The Shepherd of Hermas

I said to him Sir, listen to a few words from me. Say what you will, he said. Sir, said I, man desires to keep the commandments of God,

He cannot, said he, oppress the servants of the Lord who hope in him with all their heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot throw them down. If then you resist him, he will be conquered and fly from you, in shame. But as many, said he, as are empty fear the devil as though he had power.

When a man fills very many pots with good wine, and among those pots a few are half empty, he comes to the pots, and does not consider those which are full, for he knows that they are full, but he looks at those which are half empty, fearing that they have gone sour, for empty pots quickly go sour, and the flavour of the wine is spoilt.

So also the devil comes to all the servants of God, tempting them; as many therefore as are full of faith withstand him powerfully, and he departs from them, having no room by which to enter. Then, therefore, he comes to those who are half empty and finding room he enters into them, and does what he will in them, and they become his servants.

But I, the angel of repentance, say to you, Do not fear the devil. For I was sent, said he, to be with you who repent with all your heart, and

Believe, therefore, in God, though you have renounced your life through your sins, and have added to your sins, and have made your life heavy, that if you turn to the Lord with all your heart, and do righteousness, for the rest of the days of your life, and serve him in uprightness, according to his will, he will heal your former sins, and you shall have power to master the works of the devil. But do not fear the threat of the devil at all, for he is powerless as the sinews of a dead man.

Listen, therefore, to me, and fear him who has all power, to save and to destroy, and keep these commandments, and you shall live to God.