demolished.

²⁰ If anyone had escaped from the sword, he was led into Babylon. And he served the king and his sons, until the king of Persia would command,

²¹ and the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah would be fulfilled, and the land would celebrate her Sabbaths. For during all the days of the desolation, she kept a Sabbath, until the seventy years were completed.

²² Then, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who commanded this to be proclaimed throughout his entire kingdom, and also in writing, saying:

²³ “Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he has instructed me that I should build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who among you is from his entire people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him ascend.”

⁴² Now a certain man arrived from Baal-Shalishah, carrying, for the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new grain in his satchel. But he said, “Give it to the people, so that they may eat.”

⁴³ And his servant responded to him, “What amount is this, that I should set it before a hundred men?” But he said again: “Give it to the people, so that they may eat. For thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat, and there shall be still more.’ ”

⁴⁴ And so, he set it before them. And they ate, and there was still more, in accord with the word of the Lord.

⁸ Now it happened that, on a certain day, Elisha passed by Shunem. And there was a great woman there, who took him to eat bread. And since he frequently passed by there, he turned aside to her house, so that he might eat bread.

⁹ And she said to her husband: “I have noticed that he is a holy man of God, who passes by us frequently.

¹⁰ Therefore, let us prepare a small upper room for him, and place a bed in it for him, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand, so that when he comes to us, he may stay there.”

¹¹ Then it happened that, on a certain day, arriving, he turned aside into the upper room, and he rested there.

¹⁴ And he said, “Then what does she want, that I might do for her?” And Gehazi said: “You need not ask. For she has no son, and her husband is elderly.”

¹⁵ And so, he instructed him to call her. And when she had been called, and was standing before the door,

¹⁶ he said to her, “At this time, and at this same hour, with life as a companion, you will have a son in your womb.” But she responded, “Do not, I ask you, my lord, a man of God, do not be willing to lie to your handmaid.”

¹⁴ So he descended and washed in the Jordan seven times, in accord with the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child. And he was made clean.

¹⁵ And returning to the man of God, with his entire retinue, he arrived, and stood before him, and he said: “Truly, I know there is no other God, in all the earth, except in Israel. And so I beg you to accept a blessing from your servant.”

¹⁶ But he responded, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And though he urged him strongly, he did not agree at all.

¹⁷ And Naaman said: “As you wish. But I beg you to grant to me, your servant, that I may take from here the burden of two mules from the ground. For your servant will no longer offer holocaust or victim to other gods, except to the Lord.

¹ And it happened also that seven brothers, united with their mother, were apprehended and compelled by the king to eat the flesh of swine against divine law, being tormented with scourges and whips.

² But one of them, who was first, spoke in this way: “What would you ask, or what would you want to learn from us? We are ready to die, rather than to betray the laws that our fathers received from God.”

⁹ And when he had reached his last breath, he spoke in this way: “You, indeed, O most wicked man, are destroying us in this present life. But the King of the world will raise us up, in eternal life at the resurrection, for we die on behalf of his laws.”

¹⁰ After this one, the third was ridiculed, and when he was asked, he quickly offered up his tongue, and he resolutely extended his hands.

¹¹ And he said with confidence, “I possess these from heaven, but, because of the laws of God, I now despise them, for I hope to receive them again from him.”

¹² So then, the king and those who were with him, wondered at the soul of this youth, because he considered the torments as if they were nothing.

¹³ And after he had died in this way, they afflicted the fourth with similar tortures.

¹⁴ And when he was about to die, he spoke in this way: “It is preferable, being put to death by men, to wait for hope from God, so as to be revived again by him. But the resurrection to life will not be for you.

⁷ But Nathan said to David: “You are that man. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

⁸ And I gave the house of your lord to you, and the wives of your lord into your bosom. And I gave the house of Israel and of Judah to you. And as if these things were small, I shall add much greater things to you.

⁹ Therefore, why have you despised the word of the Lord, so that you did evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. And you have taken his wife as a wife for yourself. And you have put him to death with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

¹⁰ For this reason, the sword shall not withdraw from your house, even perpetually, because you have despised me, and you have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite, so that she may be your wife.’

¹³ And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David: “The Lord has also taken away your sin. You shall not die.

¹ And all the tribes of Israel went to David in Hebron, saying: “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

² Moreover, yesterday and the day before, when Saul was king over us, you were the one leading out and leading back Israel. Then the Lord said to you, ‘You shall pasture my people Israel, and you shall be the leader over Israel.’ ”

³ Also, the elders of Israel went to the king at Hebron, and king David struck a pact with them at Hebron in the sight of the Lord. And they anointed David as king over Israel.

¹ Now it happened that, when the king had settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

² he said to the prophet Nathan, “Do you not see that I live in a house of cedar, and that the ark of God has been placed in the midst of tent skins?”

³ And Nathan said to the king: “Go, do all that is in your heart. For the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But it happened in that night, behold, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:

⁵ “Go, and say to my servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord: Should you build a house for me as a dwelling place?

⁸ And now, so shall you speak to my servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pastures, from following the sheep, so that you would be the leader over my people Israel.

⁹ And I have been with you everywhere that you walked. And I have slain all your enemies before your face. And I have made you a great name, beside the name of the great ones who are upon the earth.

¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall live there, and they shall no longer be disturbed. Neither shall the sons of iniquity continue to afflict them as before,

¹¹ from the day when I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give rest to you from all your enemies. And the Lord foretells to you that the Lord himself will make a house for you.

¹² And when your days will have been fulfilled, and you will sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will go forth from your loins, and I will make firm his kingdom.

¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And if he will commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and with the wounds of the sons of men.

¹⁶ And your house shall be faithful, and your kingdom shall be before your face, for eternity, and your throne shall be secure continuously.’ ”

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain, which is called Olivet, which is next to Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day’s journey.

¹³ And when they had entered into the cenacle, they ascended to the place where Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude of James, were staying.

¹⁴ All these were persevering with one accord in prayer with the women, and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

¹⁵ In those days, Peter, rising up in the midst of the brothers, said (now the crowd of men altogether was about one hundred and twenty):

¹⁶ “Noble brothers, the Scripture must be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit predicted by the mouth of David about Judas, who was the leader of those who apprehended Jesus.

¹⁷ He had been numbered among us, and he was chosen by lot for this ministry.

²⁰ For it has been written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let their dwelling place be desolate and may there be no one who dwells within it,’ and ‘Let another take his episcopate.’

²¹ Therefore, it is necessary that, out of these men who have been assembling with us throughout the entire time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

²² beginning from the baptism of John, until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these be made a witness with us of his Resurrection.”

²³ And they appointed two: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴ And praying, they said: “May you, O Lord, who knows the heart of everyone, reveal which one of these two you have chosen,

²⁵ to take a place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas prevaricated, so that he might go to his own place.”

²⁶ And they cast lots concerning them, and the lot fell upon Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.

²⁵ And it happened that, when Peter had entered, Cornelius went to meet him. And falling before his feet, he reverenced.

²⁶ Yet truly, Peter, lifting him up, said: “Rise up, for I also am only a man.”

