• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 17:1-16
• Prophets (P): 1 Samuel 15:1-35
• Apostolic (A): 1 Corinthians 10:1-12; Hebrews 3:1-19
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 50:1-5

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 1:9-10 (T)
• 1 Samuel 18:5-7 (T)
• Numbers 33:1-11 (T)
• Matthew 4:1-11 (T)
• Joshua 24:5-25 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 (T)
• Deuteronomy 9:1-7 (T)
• Psalms 106:1-48 (T)
• Psalms 78:23-25 (T)
• Psalms 105:38-43 (T)
• John 6:1-71 (T)
• Nehemiah 9:6-19 (T)
• Deuteronomy 8:1-17 (T)
• Ya’aqov (James) 1:12-25 (T)
• 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (T)
• Exodus 35:1-3 (T)
• Philippians 2:1-11 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Baruch 1:1 – 2:2 (T)
• 2 Esdras 1:1-19 (T)
• Wisdom of Solomon 19:1-12; 16:1-21 (T)
• Exodus 17:1-16 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.1.1-6 (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)

17:1 All the congregation of the sons of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to the commandment of YHWH, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test YHWH?” 3 The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our sons, and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Moses cried to YHWH, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 YHWH said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the sons of Israel quarreled, and because they tested YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH among us, or not?” 8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of Elohim in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But the hands of Mosheh were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13 Joshua defeated Amalek and his people [and struck them]^(DSS) with the edge of the sword. 14 YHWH said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.” 15 Moses built an altar, and called its name “YHWH Nissi” [my refuge].^(LXX) 16 He said, “Because [with a secret hand],^(LXX) Yah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Prophets Portion (P)

1 Samuel 15:1-35

15:1 Samuel said to Saul, “YHWH sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of YHWH’s words. 2 YHWH of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” 4 Saul summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley. 6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt. 8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, of the fat calves, of the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 10 Then the word of YHWH came to Samuel, saying, 11 “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to YHWH all night. 12 Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, turned, passed on, and went down to Gilgal.” 13 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by YHWH! I have performed the commandment of YHWH.” 14 Samuel said, “Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim. We have utterly destroyed the rest.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what YHWH said to me last night.” He said to him, “Say on.” 17 Samuel said, “Though you were little in your own sight, weren’t you made the head of the tribes of Israel? YHWH anointed you king over Israel; 18 and YHWH sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then didn’t you obey the voice of YHWH, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH?” 20 Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of YHWH, and have gone the way which YHWH sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the devoted things, to sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim in Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said, “Has YHWH as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of YHWH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of YHWH, he has also rejected you from being king.” 24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of YHWH and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship YHWH.” 26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of YHWH, and YHWH has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “YHWH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29 Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship YHWH your Elohim.” 31 So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped YHWH. 32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me!” Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before YHWH in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned for Saul. YHWH grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Apostolic Portion (A)

1 Corinthians 10:1-12; Hebrews 3:1-19

1 Corinthians 10:1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Messiah. 5 However with most of them, Elohim was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” (cf. Exodus 32:6) 8 Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell (cf. Numbers 25:1-9). 9 Let’s not test [YHWH],^(mss) as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents (cf. Numbers 21:5-7). 10 Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer (cf. Numbers 11:1-3; 32-34; Exodus 12:23; 2 Samuel 24:16; Hebrews 11:28). 11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession: Yeshua, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in [His]^(mss) house (cf. Numbers 12:7). 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is Elohim. 5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, 6 but Messiah is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our [hope].^(mss)  7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as in Meribah, the rebellion (cf. Psalms 95:8), in the day of Massah, the trial in the wilderness (cf. Exodus 17:7), 9 where your fathers tested me and tried me, and saw my deeds for forty years. 10 Therefore I was displeased with [this]^{(mss)(cf. Psalms 95:11; Psalms 94:10 LXX)} generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’ ” (cf. Psalms 95:7-11) 12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living Elohim; 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” (cf. Psalms 95:7-8) 16 For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? (cf. Exodus 32:23-28; Numbers 14:26-37; Psalms 106:23-27), 18 To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? (cf. Deuteronomy 1:34-37; Psalms 95:11) 19 We see that they weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief.

Additional Portion (ADD)

1 Samuel 15:1-35

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.

