Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp & others · a new plain-English translation from the original language
He says to me: "You know," he says, "that you slaves of God are dwelling among strangers, since your true city lies at a distance from this one. If, then, you know your city," he says, "in which you are going to dwell, why do you here prepare fields and expensive furnishings and buildings and useless dwellings? Whoever prepares such things for this city cannot return to his own city. Foolish, double-minded, wretched man, do you not understand that all these things belong to another and are under someone else's authority? For the lord of this city will say: 'I do not want you living in my city; get out of this city, because you do not live by my laws.' You, then, who have fields and houses and many other possessions—when you are thrown out by him, what will you do with your field and your house and everything else you prepared for yourself? For the lord of this territory rightly says to you: 'Either live by my laws or leave my territory.' What, then, are you going to do, since you have a law in your own city? Will you, for the sake of your fields and the rest of your property, altogether deny your law and follow the law of this city instead? Watch out—it is not to your advantage to deny your own law; for if you should wish to return to your city, you will certainly not be received, because you denied the law of your city, and you will be shut out of it. Watch yourselves, then: since you dwell here as strangers, prepare nothing more for yourself than the sufficiency that is enough for you, and be ready, so that whenever the master of this city wishes to throw you out for opposing his law, you may go out of his city and depart to your own city and live by your own law without insult, rejoicing. Watch yourselves, then, you who serve the Lord and hold him in your heart: do the works of God, keeping in mind his commandments and everything he promised, and trust that he will bring them to pass, provided his commandments are obeyed. Instead of fields, then, purchase souls in distress, each according to his means, and go looking after widows and orphans instead of neglecting them, and spend your wealth and all your resources on such fields and houses as these, which you received from God. For it was for this that the Master enriched you, so that you might carry out these services for him. It is far better to buy such fields and possessions and houses—the ones you will find in your city when you come home to live in it. This kind of extravagance is good and holy, bringing no grief or fear, but joy. Do not, then, practice the extravagance of the pagans, for it is of no benefit to you who are slaves of God. Practice your own kind of extravagance, in which you can rejoice, and do not counterfeit it, nor lay hold of what belongs to another, nor desire it; for it is wicked to desire what belongs to others. Do your own work instead, and you will be saved."
While I was walking through the field, considering an elm tree and a grapevine, and puzzling over them and their fruit, the shepherd appeared to me and asked: "What are you pondering about the elm and the vine?" "I am wondering, sir," I replied, "why they suit one another so perfectly." "These two trees," he said, "stand as an image for the servants of God." "I would like," I said, "to learn what these trees you mention represent." "Look," he said, "at the elm and the vine." "I am looking at them, sir," I said. "This vine," he said, "yields fruit, whereas the elm is a barren tree; yet unless the vine climbs up the elm, it cannot produce much fruit while lying on the ground, and whatever fruit it does produce rots, since it is not raised up on the elm. So once the vine is trained onto the elm, it produces fruit both from its own resources and from the elm's. You can see, then, that the elm too yields abundant fruit, not less than the vine but actually more." "How is that, sir, more?" I asked. "Because," he said, "the vine, when it hangs on the elm, gives fruit that is plentiful and fine, but sprawling on the ground it produces only a little, and rotten at that. This same comparison, then, applies to the servants of God: to the poor man and the wealthy one." "How so, sir? Make it clear to me." "Listen," he said. "The wealthy man has money, yet toward the Lord he counts as destitute, absorbed as he is in caring for his own riches, and his prayer and his confession before the Lord amount to very little, and whatever he does offer is weak and thin and carries no further strength. But once this wealthy man leans upon the poor man and provides him with what he lacks, he trusts that by laboring on the poor man's behalf he may obtain a reward from God, since the poor man is rich in prayer and confession, and his prayer carries great weight with God. So the wealthy man supplies the poor man with everything, holding nothing back. And the poor man, supported in this way by the rich, prays to God, thanking him on behalf of his benefactor; and the rich man, in turn, grows still more earnest for the poor man's sake, that nothing be lacking in his life; for he knows the poor man's prayer finds favor and carries riches before the Lord. Thus both complete the same work: the poor man labors through the prayer in which he is rich, a gift he received from the Lord, and this he returns to the Lord who sustains him; and the rich man likewise gives freely, without hesitation, the wealth he received from the Lord to the poor man. This is a great work, pleasing to God, because he grasped the purpose of his riches and labored for the poor man out of the Lord's own gifts, carrying out this service correctly. Among men, the elm seems not to bear fruit at all, and they neither know nor understand that in time of drought the elm, having moisture, nourishes the vine, and the vine, kept continually supplied with water this way, yields twice the fruit, both for itself and on the elm's behalf. In just this way the poor, by praying to the Lord for the rich, fill up their wealth to the full; and again the rich, by furnishing the poor with their needs, fill up their own prayers to the full. So both become partners together in this righteous work. Whoever acts in this manner will not be forsaken by God, but will be enrolled in the books of the living. Blessed are those who possess and understand that they are enriched by the Lord, for the one who grasps this will be able to render some further good service as well."
