Ephesians: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 – 20 – 21
Magnesians: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15
Trallians: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13
Romans: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10
Philadelphians: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11
Smyrnaeans: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13
Polycarp: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8
Ignatius, the overseer of Antioch, and fellow disciple with Polycarp of John the Apostle, penned seven letters while en route to his martyrdom in Rome. These letters are generally well-attested and are considered part of the Apostolic Fathers. Ignatius is believed to have died in approximately 108 or 140 AD.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her which has been blessed in greatness through the abundance of God the Father; which has been foreordained before the ages to be forever abiding and unchangeable glory, united and chosen in a true passion, by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God; even to the assembly which is in Ephesus [of Asia], worthy of all commendations: abundant greetings in Christ Jesus and in blameless joy.
While I welcomed in God [your] well-beloved name, which you bear by natural right by faith and love in Christ Jesus our Savior—being imitators of God, and having your hearts kindled in the blood of God, you have perfectly fulfilled your congenial work— for when you heard that I was on my way from Syria, in bonds for the sake of the common Name and hope, and was hoping through your prayers to succeed in fighting with wild beasts in Rome, that by so succeeding I might have power to be a disciple, you were eager to visit me— seeing then that in God’s Name I have received your whole multitude in the person of Onesimus, whose love passes utterance and who is moreover your overseer [in the flesh]—and I pray that you may love him according to Jesus Christ and that you all may be like him; for blessed is He that granted to you according to your deserving to have such an overseer.
But as touching my fellow-servant Burrhus, who by the will of God is your blessed servant in all things, I pray that he may remain with me to the honor of yourselves and of your overseer. Yes, and Crocus also, who is worthy of God and of you, whom I received as an example of the love which you bear me, has relieved me in all ways—even so may the Father of Jesus Christ refresh him—together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and Euplus, and Fronto; in whom I saw you all with the eyes of love. May I always have your joy, if [it] so be I am worthy of it. It is therefore appropriate for you in every way to glorify Jesus Christ who glorified you; that being perfectly joined together in one submission, submitting yourselves to your overseer and eldership, you may be sanctified in all things.
I do not command you, as though I were someone. For even though I am in bonds for the Name’s sake, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ. [For] now I am beginning to be a disciple; and I speak to you as to my schoolmates. For I should be trained by you for the contest in faith, in admonition, in endurance, in long-suffering. But, since love does not permit me to be silent concerning you, therefore I was forward to exhort you, that you run in harmony with the mind of God; for Jesus Christ also, our inseparable life, is the mind of the Father, even as the overseers that are settled in the farthest parts of the earth are in the mind of Jesus Christ.
So then it is appropriate for you to run in harmony with the mind of the overseer; which thing also you do. For your honorable eldership, which is worthy of God, is attuned to the overseer, even as its strings to a lyre. Therefore, in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And you, each and all, form yourselves into a chorus, that being harmonious in concord and taking the key note of God you may in unison sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, that He may both hear you and acknowledge you by your good deeds to be members of His Son. It is therefore profitable for you to be in blameless unity, that you may also be partakers of God always.
For if I in a short time had such converse with your overseer, which was not after the manner of men but in the Spirit, how much more do I congratulate you who are closely joined with him as the Assembly is with Jesus Christ and as Jesus Christ is with the Father, that all things may be harmonious in unity. Let no man be deceived: if anyone is not within the precinct of the altar, he lacks the bread [of God]. For, if the prayer of one and another has such great force, how much more that of the overseer and of the whole Assembly. Therefore, whoever does not come to the congregation thereby shows his pride and has separated himself; for it is written: “God resists the proud.” Let us therefore be careful not to resist the overseer, that by our submission we may give ourselves to God.
And in proportion as a man sees that his overseer is silent, let him fear him the more. For everyone whom the Master of the household sends to be steward over His own house, we should so receive as Him that sent him. Therefore, we should plainly regard the overseer as the Lord Himself. Now Onesimus of his own accord highly praises your orderly conduct in God, for that you all live according to truth, and that no heresy has a home among you: no, you do not so much as listen to anyone, if he speaks of anything else save concerning Jesus Christ in truth.