50:1 And after this law I made known to you the days of the Sabbaths in the desert of Sin[ai], which is between Elim and Sinai. 2. And I told you of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told you of the jubilee years in the sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I not told you till you enter the land which you are to possess. 3. And the land also will keep its sabbaths while they dwell upon it, and they will know the jubilee year. 4. Wherefore I have ordained for you the year-weeks and the years and the jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of Adam until this day, [2410 A.M.] and one week and two years: and there are yet forty years to come [2450 A.M.] for learning the commandments of YHWH, until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the west. 5. And the jubilees will pass by, until Israel is cleansed from all guilt of fornication, and uncleanness, and pollution, and sin, and error, and dwells with confidence in all the land, and there will be no more a Satan or any evil one, and the land will be clean from that time for evermore.

Related Scriptures

1:9 Elohim said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry appear;” and it was so. 10 Elohim called the dry “land”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. Elohim saw that it was good.

18:5 David went out wherever Shaul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Shaul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. 6 As they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Shaul with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. 7 The women sang to one another as they played, and said, “Shaul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”

33:1 These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of YHWH. These are their journeys according to their starting points. 3 They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Pesach, the sons of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom YHWH had struck among them. YHWH also executed judgments on their elohim. 5 The sons of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Sukkot. 6 They traveled from Sukkot, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7 They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. 8 They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. 9 They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. 10 They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Sea of Reeds. 11 They traveled from the Sea of Reeds, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

4:1 Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3 The tester came and said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of Elohim’s mouth.’ ” Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Yeshua said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You will not test the Lord, your Elohim.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the reigns of the world and their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Yeshua said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You will worship the Lord your Elohim, and you will serve him only.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

24:5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Sea of Reeds. 7 When they cried out to YHWH, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days. 8 I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ 14 “Now therefore fear YHWH, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the elohim which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve YHWH. 15 If it seems evil to you to serve YHWH, choose today whom you will serve; whether the elohim which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the elohim of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.” 16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake YHWH, to serve other elohim; 17 for it is YHWH our Elohim who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18 YHWH drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve YHWH; for he is our Elohim.” 19 Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve YHWH, for he is a holy Elohim. He is a zealous Elohim. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 20 If you forsake YHWH, and serve foreign elohim, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” 21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve YHWH.” 22 Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen YHWH yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” 23 “Now therefore put away the foreign elohim which are among you, and incline your heart to YHWH, the Elohim of Israel.” 24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve YHWH our Elohim, and we will listen to his voice.” 25 So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

9:1 Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the heavens, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” 3 Know therefore today that YHWH your Elohim is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you will drive them out and make them perish quickly, as YHWH has spoken to you. 4 Don’t say in your heart, after YHWH your Elohim has thrust them out from before you, “For my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land;” because YHWH drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. 5 Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked YHWH your Elohim to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been bitter against YHWH.

106:1 Halleluyah! Give thanks to YHWH, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. 2 Who can utter the mighty acts of YHWH, or fully declare all his praise? 3 Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times. 4 Remember me, YHWH, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation, 5 that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. 6 We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. 7 Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea. 8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths, as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 11 The waters covered their adversaries. There was not one of them left. 12 Then they believed his words. They sang his praise. 13 They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel, 14 but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested Elohim in the wasteland. 15 He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. 16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, YHWH’s saint. 17 The land opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 18 A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked. 19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image. 20 Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass. 21 They forgot Elohim, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red Sea. 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them. 24 Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word, 25 but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to the voice of YHWH. 26 Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness, 27 that he would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands. 28 They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. 29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them. 30 Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped. 31 That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come. 32 They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes; 33 because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips. 34 They didn’t destroy the peoples, as YHWH commanded them, 35 but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works. 36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds. 40 Therefore YHWH burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance. 41 He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand. 43 He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity. 44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry. 45 He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. 46 He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive. 47 Save us, YHWH, our Elohim, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise! 48 Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen.” Halleluyah!

78:23 Yet he commanded the heavens above, and opened the doors of the heavens. 24 He rained down Manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the heavens. 25 Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.

105:38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night. 40 They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the heavens. 41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places. 42 For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant. 43 He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing.

