CODEX SINAITICUS: The New Testament translated from the Sinaitic Manuscript

Discovered by Constantine Tischendorf at Mt. Sinai by H. T. Anderson, begun in 1861

Copyright ©2004 Jackson H. Snyder II

 

CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

      translated by Charles H. Hoole, 1885

 

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NOTE: CLEMENT IS NOT A PART OF THE SINAITICUS, BUT IS SITUATED IN OTHER EARLY TESTAMENTS AFTER REVELATION
         

CHAPTER 1

 1:1  Brethren, we ought so to think of our Lord Jesus

Christ as of God, as of the judge of quick and dead,

and we ought not to think meanly concerning our

salvation;

 1:2  for if we think meanly concerning him, we expect

also that we shall receive mean things; and if we

listen to it as though it were a small thing, we err,

not knowing from whence we are called, nor by whom,

nor unto what place, nor what great things Jesus

Christ hath endured to suffer on our behalf.

 1:3  What recompense, therefore, shall we give unto

him, or what fruit worthy of that which he hath given

unto us? How many things that help unto holiness hath

he given unto us?

 1:4  For he hath given us the light, he hath called

us sons as though he were our father, he hath saved us

when we were ready to perish.

 1:5  What praise, therefore, shall we give unto him,

or what recompense of reward for the things that we

have received?

 1:6  for we were maimed in our understanding,

worshipping stocks and stones, and gold and silver and

iron, the work of men, and our whole life was nothing

but death. We, therefore, who were surrounded with

darkness, and who had our sight filled with such

gloom, have recovered our sight, having, according to

his will, laid aside the cloud that was around us.

 1:7  For he hath had compassion upon us, and, pitying

us, hath saved us, having beheld in us much wandering

and destruction, when we had no hope of salvation

except that which is from him.

 1:8  For he hath called us when as yet we were not,

and hath willed us to be when we were nothing.

 

CHAPTER 2

 2:1  |Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break

forth and shout, thou that travailest not, for the

desolate hath many more children than she that hath an

husband. In that he said, Rejoice, thou barren that

bearest not, he hath spoken of us, for our church was

barren before that children were given unto her.

 2:2  But in that he said, Shout, thou that travailest

not, he meaneth that we should offer our prayers to

God with simplicity, that we faint not like women in

travail.

 2:3  But in that he said, The children of the

desolate are many more than they of her that hath an

husband, he meaneth that our people seemed to be

deserted of God, and now, after that we have believed,

we have become more in number than they which seemed

to have God.

 2:4  And another scripture saith, I came not to call

the righteous but sinners.

 2:5  He meaneth this, that it behoveth to save them

that are perishing.

 2:6  For this is great and wonderful, not to

establish the things that are standing, but the things

that are falling;

 2:7  thus Christ willed to save the things that were

perishing, and he saved many, having come and called

us who were already perishing.

 

CHAPTER 3

 3:1  |Since, therefore, he hath showed such compassion

unto us; first, that he hath caused that we who live

should not sacrifice unto gods that are dead, neither

worship them, but know through him the Father of

truth. What is this knowledge of him except the not

denying him through whom we know him?

 3:2  For he himself saith, Whosoever hath confessed

me before men, him will I confess before my Father.

 3:3  This, therefore, is our reward if we confess him

through whom we have been saved.

 3:4  But whereby shall we confess him? Even by doing

what he commandeth, and not disobeying his

commandments, and honouring him not only with our lips

but with our whole heart and whole understanding.

 3:5  For he saith in Esaias, This people honoureth me

with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

 

CHAPTER 4

 4:1  |Let us not, therefore, only call him Lord, for

that will not save us.

 4:2  For he saith, It is not every one that sayeth

unto me, Lord, Lord! that shall be saved, but he that

doeth righteousness.

 4:3  Wherefore, brethren, let us confess him in our

deeds, by loving one another, by not committing

adultery, and not speaking ill of each other, neither

being envious, but by being continent, compassionate,

kind. We ought also to sympathize one with another,

and to abstain from covetousness; it is by these works

that we acknowledge him, and not by the contrary;

 4:4  and we ought not to fear men but rather God.