For some are accustomed of malicious guile to carry about the Name, while they do certain other things unworthy of God. You should shun these men as wild beasts, for they are mad dogs, biting by stealth; against whom you should be on your guard, for they are hard to heal. There is only one Physician—of flesh and of spirit, generate and ingenerate, God in man, true Life in death, Son of Mary and Son of God, first passible and then impassible—Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore, let no one deceive you, as indeed you are not deceived, seeing that you belong wholly to God. For when no lust is established in you, which has power to torment you, then truly you live after God. I devote myself for you, and I dedicate myself as an offering for the assembly of you Ephesians which is famous to all the ages. They that are of the flesh cannot do the things of the Spirit, neither can they that are of the Spirit do the things of the flesh; even as faith cannot do the things of unfaithfulness, neither unfaithfulness the things of faith. No, even those things which you do after the flesh are spiritual; for you do all things in Jesus Christ.
But I have learned that certain persons passed through you from over there, bringing evil doctrine; whom you did not permit to sow seed in you, for you stopped your ears, so that you might not receive the seed sown by them. For you are stones of a temple, which were prepared beforehand for a building of God the Father, being hoisted up to the heights through the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, and using the Holy Spirit for a rope, while your faith is your windlass, and love is the way that leads up to God. So then you are all companions in the way, carrying your God and your shrine, your Christ and your holy things, being arrayed from head to foot in the commands of Jesus Christ. And I too, taking part in the festivity, am permitted by letter to bear you company and to rejoice with you, that you do not set your love on anything after the common life of men, but only on God.
And also, pray without ceasing for the rest of mankind (for there is in them a hope of conversion), that they may find God. Therefore, permit them to take lessons at least from your works. Against their outbursts of wrath be meek; against their proud words be humble; against their railings set your prayers; against their errors be steadfast in the faith; against their fierceness be gentle. And do not be zealous to imitate them by requital. Let us show ourselves their brothers by our forbearance; but let us be zealous to be imitators of the Lord, vying with each other who will suffer the greater wrong, who will be defrauded, who will be set at nothing; that no herb of the Devil be found in you, but in all purity and temperance abide in Christ Jesus, with your flesh and with your spirit.
These are the last times. From now on let us have reverence; let us fear the long-suffering of God, lest it turn into a judgment against us. For either let us fear the wrath which is to come or let us love the grace which now is—the one or the other; provided only that we be found in Christ Jesus to true life. Let nothing glitter in your eyes apart from Him, in whom I carry about my bonds, my spiritual pearls in which I would gladly rise again through your prayer, of which may it be my lot to be always a partaker, that I may be found in the company of those Christians of Ephesus who moreover were ever of one mind with the apostles in the power of Jesus Christ.
I know who I am and to whom I write. I am a convict, you have received mercy: I am in peril, you are established. You are the high-road of those that are on their way to die to God. You are associates in the mysteries with Paul, who was sanctified, who obtained a good report, who is worthy of all commendations; in whose footsteps I would gladly be found treading when I will attain to God, who in every letter makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do your diligence to meet together more frequently for thanksgiving to God and for His glory. For when you meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are cast down; and his mischief comes to nothing in the concord of your faith. There is nothing better than peace, in which all warfare of things in Heaven and things on earth is abolished.
None of these things is hidden from you if you are perfect in your faith and love toward Jesus Christ, for these are the beginning and end of life—faith is the beginning and love is the end—and the two being found in unity are God, while all things else follow in their train to true nobility. No man professing faith sins, and no man possessing love hates. The tree is manifest from its fruit; so they that profess to be Christ’s will be seen through their actions. For the work is not a thing of profession now, but is seen then when one is found in the power of faith to the end.
