SECOND CLEMENT (2 Clement)

Roberts-Donaldson Translation
Hoole's Translation
Lightfoot's Translation

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT

CHAP. I.--WE OUGHT TO THINK HIGHLY OF CHRIST.

brothers and sisters, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God,--as the Judge of the living and the dead. And it does not become us to think lightly of our salvation; for if we think little of Him, we shall also hope but to obtain little [from Him]. And those of us who hear carelessly of these things, as if they were of small importance, commit sin, not knowing whence we have been called, and by whom, and to what place, and how much Jesus Christ submitted to suffer for our sakes. What return, then, shall we make to Him, or what fruit that shall be worthy of that which tie has given to us? For, indeed, how great are the benefits which we owe to Him! He has graciously given us light; as a Father, He has called us sons; He has saved us when we were ready to perish. What praise, then, shall we give to Him, or what return shall we make for the things which we have received? We were deficient in understanding, worshipping stones and wood, and gold, and silver, and brass, the works of men's hands; and our whole life was nothing else than death. Involved in blindness, and with such darkness before our eyes, we have received sight, and through His will have laid aside that cloud by which we were enveloped. For He had compassion on us, and mercifully saved us, observing the many errors in which we were entangled, as well as the destruction to which we were exposed, and that we had no hope of salvation except it came to us from Him. For He called us when we were not, and willed that out of nothing we should attain a real existence.

CHAP. II.--THE CHURCH, FORMERLY BARREN, IS NOW FRUITFUL.

"Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break forth and cry, you that travail not; for she that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband." In that He said, "Rejoice, you barren that bear not," He referred to us, for our church was barren before that children were given to her. But when He said, "Cry out, you that travail not," He means this, that we should sincerely offer up our prayers to God, and should not, like women m travail, show signs of weakness. And in that He said, "For she that is desolate has many more children than she that has an husband," [He means] that our people seemed to be outcast from God, but now, through believing, have become more numerous than those who are reckoned to possess God. And another Scripture says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." This means that those who are perishing must be saved. For it is indeed a great and admirable thing to establish not the things which are standing, but those that are falling. Thus also did Christ desire to save the things which were perishing, and has saved many by coming and calling us when hastening to destruction.

CHAP. III.--THE DUTY OF CONFESSING CHRIST.

Since, then, He has displayed so great mercy towards us, and especially in this respect, that we who are living should not offer sacrifices to gods that are dead, or pay them worship, but should attain through Him to the knowledge of the true Father, whereby shall we show that we do indeed know Him, but by not denying Him through whom this knowledge has been attained? For He himself declares, "Whoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father." This, then, is our reward if we shall confess Him by whom we have been saved. But in what way shall we confess Him? By doing what He says, and not transgressing His commandments, and by honoring Him not with our lips only, but with all our heart and all our mind. For He says in Isaiah, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."

CHAP. IV.--TRUE CONFESSION OF CHRIST.

Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He says, "Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that works righteousness." Wherefore, brothers and sisters, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious. By such works let us confess Him, and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord has said, "Even though you were gathered together to me in my very bosom, yet if you were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity."

CHAP. V.--THIS WORLD SHOULD BE DESPISED.

Wherefore, brothers and sisters, leaving [willingly] our sojourn in this present world, let us do the will of Him that called us, and not fear to depart out of this world. For the Lord says, "Ye shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves." And Peter answered and said unto Him, "What, then, if the wolves shall tear in pieces the lambs?" Jesus said unto Peter, "The lambs have no cause after they are dead to fear the wolves; and in like manner, fear not you them that kill you, and can do nothing more unto you; but fear Him who, after you are dead, has power over both soul and body to cast them into hell-fire." And consider, brothers and sisters, that the sojourning in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of life everlasting. By what course of conduct, then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them? For if we desire to possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness.

CHAP. VI.--THE PRESENT AND FUTURE WORLDS ARE ENEMIES TO EACH OTHER.

Now the Lord declares, "No servant can serve two masters." If we desire, then, to serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. "For what will it profit if a man gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges to adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We cannot, therefore, be the friends of both; and it behoves us, by renouncing the one, to make sure of the other. Let us reckon that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. For thus also says the Scripture in Ezekiel, "If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up, they should not deliver their children in captivity." Now, if men so eminently righteous are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how can we hope to enter into the royal residence of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness?

CHAP. VII.--WE MUST STRIVE IN ORDER TO BE CROWNED.

Wherefore, then, my brothers and sisters, let us struggle with all earnestness, knowing that the contest is [in our case] close at hand, and that many undertake long voyages to strive for a corruptible reward; yet all are not crowned, but those only that have labored hard and striven gloriously. Let us therefore so strive, that we may all be crowned. Let us run the straight course, even the race that is incorruptible; and let us m great numbers set out for it, and strive that we may be crowned. And should we not all be able to obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it. We must remember that he who strives in the corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly, is taken away and scourged, and cast forth from the lists. What then think ye? If one does anything unseemly in the incorruptible contest, what shall he have to bear? For of those who do not preserve the seal [unbroken], [the Scripture] says, "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh."

CHAP. VIII.--THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE WHILE WE ARE ON EARTH.

As long, therefore, as we are upon earth, let us practice repentance, for we are as clay in the hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in his hands, fashions it over again; but if he have before this cast it into the furnace of fire, can no longer find any help for it: so let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brothers and sisters, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. For the Lord says in the Gospel, "If you have not kept that which was small, who will commit to you the great? For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." This, then, is what He means: "Keep the flesh holy and the seal undefiled, that you may receive eternal life."

CHAP. IX.--WE SHALL RE JUDGED IN THE FLESH.

And let no one of you say that this very flesh shall not be judged, nor rise again. Consider you in what [state] you were saved, in what you received sight, if not while you were in this flesh. We must therefore preserve the flesh as the temple of God. For as you were called in the flesh, you shall also come [to be judged] in the flesh. As Christ the Lord who saved us, though He was first a Spirit became flesh, and thus called us, so shall we also receive the reward in this flesh. Let us therefore love one another, that we may all attain to the kingdom of God. While we have an opportunity of being healed, let us yield ourselves to God that heals us, and give to Him a recompense. Of what sort? Repentance out of a sincere heart; for He knows all things beforehand, and is acquainted with what is in our hearts. Let us therefore give Him praise, not with the mouth only, but also with the heart, that tie may accept us as sons. For the Lord has said, "Those are my brothers and sisters who do the will of my Father."

CHAP. X.--VICE IS TO BE FORSAKEN, AND VIRTUE FOLLOWED.

Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live; and let us earnestly follow after virtue, but forsake every wicked tendency which would lead us into transgression; and flee from ungodliness, lest evils overtake us. For if we are diligent in doing good, peace will follow us. On this account, such men cannot find it [i.e. peace] as are influenced by human terrors, and prefer rather present enjoyment to the promise which shall afterwards be fulfilled. For they know not what torment present enjoyment recurs, or what felicity is involved in the future promise. And if, indeed, they themselves only aid such things, it would be [the more] tolerable; but now they persist in imbuing innocent souls with their pernicious doctrines, not knowing that they shall receive a double condemnation, both they and those that hear them.