6:1 After these things, Yeshua went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick. 3 Yeshua went up into the mountain, and he sat there with his disciples. 4 Now the Pesach, the Jewish festival, was at hand. 5 Yeshua therefore, lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may receive a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Shimon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?” 10 Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Yeshua took the loaves, and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down, likewise also of the fish as much as they desired. 12 When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When therefore the people saw the sign which Yeshua did, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who comes into the world.” 15 Yeshua therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. 17 They entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Yeshua had not come to them. 18 The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. 19 When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Yeshua walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 22 On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Yeshua hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. 23 However, boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the multitude therefore saw that Yeshua wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Yeshua. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For Elohim the Father has sealed him.” 28 They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of Elohim?” 29 Yeshua answered them, “This is the work of Elohim, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do? 31 Our fathers ate the Manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of the heavens to eat.’ ” 32 Yeshua therefore said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of the heavens, but my Father gives you the true bread out of the heavens. 33 For the bread of Elohim is that which comes down out of the heavens and gives life to the world.” 34 They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe. 37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out. 38 For I have come down from the heavens, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. 40 This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” 41 The Judeans therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of the heavens.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of the heavens?’ ” 43 Therefore Yeshua answered them, “Don’t murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by Elohim.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from Elohim. He has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the Manna in the wilderness and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of the heavens, that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down out of the heavens. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Judeans therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Yeshua therefore said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. 54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of the heavens—not as our fathers ate the Manna and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 He said these things in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?” 61 But Yeshua knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62 Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him. 65 He said, “For this cause I have said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.” 66 At this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. 67 Yeshua said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?” 68 Shimon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Messiah, the Son of the living Elohim.” 70 Yeshua answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 Now he spoke of Judah, the son of Shimon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.

9:6 You are YHWH, even you alone. You have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, with all their army, the land and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of the heavens worships you. 7 You are YHWH, the Elohim who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, 8 found his heart faithful before you, and cut a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words, for you are righteous. 9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Sea of Reeds, 10 and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. 12 Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go. 13 “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from the heavens, and gave them right judgments and Torah of truth (Teachings of Truth), good statutes and commandments, 14 and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a Torah, by Moses your servant, 15 and gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. 16 “But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments, 17 and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their bitterness appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are an Elohim ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them. 18 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your Elohim who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies, 19 yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.

8:1 You will observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers. 2 You will remember all the way which YHWH your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would guard his commandments or not. 3 He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with the Manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of YHWH’s mouth. 4 Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. 5 You will consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so YHWH your Elohim disciplines you. 6 You will guard the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For YHWH your Elohim brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. 10 You will eat and be full, and you will bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land which he has given you. 11 Beware lest you forget YHWH your Elohim, in not guarding his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with Manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17 and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”

1:12 Blessed is a person who endures testing, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tested, “I am tested by Elohim,” for Elohim can’t be tested by evil, and he himself tests no one. 14 But each one is tested when he is drawn away by his own coveting and enticed. 15 Then the coveting, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. 18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of Elohim. 21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect Torah of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

8:1 Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of Elohim which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia, 2 how in a severe ordeal of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. 3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the holy ones. 5 This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of Elohim. 6 So we urged Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace. 7 But as you abound in everything—in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us—see that you also abound in this grace. 8 I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. 10 I give advice in this: it is expedient for you who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. 11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. 13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed, 14 but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack, that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

35:1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the words which YHWH has commanded, that you should do them. 2 ‘Six days will work be done, but on the seventh day there will be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to YHWH: whoever does any work in it will be put to death. 3 You will kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.’ ”

2:1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Messiah, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2 make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 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.

11:17 But in giving you this command I don’t praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. 19 For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. 20 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the assembly of Elohim and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What will I tell you? Will I praise you? In this I don’t praise you. 23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Yeshua on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24 When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the renewed covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. 31 For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.

Additional Readings​

The Book of Baruch is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s well-known scribe, who is mentioned at Baruch 1:1, and has been presumed to be the author of the whole work. Although not in the Hebrew Bible, it is found in the Septuagint, in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, and the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox Churches. In some Bibles, Baruch chapter 6 is listed as a separate book called The Letter of Jeremiah, reflecting its separation from Baruch in some copies of the Greek Septuagint. Some scholars propose that it was written during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees. Although the earliest known manuscripts of Baruch are in Greek, linguistic features of the first parts of Baruch (1:1 – 3:8) have been proposed as indicating a translation from a Semitic language.