It is better to keep silence and to be, than to talk and not to be. It is a fine thing to teach, if the speaker practices [what he teaches]. Now there is one Teacher who spoke, and it came to pass: yes, and even the things which He has done in silence are worthy of the Father. He that truly possesses the word of Jesus is also able to listen to His silence, that he may be perfect; that through his speech he may act and through his silence he may be known. Nothing is hidden from the Lord, but even our secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as knowing that He dwells in us, to the end that we may be His temples and He Himself may be in us as our God. This is so, and it will also be made clear in our sight from the love which we rightly bear toward Him.
Do not be deceived, my brothers. Corrupters of houses will not inherit the Kingdom of God. If then they which do these things after the flesh are put to death, how much more if a man through evil doctrine corrupts the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified. Such a man, having defiled himself, will go into the unquenchable fire; and in like manner also will he that listens to him.
For this reason the Lord received ointment on His head, that He might breathe incorruption on the Assembly. Do not be anointed with the ill odor of the teaching of the prince of this world, lest he lead you captive and rob you of the life which is set before you. And for what reason do we not all walk prudently, receiving the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why should we perish in our folly, not knowing the gift of grace which the Lord has truly sent?
My spirit is made an outcast for the Cross, which is a stumbling-block to them that are unbelievers, but to us—salvation and continuous life. Where is the wise? Where is the disputer? Where is the boasting of them that are called prudent? For our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived in the womb by Mary according to a dispensation, of the seed of David but also of the Holy Spirit; and He was born and was immersed that by His passion He might cleanse water.
And hidden from the prince of this world were the virginity of Mary, and her childbearing, and likewise also the death of the Lord—three mysteries to be cried aloud—the which were worked in the silence of God. How then were they made manifest to the ages? A star shone forth in the Heaven [[or sky]] above all the stars; and its light was unutterable, and its strangeness caused amazement; and all the rest of the constellations with the sun and moon formed themselves into a chorus around the star, but the star itself far outshone them all; and there was perplexity to know where this strange appearance came from which was so unlike them. From that time forward every sorcery and every spell was dissolved, the ignorance of wickedness vanished away, [and] the ancient kingdom was pulled down when God appeared in the likeness of man to newness of continuous life; and that which had been perfected in the counsels of God began to take effect. There all things were perturbed, because the abolishing of death was taken in hand.
If Jesus Christ should count me worthy through your prayer, and it should be the Divine will, in my second tract, which I intend to write to you, I will further set before you the dispensation of which I have begun to speak, relating to the new man Jesus Christ, which consists in faith toward Him and in love toward Him, in His passion and resurrection, especially if the Lord should reveal anything to me. Assemble yourselves together in common, each of you separately, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David’s race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that you may obey the overseer and eldership without distraction of mind, breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die but live forever in Jesus Christ.
I am devoted to you and to those whom for the honor of God you sent to Smyrna, from where I also write to you with thanksgiving to the Lord, having love for Polycarp as I have for you also. Remember me, even as I would that Jesus Christ may also remember you. Pray for the assembly which is in Syria, from where I am led a prisoner to Rome—I who am the very last of the faithful there, according as I was counted worthy to be found to the honor of God. Farewell in God the Father and in Jesus Christ our common hope.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her which has been blessed through the grace of God the Father in Christ Jesus our Savior, in whom I salute the assembly which is in Magnesia on the Maeander, and I wish her abundant greetings in God the Father and in Jesus Christ.
When I learned of the exceeding good order of your love in the ways of God, I was delighted, and I determined to address you in the faith of Jesus Christ. For being counted worthy to bear a most godly name, which I carry around in these bonds, I sing the praise of the assemblies; and I pray that there may be in them union of the flesh and of the spirit which are Jesus Christ’s, our never-failing life—a union of faith and of love which is preferred before all things, and, what is more than all—a union with Jesus and with the Father, in whom, if we patiently endure all, despite the prince of this world, and escape from that, we will attain to God.
