Canons of S. Simon the Canaanite 2nd recension

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. This is the Synod of the Fathers, the pure and holy Apostles. The first ordinance of the priesthood of Simon the Canaanite, concerning the ordinance of the Church. [1] The Archbishop shall bless and shall not be blessed; and likewise, a bishop shall bless and shall not be blessed, except by the Archbishop. And a bishop shall bless and shall be blessed by a bishop. Moreover, it is he who blesses the bishops and who ordains them. And they (the bishops) shall place their hands upon the head of the people. And no one shall place his hand upon heads except the Archbishop. And it is he who performs the laying on of hands for all, and he who receives the laying on of hands in his presence receives the blessing. A priest shall not perform the laying on of hands, nor shall he ordain anyone. And priests and monks shall not be in the laying on of hands of ordinations. Laymen and women together, if they are monks in their own ordinations, they shall go. And everything that they have received and that has come to them in monasticism, it is likewise abundant for them.

The archbishop is he who shall ordain for him whom he chooses ordination from among bishops, and episcopoi, and priests, and deacons, and all the clergy, and from among the laity. If they have gone out from the ordinance of righteousness and have rebelled against Christ, and have changed the order and have altered the law of the Church, and have made for themselves a law which we have not ordained for them, we shall ordain them not. But if there is an archbishop like him, he does not choose to ordain him, and he is not able to do so without the presence of episcopoi who are like him, and the assembly of episcopoi. A priest shall bless and shall lay his hand upon deacons, and upon those who are presented to them from among the people, and he shall not bless one who is presented from among them. And he who receives the blessing from him who blesses him, as an episcopos and a bishop and an archbishop, and from a priest like him, by his hand and not by his own head. And it is fitting for him to lay his hand upon the head of the people, for men and for women, and he shall not give the Eucharist, and he shall not administer the mystery, and he shall not perform the ordination of the Eucharist from among those who are presented to him when they choose ordination.

A deacon shall not bless, and shall not give a blessing, but only receives a blessing from a bishop and a priest. And it is not permitted for him to baptize or to offer the Eucharist to those who are above him in rank. And when a bishop and a priest offer, he also offers and brings the people to the Eucharist, but a deacon does not offer as a priest offers; not as a bishop and a priest, but as a lower clergy, in the sign of the cross. And he shall not place his hand in the Eucharistic offering until the priest or bishop consecrates it for him. And one who errs from the deacons, they shall not beat him; he shall perform the work of deacons. And deacons shall not bless anyone, and shall do nothing that priests do, and they shall guard the vessels at the time of the Eucharist and baptism. And deacons shall command those who are beneath them for the service of the church, but he who is above him in rank shall not command. And it is not permitted for a priest to perform the prayer alone without a deacon, and he shall not be in the absence, and he shall not command in the church without a priest. But a priest shall be after a bishop, who commands and rules in the name of the Lord, if there is no archpriest.

[2] 2. What the holy apostles Matthew and Simon commanded concerning tithes and first fruits. The holy apostles say: All first fruits that are offered to God from animals and cattle, and wine, and the first of fruits, and whatever is similar, and that are brought to the bishop and to the priest and also to the deacon, if there is no priest, and it shall be for their sustenance and their provision, and what they permit for their wives, and what remains from the tithes, they shall distribute for the sustenance of those who are left and for the poor. And as for first fruits from animals, they are for the priests alone and for those who serve them. And likewise they shall do with the remainder of the offering also, by the permission of the bishop and the priest; the deacons shall distribute it. And for the bishop, from all that remains, four parts; and for the priest, three parts; and for the deacon, two parts; for those who are left, one each. For this is good before God, that you honor every person according to the measure of his rank, and the first among the priests shall not be less than the others in anything for himself, nor shall the two of them be of one soul, for the law of God and the Church is not without order. It is not that it is good order and known in its own degrees according to the measure of their dwelling, for thus is the dwelling of the heavenly ranks. And likewise also he showed us and commanded us from the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the life-giving Lord who dwells upon us.

