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Though the author of the First Epistle of Clement is anonymous, it was thought to have been written by Clement of Rome (possibly consecrated by the Apostle Peter) and is highly regarded, at one point even considered for inclusion in the New Testament canon. Internal evidence places the date of composition around the end of the 1st century, although some even suspect before 70 AD.
The Assembly of God which sojourns at Rome, to the Assembly of God which sojourns at Corinth, to them that are called and sanctified in the will of God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you from Almighty God through Jesus Christ.
On account of the sudden and repeated calamities and misfortunes, brothers, that have come on us, we suppose that we have the more slowly given heed to the things that are disputed among you, beloved, and to the foul and unholy sedition, alien and foreign to the chosen ones of God, which a few headstrong and self-willed persons have kindled to such a degree of madness, that your venerable and famous name, worthy to be loved of all men, is greatly blasphemed. For who that has tarried among you has not approved your most virtuous and firm faith, has not admired your sober and seemly piety in Christ, has not proclaimed your splendid disposition of hospitality, has not deemed blessed your perfect and unerring knowledge? For you did all things without respect of persons, and walked in the laws of God, submitting yourselves to them that have the rule over you, and giving the due honor to the elders that are among you. Young men you prescribed to think such things as are sober and grave. Women you exhorted to perform all things in a blameless, and honorable, and pure conscience, loving dutifully their own husbands; and you taught them to manage the affairs of their houses with gravity, keeping in the rule of obedience, being temperate in all things.
And you were all humble, boasting of nothing, submitting yourselves rather than subjecting others, more gladly giving than receiving, content with the provision that God had given you; and attending diligently to His words, you received them into your very hearts, and His sufferings were before your eyes. Thus a deep and rich peace was given to all, and an insatiable longing for doing good, and a plentiful outpouring of the Holy Spirit was on all of you. And you, being filled with a holy desire, with excellent zeal and pious confidence, stretched out your arms to Almighty God, imploring Him to be merciful to you, if you had in anything unwillingly done wrong. You contended day and night for the whole brotherhood, that in His mercy and good pleasure the number of His chosen ones might be saved. You were simple and sincere, without malice toward one another: all sedition and all schism were abominable to you. You grieved over the transgressions of your neighbor, judging his shortcomings your own. You did not relent of any well-doing, “being ready to every good work”; and being adorned with a very virtuous and holy habit of life, you did all things in His fear. The commands and ordinances of the Lord were written on the breadth of your heart.
All honor and enlargement were given to you, and then was fulfilled that which is written: “The beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and grew fat and kicked.” From this came emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. Thus the mean men were lifted up against the honorable; those of no regard against those of good regard; the foolish against the wise; the young against the elder. Through this, justice and peace are far off, because each of you leaves off the fear of God and is dimsighted in his faith, nor walks in the laws of His commands, nor behaves as becomes a citizen of Christ; but each walks according to his own evil lusts, having taken up unjust and unholy envy, by which death also entered into the world.
For it is thus written: “And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the ground a sacrifice to God, and Abel brought also of the firstlings of the sheep and of their fat. And God had respect to Abel and to his gifts; but to Cain and his gifts he had no regard. And Cain was grieved greatly, and his countenance fell. And God said to Cain, Why are you very sorrowful, and why has your countenance fallen? If you have rightly offered, but have not rightly divided, have you not sinned? Hold your peace; your gift returns to you, and you will be master over it. And Cain said to Abel, Let us pass over into the field. And it came to pass while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him.” You see, brothers, jealousy and envy worked the slaughter of a brother. Through envy our father Jacob fled from the face of his brother Esau. Envy caused Joseph to be persecuted to death, and to enter into bondage. Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because he heard his countryman say, “Who made you a judge or a decider over us? Will you kill me, as you did the Egyptian yesterday?” Through envy Aaron and Miriam pitched their tents outside the camp. Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to the grave, because they contended against Moses, the servant of God. Through envy David suffered jealousy not only of foreigners, but was also persecuted by Saul, king of Israel.
But let us pass from ancient examples and come to those who have in the times nearest to us wrestled for the faith. Let us take the noble examples of our own generation. Through jealousy and envy the greatest and most just pillars of the Assembly were persecuted, and even came to death. Let us place before our eyes the good apostles. Peter, through unjust envy, endured not one or two but many labors, and at last, having delivered his testimony, departed to the place of glory due to him. Through envy Paul, too, showed by example the prize that is given to patience: seven times was he cast into chains; he was banished; he was stoned; having become a herald, both in the east and in the west, he obtained the noble renown due to his faith; and having preached righteousness to the whole world, and having come to the extremity of the west, and having borne witness before rulers, he departed at length out of the world, and went to the holy place, having become the greatest example of patience.
To these men, who walked in holiness, there was gathered a great multitude of the chosen ones, who, having suffered, through envy, many insults and tortures, became a most excellent example among us. Through envy women were persecuted, even the Danaides and Dircae, who, after enduring dreadful and unholy insults, attained to the sure course of the faith; and they who were weak in body received a noble reward. Envy has estranged the minds of wives from their husbands, and changed the saying of our father Adam: “This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.” Envy and strife have overthrown mighty cities and rooted out great nations.
These things we urge you, beloved, not only by way of admonition to you, but as also putting ourselves in mind. For we are in the same arena, and the same contest is imposed on us. For what reason, let us leave empty and vain thoughts, and come to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us consider what is good, and pleasing, and acceptable before Him who made us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ and see how precious in the sight of God His blood is, which, having been poured out for our salvation, brought to the whole world the grace of conversion. Let us go back to all generations and learn that in every generation God has granted a place for conversion to such as wished to return to Him. Noah preached conversion, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah prophesied destruction to the Ninevites, and they, converting from their sins, appeased God through prayer, and, though alien from God, obtained salvation.
The ministers of the grace of God spoke by the Holy Spirit concerning conversion; and the Lord of all, Himself spoke concerning conversion with an oath: “As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of a sinner, as I desire his conversion”; adding to that an excellent saying: “Convert, O house of Israel, from your iniquity: Say to the sons of My people, Though your sins reach from earth to Heaven, and though they are redder than scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth, and you turn to Me with your whole heart and say, My Father, I will listen to you as to a holy people.” And in another place He speaks in this way: “Wash, and be clean; take away the wickedness from your souls from before My eyes; cease from your evil deeds, learn to do well; seek judgment; deliver him that is oppressed; give judgment for the orphan, and justify the widow; and come and let us reason together,” He says, “and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they are as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. And if you are willing and listen to Me, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you are not willing, and do not listen, the sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has said this.” Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved ones should partake of conversion, He has confirmed it by His almighty will.