CHAP. XI.--WE OUGHT TO SERVE GOD, TRUSTING IN HIS PROMISES.

Let us therefore serve God with a pure heart, and we shall be righteous; but if we do not serve Him, because we believe not the promise of God, we shall be miserable. For the prophetic word also declares, "Wretched are those of a double mind, and who doubt in their heart, who say, All these things have we heard even in the times of our fathers; but though we have waited day by day, we have seen none of them [accomplished]. you fools! compare yourselves to a tree; take, for instance, the vine. First of all it sheds its leaves, then the bud appears; after that the sour grape, and then the fully-ripened fruit. So, likewise, my people have borne disturbances and afflictions, but afterwards shall they receive their good things." Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be of a double mind, but let us hope and endure, that we also may obtain the reward. For He is faithful who has promised that He will bestow on every one a reward according to his works. If, therefore, we shall do righteousness in the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the promises, which "ear has not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man."

CHAP. XII.--WE ARE CONSTANTLY TO LOOK FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Let us expect, therefore, hour by hour, the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of the appearing of God. For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come, replied, "When two shall be one, that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female." Now, two are one when we speak the truth one to another, and there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And "that which is without as" that which is within means this: He calls the soul "that which is within," and the body "that which is without." As, then, thy body is visible to sight, so also let thy soul be manifest by good works. And "the male, with the female, neither male nor female, this He says, that brother seeing sister may have no thought concerning her as female, and that she may have no thought concerning him as male. "If you do these things, says He, "the kingdom of my Father shall come."

CHAP. XIII.--GOD'S NAME NOT TO BE BLASPHEMED.

brothers and sisters, then, let us now at length repent, let us soberly turn to that which is good; for we are full of abundant folly and wickedness. Let us wipe out from us our former sins, and repenting from the heart be saved; and let us not be men-pleasers, nor be willing to please one another only, but also the men without, for righteousness sake, that the name may not be, because of us, blasphemed. For the Lord says, "Continually my name is blasphemed among all nations," and "Wherefore my name is blasphemed; blasphemed in what? In your not doing the things which I wish." For the nations, hearing from our mouth the oracles of God, marvel at their excellence and worth; thereafter learning that our deeds are not worthy of the words which we speak,--receiving this occasion they turn to blasphemy, saying that they are a fable and a delusion. For, whenever they hear from us that God says, "No thank have ye, if you love them which love you, but you have thank, if you love your enemies and them which hate you " --whenever they hear these words, they marvel at the surpassing measure of their goodness; but when they see, that not only do we not love those who hate, but that we love not even those who love, they laugh us to scorn, and the name is blasphemed.

CHAP. XIV.--THE CHURCH SPIRITUAL.

So, then, brothers and sisters, if we do the will of our Father God, we shall be members of the first church, the spiritual,--that which was created before sun and moon; but if we shall not do the will of the Lord, we shall come under the Scripture which says, "My house became a den of robbers." So, then, let us elect to belong to the church of life, that we may be saved. I think not that you are ignorant that the living church is the body of Christ (for the Scripture, says, "God created man male and female;" the male is Christ, the female the church,) and that the Books and the Apostles teach that the church is not of the present, but from the beginning. For it was spiritual, as was also our Jesus, and was made manifest at the end of the days in order to save us. The church being spiritual, was made manifest in the flesh of Christ, signifying to us that if any one of us shall preserve it in the flesh and corrupt it not, he shall receive it in the Holy Spirit. For this flesh is the type of the spirit; no one, therefore, having corrupted the type, will receive afterwards the antitype. Therefore is it, then, that He says, brothers and sisters, "Preserve you the flesh, that you may become partakers of the spirit." If we say that the flesh is the church and the spirit Christ, then it follows that he who shall offer outrage to the flesh is guilty of outrage on the church. Such an one, therefore, will not partake of the spirit, which is Christ. Such is the life and immortality, which this flesh may afterwards receive, the Holy Spirit cleaving to it; and no one can either express or utter what things the Lord has prepared for His elect.

CHAP. XV.--HE WHO SAVES AND HE WHO IS SAVED.

I think not that I counted trivial counsel concerning continence; following it, a man will not repent thereof, but will save both himself and me who counseled. For it is no small reward to turn back a wandering and perishing soul for its salvation. For this recompense we are able to render to the God who created us, if he who speaks and hears both speak and hear with faith and love. Let us, therefore, continue in that course in which we, righteous and holy, believed, that with confidence we may ask God who says, "Whilst you art still speaking, I will say, Here I am." For these words are a token of a great promise, for the Lord says that He is more ready to give than he who asks. So great, then, being the goodness of which we are partakers, let us not grudge one another the attainment of so great blessings.

For in proportion to the pleasure with which these words are fraught to those who shall follow them, in that proportion is the condemnation with which they are fraught to those who shall refuse to hear.

CHAP. XVI--PREPARATION FOR THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

So, then, brothers and sisters, having received no small occasion to repent, while we have opportunity, let us turn to God who called us, while yet we have One to receive us. For if we renounce these indulgences and conquer the soul by not fulfilling its wicked desires, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus. Know you that the day of judgment draws nigh like a burning oven, and certain of the heavens and all the earth will melt, like lead melting in fire; and then will appear the hidden and manifest deeds of men. Good, then, is alms as repentance from sin; better is fasting than prayer, and alms than both; "charity covers a multitude of sins," and prayer out of a good conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every one that shall be found complete in these; for alms lightens the burden of sin.

CHAP. XVII.--SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

Let us, then, repent with our whole heart, that no one of us may perish amiss. For if we have commands and engage in withdrawing from idols and instructing others, how much more ought a soul already knowing God not to perish. Rendering, therefore, mutual help, let us raise the weak also in that which is good, that all of us may be saved and convert one another and admonish. And not only now let us seem to believe and give heed, when we are admonished by the elders; but also when we take our departure home, let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and not be allured back by worldly lusts, but let us often and often draw near and try to make progress in the Lord's commands, that we all having the same mind may be gathered together for life. For the Lord said, "I come to gather all nations [kindreds] and tongues." This means the day of His appearing, when He will come and redeem us--each one according to his works. And the unbelievers will see His glory and might, and, when they see the empire of the world in Jesus, they will be surprise, saying, "Woe to us, because you were, and we knew not and believed not and obeyed not the elders who show us plainly of our salvation." And "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle unto all flesh." It is of the great day of judgment He speaks, when they shall see those among us who were guilty of ungodliness and erred in their estimate of the commands of Jesus Christ. The righteous, having succeeded both in enduring the trials and hating the indulgences of the soul, whenever they witness how those who have swerved and denied Jesus by words or deeds are punished with grievous torments in fire unquenchable, will give glory to their God and say, "There will be hope for him who has served God with his whole heart."