³⁴ Then, Peter, opening his mouth, said: “I have concluded in truth that God is not a respecter of persons.

³⁵ But within every nation, whoever fears him and works justice is acceptable to him.

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell over all of those who were listening to the Word.

⁴⁵ And the faithful of the circumcision, who had arrived with Peter, were astonished that the grace of the Holy Spirit was also poured out upon the Gentiles.

⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.

⁴⁷ Then Peter responded, “How could anyone prohibit water, so that those who have received the Holy Spirit would not be baptized, just as we also have been?”

⁴⁸ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain with them for some days.

¹⁴ Yet truly, they, traveling on from Perga, arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. And upon entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down.

⁴³ And when the synagogue had been dismissed, many among the Jews and the new worshipers were following Paul and Barnabas. And they, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴ Yet truly, on the following Sabbath, nearly the entire city came together to hear the Word of God.

⁴⁵ Then the Jews, seeing the crowds, were filled with envy, and they, blaspheming, contradicted the things that were being said by Paul.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas said firmly: “It was necessary to speak the Word of God first to you. But because you reject it, and so judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷ For so has the Lord instructed us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸ Then the Gentiles, upon hearing this, were gladdened, and they were glorifying the Word of the Lord. And as many as believed were preordained to eternal life.

⁴⁹ Now the word of the Lord was disseminated throughout the entire region.

⁵⁰ But the Jews incited some devout and honest women, and the leaders of the city. And they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas. And they drove them away from their parts.

⁵¹ But they, shaking the dust from their feet against them, went on to Iconium.

⁵² The disciples were likewise filled with gladness and with the Holy Spirit.

²¹ strengthening the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them that they should remain always in the faith, and that it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations.

²² And when they had established priests for them in each church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed.

²³ And traveling by way of Pisidia, they arrived in Pamphylia.

²⁴ And having spoken the word of the Lord in Perga, they went down into Attalia.

²⁵ And from there, they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had now accomplished.

²⁶ And when they had arrived and had gathered together the church, they related what great things God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁷ And they remained for no small amount of time with the disciples.

¹ And certain ones, descending from Judea, were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas made no small uprising against them, they decided that Paul and Barnabas, and some from the opposing side, should go up to the Apostles and priests in Jerusalem concerning this question.

²² Then it pleased the Apostles and elders, with the whole Church, to choose men from among them, and to send to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, and Judas, who was surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, preeminent men among the brothers,

²³ what was written by their own hands: “The Apostles and elders, brothers, to those who are at Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, brothers from the Gentiles, greetings.

²⁴ Since we have heard that some, going out from among us, have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment,

²⁵ it pleased us, being assembled as one, to choose men and to send them to you, with our most beloved Barnabas and Paul:

²⁶ men who have handed over their lives on behalf of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷ Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves also will, with the spoken word, reaffirm to you the same things.

²⁸ For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose no further burden upon you, other than these necessary things:

²⁹ that you abstain from things immolated to idols, and from blood, and from what has been suffocated, and from fornication. You will do well to keep yourselves from these things. Farewell.”

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and he spoke to them: “Men of Judea, and all those who are staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and incline your ears to my words.

²² Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene is a man confirmed by God among you through the miracles and wonders and signs that God accomplished through him in your midst, just as you also know.

²³ This man, under the definitive plan and foreknowledge of God, was delivered by the hands of the unjust, afflicted, and put to death.

²⁴ And he whom God has raised up has broken the sorrows of Hell, for certainly it was impossible for him to be held by it.

²⁵ For David said about him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always in my sight, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be moved.

²⁶ Because of this, my heart has rejoiced, and my tongue has exulted. Moreover, my flesh shall also rest in hope.

²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.

²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life. You will completely fill me with happiness by your presence.’

²⁹ Noble brothers, permit me to speak freely to you about the Patriarch David: for he passed away and was buried, and his sepulcher is with us, even to this very day.

³⁰ Therefore, he was a prophet, for he knew that God had sworn an oath to him about the fruit of his loins, about the One who would sit upon his throne.

³¹ Foreseeing this, he was speaking about the Resurrection of the Christ. For he was neither left behind in Hell, nor did his flesh see corruption.

³² This Jesus, God raised up again, and of this we are all witnesses.

³³ Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the Promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured this out, just as you now see and hear.

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and he spoke to them: “Men of Judea, and all those who are staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and incline your ears to my words.

³⁶ Therefore, may the entire house of Israel know most certainly that God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ Now when they had heard these things, they were contrite in heart, and they said to Peter and to the other Apostles: “What should we do, noble brothers?”

³⁸ Yet truly, Peter said to them: “Do penance; and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the Promise is for you and for your sons, and for all who are far away: for whomever the Lord our God will have called.”

⁴⁰ And then, with very many other words, he testified and he exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this depraved generation.”

⁴¹ Therefore, those who accepted his discourse were baptized. And about three thousand souls were added on that day.

⁴² Now they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

⁴³ And fear developed in every soul. Also, many miracles and signs were accomplished by the Apostles in Jerusalem. And there was a great awe in everyone.

⁴⁴ And then all who believed were together, and they held all things in common.

⁴⁵ They were selling their possessions and belongings, and dividing them to all, just as any of them had need.

⁴⁶ Also, they continued, daily, to be of one accord in the temple and to break bread among the houses; and they took their meals with exultation and simplicity of heart,

⁴⁷ praising God greatly, and holding favor with all the people. And every day, the Lord increased those who were being saved among them.

¹³ The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus, whom you, indeed, handed over and denied before the face of Pilate, when he was giving judgment to release him.

¹⁴ Then you denied the Holy and Just One, and petitioned for a murderous man to be given to you.

¹⁵ Truly, it was the Author of Life whom you put to death, whom God raised from the dead, to whom we are witnesses.

¹⁷ And now, brothers, I know that you did this through ignorance, just as your leaders also did.

¹⁸ But in this way God has fulfilled the things that he announced beforehand through the mouth of all the Prophets: that his Christ would suffer.

¹⁹ Therefore, repent and be converted, so that your sins may be wiped away.

³² Then the multitude of believers were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things that he possessed were his own, but all things were common to them.

³³ And with great power, the Apostles were rendering testimony to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. And great grace was in them all.

³⁴ And neither was anyone among them in need. For as many as were owners of fields or houses, selling these, were bringing the proceeds of the things that they were selling,

³⁵ and were placing it before the feet of the Apostles. Then it was divided to each one, just as he had need.

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Leaders of the people and elders, listen.

⁹ If we today are judged by a good deed done to an infirm man, by which he has been made whole,

¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all of the people of Israel, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God has raised from the dead, by him, this man stands before you, healthy.

¹¹ He is the stone, which was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.

¹² And there is no salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which it is necessary for us to be saved.”

¹² And through the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were accomplished among the people. And they all met with one accord at Solomon’s portico.

¹³ And among the others, no one dared to join himself to them. But the people magnified them.

¹⁴ Now the multitude of men and women who believed in the Lord was ever increasing,

¹⁵ so much so that they laid the infirm in the streets, placing them on beds and stretchers, so that, as Peter arrived, at least his shadow might fall upon any one of them, and they would be freed from their infirmities.