3. The commandment of Paul to all faithful men and faithful women concerning prayer. All faithful men and faithful women, when morning comes, shall not perform work without first washing their hands with water and purifying themselves, and praying to the Lord their Creator with humility and lowliness before the Lord. And if a matter of boasting should precede a matter of good, it is better than every work. And the faithful shall assist one another in their works with love and harmony, as we commanded and taught in our epistle, and as we told him who fears the Lord. 4. The commandment of Peter and Paul, the chiefs of the apostles, concerning the rest that is due on feast days. We remind you, O faithful in Christ, that you should rest on the feasts of the Lord, and that servants should rest on two days of the week, namely Saturday and Sunday, both together, and they should rest on them for the sake of the holy church and the hearing of scriptures and commandments. I, Peter, and I, Paul, the apostles of Jesus Christ, have commanded that servants shall work five days of the week and rest on Saturday and Sunday, and go to church for the prayer of the Lord and for fear of him.

And as for rest, on the Sabbath day, know that God completed all work and creation, and on that day he rested and commanded that no work be done on it. And he said, "Keep the Sabbath days, for it is a sign of the law and a sign between me and you for your generations." And know that I, God, am your God who sanctified you. And keep the Sabbath and purify it for yourselves. And whoever does work on it, let him die; and whoever does work on it, let him be cut off from his people. Do your work for five days, and two days—these are the Sabbath and Sunday—which God sanctified. And make a covenant for this until eternity, and a sign forever. For the Sabbath is the completion of the days and of the creation of the world, and Sunday is the first of the days. As God said to the faithful, "Those who keep my Sabbaths and fulfill my will and persevere in my covenant, I will give them a place in my house and a dwelling near my sanctuary, and a name that will surpass children and grandchildren, and I will give them a name that will endure forever.

And the children of strangers, who will come to the Lord and be circumcised for him and love the name of the Lord, will become servants for him. And all those who keep my Sabbaths and do not defile them, their fathers, in my holy mountain, and I will cause them to rejoice in my house of prayer. And their offering and their sacrifice will be pure for my pleasure upon my altar, for my house is called a house of prayer for all the people. As the Lord your God said, "Keep righteousness in judgment, and hear justice, for the coming of my salvation is near, and the revelation of my righteousness is swift." Blessed is the man who does this work and perseveres in it, and keeps the Sabbath and does not work, and keeps his hand from the work of men. And if you have defiled your foot from the Sabbath and do not do my pleasure on my holy day, and you merely eat on the Sabbath, you will be guilty, for the holy day is for the Lord your God. And honor it, and do not travel on it, and do not do on it what is not necessary for you, and do not go to vanity. Trust in the Lord, for the Lord has spoken in this. Know that the hand of the Lord does not tire and does not become heavy, and his ear is not weary of hearing. And he merely desired between you and between judgment of your sins, and because of your sins he turned his face away from you, as if he does not hear you. And he commanded that they not do work on it, and he appointed the end of the days. And likewise, from the work of the world.

And as for rest, on the day of Sunday, we know that God first made and created all creation and completed it in his perfection, and he appointed it as the first and the beginning, as the book says which was our Lord Christ’s completion and fulfillment. And it is also the beginning of the spiritual New Gospel for the new people. And he chose and first appointed the day of light and shadow for the authority of his word, and the day of life for the new creation, and the life of the world in his resurrection. And it is also the first day from the last day, as the first day was from the day of creation, and the first day from the new ordinance, because on it there will be value. And he named the day of Sabbath as the place of darkness which he created first, and he first appointed and made the night and made it a rest for the living and the dead. And he named the day of Sunday as the place of light for the living, and that day is the one on which our Lord Christ rose from the dead and showed his light upon the earth, and the light was known from the light to the peoples, and he made light and law.

