• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 5:1-23
  Prophets (P): Isaiah 30:1-7
  Apostolic (A): John 8:21-45
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 49:1-8

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 4:1-7 LXX (T)
• Numbers 3:11-13; Numbers 8:14-18; Numbers 18:6-19; Deuteronomy 15:19-23; Nehemiah 10:34-39; Ezekiel 44:28-31; Luke 2:21-24 (T)
• Psalms 114:1-2 LXX (T)
• Psalms 136:1-12 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 (T)
• Proverbs 3:1-10 (T)
• Deuteronomy 6:4-12 (T)
• Exodus 22:29-30; Exodus 34:19-20; Leviticus 27:25-29 (T)
• Exodus 13:18 YLT, LXX
• Genesis 50:24-25, Joshua 24:32 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-24, Revelation 1:5-6 (T, A)
• Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-14; Psalms 82:1-8; John 10:25-38 (A)
• Psalms 33:6-7; John 1:1-16; Ephesians 3:8-12; Colossians 2:9-10; Hebrews 11:3, Jubilees 2:1-3; Job 38:4-7; Proverbs 8:22-31, 30:4 (A)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Jubilees 7:34-38 (T)
• Tobit 1:1-8 (T)
• 2 Esdras 6:35-59 (T)
• Sirach 7:29-31; Sirach 17:1-16; Sirach 35:4-11; Sirach 36:10-13; Sirach 45:20-22; Sirach 49:14-15 (T)
• Judith 11:9-13 (T)
• Exodus 13:1-20 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.15.2 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Prophets Portion (P)

1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says YHWH, “who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, 2 who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt. 3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4 For their princes are at Tsoʿan, and their ambassadors have come to Chanes. 5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can’t profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.” (cf. Jeremiah 2:36) 6 The oracle of the animals of the Negev. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people. 7 For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still. 8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come to the age and again.

Apostolic Portion (A)

8:21 Yeshua said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.” (cf. John 7:34; John 13:33) 22 The leaders of the Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, that he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. (cf. John 3:31) 24 I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” (cf. John 8:21) 25 They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Yeshua said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” (cf. John 7:28; Romans 3:4; John 15:15) 27 They did not understand that he spoke to them about the Father. 28 Yeshua therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as the^{^} Father taught me, I say these things. (cf. Numbers 21:9; 2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14; John 12:32; John 3:11; John 7:16; John 12:49; John 14:10; John 14:24) 29 He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” (cf. John 14:10; John 16:32) 30 As he spoke these things, many believed in him. (cf. John 7:31) 31 Yeshua therefore said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (cf. Psalms 119:45) (cf. Romans 6:18; Galatians 5:1; 1 Peter 2:16) 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say,’ You will be made free’?” (cf. Matthew 3:9) 34 Yeshua answered them, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. (cf. Romans 6:20; 2 Peter 2:19) 35 A slave does not live in the house to the age. A son remains to the age. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (cf. Romans 8:2) 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38 I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have heard from^{^} your father.” (cf. John 3:11; John 7:16; John 12:49; John 14:10; John 14:24) 39 They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Yeshua said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. (cf. Romans 2:28; Romans 9:7) 40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from Elohim. Abraham did not do this. (cf. John 17:17) 41 You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, Elohim.” 42 Therefore Yeshua said to them, “If Elohim were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from Elohim. For I have not come of myself, but he sent me. (cf. John 5:43; John 7:29) 43 Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word. 44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father. (cf. 1 John 3:8; Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 John 3:8; Jude 1:6) 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C..

48:1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee [2372 A.M.] thou didst depart and dwell in the land of Midian five weeks and one year. And thou didst return into Egypt in the second week in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. [2410 A.M.] 2. And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Egypt on the way when thou didst meet him at the lodging-place. 3. Did he not with all his power seek to slay thee and deliver the Egyptians out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? 4. And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, and against all his house, and against his servants and his people.

Related Scriptures

Genesis 4:1 Septuagint (LXX) And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain and said, I have acquired a man through [the] Elohim. 2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the land a slaughter to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and Elohim looked upon Abel and his gifts, 5 but Cain and his slaughters he regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell. 6 And the Lord Elohim said to Cain, Why are you very sorrowful and why is your countenance fallen? 7 Have you not sinned if you have brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? Be still, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him

Numbers 3:11 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the sons of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am YHWH.”