He showed me many trees that had no leaves at all, so that they seemed to me withered, since they all looked exactly alike. He said to me: "Do you see these trees?" "I am looking at them, sir," I said, "alike, and withered." In response he said to me: "These trees you are looking at are the people who dwell in this present age." "Why, then, sir," I asked, "do they appear withered and identical?" "Because," he said, "in this present age neither the righteous nor the sinners can be told apart, but they all look the same; for this age is like winter for the righteous, so that they are not visibly distinct from those who sin, though they live among them. Just as in winter, trees stripped of their leaves look alike, and one cannot tell which are dead and which alive, so too in this age neither the righteous nor the sinners can be distinguished, but all appear the same."
He showed me again many trees, some sprouting, others withered, and he said to me: "Do you see these trees?" "I am looking at them, sir," I said, "some sprouting, others withered." "These sprouting trees," he said, "are the righteous, who are destined to dwell in the age that is coming; for that coming age is summer for the righteous, but winter for sinners. So when the Lord's mercy shines out, then those who serve God will become visible, and everyone will become visible. Just as in summer the fruit of every tree becomes visible and one can recognize what kind it is, so too the fruit of the righteous will be plainly seen, and all will be known to be flourishing in that age. But the nations and the sinners—the withered trees you saw—will turn out to be exactly that: withered and fruitless in that age, and they will be burned like firewood, and it will become plain that their conduct throughout their lives was wicked. The sinners will burn because they sinned and never repented; the nations will burn because they never came to know their own creator. You, then, produce fruit, so that your fruit may be recognized in that summer season; and hold back from taking on too many affairs, and you will not go astray at all. For those who busy themselves with many affairs also commit many sins, being too absorbed in their own business to serve their Lord properly. How, then," he said, "could such a person request something from the Lord and obtain it, if he is not serving the Lord? Those who serve him are the ones who will obtain what they request. Those who do not serve the Lord will obtain nothing at all. But if someone occupies himself with a single undertaking, he is also able to serve the Lord, for his mind will not be dragged away from the Lord, but he will serve him with his mind kept pure. If you do these things, then, you will be able to produce fruit for the age to come; and whoever does these things will produce fruit."
While fasting, and seated upon a mountain, giving thanks to the Lord for everything he had done on my behalf, I saw the shepherd sitting down beside me, and he said: "Why have you come here so early?" "Because, sir," I said, "I am keeping a station." "What," he said, "is a station?" "I am fasting, sir," I said. "This fast you are keeping—what is it, exactly?" "As I have always done, sir," I said, "that is how I fast." "You do not understand," he said, "how to fast for the Lord, and this fast of yours does him no good at all." "Why do you say this, sir?" I asked. "I am telling you," he said, "that what you consider fasting is not real fasting at all. But I will teach you what kind of fast is acceptable and complete in the Lord's eyes. Listen," he said. "God has no desire for such an empty fast as this; fasting to God in this manner accomplishes nothing toward righteousness. Instead, keep this sort of fast for God: commit no wrong at all in your life, but serve the Lord with a clean heart, keep his commandments, walk according to his precepts, and let no wicked desire rise up in your heart. Trust God that if you do this, and stand in awe of him, and hold yourself back from every wicked deed, you will live for God. And by doing this, you will be keeping a genuine fast, one that pleases God greatly."
