Apostolic canons Abṭelisāt (80)

This Synod of the Holy Apostles, which Clement related, and it is the eighty canons which his disciples, of our Lord Christ, compiled, and their number is eighty-one. Canon 1. Concerning the ordination of a Metropolitan Archbishop, and it is fitting that there be bishops for the ordination of the Archbishop. For this is not accomplished without the presence of the assembly of the bishops and the presence of the Patriarch, who is the Bishop. And he shall also speak to those who are in that place, and he shall command the other people by the counsel of their teachers. Canon 2. If a man is brought so that he may be ordained a bishop, and this shall be with the consent of all the people of his country. And the Bishop or Archbishop who ordains him shall have two or three bishops with him for the ordination. For this is what confers authority and the ordination of a priest and a deacon. And he who is inferior to that bishop alone shall ordain them into their ranks according to the order of their priesthood. And he shall be with the consent of those who receive them.

Canon 3. If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon transgresses the law of Christ at the time of the offering, and brings upon the altar honey or milk; and if he brings instead of wine a drink of wine, a drink of sugar, or from fruits which are cooked with fire, or anything else; or from birds or animals, and not anything else which they sacrifice without the offering which our Lord Jesus Christ commanded, except pure bread, fine, good, new, and wine, pure, from the grape which is taken from the vine; and if he does this without these, he shall be deposed from his priesthood and they shall not accept him. And they shall offer again the first fruits of the grain at its time, and the first fruits of the harvest, and the grape of the vine again at its time, when the water fills it and it becomes sweet; and at that time, on the feast which is called the Feast of John, they shall bring it to the altar and offer it, and the grain at its time. And besides this, they shall not bring to the altar anything else, except oil, the oil of myron which God commanded, and the oil of olives with which they anoint, and incense of frankincense whose fragrance is good, which is cinnamon and cassia at the time of the liturgy and prayer, and when they consecrate.

Canon 4. All those who are faithful, concerning themselves, bring the first fruits and the firstborn of their animals to the church, as the Lord commanded. And from the fruits of trees, likewise, and what resembles these, and they bring them to the church, or to the residence of the bishop, for it is his portion, and he alone has authority over it, concerning the offering of the church. And they shall not offer upon the altar from it, nor anything else. And the bishop shall be the one who distributes them to the clergy according to their orders and their offerings. And the clergy shall distribute them to the deacons and to all the servants of the church. Canon 5. Concerning one who wishes to divorce his wife on account of barrenness. It is not permitted for a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon to expel his wife from his house on the pretext of barrenness, and to go to monasticism, and to be separated from her. And whoever has done such a deed, the people shall rebuke him and hinder him from his office. And if he persists in this, he shall be expelled from his rank and shall be deposed.

Canon 5. Concerning priests: they shall not take anything from the offerings except for the Eucharist. No bishop, presbyter, or deacon who is appointed for the service of the church shall engage in worldly business. And if one does so, he shall be deposed a second time and shall be removed from his rank. Canon 6. Concerning Passover: If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or any one of the clergy of the church celebrates Passover before the night and day of the full moon, and in this follows the Jews and celebrates Passover with them on a single day, not on the Sunday that occurs after the Jewish Passover, he shall be deposed from his rank and shall be expelled from it. Canon 7. Concerning one who despises the Eucharist: If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or any one of the clergy of the church does not offer and does not partake of the Eucharist with the people at the time when they complete the liturgy, on account of an excuse, his excuse and his illness shall be examined. And if he is found to have an excuse for neglecting that time, and not for another reason, they shall forgive him. But if he is convicted concerning this, and it becomes a habit, they shall rebuke him and expel him, because he has become a stumbling block to the people and brings shame upon the priest who consecrated the Eucharist, as one who consecrated with a pure mind and right faith.

Canon 9. Concerning one who does not remain until the end of the liturgy. If any person among the faithful who is in the church at the time of the liturgy hears the reading of the holy scriptures and does not wait until they finish the liturgy, and does not partake of the Eucharist, he shall be expelled from the church, for he has violated the law and diminished his stature before the heavenly king. Canon 10. Concerning association with the excommunicated. If any person converses with one who has been forbidden the Eucharist because of excommunication and has been expelled, or who associates with him in prayer, or invites him into his house for the sake of a meal, he shall be expelled and cast out and forbidden. Canon 11. Concerning one who is excommunicated. If any person converses with a priest who has been excommunicated, or a deacon who has been expelled because of fornication or another sin, and prays with him as he would pray with priests in secret, he shall be expelled from the church and forbidden to partake of the Eucharist.

