Over seventy different versions of gospels, acts, and epistles by various Christians appeared in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but they did not make it into the official canonical Bible. They are often referred to as the apocryphal, hidden, or lost books of the Bible. Scholars have been interested in these books to help them understand what some Christian people were thinking about at that time. These writings tell us more about the author’s attitude about Jesus.
epistles
Turn to Yahweh (Isa 45:22-45:23)
“Turn to me!
Be saved!
All the ends of the earth!
I am God!
There is no other!
By myself I have sworn.
From my mouth has gone forth
In righteousness.
A word that shall not return.
‘To me
Every knee shall bow.
Every tongue shall swear.’”
Second Isaiah has Yahweh ask that everybody from the ends of the earth should turn to him to be saved. Yahweh proclaimed that he is God and that there is no other besides him. He speaks in righteousness and truth. Thus every knee should bow to him. Every tongue should swear to him. This is somewhat the same language that the Paul in his epistles to the Romans and the Philippians will use about Jesus Christ.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 