CHAP. XVIII.--THE AUTHOR SINFUL, YET PURSUING.

And let us, then, be of the number of those who give thanks, who have served God, and not of the ungodly who are judged. For I myself, though a sinner every whir and not yet fleeing temptation but continuing in the midst of the tools of the devil, study to follow after righteousness, that I may make, be it only some, approach to it, fearing the judgment to come.

CHAP. XIX.--REWARD OF THE RIGHTEOUS, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY SUFFER.

So then, brothers and sisters, after the God of truth I address to you an appeal that you may give heed to the words written, that you may save both yourselves and him who reads an address in your midst. For as a reward I ask of you repentance with the whole heart, while you bestow upon yourselves salvation and life. For by so doing we shall set a mark for all the young who wish to be diligent in godliness and the goodness of God. And let not us, in our folly, feel displeasure and indignation, whenever any one admonishes us and turns us from unrighteousness to righteousness. For there are some wicked deeds which we commit, and know it not, because of the double-mindedness and unbelief present in our breasts, and our understanding is darkened by vain desires. Let us, therefore, work righteousness, that we may be saved to the end. Blessed are they who obey these commandments, even if for a brief space they suffer in this world, and they will gather the imperishable fruit of the resurrection. Let not the godly man, therefore, grieve; if for the present he suffer affliction, blessed is the time that awaits him there; rising up to life again with the fathers he will rejoice for ever without a grief.

CHAP. XX.--GODLINESS, NOT GAIN, THE TRUE RICHES.

But let it not even trouble your mind, that we see the unrighteous possessed of riches and the servants of God straitened. Let us, therefore, brothers and sisters, believe; in a trial of the living God we strive and are exercised in the present life, that we may obtain the crown in that which is to come. No one of the righteous received fruit speedily, but waits for it. For if God tendered the reward of the righteous in a trice, straightway were it commerce that we practiced, and not godliness. For it were as if we were righteous by following after not godliness but gain; and for this reason the divine judgment baffled the spirit that is unrighteous and heavily weighed the fetter. To the only God, invisible, Father of truth, who sent forth to us the Savior and Author of immortality, through whom He also manifested to us the truth and the heavenly life, to Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Clement

Translated by J.B. Lightfoot. 

2Clem 1:1
   brothers and sisters, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as of God, as of the
Judge of quick and dead.

2Clem 1:2
And we ought not to think mean things of our Salvation: for when we
think mean things of Him, we expect also to receive mean things. And
they that listen as concerning mean things do wrong; and we ourselves
do wrong, not knowing whence and by whom and unto what place we were
called, and how many things Jesus Christ endured to suffer for our
sakes.

2Clem 1:3
What recompense then shall we give unto Him? Or what fruit worthy of
His own gift to us? And how many mercies do we owe to Him!

2Clem 1:4
For He bestowed the light upon us; He spoke to us, as a father to his
sons; He saved us, when we were perishing.

2Clem 1:5
What praise then shall we give to Him? Or what payment of recompense
for those things which we received?

2Clem 1:6
We who were maimed in our understanding, and worshipped stocks and
stones and gold and silver and bronze, the works of men; and our
whole life was nothing else but death. While then we were thus
wrapped in darkness and oppressed with this thick mist in our vision,
we recovered our sight, putting off by His will the cloud wherein we
were wrapped.

2Clem 1:7
For He had mercy on us, and in His compassion saved us, having beheld
in us much error and perdition, even when we had no hope of
salvation, save that which came from Him.

2Clem 1:8
For He called us, when we were not, and from not being He willed us
to be.

2Clem 2:1
   Rejoice, you barren that barest not. Break out and cry, you that
travail not; for more are the children of the desolate than of
her that has the husband. In that He said Rejoice, you barren
that barest not, He spoke of us: for our Church was barren, before
that children were given unto her.

2Clem 2:2
And in that He said, Cry aloud, you that travail not, He
means this; Let us not, like women in travail, grow weary of
offering up our prayers with simplicity to God.

2Clem 2:3
Again, in that He said, For the children of the desolate are more
than of her that has the husband, He so spoke, because our people
seemed desolate and forsaken of God, whereas now, having believed, we
have become more than those who seemed to have God.

2Clem 2:4
Again another scripture says, I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners.

2Clem 2:5
He means this; that it is right to save them that are perishing.

2Clem 2:6
For this indeed is a great and marvelous work, to establish, not
those things which stand, but those which are falling.

2Clem 2:7
So also Christ willed to save the things which were perishing And He
saved many, coming and calling us when we were even now perishing.

2Clem 3:1
   Seeing then that He bestowed so great mercy on us; first of all,
that we, who are living, do not sacrifice to these dead gods, neither
worship them, but through Him have known the Father of truth. What
else is this knowledge to Himward, but not to deny Him through whom
we have known Him?

2Clem 3:2
Yea, He Himself says, Whoever confesses Me, Him will I confess
before the Father.

2Clem 3:3
This then is our reward, if verily we shall confess Him through whom
we were saved.

2Clem 3:4
But wherein do we confess Him? When we do that which He says and are
not disobedient unto His commandments, and not only honor Him
with our lips, but with our whole heart and with our whole
mind.

2Clem 3:5
Now He says also in Isaiah, This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far from Me.

2Clem 4:1
   Let us therefore not only call Him Lord, for this will not save us:

2Clem 4:2
for He says, Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, shall be
saved, but he that doeth righteousness.

2Clem 4:3
So then, brothers and sisters, let us confess Him in our works, by loving one
another, by not committing adultery nor speaking evil one against
another nor envying, but being temperate, merciful, kindly. And we
ought to have fellow-feeling one with another and not to be covetous.
By these works let us confess Him, and not by the contrary.

2Clem 4:4
And we ought not rather to fear men but God.

2Clem 4:5
For this cause, if you do these things, the Lord said, Though you be
gathered together with Me in My bosom, and do not My commandments,
I will cast you away and will say unto you, Depart from Me, I know
you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity.

2Clem 5:1
   Wherefore, brothers and sisters, let us forsake our sojourn in this world and do
the will of Him that called us, and let us not be afraid to depart
out of this world.

2Clem 5:2
For the Lord says, you shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves.

2Clem 5:3
But Peter answered and said unto Him, What then, if the wolves
should tear the lambs?

2Clem 5:4
Jesus said unto Peter, Let not the lambs fear the wolves after they
are dead; and you also, fear you not them that kill you and are not
able to do anything to you; but fear Him that after you are dead
has power over soul and body, to cast them into the Gehenna of
fire.

2Clem 5:5
And you know, brothers and sisters, that the sojourn of this flesh in this world
is mean and for a short time, but the promise of Christ is great and
marvelous, even the rest of the kingdom that shall be and of life
eternal.

