Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp & others · a new plain-English translation from the original language
When the glorious man, the lord of the whole tower, had finished all this, he called the shepherd and handed over to him all the stones that lay beside the tower, the ones that had been thrown out of the building, and said to him, "Clean these stones carefully and set them into the building of the tower, the ones that can fit together with the rest; but the ones that don't fit, throw far away from the tower." After instructing the shepherd this way, he departed the tower along with everyone who had accompanied him. But the maidens stood around the tower keeping watch over it. I asked the shepherd, "How is it possible for these rejected stones to enter the tower's structure?" He answered me, "Do you see these stones?" "I see them, sir," I said. "Most of these stones," he said, "I will cut down and throw into the building, and they will fit together with the rest of the stones." "How, sir," I said, "can they fill the same space once they've been cut smaller?" He answered, "Whichever ones turn out small will be thrown into the middle of the building, and whichever are larger will be placed on the outside and will hold the others together." After telling me this he said, "Let's go, and in two days let's come back and clean these stones and throw them into the building; for everything around the tower must be cleaned, in case the master comes suddenly and finds the area around the tower dirty and is displeased, and these stones don't go into the building of the tower, and I appear careless in the master's eyes." Two days later we arrived back at the tower, and he said to me, "Let us look over every stone and determine which can be used in the building." I said to him, "Sir, let's examine them."
And starting first we examined the black stones. And they turned out to be exactly as they had been when set in the building. And the shepherd ordered them carried away from the tower and set apart. Next he examined the ones covered with scabs, and taking many of them he cut them down and ordered the maidens to lift them and throw them into the building. And the maidens lifted them and set them into the middle of the building's structure. The rest he ordered set with the black stones, for these too turned out to be black. Next he examined the ones that had cracks, and of these he cut down many and ordered them carried through the maidens into the building; they were placed on the outside, because they were found sounder. But the rest, because of the number of their cracks, could not be cut down; for this reason they were rejected from the building of the tower. Next he examined the stunted ones, and among them many turned out black, and some had made great cracks; he ordered these too set with the rejected ones. But those left over among them he cleaned and cut down and ordered set into the building. The maidens carried these off and set them at the center of the structure, since they lacked strength. Then he looked at the stones that were part white and part black, and a good number of these proved to be black; he had these removed along with the discarded ones as well. All the remaining stones, however, were carried by the maidens; since they were white, the maidens fitted them into the structure themselves, positioning them on the exterior — being whole, they were able to keep the interior stones in place, for not a single one among them had been stunted. Next he examined the rough and hard ones, and few of them were rejected because they could not be cut down, for they turned out too hard. But the rest of them were cut down; these were lifted by the maidens and placed toward the middle of the tower's structure, being the weaker stones. Next he examined the ones that had stains, and of these very few turned black and were rejected with the others. But the rest turned out bright and sound, and these too were fitted by the maidens into the building; they were set on the outside because of their strength.
Then he came to examine the white round stones and said to me, "What should we do about these stones?" "What do I know, sir?" I said. "Do you have no idea about them at all?" "I," I said, "sir, don't have this skill, nor am I a stonecutter, nor can I understand it." "Don't you see," he said, "that they're very round? And if I want to make them square, a great deal must be cut away from them; but some of them must necessarily be set into the building." "If, then, sir," I said, "it's necessary, why torment yourself, instead of choosing the ones you want for the building and fitting them into it?" He chose the larger and brighter ones among them and cut them down; and the maidens lifted them and fitted them into the outer sections of the building. But the rest that were left over were lifted and set aside on the plain from which they had been brought. They were not rejected, though; "For," he said, "the tower still lacks a little of being finished. The master of the tower wants all these stones fitted into the building, because they are very bright." And twelve women were called, most beautiful in appearance, dressed in black, girded, with their shoulders bare and their hair loose; these women seemed to me to be wild. The shepherd ordered them to lift the stones that had been rejected from the building and carry them away to the mountains from which they had originally been brought. And the cheerful ones lifted them and carried away all the stones and set them down where they had been taken from. And after all the stones had been removed and no stone lay any longer around the tower, the shepherd said to me, "Let's go around the tower and see whether there is any flaw in it." And I went around with him. When the shepherd saw the tower looking well-formed in its structure, he was very cheerful; for the tower was built in such a way that when I saw it I longed for its construction, for it was built as if from a single stone, having no seam anywhere in it. And the stone appeared as if it had been carved out of the rock; it seemed to me to be made of a single block.