Forasmuch then as I was permitted to see you in the person of Damas, your godly overseer, and your worthy elders Bassus and Apollonius, and my fellow-servant, the servant Zotion, of whom I would gladly have joy, for that he is subject to the overseer as to the grace of God and to the eldership as to the law of Jesus Christ:
Yes, and it is appropriate for you also not to presume on the youth of your overseer, but according to the power of God the Father to render to him all reverence, even as I have learned that the holy elders have also not taken advantage of his outwardly youthful estate, but give place to him as to one prudent in God; yet not to him, but to the Father of Jesus Christ, even to the Overseer of all. For the honor, therefore, of Him that desired you, it is suitable that you should be obedient without deception. For a man does not so much deceive this overseer who is seen, as cheat that Other who is invisible; and in such a case he must reckon not with flesh but with God who knows the hidden things.
It is therefore appropriate that we not only be called Christians, but also be such, even as some persons have the overseer’s name on their lips, but in everything act apart from him. Such men appear to me not to keep a good conscience, forasmuch as they do not assemble themselves together lawfully according to command.
Seeing, then, that all things have an end, these two are set together before us: life and death; and each man will go to his own place. For just as there are two coinages—the one of God and the other of the world, so also each of them has its proper stamp impressed on it—the unbelievers the stamp of this world, but the faithful in love the stamp of God the Father through Jesus Christ, through whom, unless of our own free choice we accept to die into His passion, His life is not in us.
Seeing, then, that in the previously mentioned persons I beheld your whole people in faith and embraced them, I advise you: be zealous to do all things in godly concord—the overseer presiding after the likeness of God and the elders after the likeness of the council of the apostles, with the servants also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the office of servant of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the worlds and appeared at the end of time. Therefore, you should all study conformity to God and pay reverence to one another; and let no man regard his neighbor after the flesh, but always love one another in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you which will have power to divide you, but be united with the overseer and with them that preside over you as an example and a lesson of incorruptibility.
Therefore, as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the apostles, so neither do you do anything without the overseer and the elders. And do not attempt to think anything right for yourselves apart from others, but let there be one prayer in common, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy unblameable, which is Jesus Christ, than whom there is nothing better. Hasten for all of you to come together, as to one temple, even God; as to one altar, even to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from One Father and is with One and departed to One.
Do not be seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even to this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace: for the divine prophets lived after Christ Jesus. For this reason, they were also persecuted, being inspired by His grace to the end that they which are disobedient might be fully persuaded that there is one God who manifested Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, who is His Word that proceeded from silence, who in all things was well-pleasing to Him that sent Him.
If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained to newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord’s Day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny—a mystery whereby we attained to belief, and for this reason we endure patiently, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher— if this be so, how will we be able to live apart from Him? seeing that even the prophets, being His disciples, were expecting Him as their teacher through the Spirit. And for this reason, He whom they rightly awaited, when He came, raised them from the dead.
Therefore, let us not be insensible to His goodness. For if He should imitate us according to our deeds, we are lost. For this reason, seeing that we have become His disciples, let us learn to live as befits Christianity. For whoever is called by another name besides this, is not of God. Therefore, put away the vile leaven which has waxed stale and sour, and go yourselves to the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be salted in Him, that none among you grow putrid, seeing that by your savor you will be proved. It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practice Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, wherein every tongue believed and was gathered together to God.
Now these things I say, my dearly beloved, not because I have learned that any of you are so minded; but as being less than any of you, I would have you be on your guard early, that you do not fall into the snares of vain doctrine; but be fully persuaded concerning the birth, and the passion, and the resurrection, which took place in the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate; for these things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ our hope; from which hope may it not befall any of you to be turned aside.
Let me have your joy in all things, if I am worthy. For even though I am in bonds, yet I am not comparable to one of you who are at liberty. I know that you are not puffed up; for you have Jesus Christ in yourselves. And, when I praise you, I know that you only feel the more shame; as it is written: “The righteous man is a self-accuser.”
