Epistle of Barnabas 3

1He says then to them again concerning these things, “Why do ye fast to me as on this day, saith the Lord, that your voice should be heard with a cry? I have not chosen this fast, saith the Lord, that a man should humble his soul. Nor, though ye bend your neck like a ring, and put upon you sackcloth and ashes, will ye call it an acceptable fast.” To us He saith, “Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord, not that a man should humble his soul, but that he should loose every band of iniquity, untie the fastenings of harsh agreements, restore to liberty them that are bruised, tear in pieces every unjust engagement, feed the hungry with thy bread, clothe the naked when thou seest him, bring the homeless into thy house, not despise the humble if thou behold him, and not [turn away] from the members of thine own family. Then shall thy dawn break forth, and thy healing shall quickly spring up, and righteousness shall go forth before thee, and the glory of God shall encompass thee; and then thou shalt call, and God shall hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He shall say, Behold, I am with thee; if thou take away from thee the chain [binding others], and the stretching forth of the hands [to swear falsely], and words of murmuring, and give cheerfully thy bread to the hungry, and show compassion to the soul that has been humbled.” To this end, therefore, brethren, He is long-suffering, foreseeing how the people whom He has prepared shall with guilelessness believe in His Beloved. For He revealed all these things to us beforehand, that we should not rush forward as rash acceptors of their laws.

IIL Λέγει οὖν πάλιν περὶ τούτων πρὸς αὐτούς" “Ina Ti ΜΟΙ νηςτεύετε, λέγει Κύριος, ὡς σήμερον ἀκογεοθῆνδι ἐν κρδυγῆ το τὴν φωνὴν ὑμῶν ; OY TAYTHN THN NHCTEION ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην, λέγει Κύριος, οὐκ ἄνθρωπον τἀπεινοῦντὰ τὴν YyYHN τοῦ, oyd’ ἄν κάμψητε ὡς κρίκον τὸν τράχηλον ὑμῶν, καὶ CAKKON ENAYCHCOE Kal σποδὸν ὑποςτρώσητε, οὐδ᾽ οὕτως κδλέςετε νη- cTeian λεκτήν. πρὸς ἡμᾶς δὰ Aéyes’ ᾿ΙλΟΥ δὕτη ἡ νηςτείὰ HN ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην, λέγει Κύριος λύε πᾶν CYNAECMON ἄλικίδο, διάλγε ετραγγδλιὰς Binion ογνδλλδγμάτων, ἀπόοστελλε τεθρδγομένογε ἐν ἀφέςει, Kal TACAN ἄλικον ουὐνγράφην AlicTIa. διάθργπτε πεινῶσιν TON ἄρτον COY, καὶ γγμνὸν ἐάν ἴδης, περίβδαλε' ἀστέγογς εἴοδγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν Coy, Kai ἐὰν ἴλης τἀπεινόν, OYy ὑπερόψη δύτόν, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ Ἅοπέρματός coy. τότε ῥδγήςετδι TIP@IMON τὸ φῶς coy, καὶ TA idmatd coy τἀχέως ἀνδτελεῖ, Kal TIpoTropeyceTal ἔμπροςθέν Coy H AIKAIOCYNH, Kai ἡ δόξὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ περιοτελεῖ ce τότε Boxicetc, Kal ὁ Θεὸς ἐπδκογςετδί coy, ἔτι λδλοῦντος coy ἐρεῖ, Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι ἐὰν ἀφέλης ἀπὸ οοὗ CYNAECMON Kal χειροτονίδν Kal ῥῆμα γογγυομοῦ, Kal δῷς πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον coy ἐκ ψυχῆς coy, Kai ψυχὴν τετὰπεινωμένην ἐλεήςης, εἰς τοῦτο οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ὁ μακρόθυμος προβλέψας os ἐν ἀκεραιο- σύνῃ πιστεύσει ὁ λαὸς ὃν ἡτοίμασεν ἐν τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ αὑτοῦ, “προεφανέρωσεν ἡμῖν περὶ πάντων, ἵνα μὴ προσρησσώμεθα ὡς ἐπήλυτοι τῷ ἐκείνων νόμῳ.