Shepherd of Hermas 56

1Therefore, seeing them being scourged and afflicted like this, I was grieved for them, because they were being tormented in this way and had no respite at all. I said to the shepherd who was speaking with me, “Sir, who is this shepherd, so pitiless and harsh, showing no compassion at all for these sheep?” He said, “This is the angel of punishment; he is one of the righteous angels, appointed over punishment. Therefore he takes charge of those who have wandered away from God and have gone after the desires and deceits of this age, and he punishes them, as they deserve, with dreadful and various punishments.”

2“I wished, Sir,” I said, “to know what these various punishments are.” He said, “Listen. The various punishments and torments are torments of this present life: for some are punished with losses, some with deprivations, some with various sicknesses, some with every kind of disorder; some are insulted by the unworthy, and suffer in many other ways. For many, being unsettled in their plans, undertake many things, and nothing at all advances for them. They say of themselves that they do not prosper in their undertakings, and it does not rise up into their heart that they have done evil, but they blame the Lord.

3“When, then, they are afflicted with every affliction, then they are handed over to me for good discipline, and they are strengthened in the faith of the Lord; and the rest of the days of their life they serve the Lord with a pure heart. And if they repent, then the evil works that they did rise up into their heart; and then they glorify God, saying that he is a righteous judge and that each one suffered justly according to his deeds. Thereafter they serve the Lord with a pure heart, and they prosper in every work of theirs, receiving from the Lord whatever they ask for; and then they glorify the Lord because they were handed over to me, and they no longer suffer any of the evils.”