Shepherd of Hermas — Vision 1 · Chapter 1

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Vision 1.1.1 The man who raised me sold me to a certain Rhoda in Rome. After many years I met her again and began to love her as a sister.

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Vision 1.1.2 Some time afterward I saw her bathing in the River Tiber. I gave her my hand and brought her out of the river. When I saw her beauty, I reflected in my heart, saying, “I would be happy if I had a wife like this in both beauty and character.” This alone was my thought, and nothing else at all.

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Vision 1.1.3 Some time afterward, as I was going to Cumae and glorifying God's creatures for their greatness, splendor, and strength, I fell asleep while walking. A spirit took me and carried me through a trackless place where no person could travel. The place was steep and broken by waters. When I had crossed that river, I came to level ground, knelt down, and began to pray to the Lord and confess my sins.

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Vision 1.1.4 While I was praying, heaven opened, and I saw that woman whom I had desired greeting me from heaven: “Greetings, Hermas!”

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Vision 1.1.5 Looking at her, I said, “Lady, what are you doing here?” She answered me, “I was taken up to expose your sins before the Lord.”

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Vision 1.1.6 I said to her, “Are you now my accuser?” “No,” she said, “but hear the words I am about to tell you. God, who dwells in the heavens, who created what exists from what did not exist, and multiplied and increased it for the sake of His holy Church, is angry with you because you sinned against me.”

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Vision 1.1.7 I answered her, “I sinned against you? In what place, or when, did I speak an indecent word to you? Have I not always regarded you as a goddess? Have I not always respected you as a sister? Why, woman, do you falsely accuse me of these wicked and unclean things?”

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Vision 1.1.8 She laughed and said to me, “The desire for wickedness rose into your heart. Or do you not think it a wicked thing for a righteous man if an evil desire rises into his heart? It is indeed a sin, and a great one,” she said. “For the righteous man considers righteous things. By considering righteous things, his glory is established in the heavens, and he finds the Lord readily reconciled in everything he does. But those who consider wicked things in their hearts draw death and captivity upon themselves, especially those who acquire this present age for themselves, exult in their wealth, and do not hold fast to the good things to come.

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Vision 1.1.9 “Their souls will repent—those who have no hope but have despaired of themselves and their life. But you, pray to God, and He will heal your sins and those of your whole household and of all the saints.”