Chapter XIII.--What Priests Should Be and Should Not Be.
Beloved brethren! that a man should build up and establish the brethren on the faith in one God, this also is manifest and well-known. This too, again, is comely, that a man should not be envious of his neighbour. And moreover, again, it is suitable and comely that all those who work the works of the Lord should work the works of the Lord in the fear of God. Thus is it required of them to conduct themselves. That "the harvest is great, but the workmen are few," this also is well-known and manifest. Let us, therefore, "ask of the Lord of the harvest" that He would send forth workmen into the harvest; [421] such workmen as "shall skilfully dispense the word of truth;" workmen "who shall not be ashamed;" [422] faithful workmen; workmen who shall be "the light of the world;" [423] workmen who "work not for the food that perisheth, but for that food which abideth unto life eternal;" [424] workmen who shall be such as the apostles; workmen who imitate the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who are concerned for the salvation of men; not "hireling" [425] workmen; not workmen to whom the fear of God and righteousness appear to be gain; not workmen who "serve their belly;" not workmen who "with fair speeches and pleasant words mislead the hearts of the innocent;" [426] not workmen who imitate the children of light, while they are not light but darkness--"men whose end is destruction;" [427] not workmen who practise iniquity and wickedness and fraud; not "crafty workmen;" [428] not workmen "drunken" and "faithless;" [429] nor workmen who traffic in Christ; [430] not misleaders; not "lovers of money; not malevolent."
Let us, therefore, contemplate and imitate the faithful who have conducted themselves well in the Lord, as is becoming and suitable to our calling and profession. Thus let us do service before God in justice and righteousness, and without blemish, "occupying ourselves with things good and comely before God and also before men." [432] For this is comely, that God be glorified in us in all things.
Here endeth the first Epistle of Clement.
[421] Matt. ix. 37, 38.
[422] Lit. "without shame," 2 Tim. ii. 15.
[423] Matt. v. 14.
[424] John vi. 27.
[425] John x. 12, 13.
[426] Rom. xvi. 18.
[427] Phil. iii. 9.
[428] 2 Cor. xi. 13.
[429] See Matt. xxiv. 45-51.
[430] [Comp. the term christemporos "Christ-monger," "Christ-trafficker," in Teaching, chap. xii. 5, vol. vii. p. 381.--R.]
[431] 1 Tim. iii. 3; Tit. i. 7.
[432] Rom. xii. 17.
The Second Epistle of the Same Clement.
Chapter I.--He Describes the Circumspectness of His Intercourse with the Other Sex, and Tells How in His Journeys He Acts at Places Where There are Brethren Only.
I would, moreover, have you know, my brethren, of what sort is our conduct in Christ, as well as that of all our brethren, in the various places in which we are. And if so be that you approve it, do ye also conduct yourselves in like manner in the Lord. Now we, if God help us, conduct ourselves thus: with maidens we do not dwell, nor have we anything in common with them; with maidens we do not eat, nor drink; and, where a maiden sleeps, we do not sleep; neither do women wash our feet, nor anoint us; and on no account do we sleep where a maiden sleeps who is unmarried or has taken the vow: [433] even though she be in some other place if she be alone, we do not pass the night there. [434] Moreover, if it chance that the time for rest overtake us in a place, whether in the country, or in a village, or in a town, or in a hamlet, [435] or wheresoever we happen to be, and there are found brethren in that place, we turn in to one who is a brother, and call together there all the brethren, and speak to them words of encouragement and exhortation. [436] And those among us who are gifted in speaking will speak such words as are earnest, and serious, and chaste, in the fear of God, and exhort them to please God in everything, and abound and go forward in good works, and "be free from [437] anxious care in everything," [438] as is fit and right for the people of God.
[433] Lit. "or is a daughter of the covenant."
[434] Beelen's rendering, "we do not even pass the night," seems not to be favoured either by the arrangement or the context.
[435] Lit "dwelling-place."
[436] Or "consolation." So paraklesis in the N.T. has both senses.
[437] Lit. "without."
[438] Phil. iv. 6.