Canon 12. Concerning the flight of priests. If a priest goes from his region to another region without the permission of the bishop who ordained him to the priesthood, they shall not receive him into the number of priests. And if they receive him, he who receives him and he who is received shall both be expelled. And if he is expelled or cast out, and he goes out in that same deed by which he was expelled, on the path of his error, his expulsion shall not be diminished, for he is a fugitive and a scorner of the church of God and of the unity of the faith. Canon 13. Concerning the abandonment of a bishop’s see. If a bishop abandons his throne and his work and his command and the good order that is due to his people, and goes to another region, whether because of affliction or hardship or evil, he shall be expelled and cast out from his office. But if the bishops receive him so that he may dwell with them for the sake of his correction, or for the sake of those whom he may serve in the need of the people of the land that has been established for them, and they receive him in his property there, until he completes his correction.

Canon 14. Concerning how priests shall not be removed from their places. If a priest, whether a presbyter or a deacon, abandons his place and his church, and goes to a place where the bishop, or archbishop, or metropolitan is, without their knowledge, not by the command of his own head, but seeks by his own will or destroys the honor of the people of that region, he shall be deprived of his rank from both places together, and he shall not be counted in the number of priests, but his place shall be among the faithful in the church. And moreover, if the bishop summons him to return to his place, and he does not do this and does not obey, so that he might be sent to his place, he shall be separated from the priests and from their assembly, and his place shall be among the faithful in the church, until he repents and restores the bond of priesthood, and he shall be like the lay faithful. Canon 15. Concerning a bishop who accepts an excommunicated person. And if one of the bishops accepts a man whose conduct and sin are like this, and conceals this deed, and it becomes known for that man to have honor with him, and he places him in the likeness of those who are with him among the priests, that bishop shall be judged, and he shall be with them in the likeness of one who acts in violation of the law, and he shall break the law and the ordinance of the church and its order.

Canon 16. Concerning one who marries two women. If a man from among the priests marries two women, and brings them together, both of them, or keeps one woman secretly, whether together or one after the other, and if the woman dies and he marries another, or marries one who was a virgin, it is not permitted; the bishop, the presbyter, and the deacon, and anyone from the order of the priesthood shall be deposed. Canon 17. Concerning one who marries one who is not suitable for priests. If a man marries a woman who is a widow, or one who has been divorced, or a prostitute, or a maidservant, or a dancer, or a harlot, it shall not be; the bishop, the presbyter, and the deacon, and anyone who is not separated from him from the order of the priesthood shall be deposed. Canon 18. Concerning one who marries one who is not permitted. If a man marries two sisters, or marries the daughter of his sister, or the daughter of his brother, it shall not be; he shall be deposed, and anyone from the order of the priesthood, and he shall be expelled from the church, and there is no communion with the faithful.

Canon 19. Concerning that priests should not marry. If a man from among the priests gives his portion for the sake of his own person, and gives himself to another, or takes another wife as the pagans do, let him be expelled from the church. Canon 20. Concerning the eunuch. If a man who has been castrated by force, or was born thus, or by an act that prevents him, and he is worthy of the episcopate and suitable, let him be appointed for this. Canon 21. Concerning one who castrates himself. If a man who castrates himself by his own will with audacity, let him not be appointed to the order of the priesthood, for he has killed himself and has become an enemy of the creation of God. Canon 22. Concerning one who castrates himself after priesthood. If a man from among the priests castrates himself anew after priesthood, let him be stripped of his office and be expelled from the church for three years, for he has become an enemy of his own life and has loved the death of his soul.

