4.3
24 I asked her about the four colors that the beast had on its head. And she answered me and said, “Again you are curious about such things!” “Yes, lady,” I said. “Tell me what these are.” 2 “Listen,” she said. “The black is this world in which you live. 3 The color of fire and blood signifies that this world must be destroyed by blood and fire. 4 You who have escaped from this world are the gold part, for just as gold is tested by fire and made useful, so also you who live in them are being tested. Therefore those who endure and pass through the flames will be purified by them. For just as gold casts off its dross, so also you will cast away all grief and distress, and will be purified and useful for the building of the tower. 5 The white part is the age to come, in which God’s elect will live because those chosen by God for eternal life will be spotless and pure. 6 Therefore do not cease speaking to the ears of the saints. You have also the foreshadowing of the great tribulation that is coming. But if you are willing, it will be nothing. Remember what has already been written.” 7 With these words she left, and I did not see where she went, for there was a noise, and I turned back in fear, thinking that the beast was coming.
24.4 in them I.e., the fire and the blood; or among them, with reference to the inhabitants of the world.
Vision 5
The Shepherd Arrives
25 After I had prayed in my house and sat down on my bed, there came a man glorious in appearance, dressed like a shepherd, with a white skin wrapped around him and with a bag on his shoulders and a staff in his hand. He greeted me, and I greeted him in return. 2 He immediately sat down beside me and said to me, “I was sent by the most holy angel to live with you the rest of the days of your life.” 3 I thought that he had come to tempt me, and I said to him, “Well, who are you? For I know,” I said, “to whom I have been entrusted.” He said to me, “Do you not recognize me?” “No,” I replied. “I am,” he said, “the shepherd to whom you were entrusted.” 4 While he was still speaking, his appearance was changed, and I recognized him as the one to whom I was entrusted; and immediately I was confused, and fear seized me, and I was completely overwhelmed with sorrow, because I had answered him so wickedly and foolishly. 5 But he answered and said to me, “Do not be confused, but strengthen yourself in my commandments, which I am about to give you. For I was sent,” he said, “that I might show you again everything that you saw previously, the most important points, those useful to you. First of all, write down my commandments and parables; but write down the other matters as I show them to you. This is why,” he said, “I am commanding you to write down first the commandments and parables so that you may read them at once and be able to keep them.” 6 So I wrote down the commandments and parables, just as he commanded me. 7 If, then, when you hear them you keep them and walk in them and carry them out with a clean heart, you will receive from the Lord whatever he promised you. But if after hearing them you do not repent, but continue to add to your sins, you will receive from the Lord the opposite. All these things the shepherd, the angel of repentance, commanded me to write as follows.
24.7 there . . . noise Some ancient authorities read a cloud appeared. 25 Title Vision 5 Some ancient authorities read Revelation 5.
The Commandments
* * *
Commandment 1
Faith in God
26 “First of all, believe that God is one, who created all things and set them in order, and made out of what did not exist everything that is, and who contains all things but is himself alone uncontained. 2 Believe in him, therefore, and fear him, and fearing him, exercise self-control. Observe these things, and you will cast off all evil from yourself and will put on every virtue of righteousness and will live to God, if you observe this commandment.”
Commandment 2
Sincerity and Innocence
27 He said to me: “Be sincere and be innocent, and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that destroys human life. 2 First, speak evil of no one, and do not enjoy listening to someone who does. Otherwise you, the listener, will be responsible for the sin of the one speaking evil, if you believe the slander that you have heard, for by believing it you yourself will hold a grudge against your brother or sister. In this way you will become responsible for the sin of the one who speaks the evil. 3 Slander is evil; it is a restless demon, never at peace but always at home with dissension. So avoid it, and you will always have success with everyone. 4 Clothe yourself with reverence, in which there is no evil cause for offense, but all things are smooth and joyful. Work at what is good, and out of your labor, which God gives you, give generously to all who are in need, not debating to whom you will give and to whom you will not. Give to all, for God wishes that from his own gifts, gifts should be given to all. 5 So those who receive are accountable to God regarding why they received and to what end; for those in distress who receive will not be judged, but those who receive under false pretenses will pay the penalty. 6 Therefore those who give are innocent, for as they received from the Lord a ministry to carry out, they carried it out sincerely, not worrying about to whom to give or not to give. This ministry, then, when sincerely carried out, becomes glorious in God’s sight. Therefore the one who serves God sincerely in this manner will live. 7 So keep this commandment, as I have told you, in order that your repentance and that of your family may prove to be sincere and pure and innocent and unstained.”
27.2 brother or sister Gk adelphou.