2Clem 5:6
What then can we do to obtain them, but walk in holiness and
righteousness, and consider these worldly things as alien to us, and
not desire them?

2Clem 5:7
For when we desire to obtain these things we fall away from the
righteous path.

2Clem 6:1
   But the Lord says, No servant can serve two masters. If we
desire to serve both God and mammon, it is unprofitable for us:

2Clem 6:2
For what advantage is it, if a man gain the whole world and forfeit
his soul?

2Clem 6:3
Now this age and the future are two enemies.

2Clem 6:4
The one speaks of adultery and defilement and avarice and deceit,
but the other bids farewell to these.

2Clem 6:5
We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to
the one and hold companionship with the other.

2Clem 6:6
Let us consider that it is better to hate the things which are here,
because they are mean and for a short time and perishable, and to
love the things which are there, for they are good and imperishable.

2Clem 6:7
For, if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if
otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if
we should disobey His commandments.

2Clem 6:8
And the scripture also says in Ezekiel, Though Noah and Job and
Daniel should rise up, they shall not deliver their children in
the captivity.

2Clem 6:9
But if even such righteous men as these cannot by their righteous
deeds deliver their children, with what confidence shall we, if we
keep not our baptism pure and undefiled, enter into the kingdom of
God? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found having holy
and righteous works?

2Clem 7:1
   So then, my brothers and sisters, let us contend, knowing that the contest is
nigh at hand, and that, while many resort to the corruptible
contests, yet not all are crowned, but only they that have toiled
hard and contended bravely.

2Clem 7:2
Let us then contend that we all may be crowned.

2Clem 7:3
Wherefore let us run in the straight course, the incorruptible
contest. And let us resort to it in throngs and contend, that we may
also be crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least
come near to the crown.

2Clem 7:4
We ought to know that he which contends in the corruptible contest,
if he be found dealing corruptly with it, is first flogged. and then
removed and driven out of the race course.

2Clem 7:5
What think ye? What shall be done to him that has dealt corruptly
with the contest of incorruption?

2Clem 7:6
For as concerning them that have not kept the seal, He says, Their
worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they
shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh.

2Clem 8:1
   While we are on earth then, let us repent: for we are clay under the
craftsman's hand.

2Clem 8:2
For in like manner as the potter, if he be making a vessel, and it
get twisted or crushed in his hands, reshapes it again; but if he
have once put it into the fiery oven, he shall no longer mend it: so
also let us, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart
of the evil things which we have done in the flesh, that we may be
saved by the Lord, while we have yet time for repentance.

2Clem 8:3
For after that we have departed out of the world, we can no more make
confession there, or repent any more.

2Clem 8:4
Wherefore, brothers and sisters, if we shall have done the will of the Father and
kept the flesh pure and guarded the commandments of the Lord, we
shall receive life eternal.

2Clem 8:5
For the Lord says in the Gospel, If you kept not that which is
little, who shall give unto you that which is great? For I say unto
you that he which is faithful in the least, is also faithful in
much.

2Clem 8:6
So then He means this, Keep the flesh pure and the seal unstained,
to the end that we may receive life.

2Clem 9:1
   And let not any one of you say that this flesh is not judged neither
rises again.

2Clem 9:2
Understand ye. In what were you saved? In what did you
recover your sight? if you were not in this flesh.

2Clem 9:3
We ought therefore to guard the flesh as a temple of God:

2Clem 9:4
for in like manner as you were called in the flesh, you shall come also
in the flesh.

2Clem 9:5
If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became
flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh
receive our reward.

2Clem 9:6
Let us therefore love one another, that we all may come unto the
kingdom of God.

2Clem 9:7
While we have time to be healed, let us place ourselves in the hands
of God the physician, giving Him a recompense.

2Clem 9:8
What recompense? Repentance from a sincere heart.

2Clem 9:9
For He discerns all things beforehand and knows what is in our
heart.

2Clem 9:10
Let us therefore give unto Him eternal praise, not from our lips
only, but also from our heart, that He may receive us as sons.

2Clem 9:11
For the Lord also said, These are my brothers and sisters, which do the will of
My Father.

2Clem 10:1
   Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us do the will of the Father which
called us, that we may live; and let us the rather pursue virtue, but
forsake vice as the forerunner of our sins, and let us flee from
ungodliness, lest evils overtake us.

2Clem 10:2
For if we be diligent in doing good, peace will pursue us.

2Clem 10:3
For this cause is a man unable to *attain happiness*, seeing that
they call in the fears of men, preferring rather the enjoyment which
is here than the promise which is to come.

2Clem 10:4
For they know not how great torment the enjoyment which is here
brings, and what delight the promise which is to come brings.

2Clem 10:5
And if verily they were doing these things by themselves alone, it
had been tolerable: but now they continue teaching evil to innocent
souls, not knowing that they shall have their condemnation doubled,
both themselves and their hearers.

2Clem 11:1
   Let us therefore serve God in a pure heart, and we shall be
righteous; but if we serve Him not, because we believe not the
promise of God, we shall be wretched.

2Clem 11:2
For the word of prophecy also says: Wretched are the
double-minded, that doubt in their heart and say, These things we
heard of old in the days of our fathers also, yet we have waited
day after day and seen none of them.

2Clem 11:3
Ye fools! compare yourselves unto a tree; take a vine. First it
sheds its leaves, then a shoot cometh, after this a sour berry,
then a full ripe grape.

2Clem 11:4
So likewise My people had tumults and afflictions: but afterward
they shall receive good things.

2Clem 11:5
Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be double-minded but endure
patiently in hope, that we may also obtain our reward.

2Clem 11:6
For faithful is He that promised to pay to each man the recompense
of his works.

2Clem 11:7
If therefore we shall have wrought righteousness in the sight of God,
we shall enter into His kingdom and shall receive the promises which
ear has not heard nor eye seen, nor eye seen, neither has it
entered into the heart of man.

2Clem 12:1
   Let us therefore await the kingdom of God betimes in love and
righteousness, since we know not the day of God's appearing.

2Clem 12:2
For the Lord Himself, being asked by a certain person when his
kingdom would come, said, When the two shall be one, and the
outside as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male
or female.

2Clem 12:3
Now the two are one, when we speak truth among ourselves, and
in two bodies there shall be one soul without dissimulation.

2Clem 12:4
And by the outside as the inside He means this: by the inside he
means the soul and by the outside the body. Therefore in like
manner as thy body appears, so also let thy soul be manifest by
its good works.

2Clem 12:5
And by the male with the female, neither male nor female, he
means this; that a brother seeing a sister should have no thought
of her as a female, and that a sister seeing a brother should not
have any thought of him as a male.

2Clem 12:6
These things if you do, says He, the kingdom of my father shall come.

2Clem 13:1
   Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us repent forthwith. Let us be sober unto
that which is good: for we are full of much folly and wickedness.
Let us wipe away from us our former sins, and let us not be found to
be men pleasers. Neither let us desire to please one another only,
but also those men that are without, by our righteousness, that the
Name be not blasphemed by reason of us.

