Shepherd of Hermas: Mandates 3

1_On avoiding falsehood, and on the repentance of Hermas for his dissimulation._ Again he said to me, “Love the truth, and let nothing but truth proceed from your mouth, that the spirit which God has placed in your flesh may be found truthful before all men; and the Lord, who dwelleth in you, will be glorified, because the Lord is truthful in every word, and in Him is no falsehood. They therefore who lie deny the Lord, and rob Him, not giving back to Him the deposit which they have received. For they received from Him a spirit free from falsehood. If they give him back this spirit untruthful, they pollute the commandment of the Lord, and become robbers.” On hearing these words, I wept most violently. When he saw me weeping, he said to me, “Why do you weep?” And I said, “Because, sir, I know not if I can be saved.” “Why?” said he. And I said, “Because, sir, I never spake a true word in my life, but have ever spoken cunningly to all, and have affirmed a lie for the truth to all; and no one ever contradicted me, but credit was given to my word. How then can I live, since I have acted thus?” And he said to me, “Your feelings are indeed right and sound, for you ought as a servant of God to have walked in truth, and not to have joined an evil conscience with the spirit of truth, nor to have caused sadness to the holy and true Spirit.” And I said to him, “Never, sir, did I listen to these words with so much attention.” And he said to me, “Now you hear them, and keep them, that even the falsehoods which you formerly told in your transactions may come to be believed through the truthfulness of your present statements. For even they can become worthy of credit. If you keep these precepts, and from this time forward you speak nothing but the truth, it will be possible for you to obtain life. And whosoever shall hear this commandment, and depart from that great wickedness falsehood, shall live to God.”

Πάλιν μοι λέγει" ᾿Αλήθειαν ὠγάπα, καὶ πᾶσα ἀλήθεια ἐς τοῦ στόματός σου ἐκπορευέσθω, ἵνα τὸ πνεῦμα, ὃ ὁ Θεὸς κατῴκισεν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ταύτῃ, ἀληθὲς εὑρεθῇ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ οὕτως δοξασθήσεται ὁ Kipsos ὁ ἐν σοὶ κατοι- κῶν ὅτι ὁ Ἰζύριος ἀληθινὸς ἂν παντὶ ῥήματι, καὶ οὐδὲν παρ᾽ εἴ. 1 John αὐτῷ ψεῦδος" οἱ οὖν ψευδόμενοι ἀθετοῦσι τὸν Κύριον καὶ ᾿ γίνονται ὁποστερηταὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, μὴ παραδιδόντες αὐτῷ τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἣν ἔλαβον. ἔλαβον γὰρ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα ἅψευστον. τοῦτο ἐὰν ψευδὲς ἀποδώσωσιν, ἐμίαναν τὴν ἐντο- λὴν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἐγένοντο ἀποστερηταί. ταῦτα οὗν ἀκούσας ἐγὼ ἔκλαυσα λίαν. ἰδὼν δέ με κλαίοντα λέγει" Τί κλαίεις; Ὅτι, φημέ, κύριε, οὐκ οἷδα εἰ δύναμαι σωθῆναι. Διατί; φησίν. Οὐδέπω γάρ, φημί, κύριε, ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ ζωῇ ὁ ἀληθὲς ἐλάλησα ῥῆμα, ἀλλὰ πάντοτε πανοῦργος ἔζησα μετὰ πάντων, καὶ τὸ ψεῦδός μου ἀληθὲς ἐπέδειξα παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις" καὶ οὐδέποτέ μοι οὐδεὶς ἀντεῖπεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιστεύθη τῷ λόγῳ μου. “πῶς οὖν, φημί, κύριε, δύναμαι ζῆσαι ταῦτα πράξας; Σὺ μέν, φησί, καλῶς καὶ ἀληθῶς φρονεῖς" ἔδει γάρ σε ὡς Θεοῦ δοῦλον ἐν ἀληθείᾳ πορεύεσθαι καὶ πονηρὰν συνείδησιν μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ἀληθείας μὴ κατοικεῖν, μηδὲ λύπην ἐπάγειν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ σεμνῷ καὶ ἀληθεῖ. Οὐδέποτε, φημί, κύριε, τοιαῦτα ῥήματα ἀκριβῶς ἥκουσα. Νῦν οὖν, φησίν, ἀκούεις" φύλασσε αὑτά, ἵνα καὶ τὰ πρό- τερον ἃ ἐλάλησας ψεύδη ἐν ταῖς πραγματείαις σου, τούτων εὑρεθέντων ἀληθινῶν, κἀκεῖνα πιστὰ γένηται" δύναται γὰρ κἀκεῖνα πιστὰ γενέσθαι. ἐὰν ταῦτα φυλάξης καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ viv πᾶσαν ἀλήθειαν λαλήσῃς, δυνήσῃ σεαυτῷ ζωὴν περι- ποιήσασθαι. καὶ ὃς av ἀκούσῃ τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην καὶ ἀπέχηται τοῦ πονηροτάτου ψεύσματος, ζήσεται τῷ Θεῷ.