1:1 These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maaseas, the son of Sedekias, the son of Asadias, the son of Helkias, wrote in Babylon, 2 in the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Kasdim took Jerusalem and burned it with fire. 3 Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book, 4 and in the hearing of the mighty men, and of the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least to the greatest, even of all those who lived at Babylon by the river Sud. 5 Then they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord. 6 They also made a collection of money according to every man’s ability; 7 and they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the high priest, the son of Helkias, the son of Salom, and to the priests and to all the people who were found with him at Jerusalem, 8 at the same time when he took the vessels of the house of the Lord, that had been carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Judah, the tenth day of Sivan —silver vessels which Sedekias the son of Josias king of Judah had made, 9 after Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, the princes, the captives, the mighty men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon. 10 And they said: Behold, we have sent you money; therefore buy with the money burnt offerings, sin offerings, and incense, and prepare an oblation, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our Elohim; 11 and pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Baltasar his son, that their days may be as the days of the heavens above the land. 12 The Lord will give us strength and light to our eyes. We will live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon and under the shadow of Baltasar his son, and we will serve them many days, and find favor in their sight. 13 Pray for us also to the Lord our Elohim, for we have sinned against the Lord our Elohim. To this day the wrath of the Lord and his indignation is not turned from us. 14 You will read this book which we have sent to you, to make confession in the house of the Lord upon the day of the feast and on the days of the closing assembly. 15 You will say: To the Lord our Elohim belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16 to our kings, to our princes, to our priests, to our prophets, and to our fathers, 17 because we have sinned before the Lord. 18 We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our Elohim, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he has set before us. 19 Since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to this present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord our Elohim, and we have been negligent in not listening to his voice. 20 Therefore the plagues have clung to us, along with the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give us a land that flows with milk and honey, as at this day. 21 Nevertheless we didn’t listen to the voice of the Lord our Elohim, according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, 22 but we each walked in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange elohim and to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord our Elohim.

2:1 Therefore the Lord has made good his word which he pronounced against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Judah, 2 to bring upon us great plagues such as never happened before under all the heavens, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the Torah of Moses, 3 that we should each eat the flesh of our own son, and each eat the flesh of our own daughter. 4 Moreover he has given them to be in subjection to all the reigns that are around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the people around us, where the Lord has scattered them. 5 Thus they were cast down and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our Elohim in not listening to his voice. 6 To the Lord our Elohim belongs righteousness, but to us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day. 7 All these plagues have come upon us which the Lord has pronounced against us. 8 Yet have we not entreated the favor of the Lord by everyone turning from the thoughts of his wicked heart. 9 Therefore the Lord has kept watch over the plagues. The Lord has brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he has commanded us. 10 Yet we have not listened to his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he has set before us. 11 And now, O Lord, you Elohim of Israel who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs, with wonders, with great power, and with a high arm, and have gotten yourself a name, as at this day: 12 O Lord our Elohim, we have sinned. We have been impious. We have done wrong in all your ordinances. 13 Let your wrath turn from us, for we are but a few left among the heathen where you have scattered us.

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.

1:1 The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraias, the son of Azaraias, the son of Helkias, the son of Salemas, the son of Sadoc, the son of Ahitob, 2 the son of Achias, the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the son of Amarias, the son of Aziei, the son of Marimoth, the son of Arna,the son of Ozias,the son of Borith,the son of Abissei, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, 3 the son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, who was captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians. 4 The Lord’s word came to me, saying, 5 “Go your way, and show my people their sinful deeds, and their children their wickedness which they have done against me, that they may tell their children’s children, 6 because the sins of their fathers have increased in them, for they have forgotten me, and have offered slaughters to foreign elohim. 7 Didn’t I bring them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage? But they have provoked me to wrath and have despised my counsels. 8 So shake the hair of your head and cast all evils upon them, for they have not been obedient to my law, but they are a rebellious people. 9 How long will I endure them, to whom I have done so much good? 10 I have overthrown many kings for their sakes. I have struck down Pharoah with his servants and all his army. 11 I have destroyed all the nations before them. In the east, I have scattered the people of two provinces, even of Tyre and Sidon, and have slain all their adversaries. 12 Speak therefore to them, saying: 13 “The Lord says, truly I brought you through the sea, and where there was no path I made highways for you. I gave you Moses for a leader and Aaron for a priest. 14 I gave you light in a pillar of fire. I have done great wonders among you, yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord. 15 “The Lord Almighty says: The quails were for a sign to you. I gave you a camp for your protection, but you complained, there. 16 You didn’t celebrate in my name for the destruction of your enemies, but even to this day you still complain. 17 Where are the benefits that I have given you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, didn’t you cry to me, 18 saying, ‘Why have you brought us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to have served the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.’ 19 I had pity on your mourning and gave you manna for food. You ate angels’ bread.