Therefore, do your diligence that you may be confirmed in the ordinances of the Lord and of the apostles, that you may prosper in all things—whatever you do in flesh and spirit—by faith and by love, in the Son, and Father, and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, with your revered overseer, and with the fitly-wreathed spiritual circlet of your eldership, and with the servants who walk after God. Be obedient to the overseer and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the apostles were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of flesh and of spirit.
Knowing that you are full of God, I have exhorted you briefly. Remember me in your prayers, that I may attain to God; and also remember the assembly which is in Syria, of which I am not worthy to be called a member. For I have need of your united prayer and love in God, that it may be granted to the assembly which is in Syria to be refreshed by the dew of your fervent supplication.
The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you, from where also I write to you. They are here with me for the glory of God, as you also are; and they have comforted me in all things, together with Polycarp, overseer of the Smyrnaeans. Yes, and all the other assemblies salute you in the honor of Jesus Christ. Farewell in godly concord, and may you possess a steadfast spirit, which is Jesus Christ.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that is beloved by God the Father of Jesus Christ; to the holy assembly which is in Tralles of Asia, chosen and worthy of God, having peace in flesh and spirit through the passion of Jesus Christ, who is our hope through our resurrection to Him; which assembly I also salute in the Divine abundance after the apostolic fashion, and I wish her abundant greetings.
1 I have learned that you have a mind unblameable and steadfast in patience, not from habit, but by nature, according as your overseer Polybius informed me, who by the will of God and of Jesus Christ visited me in Smyrna; and so greatly did he rejoice with me in my bonds in Christ Jesus, that in him I beheld the whole multitude of you. 2 Having therefore received your godly benevolence at his hands, I gave glory, forasmuch as I had found you to be imitators of God, even as I had learned.
1 For when you are obedient to the overseer as to Jesus Christ, it is evident to me that you are living not after men but after Jesus Christ, who died for us, that believing on His death you might escape death. 2 It is therefore necessary, even as your custom is, that you should do nothing without the overseer; but also be obedient to the eldership, as to the apostles of Jesus Christ our hope; for if we live in Him, we will also be found in Him. 3 And those likewise who are servants of the mysteries of Jesus Christ must please all men in all ways. For they are not servants of meats and drinks but servants of the Assembly of God. It is therefore right that they should beware of blame as of fire.
1 In like manner let all men respect the servants as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the overseer as being a type of the Father and the elders as the council of God and as the college of apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of an assembly. 2 And I am persuaded that you are so minded as touching these matters; for I received the example of your love, and I have it with me, in the person of your overseer, whose very demeanor is a great lesson, while his gentleness is power—a man to whom I think even the godless pay reverence. 3 Seeing that I love you I thus spare you, though I might write more sharply on his behalf, but I did not think myself competent for this, that being a convict I should order you as though I were an apostle.
1 I have many deep thoughts in God, but I take the measure of myself, lest I perish in my boasting. For now I should be the more afraid and not to give heed to those that would puff me up; for they that say these things to me are a scourge to me. 2 For though I desire to suffer, yet I do not know whether I am worthy; for the envy of the Devil is indeed unseen by many, but against me it wages the fiercer war. So then, I crave gentleness, whereby the prince of this world is brought to nothing.
1 Am I not able to write to you of heavenly things? But I fear lest I should cause you harm, being babies. So bear with me, lest not being able to take them in, you should be choked. 2 For I myself also, although I am in bonds, can comprehend heavenly things, and the arrays of the messengers, and the musterings of the principalities—things visible and things invisible—I myself am not yet by reason of this a disciple. For we lack many things, that God may not be lacking to us.
1 Therefore I exhort you—yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ—take only Christian food, and abstain from strange herbage, which is heresy: 2 for these men even mingle poison with Jesus Christ, imposing on others by a show of honesty, like persons administering a deadly drug with honeyed wine, so that one who does not know it, fearing nothing, drinks in death with a destructive delight.