¹⁶ But a multitude also hurried to Jerusalem from the neighboring cities, carrying the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all healed.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they stood them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

²⁸ and said: “We strongly order you not to teach in this name. For behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you wish to bring the blood of this man upon us.”

²⁹ But Peter and the Apostles responded by saying: “It is necessary to obey God, more so than men.

³⁰ The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a tree.

³¹ It is he whom God has exalted at his right hand as Ruler and Savior, so as to offer repentance and the remission of sins to Israel.

³² And we are witnesses of these things, with the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all who are obedient to him.”

⁴⁰ And calling in the Apostles, having beaten them, they warned them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus. And they dismissed them.

⁴¹ And indeed, they went forth from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer insult on behalf of the name of Jesus.

¹ In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing, there occurred a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were treated with disdain in the daily ministration.

² And so the twelve, calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: “It is not fair for us to leave behind the Word of God to serve at tables also.

³ Therefore, brothers, search among yourselves for seven men of good testimony, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, whom we may appoint over this work.

⁴ Yet truly, we will be continually in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.”

⁵ And the plan pleased the entire multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a new arrival from Antioch.

⁶ These they set before the sight of the Apostles, and while praying, they imposed hands on them.

⁷ And the Word of the Lord was increasing, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was multiplied exceedingly. And even a large group of the priests were obedient to the faith.

⁵⁵ But he, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and gazing intently toward heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁶ Then they, crying out with a loud voice, blocked their ears and, with one accord, rushed violently toward him.

⁵⁷ And driving him out, beyond the city, they stoned him. And witnesses placed their garments beside the feet of a youth, who was called Saul.

⁵⁸ And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁵⁹ Then, having been brought to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his murder.

⁵ Now Philip, descending to a city of Samaria, was preaching Christ to them.

⁶ And the crowd was listening intently and with one accord to those things which were being said by Philip, and they were watching the signs which he was accomplishing.

⁷ For many of them had unclean spirits, and, crying out with a loud voice, these departed from them.

⁸ And many of the paralytics and the lame were cured.

¹⁴ Now when the Apostles who were in Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵ And when they had arrived, they prayed for them, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶ For he had not yet come to any among them, since they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷ Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

²⁶ And when he had arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to join himself to the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

²⁷ But Barnabas took him aside and led him to the Apostles. And he explained to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how, in Damascus, he had acted faithfully in the name of Jesus.

²⁸ And he was with them, entering and departing Jerusalem, and acting faithfully in the name of the Lord.

²⁹ He also was speaking with the Gentiles and disputing with the Greeks. But they were seeking to kill him.

³⁰ And when the brothers had realized this, they brought him to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹ Certainly, the Church had peace throughout all of Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and it was being built up, while walking in the fear of the Lord, and it was being filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.

¹ Woe to you who have been wealthy in Zion, and to you who have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: aristocrats, heads of the people, who advance with a retinue into the house of Israel.

⁴ You sleep on beds of ivory, and you are lustful on your couches. You devour lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the herd.

⁵ You sing to the sound of stringed instruments; they consider themselves to have the musical abilities of David.

⁶ You drink wine in bowls, and you anoint with the best ointments; and they suffer nothing over the grief of Joseph.

⁷ Because of this, now they will depart at the head of those who go into captivity; and the faction of the lustful will be removed.

¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, “You, seer, go out and flee into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.

¹³ And in Bethel, do not prophesy any longer, because it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.”

¹⁴ And Amos responded, and he said to Amasias, “I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman plucking from wild fig trees.

¹⁵ And the Lord took me, when I was following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ”

⁴ Hear this, you who crush the poor and who make those in need of land to do without.

⁵ You say, “When will the first day of the month be over, so we can sell our wares, and the Sabbath, so we can open the grain: in order that we may decrease the measure, and increase the price, and substitute deceitful scales,

⁶ in order that we may possess the destitute with money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell even the refuse of the grain?”

⁷ The Lord has sworn by the arrogance of Jacob: I will not forget, even to the end, all their works.

¹ “ ‘Take off, O Jerusalem, the garment of your sorrow and troubles, and put on your beauty and the honor of that eternal glory, which you have from God.

² God will surround you with a double garment of justice, and he will set a crown on your head of everlasting honor.

³ For God will reveal his splendor in you to all who are under heaven.

⁴ For your name will be given to you by God for eternity: the peace of justice and the honor of piety.

⁵ Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand in exaltation, and look around towards the east, and see your sons, gathering together, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God.

⁶ For they went out from you on foot, led by the enemies, but the Lord will lead them to you, being carried in honor like sons of the kingdom.

⁷ For God has resolved to humble every high mountain and the longstanding cliffs, and to fill up the steep valleys in order to level the ground, so that Israel may walk diligently in the honor of God.

⁸ Yet the woods and every sweet-smelling tree have provided shade for Israel by the commandment of God.

⁹ For God will lead Israel with joy into the light of his majesty, with mercy and justice, which is from him.’ ”

¹ “But at that time Michael will rise up, the great leader, who stands up for the sons of your people. And a time will come, such as has not been from the time that nations began, even until that time. And, at that time, your people will be saved, all who will be found written in the book.

² And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken: some to everlasting life, and others to a reproach that they will always see.

³ But those who have taught will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who instruct many towards justice, like the stars for unending eternity.

¹³ I watched, therefore, in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man arrived, and he approached all the way to the Ancient of days, and they presented him before him.

¹⁴ And he gave him power, and honor, and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and languages will serve him. His power is an eternal power, which will not be taken away, and his kingdom, one which will not be corrupted.

¹⁸ Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes.

²⁶ Behold, I am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse.

²⁷ It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day.

²⁸ It will be a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now, and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known.

³² Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.”

¹⁵ The Lord your God will raise up for you a PROPHET from your nation and from your brothers, similar to me. You shall listen to him,

¹⁶ just as you petitioned of the Lord your God at Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and you said: ‘Let me no longer hear the voice of the Lord my God, and let me no longer see this very great fire, lest I die.’

¹⁷ And the Lord said to me: ‘They have spoken all these things well.

¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them, from the midst of their brothers, similar to you. And I will place my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all the things that I will instruct him.

¹⁹ But against anyone who is not willing to listen to his words, which he will speak in my name, I will stand forth as the avenger.

²⁰ But if a prophet, having been corrupted by arrogance, chooses to speak, in my name, things which I did not instruct him to say, or to speak in the name of foreign gods, he shall be put to death.

⁴ And the priest, taking up the basket from your hand, shall place it before the altar of the Lord your God.

⁵ And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your God: ‘The Syrian pursued my father, who descended into Egypt, and he sojourned there in a very small number, and he increased into a great and strong nation and into an innumerable multitude.

⁶ And the Egyptians afflicted us, and they persecuted us, imposing upon us the most grievous burdens.

⁷ And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers. He heard us, and he looked with favor upon our humiliation, and hardship, and distress.

⁸ And he led us away from Egypt, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with a mighty terror, with signs and wonders.

⁹ And he led us into this place, and he delivered to us the land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁰ And because of this, I now offer the first fruits of the land which the Lord has given to me.’ And you shall leave them in the sight of the Lord your God, and you shall adore the Lord your God.