And we command again that the servants and the faithful rest during the week of Pascha, for it is a week of mourning, and they rest again during the week after it, for it is a week of joy and the resurrection of Christ and the salvation of the world from error, for they desire to teach them and to make them know how the resurrection occurred and was manifested, and they recount the story of him who was crucified, suffered, was buried, and rose on the third day, and the prophecy of the prophets was fulfilled upon him. And they rest again on the feast of the Forty [days] because of what was the command of Christ and his ascension into the heavens. And again they rest on the day of Sunday, which is the completion of the fifty days, because of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, which was given to those who believe in Christ. And again they rest on the day of the Annunciation because of the salvation which he brought to Adam and to his descendants from Mary the Virgin. And again they rest on the day of the Nativity, for the grace of God on that day was given to humanity, which those who were from the beginning of creation celebrate, and on it the Word appeared, which from eternity was clothed in flesh on earth for the salvation of the world; he is Jesus Christ, who was born of Mary the Virgin, who is pure from impurity and filth.

And again they shall rest on the day of Epiphany, which is the Baptism, wherein the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ appeared to all people in the River Jordan in the light of his divinity, and therein the heaven was opened and a voice was heard, the Father speaking to his Son on that day, saying, "This is my beloved Son, whom I have named, and to him listen and obey him." And the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, descended upon him in the form of a dove, and witnesses, and all people, while they saw and heard all this. And again they shall rest on the feast of Simeon, which is the feast of the Presentation, for on that day Simeon the priest received him upon his hands, and again, while his eyes were heavy from old age, for it was said to him that he would not die until he saw with his eyes the Messiah the Saviour. And they shall rest on the day of the Transfiguration, for on Mount Tabor our Lord Christ appeared and showed us the glory of his divinity, and we, the apostles, saw him together with Moses and Elijah.

And again they shall rest on the day of the commemoration of the Apostles, for they are your teachers of the commandment of Christ and your bestowers of the gift of the Holy Spirit. And again they shall rest on the feast of Stephen, the chief of the martyrs and deacons and their protomartyr, and for all the martyrs likewise, for to the martyrs and the saints it is fitting that they honour them for the sake of Christ, those who preferred his love to their own lives. [5] 5. Commandment of the Apostles concerning the observance of the times of prayer and the hours. Stand for prayer from before dawn, while it is three hours of the night, and the morning prayer at dawn, and the prayer of the third hour, and the prayer of the sixth hour, and the prayer of the ninth hour, and the evening prayer at sunset, and the second prayer after sunset at the third hour, and the midnight prayer. Now prayer from before dawn, while it is three hours, is because at that hour we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for his begetting, and at that hour the children of light know this good work.

And as for prayer, in the morning, while you glorify God for having brought light and dew to the table and for having instilled fear of the night and darkness. And as for prayer, at the third hour, because for Christ at that hour they condemned him to death, and he was the guide for the salvation of Adam and his children. And as for prayer, at the sixth hour, because at that hour Christ was crucified on the cross, and he spread out his hands and wiped away sin. And as for prayer, at the ninth hour, because at that hour Christ gave up his spirit, and the earth quaked, and the covering of the tabernacle was torn, and the sun was darkened, and the whole world became dark. And as for prayer, in the evening, give thanks from yourselves to God for having brought you rest of the night and revelation, and for having removed from you the thirst and labor of the day. And as for prayer, of the night, that you may ask God to protect you from the wickedness of the children of darkness and to save you from the snares of the cunning enemy and from evil thought, because at that hour demons converse with people and instill evil thought into their hearts.

And if you are unable to go to the church, from fear of the pagans, pray these prayers in your dwelling, and do not enter the churches of the wicked who are not righteous, for as David the prophet said in his interpretation: "I have hated the assembly of the wicked, and I will not dwell with the righteous, for the place does not sanctify the person, but the person sanctifies the place." And if the place is of pagans, flee from it, for it is impure; and as pure priests sanctify the faithful in Christ who are righteous of heart, so also the wicked defile holy places. And if you are able to gather in the church, and not in the bishop's dwelling, let each one of you pray in his dwelling, or with two or three, for it is said: "Where two or three are gathered, there I am among them." And the faithful shall not pray with the heretics in one house, for it is not fitting that one who partakes should pray with one who does not partake; and the faithful shall not assemble with the heretics, nor pray with them. Who has joined light with darkness? And there is no communion for the Lord with the servant.

