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...until eternity. And you will say to Maximus: Behold, tribulation is coming; if it seems right to you, deny again. The Lord is near to those who turn back to him, as it is written in Eldad and Modad, who prophesied in the wilderness to the people. But it was revealed to me, brothers, while I was sleeping, by a very handsome young man who said to me: The old woman, from whom you received the little book, who do you think she is? I say, The Sibyl. You are mistaken, he says, it is not. Who is she then? I say. The Church, he says. I said to him, Why then is she old? Because, he says, she was created first of all things; for this reason she is old, and for her sake the world was established. Afterwards I saw a vision in my house. The old woman came and asked me if I had already given the book to the elders. I denied having given it. You have done well, she says, for I have words to add. When, therefore, I have finished all the words, it will be made known through you to all the elect. You will therefore write two little books, and you will send one to Clement and one to Grapte. Clement then will send it to the cities abroad, for to him this has been entrusted. But Grapte will instruct the widows and the orphans. And you will read it in this city with the elders who preside over the church. The Third Vision which I saw, brothers, was of this sort. Having fasted often and prayed to the Lord that he would reveal to me the revelation which he promised to show me through that old woman, on that very night the old woman appeared to me and said to me: Since you are so needy and eager to know all things, come into the field where you are staying, and about the fifth hour I will appear to you and show you what you must see. I asked her, saying, Lady, in what part of the field? Wherever, she says, you wish. I chose a good, secluded spot. But before I could speak to her and name the place, she says to me: I will come there where you wish. I went then, brothers, into the field, and I counted the hours, and I came to the place where I had arranged for her to come, and I see an ivory bench lying there, and on the bench lay a linen cushion, and over it was spread a fine linen cloth. Seeing these things lying there and no one being in the place, I became amazed, and a trembling seized me, and my hair stood on end; and a shudder came over me, as I was alone. Coming to myself, therefore, and remembering the glory of God and taking courage, I knelt down and confessed my sins to the Lord again, as I had also done before. And she came with six young men, whom I had also seen before, and she stood beside me and listened to me as I was praying and confessing my sins to the Lord. And touching me she says, Hermas, cease asking about all your sins; ask also about righteousness, so that you may take some part of it to your house. And she raises me by the hand and leads me to the bench, and says to the young men: Go and build. And after the young men had departed and we were alone, she says to me: Sit here. I say to her, Lady, let the elders sit first. Do as I say, she says, sit down. When I then wanted to sit on the right side, she did not allow me, but motions to me with her hand that I should sit on the left side. As I was therefore pondering and grieving because she did not allow me to sit on the right side, she says to me: Are you grieved, Hermas? The place on the right side is for others, for those who have already pleased God and have suffered for the sake of the name; but you lack much to sit with them; but as you remain in the

