1 Clement 37

1Therefore let us serve as soldiers, brothers, with all earnestness under his blameless commands.

2Let us consider those who serve as soldiers under our commanders: how orderly, how obedient, how submissively they carry out what is commanded.

3Not all are prefects, nor tribunes, nor centurions, nor commanders of fifty, nor so on in order; but each, in his own rank, carries out the orders given by the king and by the leaders.

4The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great. There is a certain blending in all things, and in these there is usefulness.

5Let us take our body as an example: the head is nothing without the feet; likewise the feet are nothing without the head. Even the smallest members of our body are necessary and useful to the whole body. But all breathe together and make use of one submission, so that the whole body may be preserved.