[6] The Sixth Commandment: Of Paul and James, the Apostles, concerning those who have died, the commemoration of the dead, and how the commandment is to be performed for them. The commemoration of the dead is to be performed on the third day for those who have died. We tell you, O believers, with prayer concerning him who died, Christ, and rose on the third day. And again it is to be performed on the seventh day for the commemoration of the living and the dead. And again it is to be performed on the thirtieth day; this is the completion of the month, a custom which is after, because the children of Israel mourned over Moses the prophet for thirty days. And again they shall perform it at the completion of the year, and they shall give from their possessions to the poor and the needy for the sake of their souls. And we do not command that this be done for the old and the heretics, but we command this for the people of gift, and of freedom, and of faith. And concerning the deniers of the Messiah of the Lord God, when his coming is in the fullness of the earth and in all that is within the world, if they are counted, what is he? He who was in his life an enemy of the Lord God, and like him he is in his death also, because there is no equality for him before the Lord God, and he is evil and does not love righteousness, and does not judge with justice, and he oppresses every man according to his deed.

[7] The Seventh Commandment: Concerning those who are invited to the feast, what is to be done on the day of the commemoration of those who have died, the faithful. When you are invited, O priests, to the commemoration of the dead, where a meal and drink are to be performed, go to them, while you fear God, with great reverence, love, and dignity, and with humility, as is fitting for your likeness. And eat according to their custom; those who wish may ask God on behalf of the one for whom the meal was made, because you are priests and deacons in the church of Christ. And it is fitting for you to be vigilant in the discipline of your head and of others, for thus says the Scripture: "For the strong, on their account, a hundred; and on this account, it is not fitting for them to drink wine, as it is not fitting to despise wisdom." And they shall increase in justice and stand in this. Now it is known that bishops, priests, and deacons are those who, after God the Father and His Son, love the strong in the church of God. And this we say: it is not that they should not drink wine for the sake of pleasure, for it is an abomination to the creation of God; but we say only that they should not become drunk with wine excessively, for the Scripture commanded the early fathers that they should not drink wine for pleasure, but it says: "Drink wine for sobriety.

[7] The Seventh Commandment: Concerning those who are invited to the feast, what is to be done on the day of the commemoration of those who have died, the faithful. When you are invited, O priests, to the commemoration of the faithful, what is to be done? It is written in the book: "For whom is the alelotu? And for whom is the tedemro? And for whom is the teʿaqbo? And for whom is the weakness and loss? And for whom shall his eyes become like a vessel? And for whom is he who has no cause? Is not all this for him who multiplies drink and wine and who sits in his drunkenness?" Therefore, be far from this, and beware of gluttony, and do not do what will harm you. [8] The Eighth Commandment: Concerning those who are persecuted on account of their faith and who flee from fear of those who persecute them. There shall be no joy for all those who are persecuted on account of their faith and who flee from country to country and who remember the word of Christ, which says: "When they persecute you from a country, flee to another, for you will be saved." For their soul was good in faith, and their body was also weak from the torture of punishment, and they fled, and the purity of their mind was known, for they endured the plundering of their goods and the destruction of their houses, like a martyr. Their faith in Christ and the martyrs will help them, for such as these, as they fulfill the commandment of our Lord and are strengthened in it.

[9] The Ninth Word: The Word of the Holy Apostles concerning the Observance of the Order of the Degree of Priesthood We remind you, O priests who have believed, of the heavenly work, which is perfected by angels. Do not change your dwelling-place and the grace which has been entrusted to you. And let each one of you be in the work which the Lord has chosen for him. And this is the commandment of the Lord, who said: "All good gift and spiritual grace is from above, from the Father of Light." And our Lord Christ said to us: "He who hears you, hears me; and he who hears me, hears the one who sent me. And he who despises you, despises me." And if there are those who have no understanding and heart, they observe their works and their order as they have been commanded. Now, the night does not overcome the day in observing the commandment and the work; and the sun does not overcome the moon, as it has been commanded; and the stars, the seasons, the times, the rivers, the months, the weeks, the days, and the hours, they abide each in their own order, not as it is said in the book of the Lord, who gave them a commandment, and they do not transgress. And again he said concerning the sea: the Lord gave it a commandment and a boundary with a shore and a limit, and he said to it: "Come only thus far, and do not exceed your measure." It is fitting for you to be obedient and not to transgress in anything from what has been ordained for you and commanded you by the Lord.

