Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 4.5 (53.5)

Hermas · Shepherd of Hermas: Similitudes · ca. 100–150 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: Bear fruit; avoid too many business affairs.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:150

σὺ οὖν καρποφόρησον, ἵνα ἐν τῷ θέρει ἐκείνῳ γνωσθῇ σου ὁ καρπός· ἀπέχου δὲ ἀπὸ πολλῶν πράξεων καὶ οὐδὲν διαμαρτήσεις. οἱ γὰρ τὰ πολλὰ πράσσοντες πολλὰ καὶ ἁμαρτάνουσι, περισπώμενοι περὶ τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν καὶ μηδὲν δουλεύοντες τῷ κυρίῳ ἑαυτῶν.

English · Claude translation

So you, bear fruit, so that in that summer your fruit may be known; and keep away from many business affairs, and you will never sin. For those who do many things also sin much, being distracted by their affairs and not serving their Lord at all.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:150 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 138–305 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 25, 1913), and from the ancient Latin version where Lake prints it because the Greek is lost (from Sim. 9.30.3); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Ethics

Cite this passage

Herm. Sim. 4.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/4/5/).

Plain text

Herm. Sim. 4.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/4/5/).

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