Canon 23. Concerning a believer who has harmed himself. If a believer harms himself, let him be expelled from the church for three years, because he has become an enemy of the creation of God and a killer of his own soul. Canon 24. Concerning a priest who is found in sin. If a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon, or one who is among the orders of the priesthood, is found in fornication, and has lied under oath, or has stolen, let him be deposed from his priesthood, but let him not be expelled from the church, and let him not be among the priests, but within the church, because God has said in Scripture: God does not punish twice for one sin. Canon 25. Concerning the ordination of a priest. If a man who has a wife within the ministry of the church receives the priesthood, we command that he may ordain for the journey, if he wishes this; and there is no other. Canon 26. Concerning a priest, that he should not baptize. If a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon baptizes a believer when he is in sin, or performs a service, or baptizes an unbeliever when he performs a service or celebrates the Eucharist, let him be deposed from his order, so that others may fear him, because we have seen our Lord and God Jesus Christ: when they baptized him, he did not permit it because of the baptism; and likewise, when they reviled him, he did not revile.

Canon 27. Concerning one who lightens a penalty. If a bishop or a presbyter or a deacon who has been expelled from the church because of a sin he committed, or if a penalty of one hundred lashes of a thick whip that causes pain and does not spare has been laid upon him, and he takes his letter of dismissal with patience without fear and does not grieve, and he rejoices in it, having made this agreement, let him be cut off from the church, this one. Canon 28. Concerning how they shall not receive ordination through gifts. If a bishop or a presbyter or a deacon who has obtained ordination and rank, and they are in it through gifts, and on account of money, or he has offered so that he may have money, so that he may be appointed in it through counsel and bribery, do not accept him for the office. And if he dies in his error, let him not be in your midst without a memorial, for he is an idol and a rebel, and he is cursed and excommunicated, and let him be expelled from the church of God. And let them abhor his matter and his teaching, just as I, Peter, abhorred the teaching of Simon the Magician and expelled him from the church of God by the command of the Holy Spirit.

Canon 29. Concerning one who seizes the priesthood by force. If a bishop who has been deposed because of his sin, by the people, or by the princes, or by the rulers of the world, so that they might help him against the command of the church, and he permits by this that the pure and holy people of God, who have given birth to pure property, which is holy baptism, be defiled, and he exalts himself over them without their will, or he seizes for himself a church which is not his, and he is not appointed over it, and in it that church has another archpriest and priests under him, that archpriest is to be deposed, that bishop is to be deposed from the command of that church and from the command of its priests or the monks who are there, without the command of that archpriest who is over them, he is excommunicated and cursed, and he shall be cut off from the church of God, he also, and all those who helped him in this and deceived him.

Canon 30. Concerning a priest who despises the bishop. If a priest who has been appointed by a bishop, on account of the ordination which he received, or on account of a sin which was known, or on account of a judgment which found him, or on account of the humiliation of that same bishop who is pure from evil and from defilement, in righteousness and in goodness according to the law, and he despises him and makes for himself a rival, and he takes from the people and divides the church of God into two parts, he shall be cut off from the church of God, because he loved the people for himself and abandoned the commandment of the bishop, while they rebuke him and excommunicate him. And this they shall do to him, and to all who follow him from among the priests and deacons and all the clergy who are with him. As for the faithful, they shall bring them in without penalty. And this is after the bishop has told these priests and the people, and he goes to their assembly three times, as is fitting, to do according to their deeds. And if they do not listen to him, he shall do this against them.

Canon 31. Concerning how a bishop should not be received who has deposed another. If a priest or a deacon whom a bishop has deposed on account of a word of denial or blasphemy against God, foreign bishops shall not receive him without the judgment of the one who deposed him, unless the one who deposed him has died, or has been removed, or has died. And if he has died, it is fitting for the one who was appointed in his place, and also fitting for a foreigner who is appointed. Canon 32. Concerning bishops. Priests from another place shall not be received without letters of commendation from their region. A bishop shall not receive another bishop, or presbyters, or deacons from another place who have come from distant regions, and he shall not receive them as clergy without the judgment of the one who sent them. If they have letters of commendation, they shall be received in the place where they are needed. And if they have letters, their deeds shall be examined. And if they have witnesses, faithful and good people, as they say, they shall be received with good reception. And if they do not have witnesses as aforesaid, they shall be given what they desire, and they shall not mingle with the children of the holy Church, because it may happen that, like these, many write letters for them while they do not know their subtle understanding.