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σονται ἕως αἰῶνος. ἐρεῖς δὲ Μαξίμῳ· Ἰδοὺ θλῖψις ἔρχεται· ἐάν σοι φανῇ, πάλιν ἄρνησαι. ἐγγὺς κύριος τοῖς ἐπιστρεφομένοις, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδάτ, τοῖς προφητεύσασιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῷ λαῷ. Ἀπεκαλύφθη δέ μοι, ἀδελφοί, κοιμωμένῳ ὑπὸ νεανίσκου εὐειδεστάτου λέγοντός μοι· Τὴν πρεσβυτέραν, παρ' ἧς ἔλαβες τὸ βιβλίδιον, τίνα δοκεῖς εἶναι; ἐγώ φημι· Τὴν Σίβυλλαν. Πλανᾶσαι, φησίν, οὐκ ἔστιν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν; φημί. Ἡ Ἐκκλησία, φησίν. εἶπον αὐτῷ· ∆ιατί οὖν πρεσβυτέρα; Ὅτι, φησίν, πάντων πρώτη ἐκτίσθη· διὰ τοῦτο πρεσβυτέρα, καὶ διὰ ταύ την ὁ κόσμος κατηρτίσθη. μετέπειτα δὲ ὅρασιν εἶδον ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου. ἦλ θεν ἡ πρεσβυτέρα καὶ ἠρώτησέν με εἰ ἤδη τὸ βιβλίον δέδωκα τοῖς πρεσβυτέ ροις. ἠρνησάμην δεδωκέναι. Καλῶς, φησίν, πεποίηκας· ἔχω γὰρ ·»ματα προσθεῖναι. ὅταν οὖν ἀποτελέσω τὰ ·»ματα πάντα, διὰ σοῦ γνωρισθήσε ται τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς πᾶσιν. γράψεις οὖν δύο βιβλαρίδια καὶ πέμψεις ἓν Κλήμεντι καὶ ἓν Γραπτῇ. πέμψει οὖν Κλήμης εἰς τὰς ἔξω πόλεις, ἐκείνῳ γὰρ ἐπιτέτραπται. Γραπτὴ δὲ νουθετήσει τὰς χήρας καὶ τοὺς ὀρφανούς. σὺ δὲ ἀναγνώσῃ εἰς ταύτην τὴν πόλιν μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῶν προϊστα μένων τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Ὅρασις γ ἣν εἶδον, ἀδελφοί, τοιαύτη. νηστεύσας πολλάκις καὶ δεηθεὶς τοῦ κυρίου ἵνα μοι φανερώσῃ τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν ἥν μοι ἐπηγγείλατο δεῖξαι διὰ τῆς πρεσ βυτέρας [ἐκείνης], αὐτῇ τῇ νυκτί μοι ὦπται ἡ πρεσβυτέρα καὶ εἶπέν μοι· Ἐπεὶ οὕτως ἐνδεὴς εἶ καὶ σπουδαῖος εἰς τὸ γνῶναι πάντα, ἐλθὲ εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν ὅπου χονδρίζεις, καὶ περὶ ὥραν πέμπτην ἐμφανισθήσομαί σοι καὶ δείξω σοι ἃ δεῖ σε ἰδεῖν. ἠρώτησα αὐτὴν λέγων· Κυρία, εἰς ποῖον τόπον τοῦ ἀγροῦ; Ὅπου, φησίν, θέλεις. ἐξελεξάμην τόπον καλὸν ἀνακεχωρηκότα. πρὶν δὲ λαλῆσαι αὐτῇ καὶ εἰπεῖν τὸν τόπον, λέγει μοι· Ἥξω ἐκεῖ ὅπου θέλεις. ἐγενόμην οὖν, ἀδελφοί, εἰς τὸν ἀγρόν, καὶ συνώψισα τὰς ὥρας, καὶ ἦλθον εἰς τὸν τόπον ὅπου διεταξάμην αὐτῇ ἐλθεῖν, καὶ βλέπω συμψέλιον κείμενον ἐλεφάντινον, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ συμψελίου ἔκειτο κερβικάριον λινοῦν, καὶ ἐπάνω λέντιον ἐξηπλωμένον λινοῦν καρπάσινον. ἰδὼν ταῦτα κείμενα καὶ μη δένα ὄντα ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἔκθαμβος ἐγενόμην, καὶ ὡσεὶ τρόμος με ἔλαβεν, καὶ αἱ τρίχες μου ὀρθαί· καὶ ὡσεὶ φρίκη μοι προσῆλθεν, μόνου μου ὄντος· ἐν ἐμαυτῷ οὖν γενόμενος καὶ μνησθεὶς τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ λαβὼν θάρσος, θεὶς τὰ γόνατα ἐξωμολογούμην τῷ κυρίῳ πάλιν τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου ὡς καὶ πρότε ρον. ἡ δὲ ἦλθεν μετὰ νεανίσκων ἕξ, οὓς καὶ πρότερον ἑωράκειν, καὶ ἐπε στάθη μοι καὶ κατηκροᾶτο προσευχομένου καὶ ἐξομολογουμένου τῷ κυρίῳ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου. καὶ ἁψαμένη μου λέγει· Ἑρμᾶ, παῦσαι περὶ τῶν ἁμαρ τιῶν σου πάντα ἐρωτῶν· ἐρώτα καὶ περὶ δικαιοσύνης ἵνα λάβῃς μέρος τι ἐξ αὐτῆς εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. καὶ ἐξεγείρει με τῆς χειρὸς καὶ ἄγει με πρὸς τὸ συμψέλιον, καὶ λέγει τοῖς νεανίσκοις· Ὑπάγετε καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε. καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀναχωρῆσαι τοὺς νεανίσκους καὶ μόνων ἡμῶν γεγονότων λέγει μοι· Κάθισον ὧδε. λέγω αὐτῇ· Κυρία, ἄφες τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους πρῶτον κα θίσαι. Ὅ σοι λέγω, φησίν, κάθισον. θέλοντος οὖν μου καθίσαι εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ μέρη οὐκ εἴασέν με, ἀλλ' ἐννεύει μοι τῇ χειρὶ ἵνα εἰς τὰ ἀριστερὰ μέρη καθίσω. διαλογιζομένου μου οὖν καὶ λυπουμένου ὅτι οὐκ εἴασέν με εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ μέρη καθίσαι, λέγει μοι· Λυπῇ, Ἑρμᾶ; ὁ εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ μέρη τόπος ἄλ λων ἐστίν, τῶν ἤδη εὐαρεστηκότων τῷ θεῷ καὶ παθόντων εἵνεκα τοῦ ὀνόμα τος· σοὶ δὲ πολλὰ λείπει ἵνα μετ' αὐτῶν καθίσῃς· ἀλλὰ ὡς ἐμμένεις τῇ