and I was advancingin Judaismbeyondmanyof my contemporariesamongmy countrymen,beingmore extremelyzealousfor my ancestraltraditions.
Then the Lordsaid,"Becausethispeopledrawnearwith their wordsAnd honorMe with their lipservice,But they removetheir heartsfarfrom Me, And their reverencefor Me consistsof traditionlearned[by rote],
"I will declareyour righteousnessand your deeds,But they will not profityou.
"And it shall be that whenthey sayto you, 'Whereshould we go?'then you are to tellthem, 'Thussaysthe LORD:"Those [destined] for death,to death;And those [destined] for the sword,to the sword;And those [destined] for famine,to famine;And those [destined] for captivity,to captivity."'
but have walkedafterthe stubbornnessof their heartand afterthe Baals,as their fatherstaughtthem,"
"Orifthe rawfleshturnsagainand is changedto white,then he shall cometo the priest,
he is not to honorhis fatherorhis mother.' And [by this] you invalidatedthe wordof Godfor the sakeof your tradition.
And when they heardit they [began] glorifyingGod;and they saidto him, "You see,brother,how manythousandsthere are amongthe Jewsof thosewho have believed,and they are allzealousfor the Law;
"I ama Jew,bornin Tarsusof Cilicia,but broughtup in thiscity,educatedunderGamaliel,strictlyaccordingto the lawof our fathers,beingzealousfor Godjustas you allare today.
since they have knownabout me for a long time,ifthey are willingto testify,that I lived[as] a Phariseeaccordingto the strictestsectof our religion.
"So then,I thoughtto myselfthat I hadto domany thingshostileto the nameof Jesusof Nazareth.
Seeto it that noonetakes you captivethroughphilosophyand emptydeception,accordingto the traditionof men,accordingto the elementary principlesof the world,ratherthanaccordingto Christ.
and though you have not seenHim, you loveHim, and though you do not seeHim now,but believein Him, you greatly rejoicewith joyinexpressibleand full of glory,