The Wisdom of Solomon or Book of Wisdom is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work. Fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first discovered and excavated cave at Qumran in 1949.

Wisdom of Solomon 19:1 But indignation without mercy came upon the impious to the end; for Elohim also foreknew their future, 2 how, having changed their minds to let your people go, and having sped them eagerly on their way, they would change their minds and pursue them. 3 For while they were yet in the midst of their mourning, and lamenting at the graves of the dead, they made another foolish decision, and pursued as fugitives those whom they had begged to leave and driven out. 4 For the doom which they deserved was drawing them to this end, and it made them forget the things that had happened to them, that they might fill up the punishment which was yet lacking from their torments, 5 and that your people might journey on by a marvelous road, but they themselves might find a strange death. 6 For the whole creation, each part in its diverse kind, was made new again, complying with your commandments, that your servants might be kept unharmed. 7 Then the cloud that overshadowed the camp was seen, and dry land rising up out of what had been water, out of the Sea of Reeds an unhindered highway, and a grassy plain out of the violent surge, 8 by which they passed over with all their army, these who were covered with your hand, having seen strange marvels. 9 For like horses they roamed at large, and they skipped about like lambs, praising you, O Lord, who was their deliverer. 10 For they still remembered the things that happened in the time of their sojourning, how instead of bearing cattle, the land brought forth lice, and instead of fish, the river spewed out a multitude of frogs. 11 But afterwards, they also saw a new kind of birds, when, led on by desire, they asked for luxurious dainties; 12 for, to comfort them, quails came up for them from the sea.

Wisdom of Solomon 16:1 For this cause, they were deservedly punished through creatures like those which they worship, and tormented through a multitude of vermin. 2 Instead of this punishment, you, giving benefits to your people, prepared quails for food, a delicacy to satisfy the desire of their appetite, 3 to the end that your enemies, desiring food, might for the hideousness of the creatures sent among them, loathe even the necessary appetite; but these, your people, having for a short time suffered lack, might even partake of delicacies. 4 For it was necessary that inescapable lack should come upon those oppressors, but that to these it should only be showed how their enemies were tormented. 5 For even when terrible raging of wild beasts came upon your people, and they were perishing by the bites of crooked nachashim, your wrath didn’t continue to the uttermost; 6 but for admonition were they troubled for a short time, having a token of salvation to put them in remembrance of the commandment of your law; 7 for he who turned toward it was not saved because of that which was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. 8 Yes, and in this you persuaded our enemies that you are he who delivers out of every evil. 9 For the bites of locusts and flies truly killed them. No healing for their life was found, because they were worthy to be punished by such things. 10 But your children weren’t overcome by the very fangs of venomous dragons, for your mercy passed by where they were and healed them. 11 For they were bitten to put them in remembrance of your oracles, and were quickly saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, they should become unable to respond to your kindness. 12 For truly it was neither herb nor poultice that cured them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all people. 13 For you have authority over life and death, and you lead down to the gates of Hades, and lead up again. 14 But though a man kills by his wickedness, he can’t retrieve the spirit that has departed or release the imprisoned soul. 15 But it is not possible to escape your hand; 16 for ungodly men, refusing to know you, were scourged in the strength of your arm, pursued with strange rains and hails and relentless storms, and utterly consumed with fire. 17 For, what was most marvelous, in the water which quenches all things, the fire burned hotter; for the world fights for the righteous. 18 For at one time the flame was restrained, that it might not burn up the creatures sent against the ungodly, but that these themselves as they looked might see that they were chased by the judgment of Elohim. 19 At another time even in the midst of water it burns more intensely than fire, that it may destroy the produce of an unrighteous land. 20 Instead of these things, you gave your people angels’ food to eat, and you provided ready-to-eat bread for them from heaven without toil, having the virtue of every pleasant flavor, and agreeable to every taste. 21 For your nature showed your sweetness toward your children, while that bread, serving the desire of the eater, changed itself according to every man’s choice.

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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.).