For what reason, let us submit ourselves to His excellent and glorious will, and, becoming suppliants of His mercy and goodness, let us fall before Him and go ourselves to His mercies, having laid aside the vain toil, and the strife, and the jealousy that leads to death. Let us look steadfastly at those that have ministered with perfectness to His excellent glory. Let us take as example Enoch, who, having been found just by reason of obedience, was translated, and his death was not found. Noah, having been found faithful, preached, by his ministry, regeneration to the world, and by him God preserved the animals that entered with one consent into the Ark.
Abraham, who was called the friend, was found faithful, inasmuch as he became obedient to the words of God. This man, by obedience, went out from his land and his countrymen, and the house of his father, that, by leaving a scant land, and weak countrymen, and a small house, he might inherit the promises of God. For He says to him, “Go out from your land, and your countrymen, and the house of your father, to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and bless you, and magnify your name, and you will be blessed; and I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you, and in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed.” And again, when he separated from Lot, God said to him, “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are now to the north and to the south, and to the east and to the sea; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed for all time, and I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: if any man can number the dust of the earth, your seed will also be numbered.” And again He says, “God brought forth Abraham, and said to him: Look up to Heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them, so will your seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Through faith and hospitality a son was given to him in old age, and through obedience he offered him a sacrifice to God on one of the mountains that he showed him.
By hospitality and goodness Lot was saved out of Sodom when the whole region around was judged with fire and brimstone; the Lord making it manifest that He does not leave them that hope on Him, but appoints to punishment and torment them that turn in another way. For his wife, who went out together with him, being of another mind, and not being in concord with him, was on that account placed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt even to this day; that it might be known to all that the double-minded, and they who doubt concerning the power of God, are for a judgment and a sign to all generations.
Through faith and hospitality the harlot Rahab was saved; for when spies were sent to Jericho by Jesus [(Joshua)], the son of Nun, the king of the land knew that they had come to spy out his country, and sent out men to apprehend them that they might be taken and put to death. But the hospitable Rahab having received them, hid them in an upper story under the stalks of flax. Therefore, when the men from the king came on her, and said, “There came to you men who are spies of this land of ours; bring them out, for the king so commands it”; she answered, “The two men whom you are seeking entered in to me, but they departed quickly and are on their way”; but she did not show the men to them. And she said to the men, “I know for certain that the Lord your God has given over this city to you; for the fear and trembling of you has fallen on them that inhabit it. Therefore, when it has happened to you to take it, save me and the house of my father.” And they say to her, “So will it be, even as you have spoken to us. Therefore, when you have perceived that we are coming, you will gather together all your household under your roof, and they will be saved; but as many as will be found outside the house will be destroyed.” And they proceeded further to give her a sign, that she should hang scarlet from her house, making it manifest beforehand that through the blood of the Lord there will be redemption to all who believe and hope on God. Behold, beloved, how there was not only faith, but prophecy in the woman.
Let us therefore, brothers, be humble, laying aside all boasting and pride, and folly and wrath, and let us do that which is written; for the Holy Spirit says, “Do not let the wise boast in his wisdom, nor the strong in his strength, nor the rich in his riches; but let him that boasts make his boast in the Lord, even by seeking Him and doing judgment and justice.” Let us especially remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which He spoke when teaching gentleness and long-suffering, for He spoke thus: “Show mercy, that you may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as you do, so will it be done to you; as you give, so will it be given to you; as you judge, so will you be judged; as you are kindly affectioned, so will kindness be showed to you; with whatsoever measure you measure, with the same will it be measured to you.” With this command and with these exhortations let us strengthen ourselves, that we may walk obedient to His holy words with all humility. For the Holy Writing says, “On whom will I have respect but on him that is meek and quiet, and that trembles at My words?”
It is therefore appropriate and right, men and brothers, that we should be obedient to God rather than follow them that in pride and disorderliness are leaders of detestable sedition. For we will incur no slight harm, but rather a great danger, if we rashly give ourselves up to the wills of men who launch out into strife and sedition so as to estrange us from that which is good. Let us, therefore, show kindness toward them according to the mercy and sweetness of Him that made us. For it is written: “The men of kindness will inherit the land. The innocent will be left on it; but they that are lawless will be destroyed out of it.” And again it says, “I saw the unrighteous man exalted on high and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and behold, he was not; I sought his place and did not find it. Keep innocence, and regard righteousness; for there is a remnant that remains to the man of peace.”
Let us therefore cleave to them who live in peace and godliness, not to them who hypocritically profess to desire peace. For He says in a certain place, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” And again, “They blessed with their mouth, but they cursed with their heart. And again it says, “They loved Him with their mouth, and with their tongue they lied against Him. For their heart was not right with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. Let the crafty lips be put to silence, and may the Lord destroy all the deceitful lips, even the haughty tongue, they who said, Let us magnify our tongue, our lips are our own; who is master over us?” “On account of the misery of the poor, and on account of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise, says the Lord; I will set him in safety, I will deal confidently with him.”
For Christ belongs to them that are humble, not to them that exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the scepter of the majesty of God, did not come in the arrogance of boasting and pride, though He was able to do so; but in humility, even as the Holy Spirit spoke concerning Him. For it says, “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Like a child we have delivered our message before Him; He is as a root in a thirsty land. There is no form nor glory in Him, and we beheld Him, and He had neither form nor comeliness, but His form was despised, lacking comeliness, beyond the form of the sons of men. He was a man stricken and in toil, knowing how to bear infirmity, for His face was turned away; it was dishonored and held in no reputation. He bears our sins and suffers pain on our account, and we esteemed Him as one in toil, stricken, and afflicted. He was wounded for our sins, and for our transgressions He suffered infirmity; the discipline of our peace was on Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, everyone has erred in his own way, and the Lord has given Him up for our sins; and He, through affliction, does not open His mouth. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so He does not open His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth; for the iniquity of My people He has come to death. And I will give the wicked in return for His burial, and the rich for His death, for He did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: and the Lord wills to purify from Him [with] stripes. If You make an offering for sin Your soul will prolong its days. And the Lord wills to take away from the travail of His soul, to show Him light and to form Him by knowledge, to justify the righteous man who serves many well; and He will bear their sins Himself. For what reason He will receive the inheritance of many, and will divide the spoils of the strong, because His soul was delivered up to death, and He was numbered among the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and was given up for their sins.” And again He says, “I am a worm and no man—a reproach of men and despised of the people; all they who saw Me mocked Me, they spoke with their lips, they shook the head; He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, because He desires Him.” See, beloved, what is the example that has been given to us; for if the Lord so humbled Himself, what will we do who have, through His mercy, come under the yoke of His grace?