¹⁰ but only if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep his precepts and ceremonies, which have been written in this law, and only if you return to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ This commandment, which I entrust to you today, is not high above you, nor has it been placed far away.

¹² Nor is it in heaven, so that you would be able to say, ‘Which of us can ascend to heaven, so as to carry it back to us, and so that we may hear it and fulfill it in deed?’

¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you would excuse yourself by saying, ‘Which of us is able to cross the sea, and to carry it back to us, so that we may be able to hear and to do what has been instructed?’

¹⁴ Instead, the word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.

¹ “And now, O Israel, listen to the precepts and judgments which I am teaching to you, so that, by doing these, you may live, and you may enter and possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give to you.

² You shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it. Preserve the commandments of the Lord your God which I am teaching to you.

⁶ And you shall observe and fulfill these in practice. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that, upon hearing all these precepts, they may say: ‘Lo, a wise and understanding people, a great nation.’

⁷ Neither is there any other nation so great, which has its gods so near to them, as our God is present to all our petitions.

⁸ For what other nation is there so renowned as to have ceremonies, and just judgments, and the entire law that I will set forth today before your eyes?

³² Inquire concerning the days of antiquity, which were before you, from the day when God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to another, if anything similar has ever occurred, or whether any such thing has ever been known,

³³ that a people would hear the voice of God, speaking from the midst of fire, just as you have heard it, and live,

³⁴ whether God has acted so as to enter and take for himself a nation from the midst of the nations, by means of tests, signs, and wonders, by means of fighting, and a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and terrible visions, in accord with all the things which the Lord your God has accomplished for you in Egypt, in the sight of your eyes.

³⁹ Therefore, know on this day and consider in your heart, that the Lord himself is God in heaven above, and on earth below, and there is no other.

⁴⁰ Keep his precepts and commandments, which I am teaching to you, so that it may be well with you, and with your sons after you, and so that you may remain for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.”

¹² Observe the day of the Sabbath, so that you may sanctify it, just as the Lord your God has instructed you.

¹³ For six days, you shall labor and do all your work.

¹⁴ The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it, nor shall your son, nor daughter, nor man servant, nor woman servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor the sojourner who is within your gates, so that your men and woman servants may rest, just as you do.

¹⁵ Remember that you also were servants in Egypt, and the Lord your God led you away from that place with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Because of this, he has instructed you so that you would observe the Sabbath day.

² So may you fear the Lord your God, and keep all his commandments and precepts, which I am entrusting to you, and to your sons and grandsons, all the days of your life, so that your days may be prolonged.

³ Listen and observe, O Israel, so that you may do just as the Lord has instructed you, and it may be well with you, and you may be multiplied all the more, for the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ Listen, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.

⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶ And these words, which I instruct to you this day, shall be in your heart.

⁶ For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you so that you would be his particular people out of all the peoples who are upon the earth.

⁷ It is not because you surpass all the nations in number that the Lord has joined with you and has chosen you, for you are the least numerous of any people.

⁸ But it is because the Lord has loved you, and has kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers. And he has led you away with a strong hand, and he has redeemed you from the house of servitude, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

⁹ And you shall know that the Lord your God himself is a strong and faithful God, preserving his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and those who keep his precepts for a thousand generations,

¹⁰ and promptly repaying those who hate him, so as to utterly ruin them, without further delay, quickly rendering to them what they deserve.

¹¹ Therefore, keep the precepts and ceremonies as well as the judgments, which I command to you this day, so that you may do them.

² And you shall remember the entire journey along which the Lord your God led you, for forty years through the desert, to afflict you, and to test you, and to make known the things that were turning in your soul, whether or not you would keep his commandments.

³ He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God.

¹⁴ your heart might be lifted up, and you might not remember the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude,

¹⁵ and who was your leader in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there was the serpent with a burning breath, and the scorpion, and the snake of thirst, and no waters at all. He led streams out of the hardest rock,

¹⁶ and he nourished you in the wilderness with Manna, which your fathers had not known. And after he had afflicted and tested you, in the very end, he took pity on you.

² Ecclesiastes said: Vanity of vanities! Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity!

²¹ For when someone labors in wisdom, and doctrine, and prudence, he leaves behind what he has obtained to one who is idle. So this, too, is emptiness and a great burden.

²² For how can a man benefit from all his labor and affliction of spirit, by which he has been tormented under the sun?

²³ All his days have been filled with sorrows and hardships; neither does he rest his mind, even in the night. And is this not emptiness?

² And the entire congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

³ And the sons of Israel said to them: “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat around bowls of meat and ate bread until filled. Why have you led us away, into this desert, so that you might kill the entire multitude with famine?”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Let the people go out and collect what is sufficient for each day, so that I may test them, as to whether or not they will walk in my law.

¹² “I have heard the murmuring of the sons of Israel. Say to them: ‘In the evening, you will eat flesh, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Therefore, it happened in the evening: quails, rising up, covered the camp. Likewise, in the morning, a dew lay all around the camp.

¹⁴ And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared, in the wilderness, small and as if crushed with a pestle, similar to hoar-frost on the ground.

¹⁵ When the sons of Israel had seen it, they said one to another: “Manhu?” which means “What is this?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them: “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

³ And so the people were thirsty in that place, due to the scarcity of water, and they murmured against Moses, saying: “Why did you cause us to go out of Egypt, so as to kill us and our children, as well as our cattle, with thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: “What shall I do with this people? A little while more and they will stone me.”

⁵ And the Lord said to Moses: “Go before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in your hand the staff, with which you struck the river, and advance.

⁶ Lo, I will stand in that place before you, on the rock of Horeb. And you shall strike the rock, and water will go forth from it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

⁷ And he called the name of that place ‘Temptation,’ because of the arguing of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying: “Is the Lord with us, or not?”

⁸ And Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim.

⁹ And Moses said to Joshua: “Choose men. And when you go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”

¹⁰ Joshua did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalek. But Moses and Aaron and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.

¹¹ And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed. But when he released them a little while, Amalek overcame.

¹² Then the hands of Moses became heavy. And so, taking a stone, they placed it beneath him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur sustained his hands from both sides. And it happened that his hands did not tire until the setting of the sun.

¹³ And Joshua put to flight Amalek and his people by the edge of the sword.

² Thus, setting out from Raphidim, and going directly to the desert of Sinai, they encamped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents away from the region of the mountain.

³ Then Moses ascended to God. And the Lord called to him from the mountain, and he said: “This you shall say to the house of Jacob, and announce to the sons of Israel:

⁴ ‘You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, in what way I carried you upon the wings of eagles and how I have taken you for myself.

⁵ If, therefore, you will hear my voice, and you will keep my covenant, you will be to me a particular possession out of all people. For all the earth is mine.

⁶ And you will be to me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the sons of Israel.”

¹ And the Lord spoke all these words:

² “I am the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, out of the house of servitude.

³ You shall not have strange gods before me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on earth below, nor of those things which are in the waters under the earth.

⁵ You shall not adore them, nor shall you worship them. I am the Lord your God: strong, zealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

⁶ and showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my precepts.