And moreover, concerning the many who transgress this ordinance and violate it, and who presume and dare to take the bond of priesthood and ascend to a rank which is not rightfully theirs, and not from the Lord, and He gave it to them, and they became oppressors of the Lord, like the men of Qoreh in their wickedness, those who transgressed the commandment of the Law, and like Uzziah the king, who acted without authority and without gift from the Lord, and appointed himself priest and offered incense in the Temple, and was stricken with leprosy; and as for Uzziah, he was clothed with the garment of leprosy. And everyone who acts like them, he opposes Christ, who commanded good works; and likewise the Holy Spirit, for they desire to hear judgment upon themselves; and likewise they shall receive severe punishment, and there shall be upon them a curse from the Lord, for they see what will happen because of the transgression concerning the Eucharist which they offer to those who are not worthy, and they consider the priesthood as a plaything, and they do not know that it is the likeness of the priesthood of Christ our God. And from now on, for him who has become as we have told you, by transgressing against this, he shall not receive a portion, for it is not lawful; he shall guard the priesthood and tell the people what exists, what is fitting, according to the counsel of his elders.

Moses, his servant, did for the Lord what is greater than the prophets, whom the Lord spoke to face to face, as one man speaks to another, and He said to him, "Behold, I know you among the people," and He did not reveal Himself to him through dreams, nor through visions, nor through divination, nor through the message of angels, but by His grace upon his servant. And thus he established a law which he received from the Lord, and he divided it according to what is fitting for the high priest and for the priests, according to what is fitting for them, and the Levites shall perform, and he divided every portion from it, and as it is fitting for the steward of the sanctuary by his message, and he established it there. And what was from the work of the high priests, the priests shall not approach it, and he did not command them in that same law. And everything that was the work of the priests, the Levites shall not approach it. Likewise, for everyone of their kind, a guardian who guards, and for himself he guards according to what was commanded in the guard, while not transgressing. And everything that transgressed in any way from that command, they shall kill him.

And likewise, it is known from the story of Saul the king, for when he spared the sheep of Amalek and transgressed the command of the Lord and His ordinance, and appointed himself to offer sacrifice while Samuel the prophet, who was the high priest, was not with him, and he set himself up without the high priest who had been given to him, and judgment fell upon him; that is sin and curse, for he asked the prophet whom he had hidden from the kingdom to offer sacrifice before him, for he was a priest of the Lord in truth. And the Lord showed how it was with Uzziah the king in his deed in his time, for when he transgressed the command, judgment fell upon him, and he became a leper; and when he became a usurper over the priesthood, which was not for him, his kingdom was taken away, which was revealed in him, and he became cut off from him and separated from his presence. And what happened to the prophet will not be hidden from you, for you know that the prophets, bishops, priests, and deacons are known, upon whom we have laid our hands and placed our hands upon their heads, that they may purify the heavenly and guide them over their ranks, for not every day is a sacrifice of the Eucharist performed, but only when we do thus for one whom the Lord has called and appointed, and he has become a man of good deeds and has been chosen thus.

And when again he was chosen, and the practice again of law and ordinance from the portion called the order of priesthood, by one name and alone, as we have learned from our Lord, abolish every practice. And because of this, we have magnified for the bishop the fullness of priesthood, and for the priest the evangelist, and for the deacon it is fitting for both of them that the work of the church be fulfilled in purity. For it is not permitted for the deacon to offer the offering with his hand, nor to baptize baptism, nor to bless the people a second time with the great blessing, nor the lowly. And as for the priests, among them the fullness is fulfilled, for it is not permitted for them to change the ordinance. And like this, the command of God is blessed and his name is exalted. And it shall not be without ordinance, but with good ordinance and with command, as the free angels are humble, and they perform the work of the free heaven, those who are exalted above them, and they become armies below, in the likeness of the armies above.