2Clem 13:2
For the Lord says, Every way My Name is blasphemed among all the
Gentiles; and again, Woe unto him by reason of whom My Name is
blasphemed. Wherein is it blasphemed? In that you do not the things
which I desire.

2Clem 13:3
For the Gentiles, when they hear from our mouths the oracles of God,
marvel at them for their beauty and greatness; then, when they
discover that our works are not worthy of the words which we speak,
forthwith they betake themselves to blasphemy, saying that it is an
idle story and a delusion.

2Clem 13:4
For when they here from us that God says, It is no thank unto you,
if you love them that love you, but this is thank unto you, if ye
love your enemies and them that hate you; when they hear these
things, I say, they marvel at their exceeding goodness; but when they
see that we not only do not love us, they laugh us to scorn, and the
Name is blasphemed.

2Clem 14:1
   Wherefore, brothers and sisters, if we do the will of God our Father, we shall
be of the first Church, which is spiritual, which was created before
the sun and the moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall
be of the scripture that says, My house was made a den of 
robbers. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Church of
life, that we may be saved.

2Clem 14:2
And I do not suppose you are ignorant that the living Church is the
body of Christ: for the scripture says, God made man, male and
female. The male is Christ and the female is the Church. And the
Books and the Apostles plainly declare that the Church exists not
now for the first time, but has been from the beginning: for she was
spiritual, as our Jesus also was spiritual, but was manifested in the
last days that He might save us.

2Clem 14:3
Now the Church, being spiritual was manifested in the flesh of
Christ, thereby showing us that if any of us guard her in the flesh
and defile her not, he shall receive her again in the Holy Spirit:
for this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man
therefore, when he has defiled the copy, shall receive the original
for his portion. This therefore is what He means, brothers and sisters; Guard
ye the flesh, that you may partake of the spirit.

2Clem 14:4
But if we say that the flesh is the Church and the spirit is Christ,
then he that has dealt wantonly with the flesh has dealt wantonly
with the Church. Such and one therefore shall not partake of the
spirit, which is Christ>.

2Clem 14:5
So excellent is the life and immortality which this flesh can receive
as its portion, if the Holy Spirit be joined to it. No man can
declare or tell those things which the Lord has prepared for His
elect.

2Clem 15:1
   Now I do not think that I have given any mean council respecting
continence, and whoever performs it shall not repent thereof, but
shall save both himself and me his councilor. For it is no mean
reward to convert a wondering and perishing soul, that it may be
saved.

2Clem 15:2
For this is the recompense which we are able to pay to God who
created us, if he that speaks and hears both speak and hear with
faith and love.

2Clem 15:3
Let is therefore abide in the things which we believed, in
righteousness and holiness, that we may with boldness as of God who
says, Whiles you art still speaking I will say, Behold, I am
here.

2Clem 15:4
For this word is the token of a great promise: for the Lord says of
Himself that He is more ready to give than he that asks to ask.

2Clem 15:5
Seeing then that we are partakers of so great kindness, let us not
grudge ourselves the obtaining of so many good things. For in
proportion as the pleasure is great which these words bring to them
that have performed them, so also is the condemnation great which
they bring to them that have been disobedient.

2Clem 16:1
   Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have found no small opportunity for
repentance, seeing that we have time, let us turn again unto God that
called us, while we have still One that receives us.

2Clem 16:2
For if we bid farewell to these enjoyments and conquer our soul in
refusing to fulfill its evil lusts, we shall be partakers of the mercy
of Jesus.

2Clem 16:3
But you know that the day of judgment cometh even now as a burning
oven, and the powers of the heavens shall melt, and all the earth
as lead melting on the fire, and then shall appear the secret and
open works of men.

2Clem 16:4
Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, even as repentance from sin>
Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving better than both. And
love covers a multitude of sins, but prayer out of a good
conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every man that is found
full of these. For almsgiving lifts off the burden of sin.

2Clem 17:1
   Let us therefore repent with our whole heart, lest any of us perish
by the way. For if we have received commands, that we should make
this our business, to tear men away from idols and to instruct them,
how much more is it wrong that a soul which knows God already
should perish!

2Clem 17:2
Therefore let us assist one another, that we may also lead the weak
upward as touching that which is good, to the end that we all may be
saved: and let us convert and admonish one another.

2Clem 17:3
And let us not think to give heed and believe now only, while we have
departed home, let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and not
suffer ourselves to be dragged off the other way by our worldly
lusts; but coming hither more frequently, let us strive to go forward
in the commandments of the Lord, that we all having the same mind may
be gathered together unto life.

2Clem 17:4
For the Lord said, I come to gather together all the nations,
tribes, and languages. Herein He speaks of the day of His
appearing, when He shall come and redeem us, each man according to
his works.

2Clem 17:5
And the unbelievers shall see His glory and His might: and they
shall be amazed when they see the kingdom of the world given to
Jesus, saying, Woe unto us, for you were, and we knew it not, and
believed not; and we obeyed not the presbyters when they told us of
our salvation. And Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall
not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh.

2Clem 17:6
He speaks of that day of judgment, when men shall see those among
us that live ungodly lives and dealt falsely with the commandments of
Jesus Christ.

2Clem 17:7
But the righteous, done good and endured torments and
hated pleasures of the soul, when they shall behold them that have
done amiss and denied Jesus by their words or by their deeds, how
that they are punished with grievous torments in unquenchable fire,
shall give glory to God, saying, There will be hope for him that hath
served God with his whole heart.

2Clem 18:1
   Therefore let us also be found among those that give thanks, among
those that have served God, and not among the ungodly that are
judged.

2Clem 18:2
For I myself too, being an utter sinner and not yet escaped from
temptation, but being still amidst the engines of the devil, do my
diligence to follow after righteousness, that I may prevail so far at
least as to come near unto it, while I fear the judgment to come.

2Clem 19:1
Therefore, brothers and sisters, after the God of truth has been
heard, I read unto you an exhortation to the end that you may give
heed to the things which are written, for that you may save both
yourselves and him that reads in the midst of you. For I ask of
you as a reward that you repent with your whole heart, and give
salvation and life to yourselves. For doing this we shall set a goal
for all the young who desire to toil in the study of piety and of the
goodness of God.

2Clem 19:2
And let is not be displeased and vexed, fools that we are, whenever
any one admonish us and turns us aside from unrighteousness unto
righteousness. For sometimes while we do evil things, we perceive it
not by reason of the double-mindedness and unbelief which is in our
breasts, and we are darkened in our understanding by our vain
lusts.

2Clem 19:3
Let us therefore practice righteousness that we may be saved unto the
end. Blessed are they that obey these ordinances. Though they may
endure affliction for a short time in the world, they will gather the
immortal fruit of the resurrection.

