At the start was the Logos1, and the Logos was facing the God, and the Logos was God. This One was facing the God at the start. Everything happened through Him, and without Him not one thing happened which had happened. Life was by means of Him, and that life was the light of human beings; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness didn’t seize it.
A human being happened, having been sent out from beside the God, Yohanan was the name for him; this person came for a testimony so that he should testify about the light, so that all people would believe through him. That person wasn’t the light, but so that he should testify about the light. The light was the real thing, which illuminates every human being coming into the universe2. He was in the universe, and the universe happened through Him, and the universe didn’t know Him. He came as far as His own things, and His own people didn’t receive Him from the God. Yet as many as received Him, he gave authority to them to become children of God, to those putting their trust into His name, these not birthed from blood nor from a biological will nor from the will of a man but from the God.
And the Logos became meat and bones and lived as in a tent among us, and we gazed at the reputation of Him, a reputation like the one of a kind next to the Father, full of charity and truth. Yohanan testifies about Him and had shouted out saying, “This Person was whom I said, ‘The One coming after me had become in front of me, because He was first from me.’ because from His total we all of us received charity in place of charity; because the Torah3 was given through Moshe, this Charity and this Truth happened through Yeshua the Anointed. No one had seen God at any time; the one of a kind Son who exists in the embrace of the Father, that one walked us through Him fully.
* * *
Avraham fathered Yitzchak, and Yitzchak fathered Ya’akov, and Ya’akov fathered Y’hudah and his brothers, and Y’hudah fathered Peretz and Zerach from Tamar, and Peretz fathered Chetzron, and Chetzron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadav, and Amminadav fathered Nachshon, and Nachshon fathered Salmon, and Salmon fathered Bo’az from Rachav, and Bo’az fathered Oved from Rut, and Oved fathered Yishai, and Yishai fathered David haMelech.
And David fathered Shlomo from she belonging to Uriyah, and Shlomo fathered Rechav’am, and Rechav’am fathered Aviyah, and Aviyah fathered Asa, Asa fathered Y’hoshaphat, and Y’hoshaphat fathered Yoram, and Yoram fathered Uziyahu, and Uziyahu fathered Yotam, and Yotam fathered Achaz, and Achaz fathered Chizkiyahu, and Chizkiyahu fathered M’nasheh, and M’nasheh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Yoshiyahu, and Yoshiayahu fathered Y’khanyahu and his brothers upon the Babylonian deportation.
And with the Babylonian deportation Y’khanyahu fathered Sh’altiel, and Sh’altiel fathered Z’rubavel, and Z’rubavel fathered Av’ichud, and Av’ichud fathered Elyakim, and Elyakim fathered Azur, and Azur fathered Tzadok, and Tzadok fathered Yakhin, and Yakhin fathered El’ichud, and El’ichud fathered El’azar, and El’azar fathered Mattan, and Mattan fathered Ya’akov, and Ya’akov fathered Yosef, the man of Maryam, from which woman was born Yeshua who is said to be the Anointed.
All the generations then from Avraham until David are fourteen generations, and from David until the Babylonian deportation are fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian deportation until the Anointed are fourteen generations.
* * *
And in the sixth month4 the messenger Gavri’el was sent from God into the city of the Galil, the name of which is Natzeret, to a virginhaving become engaged to a man whose name was Yosef from the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Maryam. And entering to her he said, “Greetings, she having been highly favored, Yahweh is with you.” And she, upon this message was disturbed and debated what kind of greeting this might be. And the messenger said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Maryam, because you found favor from God. And look you will conceive in your belly and will give birth to a son and will call His Name, ‘Yeshua.’ This One will be big and will be called Son of the Highest, and Yahweh God will give to Him the throne of David His ancestor, and he will reign as king upon upon the house of Ya’akov into the aeons and His kingdom will not end.” And Maryam said to the messenger, “How will this be since I am not ‘experiencing’ a man?” And the messenger answering said to her, “Holy Pneuma5 will come upon you and power of the highest will cast a shadow upon you; therefore also the sacred thing being born will be called a Son of God.” And look at your kinsman Elisabet, she also has conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month for her who is called sterile; because every spoken word is not impossible for God.” And Maryam said, “Look, the slave-girl of Yahweh; May it happen to me in line with your spoken word.” And the messenger went away from her.
* * *
And the genesis of Yeshua the Anointed was in this way. With His mother Maryam betrothed to Yosef, before their coming together she was found holding something in the belly from the Holy Pneuma. Yet Yosef her man, being a person to do the right thing and not wishing to make a show of her, preferred to unbind her from himself secretly. And with his taking these things to heart, look, a messenger of Yahweh shined forth to him during a dream telling him, “Yosef Bar-David, you shouldn’t be afraid to receive Maryam from her father to be your woman; because the thing within her is fathered from the Holy Pneuma. And she will bring a Son into the world, and you will call His name, ‘Yeshua,’ because He will rescue His people from their errors. And this whole thing has happened so that the thing spoken by Yahweh through the prophet would be fulfilled saying, ‘Look, the virgin will hold something in the belly and will bring a son into the world, and they will call His name ‘Immanu’el’, which is translated, ‘God with us.’” And being roused from the sleep, Yosef did like the angel of Yahweh assigned him and received his woman from her father, and didn’t ‘experience’ her until where she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name, “Yeshua.”