Canon 33. Concerning the humility of a bishop and the one who ordains him. The one who ordains a bishop shall know the one he ordains, if he is willing, as we have commanded, and he shall examine himself likewise, and he shall humble himself before the people, so that he may know that God is above him. And if it is so, he shall not act, nor anything at all, by his own will, unless he knows the honor of the one above him. Even if he is a metropolitan or an archbishop, he shall not act by his own will without the counsel of the bishops, and this also concerning a great matter. Canon 34. Concerning a bishop, that he should not go to another region. A bishop shall not go to a region where he has not been appointed by the priests and deacons. And if he transgresses and does so, or if he hears that it has happened to him that he has done so, without the permission of the people of that region, he shall be deposed. And also those who sent him.

Canon 35. Concerning what is fitting for a bishop to do. If a man has been ordained bishop and does not stand in the work of a bishop, and does not rise to his rank, and is not accepted by the people, and does not serve the church of God to which he has been appointed, his soul and he who has not taken the commandment as is fitting shall be removed from among them until his work is accepted. And if he has been ordained to the church of God and the people have not accepted him, and he has not become their pastor by their will, but rather the one whom God has chosen and named, and the people of his country hate him, and only the priests hate him through their opposition and hatred, let him not be ordained over them and among them. Likewise, let the bishop be, whether they love or hate him. And if he has been separated from the priests, he is a place for these priests to be deposed, for they have not agreed and have not been commanded in love. Canon 36. Concerning the assembly of bishops twice a year. We have commanded that there be an assembly twice a year, and they shall consult among themselves with the fear of God, and concerning matters that are renewed among them regarding law and the work of their churches, and what is hidden among them they shall reveal and show. And if a judgment among the people is difficult for them, they shall separate it among the people. And the first assembly shall be on the fourth Sunday of Pentecost, which is the month of Bāsona according to the Egyptian calendar, which is Genbot; and the second assembly on the 12th of the month of Baʿāba, which is Ṭeqemt.

Canon 37. Concerning the command of the property of the church. All the property of the church and its vestments shall be in the hand of the bishop. He shall distribute it, guarding it, if it is fitting, and he is a trustworthy man. And he shall be the one who commands and distributes as is fitting, and he shall pasture as the Lord commanded the priests also, according to their residences and their ranks. There is for him who increases and for him who diminishes, and it is not fitting that he do this according to his own will. And he shall not distribute the goods to his beloved ones and his relatives. And if the poor come, he shall give them their sustenance in measure, and not in excess, because it is fitting for him to give to the priests, and he shall not increase the sustenance for himself, and he shall not wear a garment of honor, so that he may not waste the property of the church, and the Lord shall be sought concerning it. Canon 38. Concerning the command of the church for the bishop. He shall not do anything from the priests and deacons, nor anything in the church, without the permission of the bishop, because he is the one who is entrusted over the church of the Lord, and he is the one who is anxious concerning the soul of the people.

Canon 39. Concerning the separation of the property of the bishop and the property of the church. The property of the bishop shall be separate from the property of the church, so that the bishop may have authority over his own property, to do as he wishes, and to give it as inheritance to whomever he wishes and loves from among his relatives, or to bequeath it to the church, if he has much. And he shall not mix his property with the property of the church, nor the property of the church with his property. For if the bishop has a relative, or children, or a wife, or another, or a servant whom he wishes to benefit, and he bequeaths to them as he wishes, this is right before God. And if it is thus, the property of the church shall not be mixed, and the bishop and the heirs who are not his shall not touch it, and they shall not meddle with the property of the church, nor shall the people of the church meddle with the property of the bishop, except what he himself has designated. So that the people of his house and his relatives may not meddle with his property and the property of the church, and cause loss, deceit, and evil report after his death. And he himself shall be a stumbling block to the people of God.

