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
Yet when I wished to sit[*](Hermas and the couch) on the right hand she would not let me, but signed to me with her hand to sit on the left. When therefore I thought about this, and was grieved because she did not let me sit on the right hand, she said to me: Are you sorry, Hermas? The seat on the[*](The place of the martyrs) right is for others, who have already been found well-pleasing to God and have suffered for the Name. But you fall far short of sitting with them. But remain in your simplicity as you are doing, and you shall sit with them, and so shall all who do their deeds and bear what they also bore.
What, I said, did they bear? Listen, she said: Stripes, imprisonments, great afflictions, crucifixions, wild beasts, for the sake of the Name.
Therefore is it given to them to be on the right hand of the Holiness, and to everyone who shall suffer for the Name; but for the rest there is the left side. But both, whether they sit on the right or the left, have the same gifts, and the same promises, only the former sit on the right and have somewhat of glory.And you are desirous of sitting on the right hand with them, but your failings are many. But you shall be cleansed from your failings, and all who are not double-minded shall be cleansed from all sins, up to this day.
When she had said this she wished to go away, but I fell at her feet and besought her by the Lord, to show me the vision which she had promised.
And she again took me by the hand and lifted[*](The vision of the town) me up, and made me sit on the couch on the left and she herself sat on the right. And she lifted up a certain glittering rod, and she said to me: Do you see a great thing? I said to her: Lady, I see nothing. She said to me: Behold, do you not see before you a great tower being built on the water with shining square stones?