* * *
And it happened in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all his jurisdiction. This census first happened during Quirinius’ governorship of Syria.6 And they all went to be recorded, each to his own city. And Yosef also went up from the Galil from the city of Natseret into Iudaea into the city of David which is called “Beth-Lekhem, because of him being from the house and lineage of David, to be recorded together with Maryam the woman engaged to him, her being pregnant. And it happened with their being there the days for her giving birth were fulfilled, and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and put him to bed in an animal feeder, because there wasn’t any place for them at the guest house.
* * *
And it happened in those days Yeshua from Natseret of the Galil came and was baptized in the Yordan by Yohanan7. And immediately coming up out of the water he8 saw the skies being torn and the Pneuma coming down like a pigeon onto Him.\; and a voice happened from the skies, “You are My dear Son, I am happy with you.”
And immediately the Pneuma tossed Him out into the wasteland. And He was in the wasteland forty days with Satan trying to make Him fail, and He was with the beasts, and the messengers served Him.
* * *
From that point in time, Yeshua started to preach and to say, “Change your mind; because the kingdom of the heavenly realms is right here and right now.”
* * *
And this is the testimony of Yohanan, when the Iudaeans sent priests and Levites out from Hierosoluma so that they would question him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and didn’t deny it, and confessed that “I am not the Anointed.”And they questioned him, “What then? Are you Eliyahu?” And he says, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet then?” And he answered, “No.” They say then to him, “Who are you? What are you saying about yourself then; so that we might give a response to those sending us?” He said, “I am a voice shouting in the desert, ‘Straighten the path of Yahweh!’ just like Yeshayahu the Prophet said.” And they were on a mission from the Farishi. And they questioned him and said to him, “What then are you baptizing for if you aren’t the Anointed, nor Eliyahu, nor the Prophet?” Yohanan answered them saying, “I am baptizing with water, yet a person stood in the middle of you whom you don’t instinctively know; the one coming behind me of whom I’m not worthy just so that I would untie His sandal straps.” These things happened in Beth-Anya on the other side of the Yordan, where Yohanan was baptizing.
By the next day, he looks at Yeshua coming towards him and he says, “Look, the God’s sacrificial lamb who removes the error from the universe. This is the guy about whom I said, ‘a Man comes behind me who has become in front of me, because He was first before me.’ And I didn’t instinctively know Him, but I came baptizing with water so that He would be made visible to Yisra'el for this reason.” And Yohanan testified saying that, “I have watched the Pneuma descending like a pigeon out of the sky upon Him and making its home there. This person is the one baptizing with the Holy Pneuma. And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of the God.”
Again on the next day, Yohanan was standing there as well as two from among his disciples, and having looked at Yeshua walking he says to them, “Look, the sacrificial lamb of the God.” And the two disciples heard him talking and followed Yeshua. And turning around, Yeshua, also having watched them following, says, “What are you looking for?” And these guys said to Him, “Rabbi (which is translated, “Teacher”), where do you make your home?” He says to them, “Come and see.” They then came and saw where He makes His home and they made their home at His side that day. It was like the tenth hour from dawn. Andreas, one of the two who heard at Yohanan’s side and followed Him, was the brother of Shimon Petros. This guy finds his own brother Shimon first and says to him, “We found the Messiah,” (which is translated, “the Anointed”). He led him to Yeshua. Having looked at him, Yeshua said, “You are Shimon Bar-Yonah. You will be called ‘Kefa’ (which is translated, ‘Petros’).”
On the next day, He wished to come out into the Galil and find Filippos. And Yeshua says to him, “Follow Me.” And Filippos was from Beth-Tzaidah, from the town of Andreas and Petros. Filippos finds Nathana’el and says to him, “We found the guy whom Moshe and the prophets wrote about in the Torah, Yeshua Bar-Yosef from Natzeret.”And Nathanael said to him, “Is anything good capable of being from Natzeret?” Filippos says to him, “Come and look.” Yeshua saw Nathanael coming to Him and says about him, “Look, a real Yisra'eli within whom there isn’t any deceit.” Nathanael says to Him, “Where do you know me from?” Yeshua responded and said to him, “Before Filippos’ calling to you I saw you being under the fig tree.” Nathanael responded to Him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God? You are the King of Yisra’el?” Yeshua answered and said to him, “Do you believe it when I said to you I saw you underneath the fig tree? You will see bigger things than these.” And He says to him, “Amen amen I’m telling you, you will see the sky having opened and the messengers of God ascending and descending upon Bar-Nasha9.”