Let us also be imitators of them who went around in goatskins and sheepskins, preaching the coming of Christ; we mean Elijah, and Elisha, and Ezekiel the prophets, and beside them those who have obtained a good report. Abraham obtained an exceedingly good report, and was called the friend of God, and says, looking steadfastly to the glory of God in humility, “I am but earth and ashes.” And, moreover, concerning Job, it is thus written: “Job was a just man and blameless, truthful, one that feared God and abstained from all evil.” But he himself, accusing himself, says, “No one is pure from pollution, though his life is but for one day.” Moses was called faithful in all his house, and by his ministry God judged His people Israel by stripes and punishment. But he, though he was greatly glorified, did not speak haughtily, but said, when the oracle was given to him out of the bush, “Who am I that You send me? I am weak of voice and slow of tongue.” And again he says, “I am but as the smoke from a pot.”
But what will we say of David, who obtained a good report; to whom God said, “I have found a man after My own heart, David, the son of Jesse; I have anointed him with My continuous mercy. But he himself says to God, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, according to the multitude of Your compassion do away with my iniquity; wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against You only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight, that You might be justified in Your words, and overcome when You are judged. Behold, I was fashioned in wickedness, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You have loved truth; You have shown me the secret and hidden things of Your wisdom. You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean. You will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. You will make me to hear of joy and gladness; the bones that have been humiliated will rejoice. Turn away Your face from my sins and blot out all my misdeeds. Create in me a new heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of Your salvation again, and establish me with Your guiding Spirit. I will teach sinners Your ways; the ungodly will be converted to You. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, You God of my salvation; my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. O Lord, You will open my mouth, and my lips will show forth Your praise. For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it; in whole burnt-offerings You will not delight. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart God will not despise.”
The humility of men so many in number and so great, and who have obtained such a good report, and their subjection through obedience, has made not only us but the generations before us better, namely, those who in fear and truth have received His oracles. Since, therefore, we have become the partakers in many great and glorious actions, let us finally return to that goal of peace that was given us from the beginning; let us look steadfastly to the Father and Creator of the whole world, and let us cleave to the glorious and excellent gifts and benefits of His peace. Let us behold Him in spirit and look with the eyes of the soul to His long-suffering will. Let us consider how gentle He is toward all His creation.
The heavens, being put in motion by His appointment, are subject to Him in peace; night and day they accomplish the course ordered by Him, in nothing hindering one another. The sun, and the moon, and the dances of the stars according to His appointment, in harmony and without any violation of order, roll on the courses appointed to them. The fruitful earth brings forth in due season, according to His will, abundant nourishment for men and beasts; doubting nothing, nor changing in anything from the things that are decreed by Him. The unsearchable things of the abyss, and the secret ordinances of the lower parts of the earth, are held together by the same command. The hollow of the vast sea, gathered together by His hand into its reservoirs, does not transgress the bounds placed around it; but even as He has appointed to it, so it does; for He said, “You will come thus far, and your waves will be broken within you.” The ocean, impassable to men, and the worlds that are beyond it, are governed by the same commands of their Master. The seasons of spring and summer, autumn and winter, in peace succeed one another. The fixed stations of the winds, each in their due time, perform their services without offense. The ever-flowing fountains, made for enjoyment and health, offer their breasts without fail to sustain the lives of men. Even the smallest of animals come together in peace and harmony. All these things the great Maker and Master of all things has appointed to be in peace and harmony, doing good to all things, but more especially to us, who have fled for refuge to His mercies, through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and majesty forever and ever. Amen.
Beware, beloved, lest His many blessings come to be a condemnation to all of us, unless, walking worthily of Him, we do what is honorable and well pleasing before Him with oneness of mind. For He says in a certain place, “The Spirit of the Lord is a candle, searching out the secret places of the heart.” Let us see how near He is at hand, and how none of our thoughts and reasonings escape Him. It is right, therefore, that we should not desert from His will. Let us offend against men who are foolish, and senseless, and puffed up in the pride of their own speech, rather than against God. Let us have respect to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us. Let us revere them that are over us. Let us honor our elders. Let us instruct the young in the discipline of the fear of God. Let us direct our wives to that which is good; let them show forth the lovely habit of chastity and exhibit the pure disposition of meekness. Let them make manifest by their conversation the government of their tongues; let them show love, not according to partiality, but equally to all that fear the Lord in holiness. Let your children be partakers of the discipline of Christ; let them learn how much humility avails before God; what power a pure love has with God; how His fear is honorable and great, preserving all who, with a pure mind, walk in holiness before Him. For He is a searcher out of thoughts and counsels, His breath is in us, and when He wills He will take it away.
The faith which is in Christ assures all these things. For He Himself, through the Holy Spirit, thus calls to us: “Come, you children, listen to Me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that wishes for life and would gladly see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are over the just, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to destroy their memorial out of the land. The righteous cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles.” “Many are the afflictions of the sinner, but they that hope in the Lord, mercy will surround them.”
The Father whose mercies are over all things, who loves to do good, has yearnings of compassion for them that fear Him, and with gentleness and kindness bestows His favor on them that come to Him with a pure mind. For what reason let us not be double-minded, nor let our hearts form vain imaginations concerning His excellent and glorious gifts. Do not let that Writing be applicable to us which says, “Wretched are the double-minded, even they that doubt in their heart and say, We have heard these things in the time of our fathers; and behold, we have grown old, and none of them has happened to us.” O foolish ones! compare yourselves to a tree. Take, for example, the vine: first it sheds its leaves, then comes the bud, then the leaf, then the flower, after that the unripe grape, then the ripe grape. See how in a short time the fruit of the tree attains to maturity. Of a truth, quickly and suddenly will His will be fulfilled; the Writing also bearing witness that He will come quickly, and will not tarry; and the Lord will come suddenly into His temple, even the Holy One, whom you expect.
Let us consider, beloved, how the Master shows to us continually the resurrection that is about to be, of which He has made our Lord Jesus Christ the first-fruit, having raised Him from the dead. Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection that is always taking place— day and night show the resurrection to us; the night is lulled to rest, the day arises; the day departs, the night comes on. Let us consider the fruits, in what way a grain of corn is sown. The sower goes forth and casts it into the ground, and when the seeds are cast into the ground, they that fell into the ground dry and naked are dissolved; then after their dissolution, the mighty power of the providence of the Lord raises them up, and from one seed many grow up and bring forth fruits.