Canon 40. Concerning the bishop, that he be empowered over the property of the church. We command that he be empowered over all the property of the church, if he is trustworthy, for when he is trusted over the soul of man, being honorable and great, it is fitting that he be trusted over the property of the church, that he may distribute it to the priests and deacons, and that he act in the fear of God, with fear and purity. And the bishop also shall take from it the measure of his sustenance, and likewise his brothers the priests, that he may not oppress them nor deprive them of their sustenance, for the law of God has commanded thus. All that is offered for the altar shall be his sustenance from the property of the altar. And likewise the farmers who are commanded in the service of the king shall not be deprived of their sustenance for themselves and for those who depend on them. And the property of his field which he possesses shall be divided in the war of the enemy of the king. Canon 41. Concerning the command to priests to abstain from evil. If a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon is accustomed to cursing and drunkenness, and lives in evil, and does evil, and abandons the doing of good, he shall be removed from his office. And if he does not repent from his habit, and any man of the faithful whose deed is like this, he shall be expelled from the church of God. And any of the priests who has done likewise, or has defended one who does so, it is not fitting that he be rebuked by him; and if he does not repent, he shall be deposed from his priesthood.

Canon 42. Concerning a deacon, whether bishop or priest or deacon, who seeks from one who has found a helper or a deacon, he shall be deposed from his order without appeal. For if he has been entrusted and has abandoned, that is the deed. Canon 43. Concerning association with heretics. Whether bishop or priest or deacon who has prayed with heretics who are called Arians, in the matter of the schism, he shall be removed from his office. For a bishop, he shall be removed by an archbishop or metropolitan; and for a priest, and for one who is beneath him, they shall be removed by the bishop. And if they have repented, they shall be received with him into the sanctuary, and he shall place them in the rank of clergy; he himself also shall be removed from his order. Canon 44. Concerning the baptism of heretics. Whether bishop or priest or deacon who has accepted the baptism of heretics or has approached their offering of the Eucharist, he shall be deposed from his order. For there is no peace for Satan with Christ, and there is no reconciliation for a believer with a heretic, nor friendship with an enemy.

Canon 45. Concerning divorce. If a layman expels his wife from his house without cause, or if he beats her, or if he brings another woman in with her, or if he divorces her through fornication, he shall be expelled from the church. Canon 46. Concerning one who curses the pure. If a bishop or a priest or a deacon or one who is numbered among the priests has refused to receive and has eaten meat and drunk wine as if it were unclean, and has considered himself as one who is alienated from the flock, and as one who has not beaten it nor eaten it, for this reason, and does this in his refusal, because everything that God created is good, each one, and males and females, they are the creation of God, good. And Adam is not the one who despises the creation of God and denies that it is good. His creation shall be cut off from the church of God. And likewise the faithful, and he who has abandoned the path of worship and has been excommunicated and has abandoned desire for fear of God and for his pleasure, and he is abundant for him.

Canon 47. Concerning the sin of one who repents. If a bishop or a priest does not accept the repentance of a sinner when he repents before him, and he is separated from his sin, he shall be cut off from the church of God, because he has transgressed the word of our Lord Christ, who said: "There will be great joy in heaven on account of one sinner who repents and enters to God," because when he enters, it is accepted. Canon 48. Concerning the eating of meat on feast days. If a bishop or a priest or a deacon eats meat and drinks wine during the season of the feasts of Pascha, he shall be cut off from the church of God, because he has become a guide to the corruption of the people and has followed the enemy of Christ. Canon 49. Concerning the eating and drinking of priests on a second path. If a man from among the priests eats meals in taverns, which are a dwelling place of evil ones, and if he drinks an intoxicating drink in a dwelling place of drunkards, and he is found with those who have no goodness—not only that, but if he is a traveler and eats in a lodging house of travelers, or he purchases food and takes it to his lodging, because people are tested on a journey—and if he does not act according to his rank.

Canon 50. Concerning one who curses a bishop. If a man curses a bishop or reviles him and says, “I do not know him,” and sets him as an enemy to be cut off from his rank, and likewise a bishop, if he reviles a priest or curses him in like manner, he shall be cut off. For it is said in the law, “Do not revile the head of your people, do not speak evil, and do not curse.” Canon 51. Concerning one who reviles priests from the people. If a man, whether from the priests or from the faithful, curses a priest or a deacon or reviles them, as we have previously spoken, he shall be separated. Canon 52. Concerning one who mocks the sick. If a man, whether from the priests or the laity, mocks or laughs at a man who is mute, or blind, or deaf, or lame, or sick, or leprous, or mutilated, he shall be punished. For thus says the Lord in the law: “Do not place a stumbling block before the blind, and do not mock the deaf.” And no faithful person who has found mercy from God shall mock, for he who is from God diminishes and lightens, destroys and increases, kills and brings to life, judges and pardons. And if one who does thus is a priest, he shall be punished by removal from his priesthood; and if he is a layman, he shall be denied communion. And this is his penalty, and he is excommunicated from the law of God, both Old and New.