1 Therefore, be on your guard against such men. And this will surely be, if you are not puffed up and if you are inseparable from Jesus Christ, and from the overseer, and from the ordinances of the apostles. 2 He that is within the sanctuary is clean; but he that is outside the sanctuary is not clean, that is, he that does anything without the overseer, and eldership, and servants; this man is not clean in his conscience.
1 Indeed, not that I have known of any such thing among you, but I keep watch over you early, as my beloved, for I foresee the snares of the Devil. Therefore, arm yourselves with gentleness and recover yourselves in faith, which is the flesh of the Lord, and in love which is the blood of Jesus Christ. 2 Let none of you bear a grudge against his neighbor. Give no occasion to the nations, lest by reason of a few foolish men the godly multitude is blasphemed; for, “Woe to him through whom My Name is vainly blasphemed before any.”
1 Therefore, be deaf when any man speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born, and ate, and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, [and] was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in Heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth; 2 who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in like fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him—His Father, I say, will raise us—in Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not have true life.
1 But if it were as certain persons who are godless—that is, unbelievers—say, that He suffered only in semblance, being themselves mere semblance, why am I in bonds? And why do I also desire to fight with wild beasts? So I die in vain. Truly then I lie against the Lord.
1 Therefore, shun those vile offshoots that gender a deadly fruit, of which if a man taste, immediately he dies. For these men are not the Father’s planting, for if they had been, they would have been seen to be branches of the Cross, and their fruit imperishable—the Cross whereby He through His passion invites us, being His members. Now it cannot be that a head should be found without members, seeing that God promises union, and this union is Himself.
1 I salute you from Smyrna, together with the assemblies of God that are present with me; men who refreshed me in all ways both in flesh and in spirit. 2 My bonds exhort you, which for Jesus Christ’s sake I bear about, entreating that I may attain to God; abide in your concord and in prayer with one another. For it is appropriate for you separately, and more especially the elders, to cheer the soul of your overseer to the honor of the Father [and to the honor] of Jesus Christ and of the apostles. 3 I pray that you may listen to me in love, lest I be for a testimony against you by having so written. And also pray for me who has need of your love in the mercy of God, that I may be granted the lot which I am eager to attain, to the end that I am not found reprobate.
1 The love of the Smyrnaeans and Ephesians salutes you. Remember in your prayers the assembly which is in Syria, of which I am not worthy to be called a member, being the very last of them. 2 Farewell in Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves to the overseer as to the command, and likewise also to the eldership; and each of you separately must love one another with an undivided heart. 3 My spirit is offered up for you, not only now, but also when I will attain to God. For I am still in peril; but the Father is faithful in Jesus Christ to fulfill my petition and yours. May we be found unblameable in Him.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that has found mercy in the bountifulness of the Father Most High and of Jesus Christ His only Son; to the assembly that is beloved and enlightened through the will of Him who willed all things that are, by faith and love toward Jesus Christ our God; even to her that has the presidency in the country of the region of the Romans, being worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of commendations, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in purity, and having the presidency of love, walking in the law of Christ and bearing the Father’s Name; which assembly I also salute in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father; to them that in flesh and spirit are united to His every command, being filled with the grace of God without wavering, and filtered clear from every foreign stain; abundant greetings in Jesus Christ our God in blamelessness.
In answer to my prayer to God it has been granted to me to see your godly faces, so that I have obtained even more than I asked; for wearing bonds in Christ Jesus I hope to salute you, if it be the Divine will that I should be counted worthy to reach to the end; for the beginning is truly well ordered, if [it] so be I will attain to the goal, that I may receive my inheritance without hindrance. For I dread your very love, lest it do me an injury; for it is easy for you to do what you will, but for me it is difficult to attain to God, unless you will spare me.