Let us consider the wonderful sign that happens in the region of the east, even about Arabia. There is a bird which is called the phoenix. This, being the only one of its kind, lives for five hundred years. And when the time of its death draws near, it makes for itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and the other perfumes, into which, when its time is fulfilled, it enters, and then dies. But as its flesh rots, a certain worm is produced, which being nourished by the moisture of the dead animal, puts forth feathers. Then, when it has become strong, it takes the nest wherein are the bones of its ancestor, and bearing them, it flies from the region of Arabia to that of Egypt, to the city which is called Heliopolis; there, in daytime, in the sight of all, it flies up, and places them on the altar of the sun, and having done so, returns back. The priests, therefore, look into the registers of the times, and find that it has come at the completion of the five-hundredth year.
Will we then think it great and wonderful, if the Maker of all things will make a resurrection of those who, in the confidence of a good faith, have piously seized Him, when even by means of a bird He shows the greatness of His promises? For He says in a certain place, “And You will raise me up, and I will give thanks to You”; and again: “I slumbered and slept; I rose up because You are with me. And again Job says, “You will raise up this flesh of mine, which has suffered all these things.”
In this hope, therefore, let our souls be bound to Him who is faithful in His promises and just in His judgments. He who has commanded men not to lie, much more will He not lie, for nothing is impossible with God, except to lie. Let our faith, therefore, be kindled in Him afresh within us, and let us consider that all things are near to Him. By the word of His majesty He constituted all things, and by a word He is able to destroy them. “Who will say to Him, What have You done? or who will resist the might of His strength?” He will do all things when He wills and as He wills, and none of the things decreed by Him will pass away. All things are before Him, and nothing has escaped His counsel, seeing that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse shows the work of His hands: day to day utters speech, and night to night proclaims knowledge; and there is no speech nor language where their voices are not heard.”
Therefore, since all things are seen and heard by Him, let us fear Him and abandon the filthy desires for evil deeds, that we may be sheltered by His mercy from the judgments to come. For, to where can any of us fly from His mighty hand, and what world will receive any of them that desert from Him? For the Writing says in a certain place: “To where will I go, and where will I conceal myself from Your face? If I ascend into Heaven, You are there; if I depart into the uttermost parts of the earth, Your right hand is there; if I will make my bed in the abyss, Your Spirit is there.” To where then will we depart, and where will we fly from Him that embraces all things?
Therefore, let us approach Him with holiness of spirit, lifting pure and undefiled hands to Him; loving the kind and compassionate Father who has made us a part of His chosen ones. For it is thus written: “When the Most High divided the nations, when He dispersed the sons of Adam, He settled the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the messengers of God. The portion of the Lord was His people Jacob.” Israel was the measurement of His inheritance. And in another place it says, “Behold, the Lord takes to Himself a nation from the midst of the nations, even as a man takes the first-fruits of his threshingfloor; and there will go forth from that nation the Holy of Holies.”
Since, therefore, we are a portion of the Holy One, let us do all such things as pertain to holiness, avoiding evil-speaking, foul and impure embraces, drunkenness, disorderliness, abominable desires, detestable adultery, execrable pride; “for God,” it says, “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Let us cleave, therefore, to them to whom grace has been given from God. Let us clothe ourselves with concord, being humble, temperate, keeping ourselves far from all whispering and evil-speaking, justified by our deeds, and not by our words. For it says, “He who says many things will, in return, hear many things. Does he that is eloquent think himself to be just? Does he that is born of woman and lives but for a short time think himself to be blessed? Do not be abundant in speech.” Let our praise be in God, and not for ourselves, for God hates the self-praisers. Let the testimony of right actions be given us from others, even as it was given to our fathers who were just. Audacity, self-will, and boldness belong to them who are accursed of God; but moderation, humility, and meekness, to them that are blessed of God.
Therefore, let us cleave to His blessing, and let us see what the ways of blessing are. Let us consult the records of the things that happened from the beginning. On what account was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not that he worked righteousness and truth through faith? Isaac, with confidence, knowing the future, willingly became a sacrifice. Jacob, with humility, flying from his brother, went out from his own land and journeyed to Laban and served as a slave, and there were given to him the twelve tribes of Israel.
If anyone will consider these things with sincerity and one by one, he will recognize the magnificence of the gifts that were given by him. For from Jacob came the priests and all the Levites that serve the altar of God. From him came our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh; from him came the kings, and rulers, and governors of the tribe of Judah; and the remainder of his tribes are of no small glory, since God has promised, “Your seed will be as the stars of the heavens.” Therefore, all these have been glorified and magnified, not through themselves, or through their works, or through the righteousness that they have done, but through His will. And we who through His will have been called in Christ Jesus are justified, not by ourselves, or through our wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or the works that we have done in holiness of heart, but by faith, by which all men from the beginning have been justified by Almighty God, to whom be glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
What, then, will we do, brothers? Will we cease from well-doing, and abandon charity? May the Master never allow that this should happen to us! but let us rather with diligence and zeal hasten to fulfill every good work. For the Maker and Lord of all things rejoices in His works. By His supreme power He founded the heavens, and by His incomprehensible understanding He ordered them. He separated the earth from the water that surrounded it, and fixed it on the firm foundation of His own will. The animals which inhabit therein He commanded to be by His ordinance. Having made beforehand the sea and the animals that are therein, He shut them in by His own power. Man, the most excellent of all animals, infinite in faculty, He moulded with His holy and faultless hands, in the impress of His likeness. For thus says God: “Let Us make man in Our own image, and after Our own likeness. And God made man. He made them male and female.” Therefore, when He had finished all things, He praised and blessed them, and said, “Be fruitful, and multiply.” Let us see, therefore, how all the just have been adorned with good works. Yes, the Lord Himself rejoiced when He had adorned Himself with His works. Having, therefore, this example, let us come in without shrinking to His will; let us work with all our strength the work of righteousness.
The good workman boldly receives the bread of his labor, but the slothful and remiss does not look his employer in the face. It is therefore right that we should be zealous in well-doing, for from Him are all things; for He tells us beforehand: “Behold, the Lord comes, and His reward is before His face, to give to everyone according to his work.” He exhorts us, therefore, with this reward in view, to strive with our whole heart not to be slothful or remiss toward every good work. Let our glorying and our confidence be in Him; let us submit ourselves to His will; let us consider the whole multitude of His messengers, how they stand by and serve His will. For the Writing says, “Ten thousand times ten thousand stood beside Him, and thousands of thousands served Him; and they cried, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts! all creation is full of His glory.” And let us, being gathered together in harmony and a good conscience, cry earnestly, as it were with one mouth, to Him, that we may become partakers of His great and glorious promises; for He says, “Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, neither has there entered into the heart of man, what things He has prepared for them that wait for Him.”
