glorious purpose, and let us crave His mercy and loving-
CLEMENT OF RoME
than sackcloth, and should you turn to me with all your heart and say, " Father!" I will listen to you as a consecrated
People. 4 And in another passage He says as follows: *° Wash and be cleansed and put away from your souls the wickedness which offends my eyes, rid yourselves of your evil doings, learn to do good, strive for justice, rescue the oppressed, sustain the rights of the orphan, and see justice done to the widow. Then come and let us argue together," says the Lord; and should your sins be like purple, I will make them white as snow; and should they be like scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing and do not listen to me, the sword shall devour you.
Thus has the mouth of the Lord spoken. 5 It follows that He wants all His beloved to have a chance to be converted, and this He has ratified by His Almighty Will.
9. Therefore let us comply with His magnificent and glorious purpose, and let us crave His mercy and lovingkindness on bended knee, and turn to His compassion, after abandoning our vain efforts and our strife and the jealousy which but leads to death. 2 Let us fix our gaze upon those who have ministered so perfectly to His transcendent glory.
3 Let us take Enoch** who proved irreproachable in obedience and was translated without a trace of his death. 4 Noe" proved faithful in discharging his sacred duty and preached a rebirth for the world, and through him the Master saved all those living beings that peacefully entered the Ark.
10. Abraham, called the Friend,** proved faithful in being obedient to the words of God. 2 Through obedience this man quit his country, his kith and kin, and his father's house, in order that by turning his back upon a little country, a slender relationship, and a small home, he might inherit the