Commandment 3
Truth
28 Again he spoke to me: “Love truth, and allow only the truth to come from your mouth, in order that the spirit that God caused to live in this flesh may prove to be true in the sight of all people; and thus will the Lord who lives in you be glorified. For the Lord is truthful in every word, and there is nothing false in him. 2 Therefore, those who lie reject the Lord and defraud the Lord, for they do not return to him the deposit that they received. For they received from him a spirit uncontaminated by deceit. If they return this as a lying spirit, they have polluted the Lord’s commandment and become thieves.” 3 When I heard these things, I wept bitterly. But when he saw me weeping, he said, “Why are you crying?” “Because, sir,” I said, “I do not know if I can be saved.” “Why?” he asked. “Because, sir,” I replied, “never in my life have I spoken a true word; instead, I have lived deceitfully with everyone, and have represented my lie as truth to everyone, and no one ever contradicted me but believed my word. So how,” I said, “can I live after having done these things?” 4 “Your thinking,” he said, “is right and true, for you must, as God’s servant, live truthfully, and an evil conscience must not live with the spirit of truth or bring grief to the spirit that is holy and true.” “Never before, sir,” I said, “have I correctly heard such words.” 5 “Well,” he said, “you are hearing them now. Obey them, so that the previous lies you told in your business affairs may themselves prove to be credible, now that your present remarks have proved to be true; for they too can become trustworthy. If you obey these and from now on speak only the truth, you will be able to attain life for yourself. And whoever hears this commandment and has nothing to do with falsehood, that most pernicious habit, will live to God.”
27.7 pure and innocent Some editors restore (on the basis of the ancient Latin version) your heart clean. 28.3 lived One ancient authority reads spoken.
Commandment 4
Chastity, Marriage, Repentance
4.1
29 “I command you,” he said, “to guard purity, and let no thought enter your heart about another man’s wife or about fornication, or about some such similar evil thing, for in doing this you commit a great sin. But always keep your mind on your own wife and you will never go wrong. 2 For if this desire enters your heart, you will go wrong, and if other things as evil as this enter, you commit sin. For this desire in a servant of God is a great sin, and if anyone does this evil deed, he brings death on himself. 3 So beware! Have nothing to do with this desire; for where holiness lives, the
re lawlessness ought not to enter the heart of a righteous person.” 4 I said to him, “Sir, allow me to ask you a few more questions.” “Speak,” he replied. “Sir,” I said, “if a man has a wife who believes in the Lord, and he finds her in some adulterous situation, does the man sin if he continues to live with her?” 5 “As long as he is unaware of it,” he said, “he does not sin. But if the husband knows about her sin and the wife does not repent, but persists in her immorality, and the husband continues to live with her, he becomes responsible for her sin and an accomplice in her adultery.” 6 “Sir,” I said, “what then should the husband do, if the wife persists in this passion?” “Let him divorce her,” he said, “and let the husband live by himself. But if after divorcing his wife he should marry another, then he too commits adultery.” 7 “So then, sir,” I said, “if, after the wife is divorced, she repents and wants to return to her own husband, she will be taken back, will she not?” 8 “Certainly,” he said. “If the husband does not take her back, he sins, and brings a great sin upon himself. In fact, the one who has sinned and repented must be taken back. But not repeatedly: for there is only one repentance for God’s servants. So, because of the possibility of her repentance, the husband ought not to marry. This procedure applies to wife and husband. 9 Not only,” he said, “is it adultery if someone pollutes the flesh, but whoever does anything like what the outsiders do commits adultery. So, if any persist in actions such as these and do not repent, have nothing to do with them and do not live with them. Otherwise you too are a partner in their sin. 10 This is why you are commanded to remain single, whether husband or wife, for in such cases repentance is possible. 11 I am not,” he said, “giving an excuse for this affair to end this way, but so that the sinner should sin no more. As for his or her previous sin, there is One who is able to give healing; it is he who has authority over everything.”
4.2
30 I asked him again, saying, “Since the Lord considered me worthy for you to live with me always, allow me a few more words, since I do not understand anything and my heart has been hardened by my previous deeds. Make me understand, because I am very foolish and comprehend absolutely nothing.” 2 He answered me and spoke thus: “I,” he said, “am in charge of repentance, and I give understanding to all who repent. Or do you not think,” he said, “that this very act of repentance is itself understanding? To repent,” he continued, “is great understanding. For those who have sinned understand that they have done evil in the Lord’s presence, and the act that they committed enters their heart, and they repent and no longer do evil, but do good lavishly, and they humble their own soul and torment it, because they sinned. You see, therefore, that repentance is great understanding.” 3 “This, sir,” I said, “is why I question you so precisely about everything; first, because I am a sinner; and second, because I do not know what deeds I must do in order to live, because my sins are many and varied.” 4 “You will live,” he said, “if you obey my commandments and walk in them. And whoever hears these commandments and obeys them will live to God.”
4.3
31 “Sir,” I said, “I would like to ask a further question.” “Speak,” he said. “Sir,” I said, “I have heard from certain teachers that there is no other repentance beyond what occurred when we descended into the water and received forgiveness of our previous sins.” 2 He said to me, “You have heard correctly, for so it is. For the one who has received forgiveness of sins ought never to sin again, but to live in purity. 3 But since you inquire so precisely about everything, I will show you this also, so as to give no excuse for those who will believe at some time in the future, or those who have just now believed in the Lord. For those who have just now believed, or those who are about to believe do not have repentance for sins, but they do have forgiveness of their previous sins. 4 So, for those who were called before these days the Lord has established repentance. For since the Lord knows every heart and knows everything in advance, he knew the weakness of human beings and the cunning of the devil, and that he would do something evil to God’s servants and treat them wickedly. 5 The Lord, however, who is exceedingly merciful, had mercy on his creation and established this opportunity for repentance, and authority over this repentance was given to me. 6 But I am warning you,” he said, “if, after this great and holy call, anyone is tempted by the devil and sins, that person has one opportunity for repentance. But if that one sins repeatedly and repents, it is of no use for such a person, for that person will scarcely live.” 7 I said to him, “I was restored to life again when I heard these things from you so precisely. For I now know that if I no longer add to my sins, I will be saved.” “You will be saved,” he said, “and so will everyone else who does these things.”