Behold, beloved, how blessed and wonderful are the gifts of God— life in immortality, cheerfulness in righteousness, truth in liberty, faith in confidence, temperance in sanctification; and all these things have already come within our cognizance. What therefore are the things that are prepared for them that abide in patience? The Maker and Father of the worlds, the All-Holy One, He knows how many and how beautiful they are. Let us, therefore, strive to be found in the number of them that await Him, that we may partake of the promised gifts. And how will this be, beloved? If our mind is established by faith toward God; if we seek out what is pleasant and acceptable in His sight; if we perform such things as harmonize with His blameless will, and follow in the way of truth, casting from us all unrighteousness and lawlessness, covetousness, strife, malice and fraud, whispering and evil-speaking, hatred of God, pride and insolence, vainglory and intractableness. For they who do these things are hateful to God, and not only they who do them, but also they who have pleasure in them that do them. For the Writing says: “But to the sinner God has said, Why do you speak of My ordinances, and take My covenant in your mouth? But you have hated instruction and have cast My words behind you. When you saw a thief you went with him and have cast in your portion with the adulterers; your mouth has abounded with evil, and your tongue has contrived deceit. You sat and spoke against your brother and have slandered the son of your mother. You have done this, and I kept silence. You thought, O wicked one, that I was like to you; but I will convict you and will set yourself before you. Consider this, you who forget God, lest He seize you as a lion, and there is none to save you. The sacrifice of praise will honor Me; and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.”
This is the way, beloved, in which we found our salvation—even Jesus Christ, the Chief Priest of our oblations, the champion and defender of our weakness. Through Him we look steadfastly to the heights of the heavens; through Him we behold, as in a glass, the immaculate and lofty countenance of God the Father; through Him the eyes of our heart were opened; through Him our foolish and darkened understanding springs up again to His marvelous light; through Him the Lord has willed us to taste of immortal knowledge, “who, being the brightness of His glory, is so far better than the messengers, as He has, by inheritance, obtained a more excellent Name than they.” For it is thus written: “Who makes His messengers spirits, || His ministers a flame of fire.” But of His Son the Lord has thus said, “You are My Son, today have I begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the heathen for Your inheritance, || And the uttermost parts of the world for Your possession.” And, again, He says to Him: “Sit on My right hand || Until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Who then are the enemies? Even the wicked, and they who resist the will of God.
Let us, therefore, men and brothers, carry on our warfare with all earnestness in His faultless ordinances. Let us consider those who fight under our rulers, how orderly, and obediently, and submissively they perform what is commanded them. All are not prefects, or commanders of thousands, or commanders of hundreds, or commanders of fifties, or such-like; but each in his own rank performs what has been ordered by the king or the commanders. The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great. There is a certain mixture in all things, and from there arises their use. Let us take, for example, our body: the head is nothing without the feet, nor the feet without the head. The smallest members of the body are necessary and useful to the whole body, and all unite and work with harmonious obedience for the preservation of the whole body.
Therefore, let our whole body be saved in Christ Jesus, and let each be subject to his neighbor according to the gift which he has received. Do not let the strong man despise the weak; and let the weak pay regard to the strong. Let him that is rich minister to him that is poor. Let him that is poor praise God that He has given to him one by whom his want may be supplied. Let the wise show his wisdom, not in words, but in good deeds; let him that is humble not bear witness to himself, but leave another to bear witness to him. Let him that is pure in the flesh not boast of it, knowing that it is another that gives him the power of continence. Let us consider, brothers, of what matter we are made, of what sort and who we are that have come into the world, as it were out of the tomb and darkness. He that made and fashioned us has brought us into this world, having prepared beforehand His benefactions, even before we were born. Therefore, having all these things from Him, we should in all respects give thanks to Him, to whom be glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
The senseless and unwise, the foolish and unruly, make a mockery of us, wishing to exalt themselves in their own imagination. For what can a mortal do? or what strength has he that is born of earth? For it is written: “There was no form before my eyes, only I heard a breath and a voice. For what? will a mortal be pure before the Lord? or is a man blameless from his works? seeing that He puts no trust in His servants, and even beholds iniquity in His messengers; yes, the Heaven is not pure in His sight. Away, you who dwell in houses of clay, of whom are we also even of the same clay. He has smitten them even as it were a moth, and in a single day they are no more. Because they could not help themselves, they perished: He blew among them, and they died, because they had no wisdom. Call, now, and see if there is anyone that will obey you, if you will behold any of the holy messengers. For anger destroys the fool, and envy puts him to death that is gone out of the way. I have beheld the foolish casting forth roots, but immediately his habitation was eaten up. Let his sons be far from safety, let them be mocked at the gates of their inferiors, and there will be none to deliver them. For that which had been prepared for them the just will eat, and they will not be delivered out of their troubles.”
Therefore, since these things have been made manifest before to us, and since we have looked into the depths of the divine knowledge, we should do everything in order, whatever the Lord has commanded us to do at the appointed seasons, and to perform the offerings and services. He has not commanded these to be done at random or in disorder, but at fixed times and seasons. But when and by whom He wishes them to be fulfilled He Himself has decided by His supreme will, that all things, being done piously, according to His good pleasure, might be acceptable to His will. Therefore, they who at the appointed seasons make their offerings are acceptable and blessed; for while following the laws of the Master they do not completely sin. For to the Chief Priest were assigned special services, and to the priests a special place has been appointed; and on the Levites special duties are imposed. But he that is a layman is bound by the ordinances of laymen.
Let each of you, brothers, in his own order, give thanks to God, continuing in a good conscience, not transgressing the fixed rule of his ministry, with all gravity. Not in every place, brothers, are sacrifices offered continually, either in answer to prayer, or concerning sin and neglect, but in Jerusalem only; and even there the offering is not made in every place, but before the temple in the court of the altar, after that which is offered has been diligently examined by the chief priest and the appointed ministers. They, therefore, who do anything contrary to that which is according to His will have death for their punishment. You see, brothers, by as much as we have been thought worthy of greater knowledge, by so much the more are we exposed to danger.