 4:5  Wherefore, if we do these things, the Lord hath

said, Though ye have been gathered together with me in

my bosom and do not my commandments I will cast you

from me, and I will say unto you, Depart from me; I

know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity.

 

CHAPTER 5

 5:1  |Wherefore, brethren, having left our sojourning

in this world, let us do the will of him who called

us, and let us not fear to depart from this world.

 5:2  For the Lord saith, Ye shall be as lambs in the

midst of wolves.

 5:3  But Peter answered and saith unto him, What,

then, if the wolves rend the sheep?

 5:4  Jesus saith unto Peter, Let not the lambs after

that they are dead fear the wolves; and do not ye fear

them that kill you but can do nothing more unto you,

but fear him who after ye are dead hath authority over

body and soul, even to cast them into hell fire.

 5:5  And ye know, brethren, that the sojourning of

our flesh in this world is but short and for a little

while, but the promise of Christ is great and

wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom which is to

come, and of eternal life.

 5:6  What, therefore, shall we do that we may attain

unto them, except to lead a holy and just

conversation, and to deem the things of this world to

be alien unto us, and not to desire them?

 5:7  for while we desire to obtain these things we

fall from the right way.

 

CHAPTER 6

 6:1  |For the Lord saith, No servant can serve two

masters. If, therefore, we wish to serve both God and

Mammon, it is inexpedient for us;

 6:2  for what advantage is it if a man gain the whole

world, but lose his soul?

 6:3  Now this life and the life to come are two

enemies.

 6:4  This life preacheth adultery, corruption,

covetousness, and deceit; but the life that is to come

renounceth these things.

 6:5  We cannot, therefore, be friends to both; it

behoveth us then to renounce the one and to use the

other.

 6:6  Let us consider, therefore, that it is better to

hate the things that are here, as being small and

short-lived and corruptible, but to love the things

that are there, as being good and incorruptible.

 6:7  If, therefore, we do the will of Christ, we

shall find rest; but if not, nothing will deliver us

from eternal punishment, if we obey not his

commandments.

 6:8  For the scripture saith in Ezekiel, If Noah, and

Job, and Daniel should rise up, they shall not deliver

their children in the captivity.

 6:9  If, therefore, such righteous men as these

cannot by their righteousness deliver their children,

with what confidence shall we, if we keep not our

baptism pure and undefiled, come unto the kingdom of

God? or who shall be our advocate unless we be found

having the works that are holy and just?

 

CHAPTER 7

 7:1  |Wherefore, my brethren, let us strive, knowing

that the contest is at hand. We know, too, that many

put in for corruptible contests, but all are not

crowned, but they only who have laboured much and

fought a good fight.

 7:2  Let us, therefore, contend that we may all be

crowned.

 7:3  Let us run in the straight course, in the

incorruptible contest; and let us be many that put

into it, and let us so contend that we may also be

crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at

least come near to the crown.

 7:4  It behoveth us to know that he who contendeth in

a corruptible contest, if he be found acting unfairly

is flogged, and taken away, and cast out of the

course.

 7:5  What think ye? what shall he suffer that acteth

unfairly in an incorruptible contest?

 7:6  For of them who have not kept their seal he

saith, Their worm shall die not, and their fire shall

not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle to

all flesh.

 

CHAPTER 8

 8:1  |While, therefore, we are upon the earth, let us

repent.

 8:2  For we are as clay in the hands of the workman.

In like manner as the potter, if while he be making a

vessel, it turn amiss in his hands, or be crushed, can

mould it again, but if he have once cast it into the

fiery furnace can no longer amend it; so let us, so

long as we are in this world repent with all our

hearts of the wickedness that we have committed in the

flesh, that we may be saved of the Lord while as yet

we have time for repentance.

 8:3  For after that we are departed out of this

world, we are no longer able there to confess or

repent.

 8:4  Wherefore, brethren, if we have done the will of

the Father, and preserved our flesh pure, and kept the

commandments of the Lord, we shall receive eternal

life.

 8:5  For the Lord saith in the Gospel, If ye have not

kept that which is little, who shall give you that

which is great? for I say unto you, he that is

faithful in that which is least is faithful also in

much.