4.4
32 Again I asked him, saying, “Sir, since you have borne with me once, explain also this to me.” “Speak,” he said. “Sir, if a wife,” I asked, “or for that matter a husband, dies, and the survivor marries, does the one who marries sin?” 2 “That one does not sin,” he said, “but if the survivor remains single, one gains for oneself greater honor and great glory with the Lord; but even if one does remarry, one does not sin. 3 Preserve, therefore, purity and holiness, and you will live to God. All these things that I am telling you and will tell in the future, keep from this time forward, from the day you were entrusted to me, and I will live in your house. 4 But there will be forgiveness for your previous sins if you keep my commandments; in fact, there will be forgiveness for all, if they keep my commandments and walk in this purity.”
Commandment 5
Patience and Anger
5.1
33 “Be patient and understanding,” he said, “and you will overcome all evil deeds and will accomplish all righteousness. 2 For if you are patient, the holy spirit that lives in you will be pure, uncontaminated by some other, evil spirit; living in a spacious room, it will rejoice and be glad with the vessel in which it lives, and will serve God with much cheerfulness, for it is at peace with itself. 3 But if an angry temper approaches, immediately the holy spirit, which is very sensitive, is distressed because it does not have a clean place, and it seeks to leave the place. For it is choked by the evil spirit and does not have the room to serve the Lord the way it wants to, because it is polluted by the angry temper. For the Lord lives in patience, but the devil lives in an angry temper. 4 So if both spirits live together, it is unfortunate and evil for that person in whom they live. 5 For if you take a little wormwood and pour it in a jar of honey, all the honey is spoiled, is it not? Such a large amount of honey spoiled by such a small amount of wormwood; it spoils the sweetness, and the owner no longer cares for it, because it has become bitter and lost its usefulness. But if the wormwood is not put into the honey, the honey turns out to be sweet and is useful to its owner. 6 You see, then, that patience is very sweet, even more so than honey, and is useful to the Lord, and he lives in it. But an angry temper is bitter and useless. So, if an angry temper is mixed with patience, the patience is polluted, and its intercession is no longer useful to God.” 7 “I would like to know, sir,” I said, “how an angry temper works, in order that I can protect myself from it.” “Indeed,” he said, “if you do not protect yourself and your family from it, you have lost all hope. But protect yourself from it, for I am with you. And all who repent with all their heart will protect themselves from it, for I will be with them and will keep them safe, for they were all justified by the most holy angel.”
5.2
34 “Now hear,” he said, “how an angry temper works, how evil it is, and how it subverts God’s servants by its working, and how it leads them astray from righteousness. But it does not lead astray those who are filled with faith, nor can it work on them, because the Lord’s power is with them. But it can lead astray those who are empty-headed and double-minded. 2 For whenever it sees such people prospering, it insinuates itself into the person’s heart, and for no reason at all the man or the woman is embittered over worldly concerns, either about food or something trivial, or s
ome friend, or about giving or receiving, or foolish matters such as these. For these things are all foolish and empty and senseless and inexpedient for God’s servants. 3 But patience is great and strong, and possesses a mighty and vigorous power, and prospers in a spacious area; it is joyful, exultant, free from care, glorifying the Lord at all times, having no bitterness in itself, always remaining gentle and quiet. This patience, therefore, lives with those whose faith is perfect. 4 But an angry temper is first of all foolish, fickle, and senseless. Then from foolishness comes bitterness, and from bitterness wrath, and from wrath anger, and from anger vengefulness. Then vengefulness, being composed of all these evil elements, becomes a great and incurable sin. 5 For when all these spirits live in one vessel, where the holy spirit also lives, the vessel cannot contain them, but overflows. 6 So the sensitive spirit, which is used to living neither with an evil spirit nor with harshness, departs from a person such as this and seeks to live with gentleness and quiet. 7 Then, when it has left the one in whom it lives, that person is emptied of the spirit of righteousness, and from then on, since he or she is filled with the evil spirits, that one is unstable in everything he or she does and is dragged about here and there by the evil spirits, totally blind with respect to good intentions. So it goes, therefore, with all those who are ill-tempered. 8 Have nothing to do, therefore, with an angry temper, that most evil spirit. Instead, put on patience and resist an angry temper and bitterness, and you will be found in the company of the holiness that is loved by the Lord. So take care that you never neglect this commandment, for if you master it, you will also be able to keep the rest of the commandments that I am about to give you. Be strong in them, and empowered; indeed, let all who want to walk in them be empowered.”
The Apostolic Fathers in English Page 28