The apostles received the good news for us from our Lord Jesus Christ; our Lord Jesus Christ received it from God. Christ, therefore, was sent out from God, and the apostles from Christ; and both these things were done in good order, according to the will of God. They, therefore, having received the promises, having been fully persuaded by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and having been confirmed by the word of God, with the full persuasion of the Holy Spirit, went forth preaching the good tidings that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Preaching, therefore, through the countries and cities, they appointed their first-fruits to be overseers and servants over such as should believe, after they had proved them in the Spirit. And this they did in no new way, for in truth it had in long past time been written concerning overseers and servants; for the Writing, in a certain place, says in this way: “I will establish their overseers in righteousness, and their servants in faith.”
And wherein is it wonderful, if they who, in Christ, were entrusted by God with this work appointed the previously mentioned officers? since even the blessed Moses, the faithful servant in all his house, signified in the sacred scrolls all the things that were commanded to him, whom also the prophets have followed, bearing witness together to the laws which were appointed by him. For he, when a strife arose concerning the priesthood, and when the tribes contended which of them should be adorned with that glorious name, commanded the twelve chiefs of the tribes to bring to him rods, each inscribed with the name of a tribe; and when he had taken them, he bound them together, and sealed them with the seals of the heads of the tribes, and laid them up on the table of God, in the Dwelling Place of the testimony. And when he had closed the Dwelling Place, he sealed the keys, and likewise the rods, and said to them, “Men and brothers, of whatever tribe the rod will bud, this has God chosen to be His priest, and to serve Him.” And when morning had come, he called together all Israel, even six hundred thousand men, and showed to the heads of the tribes the seals, and opened the Dwelling Place of the testimony and brought forth the rods, and the rod of Aaron was found not only to have budded, but also bearing fruit. What do you think, beloved? did Moses not know beforehand that this was about to happen? Most assuredly he knew it, but, that there might be no disorder in Israel, he did thus that the Name of the true and only God might be glorified, to whom be glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
Our apostles, too, by the instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ, knew that strife would arise concerning the dignity of an overseer; and on this account, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed the above-mentioned as overseers and servants: and then gave a rule of succession, in order that, when they had fallen asleep, other men, who had been approved, might succeed to their ministry. Those who were thus appointed by them, or afterward by other men of good regard, with the consent of the whole Assembly, who have blamelessly ministered to the flock of Christ with humility, quietly, and without illiberality, and who for a long time have obtained a good report from all, these, we think, have been unjustly deposed from the ministry. For it will be no small sin in us if we depose from the office of overseer those who blamelessly and piously have made the offerings. Happy are the elders who finished their course before and died in mature age after they had borne fruit; for they do not fear lest anyone should remove them from the place appointed for them. For we see that you have removed some men of honest conversation from the ministry, which had been blamelessly and honorably performed by them.
You are contentious, brothers, and are zealous concerning things that do not pertain to salvation. Look diligently into the Writings, which are the true sayings of the Holy Spirit. You know how that nothing unjust or corrupt has been written in them; for you will not find in them the just expelled by holy men. The just were persecuted, but it was by the lawless; they were thrown into prison, but it was by the unholy; they were stoned, but it was by sinners; they were slain, but it was by wicked men, even by those who had taken up an unjust envy against them. They, therefore, when they suffered all these things, suffered them with a good report. For what will we say, brothers? was it by those that feared God that Daniel was cast into the den of lions? Was it by those who practiced the magnificent and glorious worship of the Most High that Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were shut up in the fiery furnace? Let us not suppose that such was the case. Who, then, were the men who did these things? Abominable men and full of all wickedness were inflamed to such a degree of wrath that they cast into tortures those who, with a holy and blameless purpose, served God, not knowing that the Most High is a champion and defender of those who with a pure conscience serve His most excellent Name, to whom be glory through the ages of the ages. Amen. But they, abiding steadfastly in their confidence, have inherited honor and glory, and have both been exalted and made beautiful by God, in the memory that is made of them through the ages of the ages. Amen.
We should also cleave to such examples, brothers. For it is written: “Cleave to them that are holy, for they that cleave to them will be made holy.” And again, in another place it says, “With the guiltless man you will be guiltless, and with the excellent you will be excellent, and with him that is crooked you will be perverse.” Therefore, let us cleave to the guiltless and the just, for they are the chosen ones of God. Why are there strivings, and anger, and division, and war among you? Do we not have one God and one Christ? Is the Spirit of grace, which was poured out on us, not one? Is our calling in Christ not one? Why do we tear apart and split apart the members of Christ, and make sedition against our body, and come to such a degree of madness that we forget we are members of one another? Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, for He said, “Woe to that man; it were good for him if he had never been born, rather than that he should cause one of My chosen ones to offend. It were better for him that a millstone were tied around him, and that he were cast into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of My little ones to offend. This schism of yours has perverted many, [and] has cast many into despondency, many into doubt, [and] all of us into grief, and, as yet, your sedition remains.
Take into your hands the letter of the blessed apostle Paul. What did he first write to you in the beginning of his good news? Of a truth, he warned you spiritually, in a letter, concerning himself, and concerning Cephas and Apollos, because even then there were factions among you; but the faction of that time brought less sin on you; for you inclined to apostles of good regard, and to a man approved among them. But now consider who they are that have perverted you and have diminished the glory of your famous brotherly love. It is disgraceful, brothers, yes, very disgraceful, and unworthy of the conduct which is in Christ, that it should be reported that the most firm and ancient assembly of the Corinthians has, on account of one or two persons, made sedition against its elders. And this report did not only come to us, but also to the nations, who do not go with us, so that you heap blasphemies on the Name of the Lord through your folly, and in addition cause danger to yourselves.
Therefore, let us remove this thing as quickly as possible, and let us fall before the feet of the Master, and implore Him with tears, that He will have mercy and be reconciled to us, and restore us again to the grave and pure conversation of brotherly love. For this is a gate of righteousness opened to life, as it is written: “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go in to them, and give thanks to the Lord: this is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter thereby.” Now, since many gates have been opened, the gate of righteousness is that which is in Christ. Happy are all they that enter therein, and who keep their path straight in holiness and righteousness, quietly performing all their duties. If a man is faithful, if he is mighty to expound knowledge, if he is wise in the interpretation of words, if he is pure in his deeds, by so much the more should he be humble, and by as much as he seems to be greater, by so much the more should he seek the common advantage of all, and not of himself alone.
