2 Clement 8.2

Summary: Like clay before firing, we can still be reshaped: repent now.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:140

πηλὸς γάρ ἐσμεν εἰς τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ τεχνίτου· ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ὁ κεραμεύς, ἐὰν ποιῇ σκεῦος καὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ διαστραφῇ ἣ συντριβῇ, πάλιν αὐτὸ ἀναπλάσσει, ἐὰν δὲ προφθάσῃ εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς αὐτὸ βαλεῖν, οὐκέτι βοηθήσει αὐτῷ· οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἕως ἐσμὲν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ἃ ἐπράξαμεν πονηρὰ μετανοήσωμεν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας, ἵνα σωθῶμεν ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ἕως ἔχομεν καιρὸν μετανοίας.

English · Claude translation

For we are clay in the hand of the craftsman. Just as the potter, if he makes a vessel and it is twisted or broken in his hands, shapes it again, but if he has already put it into the fiery kiln, he can no longer help it: so also we, while we are in this world, let us repent with our whole heart of the evil things we have done in the flesh, so that we may be saved by the Lord while we have an opportunity for repentance.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:140 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 128–161 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized 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 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture

Cite this passage

2 Clem. 8.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/8/2/).

Plain text
2 Clem. 8.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/8/2/).

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