2Clem 19:4
Therefore let not the godly be grieved, if he be miserable in the
times that now are: a blessed time awaits him. He shall live
again in heaven with our fathers, and shall have rejoicing throughout
a sorrowless eternity.

2Clem 20:1
   Neither suffer you this again to trouble your mind, that we see the
unrighteous possessing wealth, and the servants of God straitened.

2Clem 20:2
Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters. We are trained by the
present life, that we may be crowned with the future.

2Clem 20:3
No righteous man has reaped fruit quickly but waits for it.

2Clem 20:4
For if God had paid the recompense of the righteous speedily, then
straightway we should have been training ourselves in merchandise,
and not in godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, though we
were pursuing not that which is godly, but which is gainful. And for
this cause Divine judgment overtakes a spirit that is not just, and
loads it with chains.

2Clem 20:5
   To the only God invisible, the Father of truth, who sent forth unto
us the Savior and Prince of immortality, through whom also He made
manifest unto us the truth and the heavenly life, to Him be the glory
for ever and ever. Amen.

Apostolic Fathers, Charles H. Hoole, 1885

                            2 Clement (so-called)


CHAPTER 1
 1:1  brothers and sisters, we ought so to think of our Lord Jesus
Christ as of God, as of the judge of quick and dead,
and we ought not to think meanly concerning our
salvation;
 1:2  for if we think meanly concerning him, we expect
also that we shall receive mean things; and if we
listen to it as though it were a small thing, we err,
not knowing from whence we are called, nor by whom,
nor unto what place, nor what great things Jesus
Christ has endured to suffer on our behalf.
 1:3  What recompense, therefore, shall we give unto
him, or what fruit worthy of that which he has given
unto us? How many things that help unto holiness hath
he given unto us?
 1:4  For he has given us the light, he has called
us sons as though he were our father, he has saved us
when we were ready to perish.
 1:5  What praise, therefore, shall we give unto him,
or what recompense of reward for the things that we
have received?
 1:6  for we were maimed in our understanding,
worshipping stocks and stones, and gold and silver and
iron, the work of men, and our whole life was nothing
but death. We, therefore, who were surrounded with
darkness, and who had our sight filled with such
gloom, have recovered our sight, having, according to
his will, laid aside the cloud that was around us.
 1:7  For he has had compassion upon us, and, pitying
us, has saved us, having beheld in us much wandering
and destruction, when we had no hope of salvation
except that which is from him.
 1:8  For he has called us when as yet we were not,
and has willed us to be when we were nothing.

CHAPTER 2
 2:1  |Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break
forth and shout, you that travail not, for the
desolate has many more children than she that has an
husband. In that he said, Rejoice, you barren that
bear not, he has spoken of us, for our church was
barren before that children were given unto her.
 2:2  But in that he said, Shout, you that travail
not, he means that we should offer our prayers to
God with simplicity, that we faint not like women in
travail.
 2:3  But in that he said, The children of the
desolate are many more than they of her that has an
husband, he means that our people seemed to be
deserted of God, and now, after that we have believed,
we have become more in number than they which seemed
to have God.
 2:4  And another scripture says, I came not to call
the righteous but sinners.
 2:5  He means this, that it behoves to save them
that are perishing.
 2:6  For this is great and wonderful, not to
establish the things that are standing, but the things
that are falling;
 2:7  thus Christ willed to save the things that were
perishing, and he saved many, having come and called
us who were already perishing.

CHAPTER 3
 3:1  |Since, therefore, he has showed such compassion
unto us; first, that he has caused that we who live
should not sacrifice unto gods that are dead, neither
worship them, but know through him the Father of
truth. What is this knowledge of him except the not
denying him through whom we know him?
 3:2  For he himself says, Whoever has confessed
me before men, him will I confess before my Father.
 3:3  This, therefore, is our reward if we confess him
through whom we have been saved.
 3:4  But whereby shall we confess him? Even by doing
what he commands, and not disobeying his
commandments, and honoring him not only with our lips
but with our whole heart and whole understanding.
 3:5  For he says in Isaiah, This people honors me
with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

CHAPTER 4
 4:1  |Let us not, therefore, only call him Lord, for
that will not save us.
 4:2  For he says, It is not every one that says
unto me, Lord, Lord! that shall be saved, but he that
doeth righteousness.
 4:3  Wherefore, brothers and sisters, let us confess him in our
deeds, by loving one another, by not committing
adultery, and not speaking ill of each other, neither
being envious, but by being continent, compassionate,
kind. We ought also to sympathize one with another,
and to abstain from covetousness; it is by these works
that we acknowledge him, and not by the contrary;
 4:4  and we ought not to fear men but rather God.
 4:5  Wherefore, if we do these things, the Lord hath
said, Though you have been gathered together with me in
my bosom and do not my commandments I will cast you
from me, and I will say unto you, Depart from me; I
know you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity.

CHAPTER 5
 5:1  |Wherefore, brothers and sisters, having left our sojourning
in this world, let us do the will of him who called
us, and let us not fear to depart from this world.
 5:2  For the Lord says, you shall be as lambs in the
midst of wolves.
 5:3  But Peter answered and says unto him, What,
then, if the wolves rend the sheep?
 5:4  Jesus says unto Peter, Let not the lambs after
that they are dead fear the wolves; and do not you fear
them that kill you but can do nothing more unto you,
but fear him who after you are dead has authority over
body and soul, even to cast them into hell fire.
 5:5  And you know, brothers and sisters, that the sojourning of
our flesh in this world is but short and for a little
while, but the promise of Christ is great and
wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom which is to
come, and of eternal life.
 5:6  What, therefore, shall we do that we may attain
unto them, except to lead a holy and just
conversation, and to deem the things of this world to
be alien unto us, and not to desire them?
 5:7  for while we desire to obtain these things we
fall from the right way.

CHAPTER 6
 6:1  |For the Lord says, No servant can serve two
masters. If, therefore, we wish to serve both God and
Mammon, it is inexpedient for us;
 6:2  for what advantage is it if a man gain the whole
world, but lose his soul?
 6:3  Now this life and the life to come are two
enemies.
 6:4  This life preaches adultery, corruption,
covetousness, and deceit; but the life that is to come
renounces these things.
 6:5  We cannot, therefore, be friends to both; it
behoves us then to renounce the one and to use the
other.
 6:6  Let us consider, therefore, that it is better to
hate the things that are here, as being small and
short-lived and corruptible, but to love the things
that are there, as being good and incorruptible.
 6:7  If, therefore, we do the will of Christ, we
shall find rest; but if not, nothing will deliver us
from eternal punishment, if we obey not his
commandments.
 6:8  For the scripture says in Ezekiel, If Noah, and
Job, and Daniel should rise up, they shall not deliver
their children in the captivity.
 6:9  If, therefore, such righteous men as these
cannot by their righteousness deliver their children,
with what confidence shall we, if we keep not our
baptism pure and undefiled, come unto the kingdom of
God? or who shall be our advocate unless we be found
having the works that are holy and just?

