Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.6.7 (14.7)

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

Summary: Hermas himself became useful once he lost his wealth.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:42

ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ πρῶτον. γνῶθι· ὅτε ἐπλούτεις, ἄχρηστος ἦς, νῦν δὲ εὔχρηστος εἶ καὶ ὠφέλιμος τῇ ζωῇ. εὔχρηστοι γίνεσθε τῷ θεῷ· καὶ γὰρ σὺ αὐτὸς χρᾶσαι ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν λίθων.

English · Claude translation

Learn first from yourself: when you were rich, you were useless, but now you are useful and profitable for life. Become useful to God; for you yourself also are made from the same stones.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:42 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 6–71 · 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); made independently of existing English translations.

Notes

Translation notes

“Useless… useful” (ἄχρηστος… εὔχρηστος): a play on words, as in Phlm 11.

Cite this passage

Herm. Vis. 3.6.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/3/6/7/).

Plain text

Herm. Vis. 3.6.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/3/6/7/).

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