All that he has done, which we have commanded, is his; and he shall take a higher rank than himself, and he has done for himself by his own will a new law, and he does not know that he heaps judgment upon his soul from the Lord our God. And we have declared their judgment in our sixth book, where the ordinance of judgment is found, for it is not for us to judge him. And no one among the bishops, but only the bishop who is greater, who is the one who sees all, shall judge him. And for the church at all times, this is our Lord Jesus Christ our God. Moses, the beloved of God, who loved God with a perfect love, appointed him chief of priests and Levites; and Christ our Savior appointed for us the twelve apostles: I, Philip, and I, James, and with us the others, who are trustworthy among us, the chief priests of three orders, and priests and deacons of three orders, and deacons of three orders, together with deacon and subdeacon and anagnostes.

And the first among the army of the high priests is the one Christ, who ordained the priesthood for himself, and only the Father appointed him priest forever, because when he became a man like us, he offered himself as a spiritual sacrifice to the Lord God by his own hand. And he, the Son, commanded us, for our part, to do as he did, while he was with us in the great mystery, while we believe in him. And so, everyone who believes in him is appointed a priest in faith, or is appointed a high priest. And only we, after he ascended into heaven, offered as he commanded us a pure sacrifice without blood, and we appointed from among ourselves bishops, priests, and deacons, who were the seven from among them: Stephen, Philip, Anocoron, Niquaron, Timona, Piermona, and Niqualewomu. These are the seven deacons. For it came to pass that one of us, through the love of God, showed zeal in the fear of God and the love of our Lord Christ, because he himself desired his soul and shed his blood and gave his life to the murderous Jews, and they stoned him with stones and killed him. And then, a marvel occurred in his presence, and while it was thus, and there was a radiance in spirit until the time they stoned him, he saw the gates of heaven open, and he saw our Lord Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father, and he was in his glory and his gift until he saw this.

And he did not delay, from his youth, nor from his angels, nor did he offer the oblation, nor did he lay his hand upon anyone, nor did he bless a person, but he only kept the work of a deacon until the time of his death, and in that he reached God. Woe to this one, for he is the one who errs and repeats, so that it may be as it is, and they keep the good ordinance. For the matter was known concerning Philip and Ananias, and he said that Philip baptized the servant of the Queen of Ethiopia, and Ananias baptized Paul, and we say and we have preceded the commandment and we have commanded that no one among men may anoint himself to the order of priesthood for himself, unless it is given to him from God, as Melchizedek the priest and James the brother of our Lord, who received the priesthood from God, or he who receives from the high priest, as Aaron who received the priesthood from Moses, as God commanded him. Now it is known from this matter that Philip and Ananias, who preceded us in speaking, did not anoint themselves, nor anything, but they were only sent to baptize and received the priesthood from the high priest, who is Jesus Christ, who has no equal, and from whom nothing is hidden, and with whom no one can contend, to whom belong praise, greatness, and glory forever. Amen.

16. Command of Paul concerning those who come to our mystery. I, Paul, the least of the apostles, remind you of this ordinance of fifteen. 1. Command. Everyone who has loved shall join with us and share himself within our mystery. They shall bring them, the deacon shall bring them to the priest or to the bishop, and the bishop or priest shall ask them for what reason they have loved to enter within our law. And the deacon who examines them shall inquire concerning their deeds, and shall look into their counsel, and shall ask concerning their good ordinance. And if they are servants or handmaidens, and if one of them is a servant of a faithful man, they shall ask concerning that faithful one about him, whether his ordinance is good. And if his master is obedient in his freedom and in his good ways, they shall entrust him to him after the deacon has examined him, and if not, he shall stand. And if he is a servant of an unbeliever, they shall ask his master concerning him and shall know him, whether he is good, and they shall not do it hastily, lest it be for pride and corruption, but it shall be for good and for freedom.