Numbers 8:14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15 “After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Appointed Tent. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16 For they are wholly given to me from among the sons of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the sons of Israel, I have taken them to me. 17 For all the firstborn among the sons of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel.

Numbers 18:6 Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to YHWH, to do the service of the Appointed Tent. 7 You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.” 8 YHWH spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the holy of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. 9 This shall be yours of the holy of holies from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every grain offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 You shall eat of it like the holy of holies. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you. 11 “This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. 12 “I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to YHWH. 13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to YHWH, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. 14 “Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to YHWH, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. 16 You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel* of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs. 17 “But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 18 Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. 19 All the wave offerings of the holy which the sons of Israel offer to YHWH, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before YHWH to you and to your seed with you.”

Deuteronomy 15:19 You shall dedicate all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock to YHWH your Elohim. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 You shall eat it before YHWH your Elohim year by year in the place which YHWH shall choose, you and your household. 21 If it has any defect—is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not slaughter it to YHWH your Elohim. 22 You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle and as the deer. 23 Only you shall not eat its blood. You shall pour it out on the ground like water.

Nehemiah 10:34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our Elohim, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn on YHWH our Elohim’s altar, as it is written in the Torah; 35 and to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to the house of YHWH; 36 also the firstborn of our sons and of our livestock, as it is written in the Torah, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our Elohim, to the priests who minister in the house of our Elohim; 37 and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our Elohim; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all our farming villages. 38 The priest, the descendent of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes. The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our Elohim, to the rooms, into the treasure house. 39 For the sons of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our Elohim.

Ezekiel 44:28 They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself or is torn, whether it is bird or animal.

Luke 2:21 When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Yeshua, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 When the days of their purification according to the Torah of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Torah of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a slaughter according to that which is said in the Torah of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two sons of a dove.

114:1 Alleluia. At the going forth of Israel from Egypt, of the house of Jacob from a barbaric people, 2 Judea became his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

136:1 Give thanks to YHWH, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the Elohim of Elohim, for his loving kindness endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loving kindness endures forever; 4 to him who alone does great wonders, for his loving kindness endures forever; 5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his loving kindness endures forever; 6 to him who spread out the land above the waters, for his loving kindness endures forever; 7 to him who made the great lights, for his loving kindness endures forever; 8 the sun to rule by day, for his loving kindness endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule by night, for his loving kindness endures forever; to him who struck down the Egyptian firstborn, for his loving kindness endures forever; 11 and brought out Israel from among them, for his loving kindness endures forever; 12 with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, for his loving kindness endures forever

5:1 It is actually reported that there is whoring among you, and such whoring as is not even named among the Nations, that one has his father’s wife. 2 You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you. 3 For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing. 4 In the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, 5 you are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Yeshua. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Pesach, has been slaughtered in our place. 8 Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

3:1 My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace. 3 Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of Elohim and man. 5 Trust in YHWH with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear YHWH, and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor YHWH with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase; 10 so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

6:4 Hear, Israel: YHWH is our Elohim. YHWH is one. 5 You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. 10 It shall be, when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12 then beware lest you forget YHWH, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 22:29 “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. 30 You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

Exodus 34:19 “All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty.

Leviticus 27:25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel. 26 However the firstborn among animals, which belongs to YHWH as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is YHWH’s. 27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. 28 Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to YHWH of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is holy of holies to YHWH. 29 No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 13:18 but Elohim led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Sea of Reeds; and the sons of Israel went up fifties* out of the land of Egypt.

*Hebrew חָמַשׁים chamushim (H2571) – Plural of chamush; in battle array, arrayed for battle by fives, armed. חָמַשׁ (chamush) also means ‘fifty’ when written in the plural form חָמַשׁים (chamushim).

Exodus 13:18 Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and God turneth round the people the way of the wilderness of the Sea of Reeds, and by fifties have the sons of Israel gone up from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 13:18 Septuagint (LXX) And Elohim led the people round by the way to the wilderness, to the Sea of Reeds: and in the fifth generation the sons of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt.

Genesis 50:24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but Elohim will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

Joshua 24:32 They buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. 21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, then those who are Messiah’s at his coming. 24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Reign to Elohim the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

Revelation 1:5 and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the land. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood— 6 and he made us to be a Reign, priests to his Elohim and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 2:5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Messiah Yeshua, 6 who, existing in the form of Elohim, didn’t consider equality with Elohim a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. 9 Therefore Elohim also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of those in the heavens, those on land, and those under the land, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of Elohim the Father.