Let him that has the love which is in Christ keep the commands of Christ. Who can describe sufficiently the bond of the love of God? Who is sufficient to speak as he should of the excellence of its beauty? The height to which love leads up is unspeakable. Love joins us to God; love hides a multitude of sins; love bears all things; is long suffering in all things. In love there is nothing illiberal, nothing haughty. Love has no schism; love does not make sedition; love does all things in harmony; in love all the chosen ones of God have been made perfect. Without love nothing is acceptable to God. In love, our Master has taken us to Himself. Through the love that He has for us, Jesus Christ our Lord has given His blood for us, by the will of God, His flesh for our flesh, His soul for our soul.
You see, brothers, how great and wonderful a thing love is, and how there is no describing its perfection. Who is sufficient to be found in it, except those whom God will have deemed worthy? Therefore, let us pray and ask from His mercy that we may live in love, without human partiality, blameless. All the generations from Adam, even to this day, have gone by, but they who have been made perfect in love according to the grace of God, inhabit the abode of the pious and will be made manifest in the visitation of the Kingdom of Christ. For it is written: “Enter into the secret chambers but a little while, until My anger and wrath have passed, and I will remember the good day, and will raise you up from your tombs.” Blessed are we, beloved, if we do the commands of God in the harmony of love, so that through love our sins may be forgiven us. For it is written: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile.” This blessedness comes to them who are chosen by God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
Therefore, whatever errors we have committed through the assaults of the adversary, let us ask pardon for these; and they who have been leaders of the sedition and division should consider the common ground of our hope. For they who have their conversation in fear and love wish that they themselves, rather than their neighbors, should fall into suffering; and would rather that they should undergo condemnation themselves, than that the harmony which has been honorably and justly handed down to us should do so. For it is better that a man should make confession concerning his sins, than that he should harden his heart, even as the heart of them was hardened who made sedition against Moses, the servant of God—[they] whose condemnation was manifest; for they went down alive into Hades, and death swallowed them up. Pharaoh and his army, and all the leaders of Egypt, their chariots and their riders, through no other cause were sunk in the Red Sea, and perished there, than through the hardening of their foolish hearts, after that the signs and wonders happened in Egypt through the hand of Moses, the servant of God.
The Lord of all things, brothers, is in need of nothing; neither does He require anything of anyone, except to confess to Him. For the chosen one, David, says, “I will confess to the Lord, and that will please Him more than a young calf that puts forth horns and hooves. Let the poor behold and rejoice at that.” And again he says, “Offer to the Lord the sacrifice of praise: pay your vows to the Most High. And call on Me in the day of your affliction, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me. For the sacrifice to God is a broken spirit.”
You know, beloved, and know well, the sacred Writings, and have looked into the oracles of God; therefore, call these things to remembrance. For, when Moses had gone up into the mount, and had tarried there forty days and forty nights in fasting and humiliation, the Lord said to Him, “Moses, Moses, come down quickly from here, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have worked iniquity. They have quickly gone astray out of the way that you command them and have made molten images for themselves.” And the Lord said to him, “I have spoken to you once and twice, saying, I have beheld this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Leave Me alone, that I may destroy them, and I will wipe out their name from under Heaven, and make of you a nation great and wonderful, and far more numerous than they.” And Moses said, “Be it far from You, O Lord. Forgive this people their sin, or also wipe my name out of the Scroll of the Living.” Oh, the great love! Oh, the unsurpassable perfection! The servant is bold toward the Lord: he asks forgiveness for the people or demands otherwise that he himself should be destroyed together with them.
Who among you is noble? who is compassionate? who is filled with love? Let him speak in this way: “If through me sedition and strife arise, I will depart, I will go away to wherever you will, and I will do that which is commanded by the majority, only let the flock of Christ be at peace together with the appointed elders.” He who does this will gain for himself great glory in the Lord, and every place will receive him, “for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” These things they have done who are citizens of the Kingdom of God, which does not need to be converted of, and these things they will yet do.
But, to bring forward examples from the nations, also many kings and leaders, when a time of pestilence had arisen, being warned by oracles, gave themselves to death, that they might deliver their citizens by their blood. Many went out from their own cities, that there might no longer be sedition therein. We know that many among us gave themselves up to bonds, that they might deliver others. Many have given themselves up to slavery, and, having received their own price, have with that fed others. Many women, waxing strong through the grace of God, have performed many manly deeds. The blessed Judith, when the city was besieged, asked of the elders that she should be permitted to go forth into the camp of the aliens. She therefore delivered herself to danger and went out through love of her country and of her people, who were besieged. And the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hands of a woman. To no smaller danger did Esther, being perfect in faith, expose herself, that she might deliver the twelve tribes of Israel who were about to perish. For by fasting and humiliation she implored the Master, who overlooks all things, the God of Ages, who, seeing the humiliation of her soul, delivered the people for whose sake she put herself in danger.
Therefore, let us pray for those who have fallen into any transgression, that moderation and humility may be given to them, to the end that they should submit themselves, I do not say to us, but to the will of God; for so they will obtain a fruitful and perfect remembrance and compassion before God and His holy ones. Let us accept, brothers, that discipline at which no one needs to be offended. The admonition which we make toward one another is exceedingly good and useful, for it joins us to the will of God. For thus speaks the holy word: “The Lord has disciplined me with disciplines, but He has not given me over to death.” “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives.” “The righteous will discipline me in pity and will rebuke me, but do not let the oil of sinners anoint my head.” And again it says: “Blessed is the man whom the Lord has rebuked; do not refuse the admonition of the Almighty, for He makes you to grieve, and again He restores you; He has smitten, and His hands have healed you; six times will He deliver you from calamity, and the seventh time evil will not touch you. In the time of famine He will deliver you from death, in war He will redeem you from the hand of iron. From the scourge of the tongue He will hide you, and you will not be afraid when evils approach. The unjust and the sinner you will laugh to scorn; and of the wild beasts you will not be afraid, for the wild beasts will be at peace with you. Then you will know that your house will be at peace; the habitation of your dwelling place will not fail. You will know that your seed is abundant, your children like all the herb of the field. You will come to your tomb like a ripe ear of corn reaped in due season, like the heap of a threshing-floor that is gathered at its proper time.” You see, beloved, that there is a protection for them that are disciplined by the Master, for God chastens us because He is good, to the end that we should be admonished by His holy discipline.