Canon 53. Concerning the rebuke of a person. If a bishop or a priest who has been appointed over a region excommunicates the priests and the people, and does not dismiss them with a command, and does not teach them the fear of God, he shall be removed from among them. And if he persists in the same, he shall be deposed from his rank. Canon 54. Concerning the forgiveness of priests. If a bishop or a priest who has been appointed over a city sees a man from among the priests who is stubborn or excommunicated, and does not give him forgiveness, and does not remove his stubbornness, and does not help him in his affliction, in that he has found him in excommunication, he shall be removed, removed, and he shall find judgment. Canon 55. Concerning books which are not suitable for the church. If a man takes false books which are called Elders, which are enemies of Christ, and brings them into the church, and mixes them with the holy books for the reading and teaching of the people, he shall be expelled from the church and shall be removed.

Canon 56. Concerning fornication and other evil things. If a faithful man falls into excessive fornication openly, until he is like the fornicators, children, and other evil ones, who are like the worship of idols and fornication, they shall rebuke him over his soul, and he shall repent, and he shall not be deposed from any priesthood, if he wishes. And if he repents well, his repentance shall be accepted. Canon 57. Concerning one who denies the law. If a man, whether from the clergy or the laity, denies the law from fear of Jews, pagans, and heretics, and does not perform the work of his law, and becomes a guide for denial and heresy in the name of Christ, he shall be expelled from the church. And if he denies his priesthood, he shall be deposed from his rank. And if he repents, he shall be accepted with the faithful. Canon 58. Concerning eating carrion. If a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon, or another from the clergy eats meat that is not slaughtered, or that which a wolf has killed, or a carcass, or other dead things, he shall be deposed from his office, for this also is forbidden by law. And if a layperson does so, he shall be expelled.

Canon 59. Concerning the fast of Saturday and Sunday. If a man, whether from the clergy or the laity, who has observed a fast on the day of Saturday and the day of Sunday, except for one Saturday, which is the Saturday of Pascha, the priest shall be removed from his office, and the layman from communion. Canon 60. Concerning one who enters a synagogue of the Jews. If a man, priest or layman, faithful, who enters a synagogue of the Jews for prayer, or a church of heretics for healing among them and for prayer, he shall be removed from his rank and shall be expelled from the church. Canon 61. Concerning one who kills without his will. If a man from the clergy who has fought with another man and struck him, and he died by it, he shall be diminished from his office. And if he is a layman, he shall be expelled from the church of God the holy. Canon 62. Concerning one who has violated a virgin. If a man who has seduced a virgin daughter who was betrothed to another, and she was not his, and he has sinned against her soul and destroyed her virginity, he shall be diminished as he is punished. And he shall not be allowed to take another, but they shall command him to take her as he loved her soul. And if she is poor,

Canon 63. Concerning one who has added two [things]. If a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon has added two [things] before fasting, he shall be deposed. And he who has done so, if he says that he did so because he did not know the practice, and it is fitting for him, that one shall be deposed only, because he has hidden his sin through love of the priesthood. And among those who fast again, and who have fasted again, he shall be removed from his office. And he who has done so, if he says that he did so because he was formerly a priest of the Arethasians, he is [to be treated] before baptism as a believer, because the priesthood of the elders is not a true priesthood, and there is no man who can accept their baptism as a believer and a priest. Canon 64. Concerning the commandment of fasting. If a man does not observe the great fast of forty days, and Wednesday and Friday continually, according to the law of the church which we have commanded, he shall be removed from his office, unless he is prevented from it by bodily illness or a known reason which hinders him from it. And if a layman does likewise, he shall be excommunicated.