 8:6  Doth he not, therefore, say this, Keep your

flesh pure and your seal unspotted, that ye may

inherit eternal life?

 

CHAPTER 9

 9:1  |And let not any one of you say that this our

flesh is not judged nor raised again.

 9:2  Consider this: in what were ye saved, in what

did ye recover your sight, if not in this flesh?

 9:3  We ought, therefore, to guard our flesh as the

temple of God;

 9:4  for in the same manner as ye were called in the

flesh, in the flesh also shall ye come.

 9:5  There is one Christ, our Lord who saved us, who

being at the first spirit, was made flesh, and thus

called us. So also shall we in this flesh receive the

reward.

 9:6  Let us, therefore, love one another, that we may

all come to the kingdom of God.

 9:7  While we have opportunity to be healed, let us

give ourselves up unto God who healeth, giving a

recompense unto him.

 9:8  And of what kind? repentance from a sincere

heart.

 9:9  For he foreknoweth all things, and knoweth the

things that are in our hearts.

 9:10  Let us, therefore, give him praise, not from

the mouth alone, but also from the heart, that he may

receive us as sons.

 9:11  For of a truth the Lord hath said, My brethren

are they who do the will of my Father.

 

CHAPTER 10

 10:1  |Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of

the Father who hath called us, that we may live; and

let us the rather pursue virtue, and abandon vice

which leadeth us into sins, and let us fly ungodliness

lest evil seize us; for if we are zealous to do good

peace shall pursue us.

 10:2  For this cause it is not possible that a man

should find peace.

 10:3  For they introduce the fear of men, choosing

rather the present enjoyment that is here than the

future promise.

 10:4  For they are ignorant how great a torment the

enjoyment of this world bringeth, and what delight

hath the future promise.

 10:5  And if they themselves alone did these things

it were endurable; but now they continue to instruct

in evil innocent souls, not knowing that they will

have a twofold condemnation -- both themselves and they

that hearken to them.

 

CHAPTER 11

 11:1  |Let us, therefore, serve God with a pure heart,

and we shall be righteous; but if we serve him not,

because we believe not the promise of God, we shall be

wretched.

 11:2  For the prophetic word saith, Wretched are the

double-minded who doubt in their heart, and say, We

have heard these things of old, even in the time of

our fathers, but we have seen none of them, though we

expect them from day to day.

 11:3  Ye fools, compare yourselves unto a tree; take

for an example the vine. In the first place it

sheddeth its leaves, then there cometh a shoot, after

that the unripe grape, then the mature cluster.

 11:4  In like manner my people hath in time past had

disorder and trouble, but afterward it shall receive

the things that are good.

 11:5  Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be

double-minded, but let us abide in hope, that we may

obtain our reward.

 11:6  Faithful is he that hath promised that he will

give unto each the recompense of his works.

 11:7  If, therefore, we do righteousness before God,

we shall enter into his kingdom, and receive the

promises which ear hath not heard nor eye seen,

neither have entered into the heart of man.

 

CHAPTER 12

 12:1  |Let us, therefore, in love and righteousness

expect every hour the kingdom of God, since we know

not the day of the appearing of God.

 12:2  For the Lord himself, when he was asked by a

certain man when his kingdom should come, replied,

When two shall be one, and that which is without as

that which is within, and the male with the female

neither male nor female.

 12:3  Now two are one when we speak the truth one to

another, and there is, without hypocrisy, one soul in

two bodies.

 12:4  And by that which is without being as that

which is within, he meaneth this: He calleth the soul

that which is within, and the body that which is

without; in like manner, therefore, as thy body is

visible, let thy soul be made manifest by good deeds.

 12:5  And by the male with the female neither male

nor female, he meaneth this: When a brother seeing a

sister doth not in any way regard her as a female, nor

doth she regard him as a male;

 12:6  when ye do these things, he saith, the kingdom

of my Father will come.

 

CHAPTER 13

 13:1  |My brethren, let us therefore repent forthwith;

let us be sober and followers of what is good, for we

are burdened with much folly and wickedness. Let us

wipe out from among us our former sins, and repent

sincerely and be saved. And let us not be pleasers of

men, nor let us wish to please one another alone, but

let us also please them that are without by our

righteous conduct, that the Divine name may not be

blasphemed on our account.