2. Command. And if there is a man who has a wife, or a woman who has a husband, they shall teach them that they may be restrained between themselves. And if there are those who commit adultery, they shall teach them and rebuke them that they may not commit adultery, but they shall marry according to the law, as we have commanded. And if the lord is faithful and knows that they commit adultery and does not prevent it, or if there is a time of the end of adultery, he does not prevent them, and if he does not act, he shall be expelled. 3. Command. And if there is a man who has a demon and desires to enter into our law, they shall teach him the fear of God first, and they shall heal him, and he shall not approach the offering until he is cleansed and the demon departs from him. And if death approaches, they shall commend him and forgive him and bring him near. 4. Command. If there is a man who lives in adultery and is a servant, he is accustomed to it, they shall rebuke him and reprove him, and he shall abandon filth and sin and enter. And if he does not do this, he shall be expelled.

5. Command. Likewise, every woman who is a widow, if she abandons adultery and is chaste, and if not, she shall be expelled. 6. Command. If there is a man who makes an idol and an image of stone or wood or bronze or silver or of iron or of gold or of crystal, if he is with us within our law, he shall abandon his work; and if not, he shall be excommunicated. 7. Command. If there is a man or a woman from among the pagans, and they wish to enter into our law, if the man is a sorcerer or a diviner or a drunkard or a poisoner or one who practices usury or one who teaches songs or one who leads to adultery, they shall abandon their works. And likewise, a woman, if she is a procuress or a dancer for adultery or a usurer or a singer or a flute-player or a harlot or one who teaches likewise or those who sow discord among people or slanderers or those who resemble these in deeds, they shall rebuke them and admonish them, and they shall go the way of the faithful; and if not, they shall not receive them.

8. Command. If there is a man from among the sorcerers, and he enters into our canon, he shall abandon divination and augury and incantation and enchantment and magic, and he shall dwell in his own house. And if he abandons this practice, they shall receive him; and if not, he shall be expelled. 9. Command. If there is a man who has taken a believing woman, and he commits evil with his body, or fornication, or adultery, or sodomy, or bestiality, or he conjures spirits, or observes the stars, or is a charmer with the eye, or a magician, or a slanderer, or one who speaks ambiguous words, or one who tells by a sign and his face towards the one who asked him, or a diviner by birds, or one who seals upon his hands and his feet with a brand, and makes marks and brands and writes upon himself the sign of the beast, or by lot concerning a sound which he heard, or a matter, or by what he saw, or by a dream, by which he claims to know—for all this is from the pagans and the wicked, and in them are books, as it seems to them, by which they claim to know concerning life and death—they shall not receive them into our canon until they have corrected them and tested them. If they repent concerning what was done by them, and if they abandon and turn away, they shall receive them; and if not, they shall be expelled.

10. Command. If there is a woman who keeps [a man] who does not believe, if she keeps herself for him alone, she shall be accepted; and if she takes another, she shall be excommunicated. 11. Command. If there is a man who was a sorcerer and entered into our canon, and he has a wife or a maidservant, he shall separate from her, for he is a Christian, and he shall marry her according to the law, as we have commanded. If, however, he loves her, he shall write for her a bill of divorce first, and afterwards he shall marry her. And if she is a free woman, he shall marry her according to the law. And if he does not do thus, he shall be expelled. 12. Command. If there is a man from among us who does evil or believes like the Jews and does as they do, he shall be left and excommunicated; and if not, he shall be expelled. 13. Command. He who desires the faithful in Christ shall be in the number of those who do good, and he shall fast with fasting and purity, and he shall examine himself for three years. And if there is a man who has spiritual authority and pure skill, he shall be accepted, for this work shall not be done hastily, but shall be done with good intention and fasting and examination.

14th Command. If there is a man who defiles his lust in a place of prayer, or learns to kill, or fights, or causes sheep and goats to be scattered with another, or where horses are trained and a river in a field they abandon these and defile themselves from him and commit this deed, for it is a deed of pagans, and if not, he shall be expelled. 15th Command. If there is a layman who teaches people for good, let him be chaste in his word and free in his body, and let him not be angry, and let him be gentle in his tongue, and then he shall teach people after he himself [is so], for our Lord said in the Holy Gospel: "First remove the beam and the mote from your eye, and then remove [the mote] from the eye of your brother." And concerning freedom he speaks, and they shall be teachers from God.