6 Wherefore considering this,
that if I shall take care to
communicate to you a part of what
I have received, it shall turn to
my reward, that I have served such
good souls. I gave diligence to
write in a few words unto you;
that together with your faith, your
knowledge also may be perfect.
7 There are therefore three
things ordained by the Lord; the
hope of life, the beginning, and
the completion of it.
8 For the Lord hath both
declared unto us, by the prophets,
those things that are past; and
opened to us the beginnings of
those that are to come.
9 Wherefore, it will behove us,
as he has spoken, to come more
holily, and nearer to his altar.
10 I therefore, not as a teacher
but as one of you, will endeavour
to lay before you a few things by
which you may, on many accounts,
become the more joyful.
CHAPTER II.
That God has abolished the legal sacrifices,
to introduce the spiritual righteousness of the Gospel.
SEEING then the days are
exceedingly evil, and the
adversary has got the power of this
present world we ought to give the
more diligence to inquire into the
righteous judgments of the Lord.
2 Now the assistants of our
faith are fear and patience; our
fellow-combatants, long suffering
and continence.