Didache

But do you who are slaves be subject to your master, as to God’s representative, in reverence and fear.

Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy, and everything[*](Against hypocrisy) that is not pleasing to the Lord.

Thou shalt not forsake the commandments of the Lord, but thou shalt keep what thou didst receive, adding nothing to it and taking nothing away.

In the congregation thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and thou shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life.

But the Way of Death is this: First of all, it is[*](The Way of Death) wicked and full of cursing, murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, witchcrafts, charms,

Persecutors of the good, haters of truth, lovers of lies, knowing not the reward of righteousness, not cleaving to the good nor to righteous judgment, spending wakeful nights not for good but for wickedness, from whom meekness and patience is far, lovers of vanity, following after reward, unmerciful to the poor, not working for him who is oppressed with toil, without knowledge of him who made them, murderers of children, corrupters of God’s creatures, turning away the needy, oppressing the distressed, advocates of the rich, unjust judges of the poor, altogether sinful; may ye be delivered, my children, from all these.

See that no one make thee to err from this[*](Final exhortation) Way of the teaching, for he teaches thee without God.

For if thou canst bear the whole yoke of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect, but if thou canst not, do what thou canst.

And concerning food, bear[*](Food, and ‘things offered to idols.’) what thou canst, but keep strictly from that which is offered to idols, for it is the worship of dead gods.

Concerning baptism, baptise thus: Having first[*](Baptism) rehearsed all these things, baptise, in the Name of