And I too, walking about with him, was cheerful, seeing such good things. The shepherd said to me, "Go and bring lime and crushed shell, so that I may fill in the marks left by the stones that were removed and thrown into the building; for everything around the tower must be made smooth." And I did as he ordered, and brought it to him. "Help me," he said, "and the work will soon be finished." So he filled in the marks of the stones that had gone into the building and gave orders for the ground surrounding the tower to be swept clean; the maidens then took up brooms, swept, cleared away every scrap of debris from around the tower, sprinkled water over it, and the place around the tower turned cheerful and altogether pleasant to look at. The shepherd said to me, "Everything," he said, "has been cleaned; if the lord comes to inspect the tower, he will have nothing to find fault with in us." Having said this, he wanted to leave. But I took hold of his bag and began to entreat him by the Lord to explain to me what he had shown me. He said to me, "I have a little business to attend to, and I will explain everything to you; wait for me here until I come." I said to him, "Sir, being alone here, what will I do?" "You are not alone," he said, "for these maidens are with you." "Then hand me over to them," I said. The shepherd called them and said to them, "I am entrusting him to you until I come"; and he went away. And I was alone with the maidens; and they were quite cheerful and were kind to me, especially the four most distinguished of them.
The maidens said to me, "The shepherd is not coming here today." "What then," I said, "should I do?" "Wait for him until evening," they said; "and if he comes, he will speak with you; but if he doesn't come, you will stay here with us until he does come." I said to them, "I will wait for him until evening; but if he doesn't come, I will go home and return at daybreak." Yet they replied to me, saying, "You were placed in our charge; you cannot go away from us." "Where then," I said, "will I stay?" "You will lie down among us," they told me, "like a brother rather than a spouse, since you truly are our brother, and from here on we mean to dwell together with you, because we hold you dear." But I was ashamed to stay with them. And the one who seemed to be first among them began to kiss me and embrace me. And the others, seeing her embracing me, also began to kiss me and lead me around the tower and play with me. And I too became as if younger and began to play with them myself; for some of them were dancing, some were leaping, and some were singing; but I walked around the tower with them in silence and was cheerful along with them. When evening came I wanted to go home; but they would not let me, and held me back. So I stayed with them that night and slept beside the tower. For the maidens spread their linen garments on the ground and laid me down in their midst, and they occupied themselves with nothing except prayer; I too kept praying alongside them continually, not lagging behind them in the least. And the maidens were glad that I was praying like this. And I stayed there until the next day, until the second hour, with the maidens. Then the shepherd came and said to the maidens, "Have you done him any wrong?" "Ask him," they said. I said to him, "Sir, I was glad to stay with them." "What did you have for supper?" he said. "I supped, sir," I said, "on the words of the Lord all night long." "Did they receive you well?" he said. "Yes, sir," I said. "Now," he said, "what do you want to hear first?" "Just as you showed it to me from the beginning, sir," I said; "I ask you, sir, that as I question you, so you would also explain it to me." "As you wish," he said, "so I will explain it to you, and I will hide nothing at all from you."
