Pastor de Hermas 72

1Depois que o Pastor examinou os ramos de todos eles, disse-me: “Eu te disse que esta árvore era tenaz de vida. Vês,” continuou, “quantos se arrependeram e foram salvos.” “Vejo, senhor,” respondi.

1After the Shepherd had examined the branches of them all, he said to me, “I told you that this tree was tenacious of life. You see,” he continued, “how many repented and were saved.” “I see, sir,” I replied.

2“Para que contemples,” acrescentou, “a grande misericórdia do Senhor, que é grande e gloriosa, e que ele deu o seu Espírito aos que são dignos de arrependimento.” “Por que, então, senhor,” disse eu, “não se arrependeram todos estes?” Respondeu: “Àqueles cujo coração viu que se tornaria puro e obediente a ele, deu poder para arrepender-se de todo o coração.

2“That you may behold,” he added, “the great mercy of the Lord, that it is great and glorious, and that He has given His Spirit to those who are worthy of repentance.” “Why, then, sir,” I said, “did not all these repent?” He answered, “To them whose heart He saw would become pure, and obedient to Him, He gave power to repent with the whole heart.

3Mas àqueles cujo engano e maldade percebeu, e viu que pretendiam arrepender-se hipocritamente, não concedeu arrependimento, para que não profanassem de novo o seu nome.” Disse-lhe: “Senhor, mostra-me agora, a respeito dos que entregaram os ramos, de que espécie são e a sua morada, a fim de que, ouvindo-o os que creram e receberam o selo e o quebraram e não o guardaram inteiro, possam, chegando ao conhecimento das suas obras, arrepender-se e receber de ti um selo, e possam glorificar o Senhor porque teve compaixão deles e te enviou para renovar os seus espíritos.” “Escuta,” disse ele: “aqueles cujos ramos foram achados secos e roídos de traça são os apóstatas e traidores da igreja, que blasfemaram o Senhor nos seus pecados e, além disso, se envergonharam do nome do Senhor pelo qual eram chamados.

3But to them whose deceit and wickedness He perceived, and saw that they intended to repent hypocritically, He did not grant repentance, lest they should again profane His name.” I said to him, “Sir, show me now, with respect to those who gave in the branches, of what sort they are, and their abode, in order that they hearing it who believed, and received the seal, and broke it, and did not keep it whole, may, on coming to a knowledge of their deeds, repent, and receive from you a seal, and may glorify the Lord because He had compassion upon them, and sent you to renew their spirits.” “Listen,” he said: “they whose branches were found withered and moth-eaten are the apostates and traitors of the church, who have blasphemed the Lord in their sins, and have, moreover, been ashamed of the name of the Lord by which they were called.

4Estes, portanto, no fim se perderam para Deus. E vês que nem um só deles se arrependeu, embora tenham ouvido as palavras que lhes disse, as que te impus. Destes a vida partiu. E os que os entregaram secos e não apodrecidos, também estes estavam perto deles; pois eram hipócritas, e introdutores de doutrinas estranhas, e subversores dos servos de Deus, especialmente dos que tinham pecado, não os deixando arrepender-se, mas persuadindo-os com doutrinas tolas.

4These, therefore, at the end were lost unto God. And you see that not a single one of them repented, although they heard the words which I spake to them, which I enjoined upon you. From such life departed. And they who gave them in withered and undecayed, these also were near to them; for they were hypocrites, and introducers of strange doctrines, and subverters of the servants of God, especially of those who had sinned, not allowing them to repent, but persuading them by foolish doctrines.

5Estes, portanto, têm esperança de arrependimento. E vês que muitos deles também se arrependeram desde que lhes falei, e ainda se arrependerão. Mas todos os que não quiserem arrepender-se perderam a vida; e quantos deles se arrependeram tornaram-se bons, e a sua morada foi designada dentro dos primeiros muros; e alguns deles subiram até para a torre. Vês, pois,” disse, “que o arrependimento envolve vida para os pecadores, mas o não arrependimento, a morte.”

5These, accordingly, have a hope of repentance. And you see that many of them also have repented since I spake to them, and they will still repent. But all who will not repent have lost their lives; and as many of them as repented became good, and their dwelling was appointed within the first walls; and some of them ascended even into the tower. You see, then,” he said, “that repentance involves life to sinners, but non-repentance death.”