Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 2.4 (27.4)

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:72

ἔνδυσαι δὲ τὴν σεμνότητα, ἐν ᾗ οὐδὲν πρόσκομμά ἐστιν πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁμαλὰ καὶ ἱλαρά. ἐργάζου τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐκ τῶν κόπων σου ὧν ὁ θεὸς δίδωσίν σοι πᾶσιν ὑστερουμένοις δίδου ἁπλῶς, μὴ διστάζων, τίνι δῷς ἢ τίνι μὴ δῷς. πᾶσιν δίδου· πᾶσιν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς δίδοσθαι θέλει ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων δωρημάτων.

English · Claude translation

Put on reverence, in which there is no evil stumbling block, but everything is smooth and cheerful. Do what is good, and from your labors, which God gives you, give to all in need simply, not hesitating about whom to give to and whom not to give to. Give to all; for God wishes that to all be given from his own gifts.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:72 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 70–137 · 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.

Scripture

Matt 5:42 · echo, medium confidence
Luke 6:30 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

This passage is close to Did. 1.5, “give to everyone who asks you.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong accent)): πᾶσιν γάρ ὁ θεὸς → πᾶσιν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς.

Cite this passage

Herm. Mand. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/2/4/).

Plain text

Herm. Mand. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/2/4/).