3.1.1. When the Hebrews had obtained such a wonderful deliverance, the country was a great trouble to them, for it was entirely a desert, and without sustenance for them; and also had exceeding little water, so that it not only was not at all sufficient for the men, but not enough to feed any of the cattle, for it was parched up, and had no moisture that might afford nutriment to the vegetables; so they were forced to travel over this country, as having no other country but this to travel in. They had indeed carried water along with them from the land over which they had traveled before, as their conductor had bidden them; but when that was spent, they were obliged to draw water out of wells, with pain, by reason of the hardness of the soil. Moreover, what water they found was bitter, and not fit for drinking, and this in small quantities also; and as they thus traveled, they came late in the evening to a place called Marah, which had that name from the badness of its water, for Mar denotes bitterness. Thither they came afflicted both by the tediousness of their journey, and by their want of food, for it entirely failed them at that time. Now here was a well, which made them choose to stay in the place, which, although it were not sufficient to satisfy so great an army, did yet afford them some comfort, as found in such desert places; for they heard from those who had been to search, that there was nothing to be found, if they traveled on farther. Yet was this water bitter, and not fit for men to drink; and not only so, but it was intolerable even to the cattle themselves.

3.1.2. When Moses saw how much the people were cast down, and that the occasion of it could not be contradicted, for the people were not in the nature of a complete army of men, who might oppose a manly fortitude to the necessity that distressed them; the multitude of the children, and of the women also, being of too weak capacities to be persuaded by reason, blunted the courage of the men themselves,—he was therefore in great difficulties, and made everybody’s calamity his own; for they ran all of them to him, and begged of him; the women begged for their infants, and the men for the women, that he would not overlook them, but procure some way or other for their deliverance. He therefore betook himself to prayer to Elohim, that he would change the water from its present badness, and make it fit for drinking. And when Elohim had granted him that favor, he took the top of a stick that lay down at his feet, and divided it in the middle, and made the section lengthways. He then let it down into the well, and persuaded the Hebrews that Elohim had hearkened to his prayers, and had promised to render the water such as they desired it to be, in case they would be subservient to him in what he should enjoin them to do, and this not after a remiss or negligent manner. And when they asked what they were to do in order to have the water changed for the better, he bid the strongest men among them that stood there, to draw up water and told them, that when the greatest part was drawn up, the remainder would be fit to drink. So they labored at it till the water was so agitated and purged as to be fit to drink.

3.1.3. And now removing from thence they came to Elim; which place looked well at a distance, for there was a grove of palm-trees; but when they came near to it, it appeared to be a bad place, for the palm-trees were no more than seventy; and they were ill-grown and creeping trees, by the want of water, for the country about was all parched, and no moisture sufficient to water them, and make them hopeful and useful, was derived to them from the fountains, which were in number twelve: they were rather a few moist places than springs, which not breaking out of the ground, nor running over, could not sufficiently water the trees. And when they dug into the sand, they met with no water; and if they took a few drops of it into their hands, they found it to be useless, on account of its mud. The trees were too weak to bear fruit, for want of being sufficiently cherished and enlivened by the water. So they laid the blame on their conductor, and made heavy complaints against him; and said that this their miserable state, and the experience they had of adversity, were owing to him; for that they had then journeyed an entire thirty days, and had spent all the provisions they had brought with them; and meeting with no relief, they were in a very desponding condition. And by fixing their attention upon nothing but their present misfortunes, they were hindered from remembering what deliverances they had received from Elohim, and those by the virtue and wisdom of Moses also; so they were very angry at their conductor, and were zealous in their attry to stone him, as the direct occasion of their present miseries.