Canon 65. Concerning the unleavened bread of the Jews. If any man, whether from the clergy or the laity, has fasted with the Jews, or celebrated a feast with them, and has received their unleavened bread on their feasts, and anything like it, while honoring them and their feasts, and belittles the law and does not honor it: if he is a cleric, he shall be deposed from his rank; and if he is a layman, he shall be excommunicated from the people. Canon 66. Concerning one who goes to a place of idols. If any man, from the faithful and the clergy, has sent to the synagogue of the Jews, or to the temple of idols and the worship of them, or to churches of Christians, oil for what they burn, or incense for what they burn, he shall be excommunicated from the church. Canon 67. Concerning one who steals the property of the church. If a cleric or a layman takes from the church oil or wax by theft, he shall be deposed, and he shall return what he took fivefold, and they shall rebuke him for it.

Canon 68. Concerning the property of the sanctuary, for the sanctuary and not for another. All the property of the church, whether sacred vestments or property of gold and silver, shall not be for a person to use in his own house, for it is a transgression of the law which God commanded. And if anyone has done likewise, they shall condemn him and expel him from the church. Canon 69. Concerning the accusation of a bishop against one who is not worthy. If the faithful, the deacons, and the priests have accused him, and there is no one in that place who is superior to accuse him on account of transgression of the law and his perversion which we have commanded, they shall accuse him before the bishops who are near to them, and they shall summon him to them so that they may rebuke him and see concerning that which they have accused him. And if he comes and confesses his sin, they shall forgive him for what he has done, and they shall condemn him and command him according to what we have decreed for one like him, and they shall condemn him with a severe condemnation. And if he refuses to come, they shall send to him a second time. And if he refuses, they shall send to him two bishops a second and a third time. And if he refuses them and does not receive them, the people shall command that they seize him, and he shall not be heard when he cries out from the people who seize him.

Canon 70. Concerning testimony against a bishop. Testimony of a heretic against a bishop shall not be accepted, and testimony of one faithful person against him shall not be accepted, for it is written in the law: by the mouth of two or three every word stands, and moreover every testimony is fulfilled by them. Canon 71. Concerning priesthood, and that it is not inherited. It shall not be for a bishop to bequeath the priesthood to his wife, nor to any of the people of his house, nor to his brother, nor to his sister, nor to his son, nor to his relative, nor to anyone whom he loves. And it shall not be for him to bequeath the priesthood, and he shall not depart from what the Lord commanded to one who is not worthy. And there shall be no command for a bishop as he wishes, and it is not lawful for them to bequeath the church to the Lord. And if anyone does thus, the priesthood shall be cast out, and they shall judge him who did thus with the judgment of the blind. Canon 72. Concerning the vow of celibacy. A bishop shall not be prevented from being betrothed or married if there is one who is worthy of him, and he is known for his freedom and fear of the Lord, in goodness, purity, and righteousness in faith and the work of the church, for he does not defile himself from his office.

Canon 71. Concerning the sin of slander. For the sin of the flesh is a sin, but the sin of the soul, which is slander, false witness, calumny, mockery, and causing harm to a person, and speaking evil against them in their absence, while seeking to add good news—all this is a form of blasphemy against God, who says in the holy Gospel: every sin is forgiven except blasphemy against God and against the Holy Spirit. And again he says: not everything that enters the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth. Canon 73. Concerning a bishop. A bishop shall not be appointed who has a bodily defect, nor shall a blind bishop be ordained, nor a mute, nor a deaf person, nor a eunuch, nor one possessed by an unclean spirit. It is not a bodily defect, but he is unable to exercise the authority that is permitted by the canon of the angels, and to stand in the service of the church and his priesthood. Canon 74. Concerning the insane. A priest shall not be appointed who is a man who is insane or a eunuch; he shall not be ordained a priest, nor shall he communicate with the faithful. But if he is healed and lives, he shall communicate with the faithful; and if they wish to give him the priesthood, he shall be ordained.

Canon 75. Concerning the ordination of a bishop. If there is a person who is from the pagans and was baptized, and that person is evil, whose evil deeds are known, and afterwards he repented a pure repentance in the midst of people who did not know his evil deeds, it is not lawful to ordain him as a bishop or as a priest because of his former deeds, for it is a sin when one ordains a teacher who has not learned and does not know righteousness. Moreover, if without [this], if he has become [such] by the grace of God, and good heart and righteousness have been manifested from him, [it is otherwise]. Canon 76. Concerning a bishop. It is not lawful for him to be judged by the magistrates, because it is not lawful for them, and it is not fitting for a bishop to cast himself down from the throne of Christ and to abandon his rank, and to be ordained [again?]. And in no way from the deeds of the magistrates, except by entering into the deeds of the church, which is fitting and proper and lawful. And if he has erred in the deeds of the magistrates, and has entered into the earthly throne, and has abandoned the throne of the heavenly King, he will abandon his [own] office, for the Lord said: "There is no one who can serve two masters." And if he pleases one, he will displease the other.