CHAPTER 7
 7:1  |Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us strive, knowing
that the contest is at hand. We know, too, that many
put in for corruptible contests, but all are not
crowned, but they only who have labored much and
fought a good fight.
 7:2  Let us, therefore, contend that we may all be
crowned.
 7:3  Let us run in the straight course, in the
incorruptible contest; and let us be many that put
into it, and let us so contend that we may also be
crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at
least come near to the crown.
 7:4  It behoves us to know that he who contends in
a corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly
is flogged, and taken away, and cast out of the
course.
 7:5  What think ye? what shall he suffer that acts
unfairly in an incorruptible contest?
 7:6  For of them who have not kept their seal he
says, Their worm shall die not, and their fire shall
not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle to
all flesh.

CHAPTER 8
 8:1  |While, therefore, we are upon the earth, let us
repent.
 8:2  For we are as clay in the hands of the workman.
In like manner as the potter, if while he be making a
vessel, it turn amiss in his hands, or be crushed, can
mould it again, but if he have once cast it into the
fiery furnace can no longer amend it; so let us, so
long as we are in this world repent with all our
hearts of the wickedness that we have committed in the
flesh, that we may be saved of the Lord while as yet
we have time for repentance.
 8:3  For after that we are departed out of this
world, we are no longer able there to confess or
repent.
 8:4  Wherefore, brothers and sisters, if we have done the will of
the Father, and preserved our flesh pure, and kept the
commandments of the Lord, we shall receive eternal
life.
 8:5  For the Lord says in the Gospel, If you have not
kept that which is little, who shall give you that
which is great? for I say unto you, he that is
faithful in that which is least is faithful also in
much.
 8:6  Doth he not, therefore, say this, Keep your
flesh pure and your seal unspotted, that you may
inherit eternal life?

CHAPTER 9
 9:1  |And let not any one of you say that this our
flesh is not judged nor raised again.
 9:2  Consider this: in what were you saved, in what
did you recover your sight, if not in this flesh?
 9:3  We ought, therefore, to guard our flesh as the
temple of God;
 9:4  for in the same manner as you were called in the
flesh, in the flesh also shall you come.
 9:5  There is one Christ, our Lord who saved us, who
being at the first spirit, was made flesh, and thus
called us. So also shall we in this flesh receive the
reward.
 9:6  Let us, therefore, love one another, that we may
all come to the kingdom of God.
 9:7  While we have opportunity to be healed, let us
give ourselves up unto God who heals, giving a
recompense unto him.
 9:8  And of what kind? repentance from a sincere
heart.
 9:9  For he foreknows all things, and knows the
things that are in our hearts.
 9:10  Let us, therefore, give him praise, not from
the mouth alone, but also from the heart, that he may
receive us as sons.
 9:11  For of a truth the Lord has said, My brothers and sisters
are they who do the will of my Father.

CHAPTER 10
 10:1  |Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us do the will of
the Father who has called us, that we may live; and
let us the rather pursue virtue, and abandon vice
which leads us into sins, and let us fly ungodliness
lest evil seize us; for if we are zealous to do good
peace shall pursue us.
 10:2  For this cause it is not possible that a man
should find peace.
 10:3  For they introduce the fear of men, choosing
rather the present enjoyment that is here than the
future promise.
 10:4  For they are ignorant how great a torment the
enjoyment of this world brings, and what delight
has the future promise.
 10:5  And if they themselves alone did these things
it were endurable; but now they continue to instruct
in evil innocent souls, not knowing that they will
have a twofold condemnation -- both themselves and they
that hearken to them.

CHAPTER 11
 11:1  |Let us, therefore, serve God with a pure heart,
and we shall be righteous; but if we serve him not,
because we believe not the promise of God, we shall be
wretched.
 11:2  For the prophetic word says, Wretched are the
double-minded who doubt in their heart, and say, We
have heard these things of old, even in the time of
our fathers, but we have seen none of them, though we
expect them from day to day.
 11:3  you fools, compare yourselves unto a tree; take
for an example the vine. In the first place it
sheds its leaves, then there cometh a shoot, after
that the unripe grape, then the mature cluster.
 11:4  In like manner my people has in time past had
disorder and trouble, but afterward it shall receive
the things that are good.
 11:5  Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be
double-minded, but let us abide in hope, that we may
obtain our reward.
 11:6  Faithful is he that has promised that he will
give unto each the recompense of his works.
 11:7  If, therefore, we do righteousness before God,
we shall enter into his kingdom, and receive the
promises which ear has not heard nor eye seen,
neither have entered into the heart of man.

CHAPTER 12
 12:1  |Let us, therefore, in love and righteousness
expect every hour the kingdom of God, since we know
not the day of the appearing of God.
 12:2  For the Lord himself, when he was asked by a
certain man when his kingdom should come, replied,
When two shall be one, and that which is without as
that which is within, and the male with the female
neither male nor female.
 12:3  Now two are one when we speak the truth one to
another, and there is, without hypocrisy, one soul in
two bodies.
 12:4  And by that which is without being as that
which is within, he means this: He calls the soul
that which is within, and the body that which is
without; in like manner, therefore, as thy body is
visible, let thy soul be made manifest by good deeds.
 12:5  And by the male with the female neither male
nor female, he means this: When a brother seeing a
sister doth not in any way regard her as a female, nor
doth she regard him as a male;
 12:6  when you do these things, he says, the kingdom
of my Father will come.

CHAPTER 13
 13:1  |My brothers and sisters, let us therefore repent forthwith;
let us be sober and followers of what is good, for we
are burdened with much folly and wickedness. Let us
wipe out from among us our former sins, and repent
sincerely and be saved. And let us not be pleasers of
men, nor let us wish to please one another alone, but
let us also please them that are without by our
righteous conduct, that the Divine name may not be
blasphemed on our account.
 13:2  For the Lord says, My name is continually
blasphemed among all the Gentiles; and again,
Wherefore is my name blasphemed, whereby is it
blasphemed? in that you do not the things that I will.
 13:3  |For the Gentiles, when they hear from our mouth
the oracles of God, admire them as beautiful and
weighty; but afterwards perceiving our deeds, that
they are not worthy of the words that we say, they
turn thereafter to blasphemy, saying that the matter
is but fable and deceit.
 13:4  For when they hear from us that God says,
There is no thanks for you if you love them that love
you, but there is thanks for you if you love your
enemies and them that hate you; when they hear these
things, they wonder at the excess of the goodness. But
when they see that we do not only not love those that
hate us, but do not even love those that love us, they
turn us to ridicule, and the Divine name is
blasphemed.