Therefore, you that have laid the foundation of the sedition: submit yourselves to the elders, and be disciplined to conversion, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to submit yourselves, laying aside the vain and haughty self-will of your tongues; for it is better that you should be small and approved in the flock of Christ, rather than that, seeming to be superior to others, you should be cast out of His hope. For thus says the most excellent Wisdom: “Behold, I will send on you the language of My Spirit; I will teach you My word. Since I called and you did not listen, and prolonged My words, and you did not attend [to them], but made My counsels of no effect, and were not obedient to My reproofs, therefore I will laugh at your destruction, I will exult when desolation comes on you; when perturbation has suddenly come on you, and ruin is at hand like a whirlwind, when tribulation and oppression comes on you. For the time will come when you will call on Me, and I will not listen to you; the wicked will seek Me, and will not find Me. They hated wisdom and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they were not willing to attend to My counsels, they mocked at My rebukes. For what reason they will eat the fruits of their own way; they will be filled with their own unrighteousness. For because they wronged the innocent they will be slain, and judgment will destroy the unrighteous; but he who listens to Me will abide, trusting in hope, and will rest securely from all evil.”
Let us, therefore, submit to His all-holy and glorious Name, and escape the threats that have been before spoken by Wisdom against the disobedient, that we may abide trusting in the most holy Name of His greatness. Accept this advice of ours, and it will not be regretted by you. For as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit—the confidence and hope of the chosen ones—He who observes in humility with earnest obedience, and not complaining, the ordinances and commands given by God, he will be reckoned and counted in the number of them that are saved by Jesus Christ, through whom is the glory to Him through the ages of the ages. Amen.
But if some should be disobedient to the things spoken by Him through us, let them know that they will entangle themselves in no small transgression and danger, but that we will be guiltless of this sin; and we will ask, making our prayer and supplication with earnestness, that the Maker of all things may keep uninjured in all the world the number of those that have been numbered as His chosen ones, through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, through whom He has called us from darkness to light, and from ignorance to a knowledge of the glory of His Name. That we may hope in Your Name, which is the first of all things, open the eyes of our heart to know You, who are alone highest among the highest, holy among the holy, who puts down the haughtiness of the proud, who scatters the reasonings of the nations, who exalts the humble on high, and lowers the lofty, who makes rich and makes poor, who kills and makes to live, the only benefactor of spirits, and God of all flesh, who looks into the abysses, who beholds the works of men, who is the helper of those in danger, the Savior of those who have lost hope, who is the maker and overseer of every soul, who makes the nations to multiply on earth, and out of all has chosen those that love You through Your beloved Son Jesus Christ, through whom You have taught us, have sanctified us, have honored us. We ask You, Lord, to be our helper and assister; save those of us who are in affliction, have compassion on the humble, raise the fallen, appear to those who are in need, heal the sinners, convert those of Your people who are wandering from the way, feed the hungry, ransom our prisoners, raise up the sick, encourage the feeble-hearted, let all the nations know that You are God alone and Jesus Christ Your Son, and that we are Your people and the sheep of Your pasture.
You have made manifest the perpetual constitution of the world by the things that happen. You, Lord, who are faithful in all generations, have founded the world. You who are just in Your judgments, who are wonderful in strength and greatness; You who are wise in creating and prudent in establishing the things that are made; You that are good in the things that are seen and faithful among them that trust on You, merciful and compassionate, forgive us our transgressions and unrighteousnesses, our sins and our negligences. Do not take into account every sin of Your servants and handmaids, but purify us with the purification of Your truth, and make straight our steps in holiness, and righteousness, and singleness of heart, that we may so walk and do such things as are right and well pleasing before You, and before our rulers. Yes, Lord, cause Your face to appear to us in peace to our good, that we may be sheltered by Your mighty hand, and preserved from all sin by Your lofty arm, and deliver us from those that hate us unjustly. Give unity and peace both to us and to all that dwell on the earth, as You gave to our fathers when they called on You with faith and truth, so that we should become obedient to Your all-powerful and most excellent Name, and to those who rule and govern us on the earth.
You, Lord, have given the authority of the Kingdom to them through Your almighty and unspeakable power, so that we, knowing the estimation and honor given to them by You, might submit ourselves to them, in no way opposing Your will; to whom give, O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability, so that they may discharge the rule given to them by You without offense; for You, heavenly Lord, perpetual King, give to the sons of men glory, and honor, and authority over the things that are on the earth. You, Lord, direct their counsel according to what is good and pleasing before You, that, fulfilling with peace, and meekness, and piety the authority given to them by You, they may obtain mercy from You. You who alone are able to do these and greater good things among us, to You do we give thanks through the Chief Priest and protector of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom to You be the glory and majesty, now and to all generations, through the ages of the ages. Amen.
Concerning the things that pertain to our religion, and the things that are most useful to a virtuous life, for those who are willing to live piously and righteously, we have sufficiently charged you, men and brothers. For we have handled every argument concerning faith and conversion, and genuine love and temperance, and moderation and patience, reminding you that you must, by righteousness, and truth, and long-suffering, approve yourselves with piety to Almighty God, being of one mind, without malice, in love and peace with earnest obedience, even as our fathers, who were previously mentioned, approved themselves with humility both with regard to God the Father and Creator, and to all men. And these things we have so much the more gladly put you in mind of, inasmuch as we knew plainly that we wrote to men who are faithful and of high regard, and who have looked into the oracles of the instruction of God.
It is right, therefore, that those who have attended to so great and so many examples should submit their necks, and fill the place of obedience, so that being at peace from the vain sedition we may attain, without any blame, to the end set before us in truth. For you will afford us joy and rejoicing if, becoming obedient to the things that have been written by us, you put an end, by the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, to the unlawful wrath of your discord, according to the supplication which we have made concerning peace and unity in this letter. But we have also sent men to you who are faithful and prudent, who from youth up to old age have behaved blamelessly among us, who also will be witnesses between yourselves and us; and this we have done that you may know that our whole thought has been and is this: that you may speedily be at peace among yourselves.
Finally, may my God, who overlooks all things, who is the Master of spirits and Lord of all flesh, who has chosen our Lord Jesus Christ, and us through Him to be a peculiar people, give to every soul that is called after His glorious and holy Name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, continence, purity, sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our Chief Priest and protector, Jesus Christ, through whom be ascribed to Him glory and greatness, strength and honor, both now and through the ages of the ages. Amen.
1 See that you quickly send back to us in peace and with joy Claudius Ephebus and Valerius Bito, together also with Fortunatus, who were sent to you from us, that they may the more quickly bring us news of your peace and order, which we pray for and desire, so that we may the sooner have joy concerning your good order. 2 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and with all who everywhere are called of God through Him, to whom through Him be glory, honor, might, majesty, and continuous dominion, through the ages of the ages. Amen.