 13:2  For the Lord saith, My name is continually

blasphemed among all the Gentiles; and again,

Wherefore is my name blasphemed, whereby is it

blasphemed? in that ye do not the things that I will.

 13:3  |For the Gentiles, when they hear from our mouth

the oracles of God, admire them as beautiful and

weighty; but afterwards perceiving our deeds, that

they are not worthy of the words that we say, they

turn thereafter to blasphemy, saying that the matter

is but fable and deceit.

 13:4  For when they hear from us that God saith,

There is no thanks for you if ye love them that love

you, but there is thanks for you if ye love your

enemies and them that hate you; when they hear these

things, they wonder at the excess of the goodness. But

when they see that we do not only not love those that

hate us, but do not even love those that love us, they

turn us to ridicule, and the Divine name is

blasphemed.

 

CHAPTER 14

 14:1  |Wherefore, my brethren, by doing the will of

our Father, God, we shall be of the first, the

spiritual Church, which was founded before the sun and

moon were made; but if we do not the will of the Lord,

we shall be of the scripture that saith, My house hath

become a den of thieves. Let us therefore choose to be

of the Church of life that we may be saved.

 14:2  But I do not think that you are ignorant that

the living Church is the body of Christ. For the

scripture saith, God made man, male and female. Now,

the male signifieth Christ, the female the Church. Ye

know also that both the Bible and the Apostles say

that the Church is not new, but was from the

beginning; for it was of a spiritual kind, as was also

our Jesus, but was made manifest in the last days that

it might save us.

 14:3  But the Church, though spiritual, was

manifested in the flesh of Christ, showing to us that

if any one keep it in his flesh, and corrupt it not,

he will receive it in the Holy Spirit; for this flesh

is the counterpart of the Spirit; no one, therefore,

who corrupteth the copy will receive the original in

exchange. He therefore meaneth this, my brethren: Keep

pure the flesh, that ye may partake of the Spirit.

 14:4  But if we say that the flesh is the Church, and

the Spirit, Christ, he then who doeth injury to the

flesh doeth injury to the Church. Such an one

therefore shall not partake of the Spirit, which is

Christ.

 14:5  Such life and immortality is this flesh able to

partake of by the union of the Holy Spirit with it. Nor

can any say or declare what the Lord hath prepared for

his elect.

 

CHAPTER 15

 15:1  |Now, I do not think that I have given advice of

little importance concerning temperance, which, if a

man practice, he will not repent of it, but will save

both himself and me who advise him. For it is no small

service to convert a wandering and perishing soul to

salvation.

 15:2  For this recompense are we able to give in

return to God who created us, if he who speaketh and

heareth both speak and hear with faith and love.

 15:3  Let us therefore remain with righteousness and

holiness in the things in which we have believed, that

we may with boldness ask of God, who saith, While thou

art still speaking, I will say, Lo I am here.

 15:4  For this saying is the token of a great

promise. For the Lord saith of himself that he is more

ready to give than him that asketh.

 15:5  Since, therefore, we partake in so much

goodness, let us not grudge ourselves the attaining of

so many good things; for by so much as his words bring

pleasure to those who do them, by so much do they

bring condemnation to those who disobey them.

 

CHAPTER 16

 16:1  |Wherefore, brethren, since we have received no

small opportunity for repentance, let us, while we

have time, turn unto the God who hath called us, while

we still have one who will receive us.

 16:2  For if we bid farewell to the luxuries of this

world, and conquer our soul so that we do not fulfil

evil lusts, we shall partake of the mercy of Jesus.

 16:3  But know that the day of judgment is already

coming as a burning furnace, and certain of the

heavens shall be melted, and the whole earth shall be

as lead melting on the fire; and then shall both the

secret and open deeds of men be made manifest.

 16:4  Good, therefore, is almsgiving, as showing

repentance from sin; better is fasting than prayer,

and almsgiving than both; for love covereth a

multitude of sins, and prayer that goeth forth from a

good conscience saveth from death. Happy is every one

who is found full of these things, for almsgiving

becometh a lightening of sin.