⁷ You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will not hold harmless one who takes the name of the Lord his God falsely.

⁸ Remember that you are to sanctify the day of the Sabbath.

⁹ For six days, you will work and accomplish all your tasks.

¹⁰ But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it: you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, your beast and the newcomer who is within your gates.

¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all the things that are in them, and so he rested on the seventh day. For this reason, the Lord has blessed the day of the Sabbath and sanctified it.

¹² Honor your father and your mother, so that you may have a long life upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.

¹³ You shall not murder.

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; neither shall you desire his wife, nor male servant, nor female servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor anything that is his.”

²⁰ Whoever immolates to gods, other than to the Lord, shall be killed.

²¹ You shall not harass the newcomer, nor shall you afflict him. For you yourselves were once newcomers in the land of Egypt.

²² You shall not harm a widow or an orphan.

²³ If you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry.

²⁴ And my fury will be enraged, and I will strike you down with the sword. And your wives will become widows, and your sons will become orphans.

²⁵ If you lend money to the poor of my people who live among you, you shall not coerce them like a collector, nor oppress them with usury.

²⁶ If you take a garment from your neighbor as a pledge, you shall return it to him again before the setting of the sun.

³ Therefore, Moses went and explained to the people all the words of the Lord, as well as the judgments. And all the people responded with one voice: “We will do all the words of the Lord, which he has spoken.”

⁴ Then Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And rising up in the morning, he built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve titles according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

⁵ And he sent youths from the sons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and they immolated calves as peace-offerings to the Lord.

⁶ And so Moses took one half part of the blood, and he put it into bowls. Then the remaining part he poured over the altar.

⁷ And taking up the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of the people, who said: “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient.”

⁸ In truth, taking up the blood, he sprinkled it on the people, and he said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has formed with you concerning all these words.”

¹ Now Moses was pasturing the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Midian. And when he had driven the flock into the interior of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb.

² And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he saw that the bush was burning and was not burnt.

³ Therefore, Moses said, “I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

⁴ Then the Lord, discerning that he proceeded on to see it, called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he responded, “Here I am.”

⁵ And he said: “Lest you should approach here, remove the shoes from your feet. For the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he dared not look directly at God.

⁷ And the Lord said to him: “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their outcry because of the harshness of those who are over the works.

⁸ And knowing their sorrow, I have descended in order to free them from the hands of the Egyptians, and to lead them from that land into a good and spacious land, into a land which flows with milk and honey, to the places of the Canaanite, and Hittite, and Amorite, and Perizzite, and Hivite, and Jebusite.

¹³ Moses said to God: “Behold, I will go to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ If they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM.” He said: “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘HE WHO IS has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵ And God said again to Moses: “Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is the name for me in eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.

⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Go, descend. Your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, have sinned.

⁸ They have quickly withdrawn from the way which you revealed to them. And they have made for themselves a molten calf, and they have worshiped it. And immolating victims to it, they have said: ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁹ And again, the Lord said to Moses: “I discern that this people is stiff-necked.

¹⁰ Release me, so that my fury may be enraged against them, and I may destroy them, and then I will make of you a great nation.”

¹¹ Then Moses prayed to the Lord his God, saying: “Why, O Lord, is your fury enraged against your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt, with great strength and with a mighty hand?

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self, saying: ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And this entire land, about which I have spoken, I will give to your offspring. And you shall possess it forever.’ ”

¹⁴ And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.

⁴ And so he cut out two tablets of stone, like those that were before. And rising up in the night, he ascended onto Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had instructed him, carrying with him the tablets.

⁵ And when the Lord had descended in a cloud, Moses stood with him, calling upon the name of the Lord.

⁶ And as he was crossing before him, he said: “The Ruler, the Lord God, merciful and lenient, patient and full of compassion and also truthful,

⁸ And hurrying, Moses bowed down prostrate to the ground; and worshiping,

⁹ he said: “If I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, I beg you to walk with us, (for the people are stiff-necked) and take away our iniquities and our sin, and so possess us.”

²² Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take from the kernel of the exalted cedar, and I will establish it. I will tear off a tender twig from the top of its branches, and I will plant it on a mountain, lofty and exalted.

²³ On the sublime mountains of Israel, I will plant it. And it shall spring forth in buds and bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar. And all the birds will live under it, and every bird will make its nest under the shadow of its branches.

²⁴ And all the trees of the regions will know that I, the Lord, have brought low the sublime tree, and have exalted the lowly tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have caused the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken and acted.”

²⁵ And you have said, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Therefore, listen, O house of Israel. How could it be that my way is not fair? And is it not instead your ways that are perverse?

²⁶ For when the just man turns himself away from his justice, and commits iniquity, he shall die by this; by the injustice that he has worked, he shall die.

²⁷ And when the impious man turns himself away from his impiety, which he has done, and accomplishes judgment and justice, he shall cause his own soul to live.

²⁸ For by considering and turning himself away from all his iniquities, which he has worked, he shall certainly live, and he shall not die.

² And after this was spoken to me, the Spirit entered into me, and he set me on my feet. And I heard him speaking to me,

³ and saying: “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to an apostate nation, which has withdrawn from me. They and their fathers have betrayed my covenant, even to this day.

⁴ And those to whom I am sending you are sons with a hard face and an unyielding heart. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

⁵ Perhaps it may be that they will hear, and perhaps they may be quieted. For they are a provoking house. And they shall know that there has been a prophet in their midst.

⁷ And as for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore, having heard the word from my mouth, you shall announce it to them from me.

⁸ When I say to the impious, ‘O impious man, you will die a death,’ if you have not spoken so that the impious man will keep himself from his way, then that impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his blood to your hand.

⁹ But if you have announced to the impious man, so that he may be converted from his ways, and he has not converted from his way, then he will die in his iniquity. Yet you will have freed your own soul.

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and I myself will visit them.

¹² Just as a shepherd visits his flock, in the day when he will be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep. And I will deliver them from all the places to which they had been scattered in the day of gloom and darkness.

¹⁵ I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.

¹⁶ I will seek what had been lost. And I will lead back again what had been cast aside. And I will bind up what had been broken. And I will strengthen what had been infirm. And I will preserve what was fat and strong. And I will feed them on judgment.

¹⁷ But as for you, O my flocks, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, among rams and among he-goats.

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and I myself will visit them.

¹² Just as a shepherd visits his flock, in the day when he will be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep. And I will deliver them from all the places to which they had been scattered in the day of gloom and darkness.

¹³ And I will lead them away from the peoples, and I will gather them from the lands, and I will bring them into their own land. And I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the settlements of the land.

¹⁴ I will feed them in very fertile pastures, and their pastures will be on the lofty mountains of Israel. There they will rest on the green grass, and they will be fed in the fat pastures, on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.

¹⁶ I will seek what had been lost. And I will lead back again what had been cast aside. And I will bind up what had been broken. And I will strengthen what had been infirm. And I will preserve what was fat and strong. And I will feed them on judgment.

¹² Because of this, prophesy, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your tombs, and I will lead you away from your sepulchers, O my people. And I will lead you into the land of Israel.

¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have opened your sepulchers, and when I will have led you away from your tombs, O my people.

¹⁴ And I will place my Spirit within you, and you shall live. And I will cause you to rest upon your own soil. And you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and acted, says the Lord God.”

¹ Then the Lord said to Abram: “Depart from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, and come into the land that I will show you.

² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed.

³ I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

⁴ And so Abram departed just as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

¹⁸ Then in truth, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, for he was a priest of the Most High God;

¹⁹ he blessed him, and he said: “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, who created heaven and earth.

²⁰ And blessed be the Most High God, through whose protection the enemies are in your hands.” And he gave him tithes from everything.

¹ And so, these things having been transacted, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your protector, and your reward is exceedingly great.”

² And Abram said: “Lord God, what will you give to me? I may go without children. And the son of the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.”

³ And Abram added: “Yet to me you have not given offspring. And behold, my servant born in my house will be my heir.”

⁴ And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: “This one will not be your heir. But he who will come from your loins, the same will you have for your heir.”

⁵ And he brought him outside, and he said to him, “Take in the heavens, and number the stars, if you can.” And he said to him, “So also will your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

¹ Then the Lord visited Sarah, just as he had promised; and he fulfilled what he had spoken.

² And she conceived and gave birth to a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold to her.

³ And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sarah bore for him, Isaac.

⁵ And he brought him outside, and he said to him, “Take in the heavens, and number the stars, if you can.” And he said to him, “So also will your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

⁷ And he said to him, “I am the Lord who led you away from Ur of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land, and so that you would possess it.”

⁸ But he said, “Lord God, in what way may I be able to know that I will possess it?”

⁹ And the Lord responded by saying: “Take for me a cow of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, also a turtle-dove and a pigeon.”

¹⁰ Taking all these, he divided them through the middle, and placed both parts opposite one another. But the birds he did not divide.

¹¹ And birds descended upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹² And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a dread, great and dark, invaded him.

¹⁷ Then, when the sun had set, there came a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

¹⁸ On that day, God formed a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great river Euphrates:

¹ Then the Lord appeared to him, in the steep valley of Mamre, when he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.

² And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men, standing near him. When he had seen them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and he reverenced them on the ground.

³ And he said: “If I, O lord, have found grace in your eyes, do not pass by your servant.

⁴ But I will bring a little water, and you may wash your feet and rest under the tree.

⁵ And I will set out a meal of bread, so that you may strengthen your heart; after this you will pass on. It is for this reason that you have turned aside to your servant.” And they said, “Do as you have spoken.”

⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and he said to her, “Quickly, mix together three measures of the finest wheat flour and make loaves baked under the ashes.”

⁷ In truth, he himself ran to the herd, and he took a calf from there, very tender and very good, and he gave it to a servant, who hurried and boiled it.

⁸ Likewise, he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and he placed it before them. Yet truly, he himself stood near them under the tree.

⁹ And when they had eaten, they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He answered, “Behold, she is in the tent.”

¹⁰ And he said to him, “When returning, I will come to you at this time, with life as a companion, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Hearing this, Sarah laughed behind the door of the tent.

²⁰ And so the Lord said, “The outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah has been multiplied, and their sin has become exceedingly grievous.

²¹ I will descend and see whether they have fulfilled the work of the outcry that has reached me, or whether it is not so, in order that I may know.”

²² And they turned themselves from there, and they went toward Sodom. Yet in truth, Abraham still stood in the sight of the Lord.

²³ And as they drew near, he said: “Will you destroy the just with the impious?

²⁴ If there were fifty of the just in the city, will they perish with the rest? And will you not spare that place for the sake of fifty of the just, if they were in it?

²⁵ Far be it from you to do this thing, and to kill the just with the impious, and for the just to be treated like the impious. No, this is not like you. You judge all the earth; you would never make such a judgment.”

²⁶ And the Lord said to him, “If I find in Sodom fifty of the just in the midst of the city, I will release the entire place because of them.”

²⁷ And Abraham responded by saying: “Since now I have begun, I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes.

²⁸ What if there were five less than fifty of the just? Would you, despite the forty-five, eliminate the entire city?” And he said, “I will not eliminate it, if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹ And again he said to him, “But if forty were found there, what would you do?” He said, “I will not strike, for the sake of the forty.”

³⁰ “I ask you,” he said, “not to be angry, Lord, if I speak. What if thirty were found there?” He responded, “I will not act, if I find thirty there.”

³¹ “Since now I have begun,” he said, “I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty were found there?” He said, “I will not put to death, for the sake of the twenty.”

³² “I beg you,” he said, “not to be angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more. What if ten were found there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

¹⁸ The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”

¹⁹ Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature, that would be its name.

²⁰ And Adam called each of the living things by their names: all the flying creatures of the air, and all the wild beasts of the land. Yet truly, for Adam, there was not found a helper similar to himself.

²¹ And so the Lord God sent a deep sleep upon Adam. And when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and he completed it with flesh for it.

²² And the Lord God built up the rib, which he took from Adam, into a woman. And he led her to Adam.

²³ And Adam said: “Now this is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh. This one shall be called woman, because she was taken from man.”

²⁴ For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.

⁷ And then the Lord God formed man from the clay of the earth, and he breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a Paradise of enjoyment from the beginning. In it, he placed the man whom he had formed.

⁹ And from the soil the Lord God produced every tree that was beautiful to behold and pleasant to eat. And even the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹ However, the serpent was more crafty than any of the creatures of the earth that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Why has God instructed you, that you should not eat from every tree of Paradise?”

² The woman responded to him: “From the fruit of the trees which are in Paradise, we eat.

³ Yet truly, from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, God has instructed us that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we may die.”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman: “By no means will you die a death.

⁵ For God knows that, on whatever day you will eat from it, your eyes will be opened; and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ And so the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and beautiful to the eyes, and delightful to consider. And she took from its fruit, and she ate. And she gave to her husband, who ate.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened. And when they realized themselves to be naked, they joined together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

¹ After these things occurred, God tested Abraham, and he said to him, “Abraham, Abraham.” And he answered, “Here I am.”

² He said to him: “Take your only begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of vision. And there you shall offer him as a holocaust upon one of the mountains, which I will show to you.”

⁹ And they came to the place that God had shown to him. There he built an altar, and he set the wood in order upon it. And when he had bound his son Isaac, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

¹⁰ And he reached out his hand and took hold of the sword, in order to sacrifice his son.

¹¹ And behold, an Angel of the Lord called out from heaven, saying, “Abraham, Abraham.” And he answered, “Here I am.”

¹² And he said to him, “Do not extend your hand over the boy, and do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, since you have not spared your only begotten son for my sake.”

¹³ Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw behind his back a ram among the thorns, caught by the horns, which he took and offered as a holocaust, instead of his son.

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called out to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:

¹⁶ “By my own self, I have sworn, says the Lord. Because you have done this thing, and have not spared your only begotten son for my sake,

¹⁷ I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.

¹⁸ And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed my voice.”

⁹ And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: “Where are you?”

¹⁰ And he said, “I heard your voice in Paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and so I hid myself.”