3.1.4. But as for Moses himself, while the multitude were irritated and bitterly set against him, he cheerfully relied upon Elohim, and upon his consciousness of the care he had taken of these his own people; and he came into the midst of them, even while they clamored against him, and had stones in their hands in order to despatch him. Now he was of an agreeable face, and very able to persuade the people by his speeches; accordingly he began to mitigate their anger, and exhorted them not to be over-mindful of their present adversities, lest they should thereby suffer the benefits that had formerly been bestowed on them to slip out of their memories; and he desired them by no means, on account of their present uneasiness, to cast those great and wonderful favors and gifts, which they had obtained of Elohim, out of their minds, but to expect deliverance out of those their present troubles which they could not free themselves from, and this by the means of that Divine Providence which watched over them. Seeing it is probable that Elohim tries their virtue, and exercises their patience by these adversities, that it may appear what fortitude they have, and what memory they retain of his former wonderful works in their favor, and whether they will not think of them upon occasion of the miseries they now feel. He told them, it appeared they were not really good men, either in patience, or in remembering what had been successfully done for them, sometimes by contemning Elohim and his commands, when by those commands they left the land of Egypt; and sometimes by behaving themselves ill towards him who was the servant of Elohim, and this when he had never deceived them, either in what he said, or had ordered them to do by Elohim’s command. He also put them in mind of all that had passed; how the Egyptians were destroyed when they attested to detain them, contrary to the command of Elohim; and after what manner the very same river was to the others bloody, and not fit for drinking, but was to them sweet, and fit for drinking; and how they went a new road through the sea, which fled a long way from them, by which very means they were themselves preserved, but saw their enemies destroyed; and that when they were in want of weapons, Elohim gave them plenty of them;-and so he recounted all the particular instances, how when they were, in appearance, just going to be destroyed, Elohim had saved them in a surprising manner; and that he had still the same power; and that they ought not even now to despair of his providence over them; and accordingly he exhorted them to continue quiet, and to consider that help would not come too late, though it come not immediately, if it be present with them before they suffer any great misfortune; that they ought to reason thus: that Elohim delays to assist them, not because he has no regard to them, but because he will first try their fortitude, and the pleasure they take in their freedom, that he may learn whether you have souls great enough to bear want of food, and scarcity of water, on its account; or whether you rather love to be slaves, as cattle are slaves to such as own them, and feed them liberally, but only in order to make them more useful in their service. That as for himself, he will not be so much concerned for his own preservation; for if he die unjustly, he will not reckon it any affliction, but that he is concerned for them, lest, by casting stones at him, they should be thought to condemn Elohim himself.

3.1.5. By this means Moses pacified the people, and restrained them from stoning him, and brought them to repent of what they were going to do. And because he thought the necessity they were under made their passion less unjustifiable, he thought he ought to apply himself to Elohim by prayer and supplication; and going up to an eminence, he requested of Elohim for some succor for the people, and some way of deliverance from the want they were in, because in him, and in him alone, was their hope of salvation; and he desired that he would forgive what necessity had forced the people to do, since such was the nature of mankind, hard to please, and very complaining under adversities. Accordingly Elohim promised he would take care of them, and afford them the succor they were desirous of. Now when Moses had heard this from Elohim, he came down to the multitude. But as soon as they saw him joyful at the promises he had received from Elohim, they changed their sad countenances into gladness. So he placed himself in the midst of them, and told them he came to bring them from Elohim a deliverance from their present distresses. Accordingly a little after came a vast number of quails, which is a bird more plentiful in this Arabian Gulf than any where else, flying over the sea, and hovered over them, till wearied with their laborious flight, and, indeed, as usual, flying very near to the land, they fell down upon the Hebrews, who caught them, and satisfied their hunger with them, and supposed that this was the method whereby Elohim meant to supply them with food. Upon which Moses returned thanks to Elohim for affording them his assistance so suddenly, and sooner than he had promised them.

3.1.6. But presently after this first supply of food, he sent them a second; for as Moses was lifting up his hands in prayer, a dew fell down; and Moses, when he found it stick to his hands, supposed this was also come for food from Elohim to them. He tasted it; and perceiving that the people knew not what it was, and thought it snowed, and that it was what usually fell at that time of the year, he informed them that this dew did not fall from the heavens after the manner they imagined, but came for their preservation and sustenance. So he tasted it, and gave them some of it, that they might be satisfied about what he told them. They also imitated their conductor, and were pleased with the food, for it was like honey in sweetness and pleasant taste, but like in its body to bdellium, one of the sweet spices, and in bigness equal to coriander seed. And very earnest they were in gathering it; but they were enjoined to gather it equally —the measure of an omer for each one every day, because this food should not come in too small a quantity, lest the weaker might not be able to get their share, by reason of the overbearing of the strong in collecting it. However, these strong men, when they had gathered more than the measure appointed for them, had no more than others, but only tired themselves more in gathering it, for they found no more than an omer apiece; and the advantage they got by what was superfluous was none at all, it corrupting, both by the worms breeding in it, and by its bitterness. So divine and wonderful a food was this! It also supplied the want of other sorts of food to those that fed on it. And even now, in all that place, this manna comes down in rain, according to what Moses then obtained of Elohim, to send it to the people for their sustenance. Now the Hebrews call this food manna: for the particle man, in our language, is the asking of a question. What is this? So the Hebrews were very joyful at what was sent them from the heavens. Now they made use of this food for forty years, or as long as they were in the wilderness.