Stromata Editions · The Shepherd of Hermas
Mandate IX
Man. 9.1–9.12
Complete audiobook →Greek source
Λέγει μοι· Ἆρον ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ τὴν διψυχίαν καὶ μηδὲν ὅλως διψυχήσῃς αἰτήσασθαί τι παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, λέγων ἐν σεαυτῷ ὅτι πῶς δύναμαι αἰτήσασθαι παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ λαβεῖν, ἡμαρτηκὼς τοσαῦτα εἰς αὐτόν;
Translation
He said to me, “Remove wavering from yourself. Do not hesitate at all to ask God for something, saying to yourself, ‘How can I ask the Lord and receive anything, when I have sinned against him so much?’
Greek source
μὴ διαλογίζου ταῦτα, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου ἐπίστρεψον ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον, καὶ αἰτοῦ παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἀδιστάκτως, καὶ γνώσῃ τὴν πολυσπλαγχνίαν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπῃ, ἀλλὰ τὸ αἴτημα τῆς ψυχῆς σου πληροφορήσει.
Translation
“Do not reason in this way. Instead, turn toward the Lord with all your heart and ask him without hesitation. You will know his great compassion: he will certainly not abandon you, but will fulfil your soul's request.
Greek source
οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ὡς οἱ ἄνθρωποι μνησικακοῦντες, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἀμνησίκακός ἐστιν καὶ σπλαγχνίζεται ἐπὶ τὴν ποίησιν αὐτοῦ.
Translation
“For God is not like people who hold grudges. He bears no grudge, but has compassion on what he has made.
Greek source
σὺ οὖν καθάρισόν σου τὴν καρδίαν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ματαιωμάτων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καὶ τῶν προειρημένων σοι ῥημάτων, καὶ αἰτοῦ παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ἀπολήψῃ πάντα, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν αἰτημάτων σου ἀνυστέρητος ἔσῃ, ἐὰν ἀδιστάκτως αἰτήσῃ παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου.
Translation
“So cleanse your heart of all the empty things of this age and of the things I spoke of to you earlier. Ask the Lord, and you will receive everything. You will lack none of the things you ask for, if you ask the Lord without hesitation.
Greek source
ἐὰν δὲ διστάσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, οὐδὲν οὐ μὴ λήψῃ τῶν αἰτημάτων σου. οἱ γὰρ διστάζοντες εἰς τὸν θεόν, οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ δίψυχοι, καὶ οὐδὲν ὅλως ἐπιτυγχάνουσι τῶν αἰτημάτων αὐτῶν.
Translation
“But if you hesitate in your heart, you will certainly receive none of the things you ask for. Those who hesitate toward God are the ones who waver, and they obtain nothing at all of what they ask for.
Greek source
οἱ δὲ ὁλοτελεῖς ὄντες ἐν τῇ πίστει πάντα αἰτοῦνται πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον, καὶ λαμβάνουσιν, ὅτι ἀδιστάκτως αἰτοῦνται, μηδὲν διψυχοῦντες. πᾶς γὰρ δίψυχος ἀνήρ, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσῃ, δυσκόλως σωθήσεται.
Translation
“Those whose faith is complete ask for everything with confidence in the Lord and receive it, because they ask without hesitation and do not waver at all. Every wavering person, unless they repent, will be saved only with difficulty.
Greek source
καθάρισον οὖν τὴν καρδίαν σου ἀπὸ τῆς διψυχίας, ἔνδυσαι δὲ τὴν πίστιν, ὅτι ἰσχυρά ἐστι, καὶ πίστευε τῷ θεῷ ὅτι πάντα τὰ αἰτήματά σου ἃ αἰτεῖς λήψῃ. καὶ ἐὰν αἰτησάμενός ποτε παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου αἴτημά τι βραδύτερον λαμβάνῃς, μὴ διψυχήσῃς ὅτι ταχὺ οὐκ ἔλαβες τὸ αἴτημα τῆς ψυχῆς σου· πάντως γὰρ διὰ πειρασμόν τινα ἢ παράπτωμά τι, ὃ σὺ ἀγνοεῖς, βραδύτερον λαμβάνεις τὸ αἴτημά σου.
Translation
“So cleanse your heart of wavering and put on faith, for it is strong. Trust God that you will receive everything you ask for. If at some time you ask the Lord for something and receive it more slowly, do not waver because you did not quickly receive your soul's request. It is surely because of some trial or some offence of which you are unaware that your request is granted more slowly.