¹¹ He said to him, “Then who told you that you were naked, if you have not eaten of the tree from which I instructed you that you should not eat?”

¹² And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ And the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed among all living things, even the wild beasts of the earth. Upon your breast shall you travel, and the ground shall you eat, all the days of your life.

¹⁵ I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. She will crush your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.”

⁸ To Noah and to his sons with him, God also said this:

⁹ “Behold, I will establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,

¹⁰ and with every living soul that is with you: as much with the birds as with the cattle and all the animals of the earth that have gone forth from the ark, and with all the wild beasts of the earth.

¹¹ I will establish my covenant with you, and no longer will all that is flesh be put to death by the waters of a great flood, and, henceforth, there will not be a great flood to utterly destroy the earth.”

¹² And God said: “This is the sign of the pact that I grant between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.

¹³ I will place my arc in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the pact between myself and the earth.

¹⁴ And when I obscure the sky with clouds, my arc will appear in the clouds.

¹⁵ And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that enlivens flesh. And there will no longer be waters from a great flood to wipe away all that is flesh.

² How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and you will not save?

³ Why have you revealed to me iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more powerful.

² And the Lord responded to me and said: Write the vision and explain it on tablets, so that he who reads it may run through it.

³ For as yet the vision is far off, and it will appear in the end, and it will not lie. If it expresses any delay, wait for it. For it is arriving and it will arrive, and it will not be hindered.

⁴ Behold, he who is unbelieving, his soul will not be right within himself; but he who is just shall live in his faith.

¹ Just as the morning passes, so has the king of Israel passed by. For Israel was a child and I loved him; and out of Egypt I called my son.

³ And I was like a foster father to Ephraim. I carried them in my arms. And they did not know that I healed them.

⁴ I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. And I will be to them like one who raises the yoke over their jaws. And I will reach down to him so that he may eat.

⁸ How will I provide for you, Ephraim; how will I protect you, Israel? How will I provide for you as for Adam; will I set you like Zeboiim? My heart has changed within me; together with my regret, it has been stirred up.

⁹ I will not act on the fury of my wrath. I will not turn back to utterly destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Divine in your midst, and I will not advance upon the city.

¹⁶ And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’

¹⁷ And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.

²¹ And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,” says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the earth.

²² And the land will pay attention to the grain, and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.

³ He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his sight. We will understand, and we will continue on, so that we may know the Lord. His landing place has been prepared like the first light of morning, and he will come to us like the early and the late rains of the land.

⁴ What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your mercy is like the morning mist, and like the dew passing away in the morning.

⁵ Because of this, I have cut them with the prophets, I have slain them with the words of my mouth; and your opinions will depart like the light.

⁶ For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than holocausts.

¹ And a rod will go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will ascend from his root.

² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety.

³ And he will be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He will not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.

⁴ Instead, he will judge the poor with justice, and he will reprove the meek of the earth with fairness. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he will slay the impious with the spirit of his lips.

⁵ And justice will be the belt around his waist. And faith will be the warrior’s belt at his side.

⁶ The wolf will dwell with the lamb; and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the sheep will abide together; and a little boy will drive them.

⁷ The calf and the bear will feed together; their young ones will rest together. And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸ And a breastfeeding infant will play above the lair of the asp. And a child who has been weaned will thrust his hand into the den of the king snake.

⁹ They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain. For the earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters covering the sea.

¹⁰ In that day, the root of Jesse, who stands as a sign among the people, the same the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulcher will be glorious.

¹ The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² And in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared at the summit of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.

³ And many peoples will go, and they will say: “Let us approach and ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

⁴ And he will judge the nations, and he will rebuke many peoples. And they shall forge their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they continue to train for battle.

⁵ O house of Jacob, let us approach and walk in the light of the Lord.

¹⁹ And I will expel you from your station, and I will depose you from your ministry.

²⁰ And this shall be in that day: I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah.

²¹ And I will clothe him with your vestment, and I will strengthen him with your belt, and I will give your authority to his hand. And he shall be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²² And I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder. And when he opens, no one will close. And when he closes, no one will open.

²³ And I will fasten him like a peg in a trustworthy place. And he will be upon a throne of glory in the house of his father.

⁶ And the Lord of hosts will cause all the peoples on this mountain to feast on fatness, to feast on wine, a fatness full of marrow, a purified wine.

⁷ And he will cast down violently, on this mountain, the face of the chains, with which all peoples had been bound, and the net, with which all nations had been covered.

⁸ He will violently cast down death forever. And the Lord God will take away the tears from every face, and he will take away the disgrace of his people from the entire earth. For the Lord has spoken it.

⁹ And they will say in that day: “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord! We have endured for him. We will exult and rejoice in his salvation.”

¹⁰ For the hand of the Lord will rest upon this mountain. And Moab will be trampled under him, just as stubble is worn away by a wagon.

¹ The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily.

² It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.

³ Strengthen the lax hands, and confirm the weak knees!

⁴ Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.”

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.

⁶ Then the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places.

¹⁰ And the redeemed of the Lord will be converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.

⁴ Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.”

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.

⁶ Then the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places.

⁷ And the land that was dry will have a pond, and the thirsty land will have fountains of water. In the hollows where the serpents lived before, there will rise up the greenery of reed and bulrush.

¹ “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.

² Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.

³ The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.

⁴ Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.

⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁹ You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.

¹¹ He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.

¹ “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!” says your God.

² Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.

³ The voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.

⁴ Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways.

⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁹ You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!”

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.

¹¹ He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young.

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord, who gave you a way through the sea and a path through the torrent of waters,

¹⁷ who led out the chariot and the horse, the column of robust troops. They went to sleep together, and they will not arise. They have been crushed like flax, and they have been extinguished.

¹⁸ You need not call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.

¹⁹ Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an impassible place.

²⁰ The wild beasts of the field will glorify me, with the serpents and the ostriches. For I have brought waters to the desert, rivers to inaccessible places, in order to give drink to my people, to my elect.

²¹ This is the people whom I have formed for myself. They will speak my praise.

¹⁸ You need not call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.

¹⁹ Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an impassible place.

²¹ This is the people whom I have formed for myself. They will speak my praise.

²² But you have not called upon me, O Jacob, nor have you struggled for me, O Israel.

²⁴ You have bought me no sweet cane with money, and you have not inebriated me with the fat of your victims. Yet truly, you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

²⁵ I am. I am the very One who wipes away your iniquities for my own sake. And I will not remember your sins.

¹ Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I hold, so that I may subjugate the nations before his face, and I may turn the backs of kings, and I may open the doors before him, and so that the gates will not be shut.

⁴ For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my elect, I have even called you by your name. I have taken you up, and you have not known me.

⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no one else. There is no god beside me. I girded you, and you have not known me.

⁶ So may those who are from the rising of the sun, and those who are from its setting, know that there is no one beside me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

³ And he has said to me: “You are my servant, Israel. For in you, I will glory.”

⁵ And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb as his servant, so that I may bring back Jacob to him, for Israel will not be gathered together, but I have been glorified in the eyes of the Lord and my God has become my strength,

⁶ and so he has said: “It is a small thing that you should be my servant so as to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and so as to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have offered you as a light for the Gentiles, so that you may be my salvation, even to the furthest regions of the earth.”

