The Shepherd of Hermas

Hermas

Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers with an English translation by Kirsopp Lake. In Two Volumes. Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1913

I said to him: Sir, tell me this also. What more, said he, do you ask? Whether, Sir, said I, those who live in luxury and are deceived are punished for the same time as they live in luxury and deceit? And he said to me: Yes, they are punished the same time.

Sir, said I, they are punished a very short time, for those who live in

such luxury and forget God, ought to be punished sevenfold.

He said to me: You are foolish, and do not understand the power of punishment. No, said I, Sir, for if I had understood it, I should not have asked you to tell me. Listen, said he, to the power of both.

The time of luxury and deceit is one hour, but the hour of punishment has the power of thirty days. If, therefore, any man live in luxury and deceit for one day, and be punished one day, the day of punishment has the power of a whole year, for a man is punished as many years as he has lived days in luxury. You see, therefore, said he, that the time of luxury and deceit is very short, but the time of punishment is long.