17. We for our part as men charge and teach you thus: but make not ye our building  hay and stubble and chaff, lest we  suffer loss , from our  work being burnt up: but make ye our work gold,  and silver, and precious stones  59  1 Cor. iii. 12, 15. ! For it lies in me to speak, but in thee to set thy mind  60  Greek προσθέσθαι, Sept. Deut. xiii. 4, “cleave unto Him.” Compare Josh. xxiii. 12; Ps. lxii. 10, “Set not your heart upon them.” upon it, and in God to make perfect. Let us nerve our minds, and brace up our souls, and prepare our hearts. The race is for our soul: our hope is of things eternal: and God, who knoweth your hearts, and observeth who is sincere, and who a hypocrite, is able both to guard the sincere, and to give faith to the hypocrite: for even to the unbeliever, if only he give his heart, God is able to give faith. So may He  blot out the handwriting that is against you  61  Col. ii. 14. , and grant you forgiveness of your former trespasses; may He plant you into His Church, and enlist you in His own service, and put on you  the armour of righteousness  62  2 Cor. vi. 7; Rom. vi. 13. : may He fill you with the heavenly things of the New Covenant, and give you the seal of the Holy Spirit indelible throughout all ages, in Christ Jesus Our Lord: to whom be the glory for ever and ever! Amen.

Ἡμεῖς μὲν ταῦτα, ὡς ἄνθρωποι, καὶ παραγγέλλομεν καὶ διδάσκομεν. Μὴ ποιήσητε δὲ τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἡμῶν χόρτον, καὶ καλάμην, καὶ ἄχυρα: ἵνα μὴ τοῦ ἔργου κατακαέντος, ζημιωθῶμεν: ἀλλὰ ποιήσατε τὸ ἔργον χρυσίον, καὶ ἀργύριον, καὶ λίθους τιμίους. Ἐν ἐμοὶ μὲν γάρ ἐστι τὸ εἰπεῖν, ἐν σοὶ δὲ τὸ προθέσθαι, ἐν Θεῷ δὲ τὸ τελειῶσαι. Νευρώσωμεν τὴν διάνοιαν: συντείνωμεν τὴν ψυχήν: ἑτοιμάσωμεν τὴν καρδίαν: περὶ ψυχῆς τρέχομεν: περὶ αἰωνίων πραγμάτων ἐλπίζομεν. Δυνατὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς, [ὁ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν εἰδὼς, καὶ γινώσκων τίς μέν ἐστι γνήσιος, τίς δὲ ὑποκριτὴς] τὸν μὲν γνήσιον φυλάξαι, τὸν δὲ ὑποκριτὴν πιστοποιῆσαι. Δύναται γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τὸν ἄπιστον πιστοποιῆσαι, ἐὰν μόνον δῷ τὴν καρδίαν. Καὶ ἐξαλείψαι τὸ καθ' ὑμῶν χειρόγραφον: ἀμνηστίαν δὲ ὑμῖν παράσχοι τῶν πρώτων παραπτωμάτων: φυτεύσοι δὲ ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ στρατεύσοι ὑμᾶς ἑαυτῷ, ὅπλα περιβαλὼν τῆς δικαιοσύνης: οὐρανίων δὲ πραγμάτων καινῆς διαθήκης πληρώσειε, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου σφραγίδα δώῃ ἀνεξάλειπτον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.  Προσλόγιον.