Hebrews 1:1 Elohim, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?” 6 When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of Elohim worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Reign. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” 10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the land. The heavens are the works of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. 12 You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.” 13 But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?” 14 Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Psalms 82:1 Elohim presides in the great assembly. He judges among the elohim. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. 3 “Judge for the helpless and the fatherless. Do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Rescue the helpless and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” 5 They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the land are shaken. 6 I said, “You are elohim, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.” 8 Arise, Elohim, judge the land, for you inherit all of the nations.

John 10:25 Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are elohim?’ 35 If he called them elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’ 37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. 38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Psalms 33:6 By the word of YHWH, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. 2 The same was in the beginning with Elohim. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. 6 There came a man sent from Elohim, whose name was John. 7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become Elohim’s children, to those who believe in his name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of Elohim. 14 The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John witnessed about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’ ” 16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 17 For the Torah was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Yeshua the Messiah. 18 No one has seen Elohim at any time. The only born Son,* who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.

• • *NU-Text reads “The only born Elohim”
  • About the NU-Text: These variations from the traditional text generally represent the Alexandrian or Egyptian type of text described previously in “The New Testament Text.” They are found in the Critical Text published in the twenty-seventh edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (N) and in the United Bible Societies’ fourth edition (U), hence the acronym, “NU-Text.”

Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all holy ones, was this grace given, to proclaim to the Nations the unsearchable riches of Messiah, 9 and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in Elohim, who created all things through Yeshua the Messiah, 10 to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of Elohim might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. 12 In him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

Colossians 2:9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, 10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the ages were framed by the word of Elohim, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

Jubilees 2:1 And the angel of the face spoke to Mosheh according to the word of YHWH, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days YHWH Almighty finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Shabbat on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works. 2 For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the land and the waters and all the spirits which serve before him—the angels of the face, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the land, (He created) the abysses and the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and day, which He has prepared in the knowledge of His heart. 3 And thereupon we saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on account of all His works; for seven great works did He create on the first day.

Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the land? Declare, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? 6 What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?

Proverbs 8:22 YHWH possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the land existed. 24 When there were no depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was born; 26 while as yet he had not made the land, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there. When he set a circle on the surface of the deep, 28 when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, 29 when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the land, 30 then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him, 31 rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men.

Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended up into the heavens, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the land? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?

Additional Readings​

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C..

7:34 And now, my children, listen: work judgment and righteousness that you maybe planted in righteousness over the face of the whole land, and your praise lifted up before YHWH my Almighty, who saved me from the waters of the flood. 35 And behold, you will go and build for yourselves cities, and plant in them all the plants that are upon the land, and moreover all fruit-bearing trees. 36 For three years the fruit of everything that is eaten will not be gathered: and in the fourth year its fruit will be accounted kodesh [and they will offer the first fruits], acceptable before the Most High YHWH, who created the heavens and land and all things. Let them offer in abundance the first of the wine and oil as first fruits on the altar of YHWH, who receives it, and what is left let the servants of the house of YHWH eat before the altar which receives it. 37 And in the fifth year make you the release so that you release it in righteousness and uprightness, and you shall be righteous, and all that you plant shall prosper. 38 For thus did Enoch, the father of your father command Methuselah, his son, and Methuselah his son Lamech, and Lamech commanded me all the things which his fathers commanded him.

Tobit, also called The Book of Tobias, found its way into the Roman Catholic canon via the Septuagint. Before the 1952 discovery of Aramaic and Hebrew fragments of Tobit among the Dead Sea Scrolls in a cave at Qumran, scholars believed Tobit was not included in the Jewish canon because of late authorship, estimated to 100 A.D. Qumran fragments of the text, which were copied between 100 B.C. to 25 A.D., evidence a much earlier origin than previously thought. These fragments evidence authorship no later than the 2nd century B.C. and, likely, contemporary with the date ascribed, by modern scholars, to the final compilation of the Book of Daniel, which did attain canonical status.