 

CHAPTER 17

 17:1  |Let us therefore repent with our whole heart

lest any of us perish by the way. For if we have

received commandments and make this our business -- to

tear men away from idols and instruct them -- how much

more ought a soul not to perish that hath already come

to a knowledge of God?

 17:2  Let us therefore endeavour to elevate with

regard to what is good them that are weak, to the end

that we may all be saved; and let us convert one

another and reprove one another.

 17:3  And let us not seem to attend and believe now

only, while we are being admonished by the presbyters,

but also when we have departed to our homes, let us

remember the commandments of the Lord; and let us not,

on the other hand, be drawn aside by the lusts of the

world, but let us endeavour, by coming more

frequently, to make progress in the commandments of

the Lord, to the end that we all being of one mind may

be gathered together unto life.

 17:4  For the Lord hath said, I come to gather

together all the nations, tribes, and tongues. And

this he saith of the day of his appearing, when he

shall come and recompense each of us according to his

works.

 17:5  And the unbelieving shall behold his glory and

strength, and shall be astonished when they see the

kingdom of the world in the hands of Jesus, and shall

say, Woe unto us, for thou wast and we knew it not,

and did not believe, nor did we obey the presbyters

who preached to us concerning our salvation. And their

worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, and

they shall be for a spectacle to all flesh.

 17:6  He speaketh of that day of judgment when they

shall see punished those among us who have lived

ungodly and set at nought the commandments of Jesus

Christ.

 17:7  But the just, who have done well, and have

abided the tests, and have hated the luxuries of the

soul, when they behold those who have missed the way

and have denied Jesus either by words or deeds, how

they are punished with dreadful tortures in

unquenchable fire, shall give glory to their God,

saying, that there shall be a hope for him who hath

served God with his whole heart.

 

CHAPTER 18

 18:1  |Let us, therefore, be of those who give thanks,

of those who have served God, and not of the ungodly

who are judged.

 18:2  For I myself, being in all respects a sinner,

and not having yet escaped temptation, but being still

in the midst of the snares of the devil, yet endeavour

to follow after righteousness, that I may be able, at

any rate, to be near it, fearing the judgment to come.

 

CHAPTER 19

 19:1  |Wherefore, my brethren and sisters, after the

reading of the words of the God of truth, I read also

unto you an exhortation, to the end that ye should

attend to what has been written, that ye may both save

yourselves and him who preacheth among you; for I ask

of you, as my reward, that ye should repent with your

whole heart, gaining for yourselves salvation and

life. For by so doing we shall offer an aim to all the

young, who are willing to labour cheerfully for the

worship and goodness of God.

 19:2  And let not those of us who are unlearned be

vexed or offended when one exhorteth us and turneth us

from sin to righteousness. For we at times when doing

what is wrong, know it not, from the doubt and

unbelief that is in our hearts, and are blinded in our

understanding by vain lusts.

 19:3  Let us, therefore, practise righteousness, that

we may be saved at the last. Blessed are they who obey

these commands, for if for a short time they suffer in

the world that now is, they shall gather hereafter the

immortal fruit of the resurrection.

 19:4  Let not, therefore, the pious man be vexed if

he be afflicted in the times that now are, a blessed

time awaiteth him. He shall live above again with the

fathers, and shall rejoice without sorrow for ever.

 

CHAPTER 20

 20:1  |And let not even that trouble your mind, that

we see the unjust prosperous and the servants of God

in misery.

 20:2  Let us have faith, my brethren and sisters. We

are making trial of the living God, and contending in

the present life that we may be crowned in the life to

come.

 20:3  For none of the just receiveth a speedy reward,

but waiteth for it.

 20:4  For if God gave speedily the reward of the

righteous, we should forthwith practise gain and not

godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, not on

account of what is pious, but on account of what is

profitable. And on this account hath the Divine

judgment overtaken a spirit that is not righteous, and

hath burdened it with chains.

 20:5  Now to the only God, the invisible, the father

of truth, who hath sent unto us the Saviour and leader

of immortality, through whom he hath made known unto

us the truth and the heavenly life, to him be the

glory, world without end. Amen.