Greek source
σὺ οὖν μὴ διαλίπῃς αἰτούμενος τὸ αἴτημα τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ λήψῃ αὐτό. ἐὰν δὲ ἐκκακήσῃς καὶ διψυχήσῃς αἰτούμενος, σεαυτὸν αἰτιῶ καὶ μὴ τὸν διδόντα σοι.
Translation
“So do not stop asking for your soul's request, and you will receive it. But if you lose heart and waver as you ask, blame yourself, not the one who gives to you.
Greek source
βλέπε τὴν διψυχίαν ταύτην· πονηρὰ γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀσύνετος, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐκριζοῖ ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως, καί γε λίαν πιστοὺς καὶ ἰσχυρούς. καὶ γὰρ αὕτη ἡ διψυχία θυγάτηρ ἐστὶ τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ λίαν πονηρεύεται εἰς τοὺς δούλους τοῦ θεοῦ.
Translation
“Beware of this wavering. It is wicked and senseless, and uproots many from faith—even people who are very faithful and strong. This wavering is the devil's daughter and acts very wickedly against God's servants.
Greek source
καταφρόνησον οὖν τῆς διψυχίας καὶ κατακυρίευσον αὐτῆς ἐν παντὶ πράγματι, ἐνδυσάμενος τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἰσχυρὰν καὶ δυνατήν. ἡ γὰρ πίστις πάντα ἐπαγγέλλεται, πάντα τελειοῖ, ἡ δὲ διψυχία μὴ καταπιστεύουσα ἑαυτῇ πάντων ἀποτυγχάνει τῶν ἔργων αὐτῆς ὧν πράσσει.
Translation
“So despise wavering and master it in every matter, putting on strong and powerful faith. Faith promises everything and brings everything to completion, while wavering, which does not trust itself, fails in everything it undertakes.
Greek source
βλέπεις οὖν, φησίν, ὅτι ἡ πίστις ἄνωθέν ἐστι παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ἔχει δύναμιν μεγάλην· ἡ δὲ διψυχία ἐπίγειον πνεῦμά ἐστι παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου, δύναμιν μὴ ἔχουσα.
Translation
“So you see,” he said, “that faith comes from above, from the Lord, and has great power. Wavering is an earthly spirit from the devil and has no power.
Greek source
σὺ οὖν δούλευε τῇ ἐχούσῃ δύναμιν τῇ πίστει, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς διψυχίας ἀπόσχου τῆς μὴ ἐχούσης δύναμιν, καὶ ζήσῃ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ πάντες ζήσονται τῷ θεῷ οἱ ταῦτα φρονοῦντες.
Translation
“So serve faith, which has power, and keep away from wavering, which has none. You will live for God, and all who think in this way will live for God.”
Reader’s notes
1. 9.4
“The things I spoke of earlier” refers back to the harmful dispositions or conduct to be removed. The English avoids suggesting that Hermas must reject the commandments he has just received.
2. 9.6–11
Difficulty in salvation is not made into impossibility. The alternatives offered for delay in a petition—testing or some unknown offence—remain alternatives. Faith's origin in the Lord and wavering's origin in the devil remain the text's claims, not a psychological diagnosis.
About this edition
English translation v02. Greek source v01: Molly Whittaker, second revised edition, 1967; Patristic Text Archive (2018), Annette von Stockhausen — conversion to CTS-compliant PTA TEI and markup of places and persons. Technical derivative: Stromata Editions, 2026-09-29. Fixed version ef861ab3.
Dotted underlining marks editorial supplied spans in the selected source and the corresponding translation, including partial spans. The sign alone does not establish the intervention’s nature or necessarily indicate a conjecture. Original square brackets are preserved.
Latin ending: the ancient Vulgata edited by Adolphus Hilgenfeld, Hermae Pastor (Leipzig, 1873), pp. 155–164; project source HER-ENDING-SOURCE-v01. Hilgenfeld took the insertion in Sim. 10.2.4 from the Palatina and added habet himself. The Greek digital source’s license does not automatically cover the Latin edition or the translations.
The translation is a reviewed working version following an AI editorial pass; human philological review is not claimed.
The reproduced Greek source and its technical derivative: CC BY-SA 4.0. Whitespace adapted for reading; words and diacritics preserved. Attribution does not imply endorsement of Stromata by PTA contributors.
Vulgata · Hilgenfeld 1873 · StromataPTA · ef861ab3CC BY-SA 4.0
← Hermas edition hub