Didascalia Apostolorum

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DIDASCALIA. 1 5 honoured thee by giving thee spiritual food and the water of everlasting life, much more must thou offer him perishable and temporal food, for the labourer is worthy of his hire. The ox that grinds thou shalt not muzzle ; and no one planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of its fruit. Jude the son of James1 said, My son, do not make schisms ; calm those who are quarrelling, and judge righteously. Be no respecter of persons in reproving a man who is in fault, for riches can have no power with the Lord, nor does the Lord give more honour to dignities, nor has beauty any advantage, but there is equality of all these things with Him. In thy prayer do not doubt which of them shall be yea or nay. Let it not be that thou shouldest stretch out thine hand in order to receive, whilst2 the hand that giveth thou contractest2. If there be [aught] f- n a in thy hands, give the redemption of thy sins, and do not hesitate to give, nor when thou givest murmur and tell. Know then who is the good payer of thy reward. Turn not thy face from the needy ; share with thy brother in all things, and say not that they are thine own, for if ye are sharers in immortal things how much more in those that are perishable ? Bartholomew said, We then persuade you, my brethren, that while it is yet time, and whilst ye have among you some of the things by which ye work, ye should not spare yourselves in anything whatever of what ye have, for the day of the Lord is at hand in which all these things will be destroyed together with the Wicked One. For our Lord shall come, and His reward with Him. To yourselves then be lawgivers ; be good counsellors of yourselves, taught of God. Keep these things that thou hast received, not adding to them, and also not diminishing from them. Matthia* said about the Readers. Let a Reader be appointed, having first been proved by many probations, not a talkative man, not a drunkard, not a speaker of laughable things ; of good manner, of good disposition, persuadable, of good will ; who in the Lord's congregations on Sundays runs first, good at hearing, and as a maker of narratives ; who knows that he takes the place of an Evangelist. Cod. Harris 2. Peter said, Brethren, other things concerning admonition the Scriptures teach, but let us command and teach the things that we have been commanded. All of them said, Let Peter speak. Peter said, If there be (M + few people in a place,) and not many (M + such as can make choice about a Bishop, nearly twelve men, let them write to those Churches that are near, where there is a Church founded, so that from thence 1 C.M.+ Cephas. 2 C. with the hand that giveth thou easiest lots. 3 In the Mosul Codex this speech is given to James, and comes somewhat later, after that of John, p. 1 6.