1:1 The book of the words of Tobit, the son of Tobiel, the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, of the seed of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali; 2 who in the days of Enemessar king of the Assyrians was carried away captive out of Thisbe, which is on the right hand of Kedesh Naphtali in Galilee above Asher. 3 I, Tobit walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life, and I did many alms deeds to my kindred and my nation, who went with me into the land of the Assyrians, to Nineveh. 4 When I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was yet young, all the tribe of Naphtali my father fell away from the house of Jerusalem, which was chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, that all the tribes should slaughter there, and the temple of the habitation of the Most High was hallowed and built therein for all ages. 5 All the tribes which fell away together slaughtered to the heifer Baal, and so did the house of Naphtali my father. 6 I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it has been ordained to all Israel by an everlasting decree, having the first fruits and the tenths of my increase, and that which was first shorn; and I gave them at the altar to the priests the sons of Aaron. 7 I gave a tenth part of all my increase to the sons of Levi, who ministered at Jerusalem. A second tenth part I sold away, and went, and spent it each year at Jerusalem. 8 A third tenth I gave to them to whom it was appropriate, as Deborah my father’s mother had commanded me, because I was left an orphan by my father.

2 Esdras, consisting of chapters 3-14, (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is the name of a book in many English versions of the Bible. Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the 5th century B.C., although modern scholarship places its composition between 70 and 218 A.D. It is reckoned among the apocrypha by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and most Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Ethiopian Church considers 4 Ezra to be canonical, written during the Babylonian captivity, and calls it “Izra Sutuel” (ዕዝራ ሱቱኤል). It was also often cited by the Fathers of the Church. In the Eastern Armenian tradition it is called 3 Ezra.

6:35 It came to pass after this, that I wept again, and fasted seven days in like manner, that I might fulfill the three weeks which he told me. 36 On the eighth night, my heart was troubled within me again, and I began to speak in the face of the Most High. 37 For my spirit was greatly set on fire, and my soul was in distress. 38 I said, “O Lord, truly you spoke at the beginning of the creation, on the first day, and said this: ‘Let the heavens and land be made,’ and your word perfected the work. 39 Then the spirit was hovering, and darkness and silence were on every side. The sound of man’s voice was not yet there. 40 Then you commanded a ray of light to be brought out of your treasuries, that your works might then appear. 41 On the second day, again you made the spirit of the firmament and commanded it to divide and to separate the waters, that the one part might go up, and the other remain beneath. 42 On the third day, you commanded that the waters should be gathered together in the seventh part of the land. You dried up six parts and kept them, to the intent that of these some being both planted and tilled might serve before you. 43 For as soon as your word went out, the work was done. 44 Immediately, great and innumerable fruit grew, with many pleasant tastes, and flowers of inimitable color, and fragrances of most exquisite smell. This was done the third day. 45 On the fourth day, you commanded that the sun should shine, the moon give its light, and the stars should be in their order; 46 and gave them a command to serve mankind, who was to be made. 47 On the fifth day, you said to the seventh part, where the water was gathered together, that it should produce living creatures, fowls and fishes; and so it came to pass 48 that the mute and lifeless water produced living things as it was told, that the nations might therefore praise your wondrous works. 49 Then preserved two living creatures. The one you called Behemoth, and the other you called Leviathan. 50 You separated the one from the other; for the seventh part, namely, where the water was gathered together, might not hold them both. 51 To Behemoth, you gave one part, which was dried up on the third day, that he should dwell in it, in which are a thousand hills; 52 but to Leviathan you gave the seventh part, namely, the watery part. You have kept them to be devoured by whom you wish, when you wish. 53 But on the sixth day, you commanded the land to produce before you cattle, animals, and creeping things. 54 Over these, you ordained Adam as ruler over all the works that you have made. Of him came all of us, the people whom you have chosen. 55 All this have I spoken before you, O Lord, because you have said that for our sakes you made this world. 56 As for the other nations, which also come of Adam, you have said that they are nothing, and are like to spittle. You have likened the abundance of them to a drop that falls from a bucket. 57 Now, O Lord, behold these nations, which are reputed as nothing, being rulers over us and devouring us. 58 But we your people, whom you have called your firstborn, your only begotten, and your fervent lover, are given into their hands. 59 Now if the world is made for our sakes, why don’t we possess our world for an inheritance? How long will this endure?”

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 7:29 Fear the Lord with all your soul; and revere his priests. 30 With all your strength love him who made you. Don’t forsake his ministers. 31 Fear the Lord and honor the priest. Give him his portion, even as it is commanded you: the first fruits, the trespass offering, the gift of the shoulders, the slaughter of sanctification, and the first fruits of holy.

