But so much the more have I redeemed you, the children of light, from all evil and from the authority of the rulers (archons), and every one that believeth on me by your means. For that which I have promised unto you will I give unto them also, that they may come out of the prison-house and the fetters of the rulers. We answered and said: Lord, thou hast given unto us the rest of life and hast given us joy? by wonders, unto the confirmation of faith: wilt thou now preach the same unto us, seeing that thou hast preached it unto the righteous and the prophets? Then said he unto us: Verily I say unto you, all that have believed on me and that believe in him that sent me will I take up into the heaven, unto the place which my Father hath prepared for the elect, and I will give you the kingdom, the chosen kingdom, in rest, and everlasting life.
Apocrypha · Chapter 28 of 51
The Epistle of the Apostles 28
Early Epistle
Words in this chapter
What these words meant in the original — and where else they appear.
- EmunahאֱמוּנָהFaith as firmness and faithfulness — not as an opinion about something uncertain.
- TsedaqahצְדָקָהRighteousness as right relationship — and, in later Judaism, as almsgiving.
- NaviנָבִיאA prophet is a spokesman, not a fortune teller: he speaks for another, in the present.
- MalkutמַלְכוּתKingdom as reign in action — the ruling happening, not the territory.
About The Epistle of the Apostles
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.