"Listen to the parable I am about to relate to you, one that concerns fasting. There was a man who owned a field and many slaves, and on part of that field he planted a vineyard. He selected one particular slave, a man faithful, well-regarded, and held in honor, called him over, and said to him: 'Here is the vineyard I planted—put a fence around it before I return, and do nothing further to it; keep this instruction of mine, and you shall have your freedom from me.' Then the master set out on a journey abroad. Once he had left, the slave went and fenced in the vineyard. Having finished the fence, he noticed the vineyard was overrun with weeds. So he thought to himself: 'I have carried out my master's instruction; now let me also dig over this vineyard, and once it is dug it will look better, and being free of weeds it will yield more fruit, no longer choked by them.' He set to work, dug the vineyard, and pulled out every weed growing in it. That vineyard became exceedingly attractive and thriving, no longer troubled by choking weeds. Some time later the owner of both the slave and the field arrived and went into the vineyard. Seeing it neatly fenced, and moreover dug over, with every weed removed and the vines flourishing, he was overjoyed at his slave's labor. So he summoned his beloved son, whom he had made his heir, along with his friends, whom he kept as counselors, and told them everything he had ordered the slave to do and everything he had found accomplished. And they shared in the slave's joy over the good report the master gave of him. Then he said to them: 'I promised this slave his freedom if he kept the instruction I gave him, and he not only kept it but added excellent work to the vineyard besides, which pleased me greatly. Because of this extra labor, I wish to make him joint heir together with my son, since, having conceived a good plan, he did not neglect it but carried it through.' The master's son agreed entirely with this plan, that the slave should become his fellow heir. A few days afterward the master gave a banquet and sent the slave a large portion of dishes from it. The slave, upon receiving what had been sent to him, kept only what he himself needed and distributed the remainder among his fellow slaves. When his fellow slaves received these dishes, they were delighted, and they began praying on his behalf, asking that he might gain even deeper favor with the master, seeing how generously he had dealt with them. The master learned of all that had taken place and was overjoyed once more at his slave's behavior. Calling his friends together again, along with his son, he told them of the slave's conduct regarding the dishes he had been given; and they agreed all the more readily that the slave should become joint heir with the son."
I said: "Sir, I do not understand these parables, nor can I grasp them, unless you explain them to me." "I will explain everything to you," he said, "and whatever I discuss with you. I will show you his commandments; and if you do some good beyond what God's commandment requires, you will win greater glory for yourself, and you will stand more honored before God than you would otherwise have been. So then, if while keeping God's commandments you add these services on top of them, you will rejoice, provided you keep them as I have instructed." I said to him: "Sir, whatever you instruct me to do, I will carry it out faithfully, since I know that you are with me." "I will remain with you," he said, "because you show such eagerness to do good, and I will remain," he said, "with all who share this same eagerness. This fast," he said, "when the Lord's commandments are observed, is excellent indeed. This, then, is how you are to keep the fast you are about to undertake: first of all, guard yourself against every wicked word and every wicked desire, and purify your heart of all the vanities that belong to this present age. If you keep to this, the fast will be complete for you. And you shall carry it out this way: once you have fulfilled what has been written, on the day that you fast, taste nothing except bread and water, and after reckoning up what the food you would normally have eaten that day would have cost, give that sum to a widow, or an orphan, or someone in need. In this way humble yourself, so that the one who receives it may satisfy his own soul through your humility and pray on your behalf to the Lord. If, then, you complete the fast in this manner, exactly as I have instructed you, your offering will be acceptable before God, this fast will be recorded, and this service, carried out in this way, is good, joyful, and pleasing to the Lord. You are to observe these things in this way, together with your children and your entire household; and having kept them, you will be blessed, and all who hear of these things and keep them will likewise be blessed, and whatever they ask of the Lord, they will receive."
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