¹⁴ And Zion said: “The Lord has abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to take pity on the child of her womb? But even if she would forget, still I shall never forget you.

¹ I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my paternal cousin, about his vineyard. A vineyard was made for my beloved, at the horn in the son of oil.

² And he fenced it in, and he picked the stones out of it, and he planted it with the best vines, and he built a tower in the middle of it, and he set up a winepress within it. And he expected it to produce grapes, but it produced wild vines.

³ Now then, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah: judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴ What more should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do for it? Should I not have expected it to produce grapes, though it produced wild vines?

⁵ And now, I will reveal to you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its fence, and it will be plundered. I will pull down its wall, and it will be trampled.

⁶ And I will make it desolate. It will not be pruned, and it will not be dug. And briers and thorns will rise up. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it.

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the man of Judah is his delightful seedling. And I expected that he would do judgment, and behold iniquity, and that he would do justice, and behold an outcry.

⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear. And I do not contradict him. I have not turned back.

⁶ I have given my body to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who plucked them. I have not averted my face from those who rebuked me and who spit on me.

⁷ The Lord God is my helper. Therefore, I have not been confounded. Therefore, I have set my face like a very hard rock, and I know that I will not be confounded.

⁸ He who justifies me is near. Who will speak against me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him approach me.

⁹ Behold, the Lord God is my helper. Who is the one who would condemn me? Behold, they will all be worn away like a garment; the moth will devour them.

¹⁰ But it was the will of the Lord to crush him with infirmity. If he lays down his life because of sin, he will see offspring with long lives, and the will of the Lord will be directed by his hand.

¹¹ Because his soul has labored, he will see and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my just servant will himself justify many, and he himself will carry their iniquities.

¹ All you who thirst, come to the waters. And you who have no money: hurry, buy and eat. Approach, buy wine and milk, without money and without barter.

² Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and expend your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen very closely to me, and eat what is good, and then your soul will be delighted by a full measure.

³ Incline your ear and draw near to me. Listen, and your soul will live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, by the faithful mercies of David.

⁴ Behold, I have presented him as a witness to the people, as a commander and instructor to the nations.

⁵ Behold, you will call to a nation that you did not know. And nations that did not know you will rush to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. For he has glorified you.

⁶ Seek the Lord, while he is able to be found. Call upon him, while he is near.

⁷ Let the impious one abandon his way, and the iniquitous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will take pity on him, and to our God, for he is great in forgiveness.

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, says the Lord.

⁹ For just as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so also are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.

¹⁰ And in the same manner as rain and snow descend from heaven, and no longer return there, but soak the earth, and water it, and cause it to bloom and to provide seed to the sower and bread to the hungry,

¹¹ so also will my word be, which will go forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish whatever I will, and it will prosper in the tasks for which I sent it.

¹ All you who thirst, come to the waters. And you who have no money: hurry, buy and eat. Approach, buy wine and milk, without money and without barter.

² Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and expend your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen very closely to me, and eat what is good, and then your soul will be delighted by a full measure.

³ Incline your ear and draw near to me. Listen, and your soul will live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, by the faithful mercies of David.

¹⁰ And in the same manner as rain and snow descend from heaven, and no longer return there, but soak the earth, and water it, and cause it to bloom and to provide seed to the sower and bread to the hungry,

¹¹ so also will my word be, which will go forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish whatever I will, and it will prosper in the tasks for which I sent it.

⁶ Seek the Lord, while he is able to be found. Call upon him, while he is near.

⁷ Let the impious one abandon his way, and the iniquitous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will take pity on him, and to our God, for he is great in forgiveness.

⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, says the Lord.

⁹ For just as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so also are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.

¹ Thus says the Lord: Preserve judgment, and accomplish justice. For my salvation is close to its arrival, and my justice is close to being revealed.

⁶ And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the Lord so as to worship him and to love his name, shall be his servants: all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold to my covenant.

⁷ I will lead them to my holy mountain, and I will gladden them in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their victims will be pleasing to me upon my altar. For my house will be called the house of prayer for all peoples.

⁷ Break your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the homeless into your house. When you see someone naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh.

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your health will improve quickly, and your justice will go before your face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you up.

⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will heed; you will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am,” if you take away the chains from your midst, and cease to point your finger and to speak what is not beneficial.

¹⁰ When you pour out your life for the hungry, and you satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise up in darkness, and your darkness will be like the midday.

¹ In the year in which king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, sublime and exalted, and the things that were under him filled the temple.

² The Seraphim were standing above the throne. One had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they were covering his face, and with two they were covering his feet, and with two they were flying.

³ And they were crying out to one another, and saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!”

⁴ And the lintels above the hinges were shaken at the voice of the one crying out. And the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ And I said: “Woe to me! For I have remained silent. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live in the midst of a people having unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ And one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

⁷ And he touched my mouth, and he said, “Behold, this has touched your lips, and so your iniquities will be taken away, and your sin will be cleansed.”

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send?” and, “Who will go for us?” And I said: “Here I am. Send me.”

¹ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the meek, so as to heal the contrite of heart, to preach leniency to captives and release to the confined,

² and so to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vindication of our God: to console all who are mourning,

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, and my soul will exult in my God. For he has clothed me with the vestments of salvation, and he has wrapped me in the clothing of justice, like a groom arrayed with a crown, and like a bride adorned with her jewels.

¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its seedlings and the garden produces its seeds, so will the Lord God bring forth justice and praise in the sight of all the nations.

¹ For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest, until her Just One advances in splendor, and her Savior is kindled like a lamp.

² And the Gentiles will see your Just One, and all the kings will see your Renowned One. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will choose.

³ And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴ You will no longer be called Forsaken. And your land will no longer be called Desolate. Instead, you shall be called My Will within it, and your land shall be called Inhabited. For the Lord has been well pleased with you, and your land will be inhabited.

⁵ For the young man will live with the virgin, and your children will live with you. And the groom will rejoice over the bride, and your God will rejoice over you.

¹⁶ For you are our Father, and Abraham has not known us, and Israel has been ignorant of us. You are our Father, O Lord our Redeemer. Your name is beyond all ages.

¹⁷ Why have you allowed us to stray from your ways, O Lord? Why have you hardened our heart, so that we do not fear you? Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

¹⁹ We have become as we were in the beginning, when you did not rule over us, and when we were not called by your name.

² They would melt, as if thoroughly burned by fire. The waters would burn with fire, so that your name might be made known to your enemies, so that the nations would be stirred up before your face.

³ When you will perform miracles, we will not be able to withstand them. You descended, and the mountains flowed away before your presence.

⁴ From ages past, they have not heard it, and they have not perceived it with the ears. Apart from you, O God, the eye has not seen what you have prepared for those who await you.

⁵ You have met with those who rejoice in doing justice. By your ways, they will remember you. Behold, you have been angry, for we have sinned. In this, we have continued, but we will be saved.

⁶ And we have all become like the unclean. And all our justices are like a rag of menstruation. And we have all fallen away, like a leaf. And our iniquities have carried us away, like the wind.