"First of all, sir," I said, "explain this to me: who are the rock and the gate?" "This rock," he said, "and this gate are the Son of God." "How, sir," I said, "is the rock old, but the gate new?" "Listen," he said, "and understand, you dull one. God's Son precedes the whole of his creation, existing before it to such a degree that he served as adviser to the Father when that creation was made; that is why the rock, too, is ancient." "But why is the gate new, sir?" I said. "It is," he replied, "because he appeared openly only in these final days as the age draws to its close; that is why the gate is new — so that those destined for salvation could pass through it and reach God's kingdom. Did you see," he said, "the stones that came in through the gate and were placed into the building of the tower, and the ones that did not come in and were thrown back into their own place?" "I saw them, sir," I said. "So," he said, "no one will enter into the kingdom of God unless he receives his holy name. For if you wanted to enter a certain city, and that city is walled all around and has one gate, could you enter that city except through the gate it has?" "How, sir," I said, "could it happen otherwise?" "If, then, you cannot enter the city except through the gate it has, so too," he said, "a man cannot enter the kingdom of God in any other way except through the name of his Son whom he loves. "Did you notice," he asked, "the six men, along with the great and splendid figure among them, going about the tower and turning away stones from the structure?" "I saw them, sir," I said. "That splendid figure," he answered, "is the Son of God, while the six glorious beings are angels supporting him, three at either side. None of these glorious angels," he said, "will enter to God apart from him; whoever does not receive his name will not enter into the kingdom of God."
"Who, then, is the tower?" I said. "This tower," he said, "is the church." "And who are these maidens?" "These," he said, "are holy spirits, and a man cannot be found fit for the kingdom of God in any other way, unless these clothe him with their garment. For if you receive only the name but do not receive the garment from them, it will do you no good; for these maidens are the powers of the Son of God. If you wear the name but do not wear his power, you will be wearing his name in vain. As for the stones," he said, "which you saw rejected, these wore the name but did not put on the clothing of the maidens." "What is their clothing, sir?" I said. "The very names," he said, "are their clothing. Anyone bearing the Son of God's name must likewise bear their names, since the Son himself bears the names belonging to these maidens. Regarding every stone you observed going into the tower's structure — passed along by the maidens with their own hands and staying fixed in the building — such stones are dressed in the maidens' power. That is why you see the tower become a single block together with the rock; in the same way, everyone who has put faith in the Lord by way of his Son, once wrapped in these spirits, becomes a single spirit and a single body, sharing one color of clothing. And the dwelling place in the tower belongs to such people, those who wear the names of the maidens." "Then, sir," I said, "why were the rejected stones thrown out? For they had passed through the gate, and had been set into the tower's structure through the maidens' hands." "Since you care about everything and inquire carefully," he said, "listen concerning the rejected stones. "Every one of them," he said, "took on the Son of God's name, and along with it took on the power belonging to the maidens. Once they had taken in these spirits, they grew strong and stood among God's servants, sharing a single spirit, a single body, and a single garment, since they thought alike and practiced righteousness. But in time they were won over by the women you saw wearing black garments, their shoulders uncovered, their hair hanging loose, striking in appearance. Seeing these, they desired them and put on their power, and stripped off the garment and the power of the maidens. So they were thrown out of the house of God and handed over to those women. Yet whoever refused to be misled by these women's attractiveness stayed on in God's house. Now you have the explanation of the rejected stones."
"Suppose, sir," I said, "that men of this sort change their minds, giving up their craving for these women, turn back to the maidens, and conduct themselves by their power and their deeds — would such men be barred from God's house?" "They will be admitted," he replied, "provided they abandon those women's deeds, embrace the maidens' power, and live according to their deeds; the building's completion has been held off precisely so that repentant men could still be incorporated into the tower's structure. Should they fail to change their minds, however, others will take their place, and they themselves will ultimately be thrown out." Over all this I offered the Lord thanks, since he showed mercy toward everyone invoking his name, and sent out the angel of repentance to us who had sinned against him, and renewed our spirit, and when we were already worn away and had no hope of living, he renewed our life. "Now, sir," I said, "explain to me why the tower was not built on the ground, but on the rock and on the gate." "Are you still foolish," he said, "and without understanding?" "I am compelled, sir," I said, "to ask you about everything, because I am utterly unable to understand any of it; for all these things are great and glorious and hard for people to grasp." "Listen," he said. "The Son of God's name is vast, beyond containing, and it sustains the entire world. Since, then, the whole of creation is upheld by the Son of God, consider those summoned by him, bearing his name, and living by his instructions. So notice whom he sustains: those carrying his name with their entire heart. He became the base beneath them, supporting them willingly, since they feel no shame in bearing his name."
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