top 2 Clement ch 20

Chapter 20

1 Ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐκεῖνο τὴν διάνοιαν ὑμῶν ταρασσέτω, ὅτι βλέπομεν τοὺς ἀδίκους πλουτοῦντας καὶ στενοχωρουμένους τοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ δούλους. But don’t let it trouble your mind, that we see the unrighteous possessing wealth, and the servants of God are hard pressed.
2 πιστεύωμεν οὖν, ἀδελφοὶ καὶ ἀδελφαί·

θεοῦ ζῶντος πεῖραν ἀθλοῦμεν καὶ γυμναζόμεθα τῷ νῦν βίῳ, ἵνα τῷ μέλλοντι στεφανωθῶμεν. 		Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters.

We are competing in the contest of a living God and are being trained by the present life in order that we may be crowned in the life to come.
3 οὐδεὶς τῶν δικαίων ταχὺν καρπὸν ἔλαβεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκδέχεται αὐτόν. No righteous person ever received fruit quickly but waits for it.
4 εἰ γὰρ τὸν μισθὸν τῶν δικαίων ὁ θεὸς συντόμως ἀπεδίδου, εὐθέως ἐμπορίαν ἠσκοῦμεν καὶ οὐ θεοσέβειαν·

ἐδοκοῦμεν γὰρ εἶναι δίκαιοι, οὐ τὸ εὐσεβές, ἀλλὰ τὸ κερδαλέον διώκοντες. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεία κρίσις ἔβλαψεν πνεῦμα μὴ ὂν δίκαιον, καὶ ἐβάρυνεν δεσμοῖς. 		For if God had paid the reward of the righteous immediately, then we would soon be engaged in business, not godliness;

for we should seem to be righteous, though we were not pursuing piety but profit.

And because of this, divine judgment impedes a spirit that is not just, and loads it with chains.
5 Τῷ μόνῳ θεῷ ἀοράτῳ, πατρὶ τῆς ἀληθείας, τῷ ἐξαποστείλαντι ἡμῖν τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, δι᾿ οὗ καὶ ἐφανέρωσεν ἡμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν ἐπουράνιον ζωήν, αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν. To the only God invisible, the Father of truth, who sent forth unto us the Savior and Ruler of immortality, through whom He also revealed unto us the truth and the heavenly life, to Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.