Hermas, Shepherd, Parable 2

I was walking through the field, looking at an elm and a vine and thinking about them and their fruit, when the Shepherd appeared to me. He asked, "What are you debating within yourself about the elm and the vine?" I replied, "Lord, I am discussing it because they are remarkably suited to each other." He said, "These two trees are set as a pattern for the servants of God." I told him, "Lord, I want to understand the pattern of these trees you speak of." He asked, "Do you see the elm and the vine?" I answered, "Yes, Lord, I see them." He explained, "This vine bears fruit, but the elm is a barren tree. However, if this vine does not climb up onto the elm, it cannot bear much fruit lying thrown on the ground, and whatever fruit it does produce is rotten because it is not suspended on the elm. But when the vine is thrown upon the elm, it bears fruit both from itself and from the elm. So do you see that the elm also yields a great deal of fruit, not less than the vine, but actually more?" I asked, "How can it be more, Lord?" He said, "Because the vine hanging on the elm produces abundant good fruit, but thrown on the ground it yields only a little rotten fruit."

He continued, "This parable is set for the servants of God, for the poor and the rich." I said, "Lord, make it known to me." He said, "Listen. The rich man has money, but he is poor toward the Lord, distracted by his own wealth. He has very little prayer and confession to the Lord, and what he does have is feeble, small, and lacks power. But when the rich man approaches the poor man and supplies what he needs, he believes that by working for the poor man he will find his reward from God. For the poor man is rich in prayer and confession, and his prayer has great power with God. The rich man therefore supplies the poor man with everything without hesitation. The poor man, being supplied by the rich man, prays to God, giving thanks on behalf of the one who gave to him. And the rich man keeps caring for the poor man so that his life may continue uninterrupted, because he knows that the poor man's prayer is acceptable and rich toward the Lord. Both, then, complete the work. The poor man works by means of the prayer in which he is rich, which he received from the Lord; he gives this back to the Lord who supplies him. And the rich man, in the same way, provides the wealth he received from the Lord to the poor man without hesitation. This is a great and acceptable work before God, because he made good use of his wealth and labored for the poor man from the Lord's gifts and carried out the ministry correctly."

He added, "Among people, the elm appears not to bear fruit, and they do not know or understand that when drought comes, the elm, having water, sustains the vine, and the vine, having uninterrupted water, yields double fruit — both for itself and for the elm. So also the poor, interceding for the rich before the Lord, fill up their wealth, and again the rich, supplying the poor with what they need, fill up their prayers. They become, then, both partners in the work of righteousness. The one who does these things will not be abandoned by God, but will be written in the books of the living. Blessed are those who possess and understand, because they are enriched by the Lord; for the one who understands this will be able to serve something good."