CHAPTER 14
 14:1  |Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, by doing the will of
our Father, God, we shall be of the first, the
spiritual Church, which was founded before the sun and
moon were made; but if we do not the will of the Lord,
we shall be of the scripture that says, My house hath
become a den of thieves. Let us therefore choose to be
of the Church of life that we may be saved.
 14:2  But I do not think that you are ignorant that
the living Church is the body of Christ. For the
scripture says, God made man, male and female. Now,
the male signifies Christ, the female the Church. Ye
know also that both the Bible and the Apostles say
that the Church is not new, but was from the
beginning; for it was of a spiritual kind, as was also
our Jesus, but was made manifest in the last days that
it might save us.
 14:3  But the Church, though spiritual, was
manifested in the flesh of Christ, showing to us that
if any one keep it in his flesh, and corrupt it not,
he will receive it in the Holy Spirit; for this flesh
is the counterpart of the Spirit; no one, therefore,
who corrupts the copy will receive the original in
exchange. He therefore means this, my brothers and sisters: Keep
pure the flesh, that you may partake of the Spirit.
 14:4  But if we say that the flesh is the Church, and
the Spirit, Christ, he then who doeth injury to the
flesh doeth injury to the Church. Such an one
therefore shall not partake of the Spirit, which is
Christ.
 14:5  Such life and immortality is this flesh able to
partake of by the union of the Holy Spirit with it. Nor
can any say or declare what the Lord has prepared for
his elect.

CHAPTER 15
 15:1  |Now, I do not think that I have given advice of
little importance concerning temperance, which, if a
man practice, he will not repent of it, but will save
both himself and me who advise him. For it is no small
service to convert a wandering and perishing soul to
salvation.
 15:2  For this recompense are we able to give in
return to God who created us, if he who speaks and
hears both speak and hear with faith and love.
 15:3  Let us therefore remain with righteousness and
holiness in the things in which we have believed, that
we may with boldness ask of God, who says, While thou
art still speaking, I will say, Lo I am here.
 15:4  For this saying is the token of a great
promise. For the Lord says of himself that he is more
ready to give than him that asks.
 15:5  Since, therefore, we partake in so much
goodness, let us not grudge ourselves the attaining of
so many good things; for by so much as his words bring
pleasure to those who do them, by so much do they
bring condemnation to those who disobey them.

CHAPTER 16
 16:1  |Wherefore, brothers and sisters, since we have received no
small opportunity for repentance, let us, while we
have time, turn unto the God who has called us, while
we still have one who will receive us.
 16:2  For if we bid farewell to the luxuries of this
world, and conquer our soul so that we do not fulfill
evil lusts, we shall partake of the mercy of Jesus.
 16:3  But know that the day of judgment is already
coming as a burning furnace, and certain of the
heavens shall be melted, and the whole earth shall be
as lead melting on the fire; and then shall both the
secret and open deeds of men be made manifest.
 16:4  Good, therefore, is almsgiving, as showing
repentance from sin; better is fasting than prayer,
and almsgiving than both; for love covers a
multitude of sins, and prayer that goes forth from a
good conscience saves from death. Happy is every one
who is found full of these things, for almsgiving
becomes a lightening of sin.

CHAPTER 17
 17:1  |Let us therefore repent with our whole heart
lest any of us perish by the way. For if we have
received commandments and make this our business -- to
tear men away from idols and instruct them -- how much
more ought a soul not to perish that has already come
to a knowledge of God?
 17:2  Let us therefore endeavor to elevate with
regard to what is good them that are weak, to the end
that we may all be saved; and let us convert one
another and reprove one another.
 17:3  And let us not seem to attend and believe now
only, while we are being admonished by the presbyters,
but also when we have departed to our homes, let us
remember the commandments of the Lord; and let us not,
on the other hand, be drawn aside by the lusts of the
world, but let us endeavor, by coming more
frequently, to make progress in the commandments of
the Lord, to the end that we all being of one mind may
be gathered together unto life.
 17:4  For the Lord has said, I come to gather
together all the nations, tribes, and tongues. And
this he says of the day of his appearing, when he
shall come and recompense each of us according to his
works.
 17:5  And the unbelieving shall behold his glory and
strength, and shall be astonished when they see the
kingdom of the world in the hands of Jesus, and shall
say, Woe unto us, for you were and we knew it not,
and did not believe, nor did we obey the presbyters
who preached to us concerning our salvation. And their
worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, and
they shall be for a spectacle to all flesh.
 17:6  He speaks of that day of judgment when they
shall see punished those among us who have lived
ungodly and set at nothing the commandments of Jesus
Christ.
 17:7  But the just, who have done well, and have
abided the tests, and have hated the luxuries of the
soul, when they behold those who have missed the way
and have denied Jesus either by words or deeds, how
they are punished with dreadful tortures in
unquenchable fire, shall give glory to their God,
saying, that there shall be a hope for him who hath
served God with his whole heart.

CHAPTER 18
 18:1  |Let us, therefore, be of those who give thanks,
of those who have served God, and not of the ungodly
who are judged.
 18:2  For I myself, being in all respects a sinner,
and not having yet escaped temptation, but being still
in the midst of the snares of the devil, yet endeavor
to follow after righteousness, that I may be able, at
any rate, to be near it, fearing the judgment to come.

CHAPTER 19
 19:1  |Wherefore, my brothers and sisters and sisters, after the
reading of the words of the God of truth, I read also
unto you an exhortation, to the end that you should
attend to what has been written, that you may both save
yourselves and him who preaches among you; for I ask
of you, as my reward, that you should repent with your
whole heart, gaining for yourselves salvation and
life. For by so doing we shall offer an aim to all the
young, who are willing to labor cheerfully for the
worship and goodness of God.
 19:2  And let not those of us who are unlearned be
vexed or offended when one exhorts us and turns us
from sin to righteousness. For we at times when doing
what is wrong, know it not, from the doubt and
unbelief that is in our hearts, and are blinded in our
understanding by vain lusts.
 19:3  Let us, therefore, practice righteousness, that
we may be saved at the last. Blessed are they who obey
these commands, for if for a short time they suffer in
the world that now is, they shall gather hereafter the
immortal fruit of the resurrection.
 19:4  Let not, therefore, the pious man be vexed if
he be afflicted in the times that now are, a blessed
time awaits him. He shall live above again with the
fathers, and shall rejoice without sorrow for ever.

CHAPTER 20
 20:1  |And let not even that trouble your mind, that
we see the unjust prosperous and the servants of God
in misery.
 20:2  Let us have faith, my brothers and sisters and sisters. We
are making trial of the living God, and contending in
the present life that we may be crowned in the life to
come.
 20:3  For none of the just receives a speedy reward,
but waits for it.
 20:4  For if God gave speedily the reward of the
righteous, we should forthwith practice gain and not
godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, not on
account of what is pious, but on account of what is
profitable. And on this account has the Divine
judgment overtaken a spirit that is not righteous, and
has burdened it with chains.
 20:5  Now to the only God, the invisible, the father
of truth, who has sent unto us the Savior and leader
of immortality, through whom he has made known unto
us the truth and the heavenly life, to him be the
glory, world without end. Amen.

10/2/05