And on the third day a wedding happened in Kana of the Galil, and the mother of Yeshua was there; and both Yeshua and His disciples were invited into the wedding. And with them running short on wine the mother of Yeshua says to Him, “They don’t have wine.” Yeshua says to her, “What do you want Me to do about it, woman? My hour hasn’t come yet.” His mother says to the servants, “Do whatever He may tell you.” And there were six stone water jars, in line with the cleansing of the Iudaeans, lying there holding up to two or three measurements [between 20 and 30 gallons] worth of water. Yeshua says to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” And they filled them up to the top. And He says to them, “Draw some right now and bring it to the person presiding over the banquet.” And they brought some. And as the person presiding over the banquet tasted the water having become wine and didn’t know where it is from (yet the servants who had drawn the water knew), the person presiding over the banquet shouts to the groom and says to him, “Every human being places the good wine first, and when they are intoxicated the lesser quality stuff. You have kept the good wine until now.” Yeshua did this first of the signs in Kana of the the Galil and made His reputation visible, and His disciples put their trust into Him.
After this, He went down into K’fer-Nahum and His mother and brothers and His disciples, and stayed put there for not many days.
* * *
And walking near the Sea of the Galil He saw two brothers, Shimon, the one being called “Petros,” and Andreas his brother, tossing fishing nets into the sea; because they were fishermen. And He says to them, “Come here behind Me, and I will make you fishermen of human beings.” And these immediately dropping the nets followed Him. And moving on from there He saw another two brothers, Ya’akov Bar-Zevedai and Yohanan his brother, inside the boat with Zevedai their father repairing their nets, and He called them. And these immediately dropping the boat and their father followed Him.
* * *the Ben-'adam
And the Paskha of the Iudaeans was close10, and Yeshua journeyed upwards into Hierosoluma. And He found sitting within the Temple those selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, as well as those exchanging currency. And having made a flagellum out of small ropes, He threw everyone out of the Temple along with the sheep and the cattle, and with those exchanging currency He poured out the coins and overturned the tables, and to those selling the pigeons He said, “Take these things away from here! Don’t make the house of My Father the home of a trading exchange!” His disciples were reminded that it had been written, “Jealousy for Your house consumes Me.” The Iudaeans responded then and said to Him, “What sign from God are you going to show us because You are doing these things?” Yeshua responded and said to them, “Undo this shrine and within three days I will raise it.” The Iudaeans then said, “It took forty six years to construct this shrine, and You would raise it within three days?” Yet that One was talking about His bodily shrine. When He was then raised from the dead, His disciples were reminded that He was saying this, and they believed the Scripture and the message which Yeshua said.
And as He was among the people of Hierosoluma at the Paskha during the holiday festival, many put their trust into His name watching His signs from God which he was doing. Yet Yeshua Himself didn’t trust Himself to them because of Him knowing everyone, and because He didn’t have a need for anyone to testify about the human being, because He knew from experience what was inside the human being.
1Λογος, a concept from Stoic philosophy denoting the “divine reason or principle” which the God used to create everything, is identified with the God, and a share of which exists in every human being.
2This is one of the two ways I have chosen to render the word κοσμος, which literally means an arrangement or ordering of something, in this case the created world or universe which they understood (sky, land, ocean, underworld). The second way I have rendered it is “order of this world” when it is used in a negative context and referring to “how the world works” as opposed to the entire universe.
3The Greek word νομος literally means “law,” but in the context of the authors of the New Testament, it almost always refers to the Torah, literally “law” in Hebrew (תורה), the first five books of the Old Testament written and given by Moshe. So I have rendered it.
4The sixth month of the Jewish calendar that year, Elul. Given that a human pregnancy is about 40 weeks give or take, it can be calculated that Jesus (Yeshua) was born in the middle of the month of Iyar, roughly around May 1st, 6 CE.
5Πνευμα, another concept from Stoic philosophy, roughly translates to “breath” or “air in motion.” It is also referred to as “fiery breath,” and is considered the element from which all matter is derived, and the organizing principle of the cosmos as well as the individual human being. The human soul is said to be constituted or made of πνευμα.
6History records this census happening in 6 CE as Rome divided the Kingdom of Judea into four separate provinces, with the province of Iudaea being taken from the Herod’s due to Archelaus’ brutality and placed under direct Roman rule. This would make Yeshua (Jesus) 27 years old when he was crucified in 33 CE.
7Traditionally near Beit-Anya beyond the Jordan, modern al-Maghta, Jordan.
8“ειδεν,” lit. “he saw.” In context, and with Yohanan’s later testimony, the “he” being referred to is Yohanan, not Yeshua.
9The word ανθρωπος is a more or less 1:1 translation of the Hebrew word אדם, “’adam,” meaning “human being.” I have chose to render this word as “Adam” for this reason, but also as a reference to St. Paul’s naming Yeshua as the “last Adam” as opposed to the first.
10Paskha (Syriac), Pesakh (Hebrew), or “Passover” that year started on March 27th, 31 CE.
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