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THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS.
127

And again, the prophet saith, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the humble: He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense; to comfort all that mourn."[1]


Chap. xv.—The false and the true Sabbath.

Further,[2] also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, "And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart."[3] And He says in another place, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them."[4] The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it."[5] Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is[6] with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifieth,[7] saying, "Behold, to-day[8] will be as a thousand years."[9] Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on the seventh day." This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man,[10] and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon,[11] and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, "Thou

  1. ↑ Isa. lxi. 1, 2.
  2. ↑ Cod. Sin. reads "because," but this is corrected to "moreover."
  3. ↑ Ex. xx. 8; Deut. v. 12.
  4. ↑ Jer. xvii. 24, 25.
  5. ↑ Gen. ii. 2. The Hebrew text is here followed, the Septuagint reading "sixth" instead of "seventh."
  6. ↑ Cod. Sin. reads "signifies."
  7. ↑ Cod. Sin. adds, "to me."
  8. ↑ Cod. Sin. reads, "The day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years."
  9. ↑ Ps. xc. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 8.
  10. ↑ Cod. Sin. seems properly to omit "of the wicked man."
  11. ↑ Cod. Sin. places stars before moon.
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