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10 Keep therefore this command according as I have delivered it into thee: that thy repentance nay be found
to be sincere, and that good may come to thy house; and have a pure heart.
COMMAND III.
Of avoiding lying, and the repentance of Hermas
for his dissimulation.
MOREOVER he said unto me love truth; and let all the speech be true which proceeds out of thy mouth.
2 That the spirit which the Lord hath given to dwell in thy flesh may be found true towards all men; and the
Lord be glorified, who hath given such a spirit unto thee: because God is true in all his words, and in him
there is no lie.
3 They therefore that lie, deny the Lord, and become robbers of the Lord, not rendering to God what they
received from him.
4 For they received the spirit free from lying: If therefore they make that a liar, they defile what was
committed to them by the Lord, and become deceivers.
5 When I heard this, I wept bitterly; and when he saw me weeping, he said unto me, Why weepest thou? And
I said, Because, sir, I doubt whether I can be saved.
6 He asked me, Wherefore? I replied, Because, sir, I never spake a true word in my life; but always lived in
dissimulation, and affirmed a lie for truth to all men; and no man contradicted me, but all gave credit to my
words. How then can I live, seeing I have done in this manner?
7 And he said unto me, Thou thinkest well and truly; for thou oughtest, as the servant of God, to have walked
in the truth, and not have joined an evil conscience with the spirit of truth, nor have grieved the holy and true
Spirit of God.
8 And I replied unto him, Sir, I never before hearkened so diligently to these things. He answered, Now thou
hearest them Take care from henceforth, that even those things which thou hast formerly spoken falsely for
THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OF HERMAS, CALLED HIS COMMANDS. 18
Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, v9
the sake of thy business, may, by thy present truth receive pardon.
9 For even those things may be forgiven, if for the time to come thou shalt speak the truth; and by so doing
thou mayest attain unto life.
10 And whosoever shall hearken unto this command, and do it, and shall depart from all lying, he shall live
unto God.
COMMAND IV.
Of putting away one's wife for adultery.
FURTHERMORE, said he, I command thee, that thou keep thyself chaste; and that thou suffer not any
thought of any other marriage, or of fornication, to enter into thy heart; for such a thought produces great sin.
2 But be thou at all times mindful of the Lord, and thou shalt never sin. For if such an evil thought should
arise in thy heart, then thou shall be guilty of a great sin; and they who do such things, follow the way of
death.
3 Look therefore to thyself, and keep thyself from such a thought; for where chastity remains in the heart of a
righteous man, there an evil thought ought never to arise.
4 And I said unto him, Sir, suffer me to speak a litttle to you. He bade me say on. And I answered, Sir, if a
man that is faithful in the Lord shall have a wife, and shall catch her in adultery; doth a man sin that continues
to live still with her?
5 And he said unto me, As long as he is ignorant of her sin, he commits no fault in living with her; but if a
man shall know his wife to, have offended, and she shall not repent of her sin, but go on still in her
fornication, and a man shall continue nevertheless to live with her, he shall become guilty of her sin, and
partake with her in her adultery.
6 And I said unto him, What therefore is to be done, if the woman continues on in her sin? He answered, Let
her husband put her away, and let him continue by himself; but if he shall put away his wife and marry
another, he also doth commit adultery.
7 And I said, What, if the woman that is so put away, should repent, and be willing to return to her husband,
shall she not be received by him? He said unto me, Yes; and if her husband shall not receive her, he will sin,
and commit a great offence against himself; for he ought to receive the offender, if she repents: only not often.
8 For, to the servants of God, there is but one repentance; and for this cause a man that putteth away his wife
ought not to take another, because she may repent.
9 This act is alike both in the man and in the woman. Now they commit adultery, not only who pollute their
flesh, but who also make an image. If there- fore a woman perseveres in any thing of this kind, and repents
not, depart from her; and live not with her, otherwise thou also shalt be partaker of her sin.
10 But it is therefore commanded that both the man and the woman should remain unmarried, because such
persons may repent.
11 Nor do I in this administer any occasion for the doing of these things; but rather that whoso has offended,
should not offend any more.
THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OF HERMAS, CALLED HIS COMMANDS. 19
Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, v9
12 But for their former sins, God who has the power of healing will give a remedy; for he has the power of all
things.
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