Canon 77. Concerning the ordination of servants of the priests. Servants of the priests shall not be ordained, nor any from the priesthood, without the consent of their masters, for by it their masters are grieved, or they destroy their houses. And if he is a servant who is worthy of the priesthood, as Onesios, and his masters have seen him, and they have made him a slave, and they have brought him out from their houses, their slaves openly, and he was worthy, let him be ordained. Canon 78. Concerning priests. They shall not be judges. If there is a man, a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon, who has been free and has loved the office of the market and the business of the church, and he becomes a merchant, let him be deposed and excommunicated, for the Lord, blessed be His name, said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Canon 79. Concerning one who curses the king or curses a judge without judgment, or one who strikes or curses one of the nobles without judgment, he shall be judged with a great judgment that afflicts him. And if he is a priest, he shall be deposed; and if he is a layman, he shall be excommunicated.

Canon 80. Concerning the names of the books of the Old and New Testaments. These are the names of the books of the Church which we have commanded for the faithful in Christ, from the Old and New Testaments, which is the book of the great commandments that came from the Lord, and according to its enumeration, 81 books, together with the book of the Canons which we have bequeathed to Clement, of the Old and New Testaments. The first tells of the last, and the last completes the first, and the last is the seal of its work, and all are bound and joined together, confirming the one who composed them. One word from one speaker, God, the wise and creator. First commandment: Old Testament, which is the Law, 5: first, Genesis; second, Exodus; third, Leviticus; fourth, Numbers; fifth, Deuteronomy; sixth, Joshua; seventh, Judges; eighth, Ruth; Judith, 1; Tobit, 1; Esther, 1; Maccabees, 3; David, Psalms, 150; Solomon the Wise, 5; Kings, 4; Wisdom of Joshua son of Sirach, 1; Job, 1; Ezra, 3; Isaiah, 1; Jeremiah, 1; Ezekiel, 1; Daniel, 1; Hosea, 1; Amos, 1; Jonah, 1; Habakkuk, 1; Nahum, 1; Zephaniah, 1; Zechariah, 1; Micah, 1; Malachi, 1. Four Gospels: Matthew, 1; Mark, 1; Luke, 1; John, 1; Acts of the Apostles, 1; Epistles of the Apostles, 7; James, 1; Peter, 2; John, 3; Jude, 1; and the Acts of the Apostles, 1; and the Epistles of Paul, 14.

To the Church of Rome, 1; to the Corinthians, First; to the Corinthians, Second, 2; to the Galatians, 1; to the Ephesians, 1; to the Philippians, 1; to the Colossians, 1; to the Thessalonians, 1; to the Thessalonians, 2; to the Hebrews, 1; to Timothy, First, 1; to Timothy, Second, 1; to Titus, 1; to Philemon, 1; and the Apocalypse of John, the Abbot of Patmos, 1; of Clement, 2, one book. And all that we have commanded you, O fathers, bishops, archbishops, and high priests, by the hand of Clement, and these are the eight books of the canons. Two of them are within the number of the New [Testament], and six are the conclusion of the number of the eighty-one books, for the Old [Testament] was its collection forty-seven, and the New was its collection twenty-eight. And these six secret canons, they shall not show them to the faithful people, because of the law and ordinance within them, which they shall not command except to the learned and the priests. O faithful people, accept our word and our commandment, for it is from the Holy Spirit. The Lord, the Life-Giver, who clothed us, and we command you, and if you keep it, it will be your life, and it will be for you peace among you.

And if I have received you, you will be judged, and the priests will grieve you, and he will bring forth what is with you to another, and discord, hatred, and evil will descend among you, and you will repent for what you have done, for he who abandons the commandment and commits sin will repent. And God the Father will bring you near to his fear through the Holy Spirit, the living and pure Paraclete, and will save you and guide you to do good, and will make you pure, and give you eternal life through the majesty of Jesus Christ with his Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.