Shepherd of Hermas — Similitude 9 · Chapter 1

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.1 After I had written down the commandments and parables of the shepherd, the angel of repentance, he came to me and said, “I wish to show you everything that the Holy Spirit who spoke with you in the form of the Church showed you; for that Spirit is the Son of God.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.2 Because you were weaker in the flesh, it was not disclosed to you through an angel. When you had been strengthened through the Spirit and had grown strong enough to be able to see an angel, then the building of the tower was revealed to you through the Church. You saw everything well and reverently, as shown by a virgin. But now you see it through an angel, by the same Spirit.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.3 You must learn everything more accurately from me. For this purpose I was also appointed by the glorious angel to dwell in your house, so that you might see everything with strength, without being at all afraid as you were before.”

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.4 He took me away to Arcadia, to a certain breast-shaped mountain, seated me on the mountain's summit, and showed me a great plain. Around the plain were twelve mountains, each with a different appearance.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.5 The first was black as soot; the second was bare, with no plants; the third was full of thorns and thistles.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.6 The fourth had plants that were half dry: their tops were green, but the parts near the roots were dry. Some plants became dry whenever the sun scorched them.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.7 The fifth mountain had green plants and was rugged. The sixth mountain was entirely full of clefts, some small and some large. The clefts had plants, but the plants were not very flourishing; instead, they seemed withered.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.8 The seventh mountain had cheerful plants, and the whole mountain was flourishing. Every kind of livestock and bird fed on that mountain, and the more the livestock and birds grazed, the more and more the plants of that mountain flourished. The eighth mountain was full of springs, and every kind of the Lord's creation drank from the springs of that mountain.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.9 The ninth mountain had no water at all and was entirely desolate. It had wild beasts and deadly reptiles that destroyed human beings. The tenth mountain had very large trees and was entirely shaded; beneath the shelter of the trees, sheep lay resting and chewing the cud.

Greek (Lake printed edition)

Similitude 9.1.10 The eleventh mountain was very thickly wooded, and those trees were laden with fruit, adorned with fruits of different kinds, so that anyone who saw them would desire to eat their fruit. The twelfth mountain was entirely white, and its appearance was cheerful. The mountain was most beautiful in itself.