Sirach 17:1 The Lord created mankind out of land, and turned them back to it again. 2 He gave them days by number, and a set time, and gave them authority over the things that are on it. 3 He endowed them with strength proper to them, and made them according to his own image. 4 He put the fear of man upon all flesh, and gave him dominion over beasts and birds. 5 [… …] 6 He gave them counsel, tongue, eyes, ears, and heart to have understanding. 7 He filled them with the knowledge of wisdom, and showed them good and evil. 8 He set his eye upon their hearts, to show them the majesty of his works. 9 [… …] 10 And they will praise his holy name, that they may declare the majesty of his works. 11 He added to them knowledge, and gave them a law of life for a heritage. 12 He made an everlasting covenant with them, and showed them his decrees. 13 Their eyes saw the majesty of his glory. Their ears heard the glory of his voice. 14 He said to them, “Beware of all unrighteousness.” So he gave them commandment, each man concerning his neighbor. 15 Their ways are ever before him. They will not be hidden from his eyes. 16 [… …] 17 [… …] For every nation he appointed a ruler, but Israel is the Lord’s portion.

Sirach 35:4 See that you don’t appear in the face of the Lord empty. 5 For all these things are done because of the commandment. 6 The offering of the righteous enriches the altar. The sweet fragrance of it is before the Most High. 7 The slaughter of a righteous man is acceptable. It won’t be forgotten. 8 Glorify the Lord with generosity. Don’t reduce the first fruits of your hands. 9 In every gift show a cheerful countenance, And dedicate your tithe with gladness. 10 Give to the Most High according as he has given. As your hand has found, give generously. 11 For the Lord repays, and he will repay you sevenfold.

Sirach 36:10 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.” 11 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning. 12 O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn. 13 Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.

Sirach 45:20 He added glory to Aaron, and gave him a heritage. He divided to him the first fruits of the increase, and prepared bread of first fruits in abundance. 21 For they eat the slaughters of the Lord, which he gave to him and to his seed. 22 However, in the land of the people, he has no inheritance, and he has no portion among the people, for the Lord himself is your portion and inheritance.

Sirach 49:14 No man was created upon the land like Enoch, for he was taken up from the land. 15 Nor was there a man born like Joseph, a leader of his kindred, a supporter of the people. Even his bones were cared for.

11:9 And now as concerning the matter which Achior spoke in your council, we have heard his words; for the men of Bethulia saved him, and he declared to them all that he had spoken before you. 10 Therefore, O lord and master, don’t neglect his word, but lay it up in your heart, for it is true; for our race will not be punished, neither will the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their Elohim. 11 And now, that my lord may not be defeated and frustrated in his purpose, and that death may fall upon them, their sin has overtaken them, wherewith they will provoke their Elohim to anger, whenever they do wickedness. 12 Since their food failed them, and all their water was scant, they took counsel to kill their livestock, and determined to consume all those things which Elohim charged them by his laws that they should not eat. 13 They are resolved to spend the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and the oil, which they had sanctified and reserved for the priests who stand before the face of our Elohim in Jerusalem, which it is not fitting for any of the people so much as to touch with their hands.

And it was when Pharaoh had released the people, that the Lord did not conduct, them by the way of the land of the Phelishtaee though. that was the near one; for the Lord said, Lest the people be affrighted in seeing their brethren who were killed in war, two hundred thousand men of strength of the tribe of Ephraim, who took shields, and lances, and weapons of war, and went down to Gath to carry off the flocks of the Phelishtaee; and because the transgressed against the statute of the Word of the Lord, and went forth from Mizraim three years before the (appointed) end of their servitude, they were delivered into the hand of the Phelishtaee, who slew them. These are the dry bones which the Word of the Lord restored to life by the service (hand) of Yechezekel the prophet, in the vale of Dura; but which, if they (now) saw them, they would be afraid, and return into Mizraim. But the Lord led the people round by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph; and every one of the sons of Israel, with five children, went up from the land of Mizraim. Arid Mosheh carried up the ark in which were the bones of Joseph, from out of the Nilos, and took them with him; because, adjuring, he adjured the sons of Israel, saving, The Lord will surely remember you, and you shall carry up my bones with you.

And they journeyed from Sukkot, the place where they had been covered with the clouds of glory, and sojourned in Ethan, which is on the side of the desert. [[JERUSALEM. IS. And the Word of the Lord conducted the people by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph; armed in good works went up the sons of Israel, free from the land of Mizraim. 19. For, adjuring, he adjured the sons of Israel, saving, The Lord remembering; will remember you in is Word, and in His good mercies. 20. Which cometh upon the end of the desert.]

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).