For I would not have you to be men-pleasers but to please God, as indeed you do please Him. For neither will I myself ever find an opportunity such as this to attain to God, nor can you, if you are silent, win the credit of any nobler work. For, if you are silent and leave me alone, I am a word of God; but if you desire my flesh, then I will be again a mere cry. Grant me nothing more than that I am poured out [as] a libation to God, while there is still an altar ready, that forming yourselves into a chorus in love you may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ, for that God has granted that the overseer from Syria should be found in the west, having summoned him from the east. It is good to set from the world to God, that I may rise to Him.
You never grudged anyone; you were the instructors of others. And my desire is that those lessons will hold good which as teachers you prescribe. Only pray that I may have power inwardly and outwardly, so that I may not only say it but also desire it; that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found one. For if I will be found so, then I can also be called one, and be faithful then, when I am no longer visible to the world. Nothing visible is good. For our God Jesus Christ, being in the Father, is the more plainly visible. The work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is a thing of might, whenever it is hated by the world.
I write to all the assemblies, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless you should hinder me. I exhort you, do not be an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given to the wild beasts, for through them I can attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I have fallen asleep, be burdensome to anyone. Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world will not so much as see my body. Supplicate the Lord for me, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not command you, as Peter and Paul did. They were apostles, I am a convict; they were free, but I am a slave to this very hour. Yet if I will suffer, then I am a freedman of Jesus Christ, and I will rise free in Him. Now I am learning in my bonds to put away every desire.
From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only wax worse when they are kindly treated. However, through their wrongdoings I become more completely a disciple; yet am I not hereby justified. May I have joy of the beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them prompt; no, I will entice them that they may devour me promptly, not as they have done to some, refusing to touch them through fear. Yes, though of themselves they should not be willing while I am ready, I myself will force them to it. Bear with me. I know what is expedient for me. Now am I beginning to be a disciple. May nothing of things visible and things invisible envy me, that I may attain to Jesus Christ. Come fire, and cross, and grapplings with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushings of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the Devil to assail me. Only be it mine to attain to Jesus Christ.
The farthest bounds of the universe will profit me nothing, neither the kingdoms of this world. It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather than to reign over the farthest bounds of the earth. I seek Him who died on our behalf; I desire Him who rose again for our sake. The pangs of a new birth are on me. Bear with me, brothers. Do not hinder me from living; do not desire my death. Do not bestow on the world one who desires to be God’s, neither allure him with material things. Permit me to receive the pure light. When I have come there, then I will be a man. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If any man has Him within himself, let him understand what I desire, and let him have fellow-feeling with me, for he knows the things which constrict me.
The prince of this world would gladly tear me in pieces and corrupt my mind toward God. Therefore, do not let any of you who are near aid him. Rather, stand on my side, that is on God’s side. Do not speak of Jesus Christ and in addition desire the world. Do not let envy have a home in you. Even though I myself, when I am with you, should implore you, do not obey me, but rather give credence to these things which I write to you. I write to you in the midst of life yet lusting after death. My lust has been crucified, and there is no fire of material longing in me, but only water living [[and speaking]] in me, saying within me, “Come to the Father.” I have no delight in the food of corruption or in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ who was of the seed of David; and I desire His blood for a drink, which is love incorruptible.
I no longer desire to live after the manner of men; and this will be, if you desire it. Desire that you yourselves may also be desired. In a brief letter I implore you; believe me. And Jesus Christ will make these things manifest to you, that I speak the truth—Jesus Christ, the unerring mouth in whom the Father has spoken. Entreat [Him] for me, that I may attain [what I desire]. I do not write to you after the flesh, but after the mind of God. If I will suffer, it was your desire; if I will be rejected, it was your hatred.
Remember in your prayers the assembly which is in Syria, which has God for its shepherd in my stead. Jesus Christ alone will be its overseer—He and your love. But for myself I am ashamed to be called one of them; for neither am I worthy, being the very last of them and an untimely birth, but I have found mercy that I should be someone, if [it] so be [that] I will attain to God. My spirit salutes you, and the love of the assemblies which received me in the Name of Jesus Christ, not as a mere wayfarer; for even those assemblies which did not lie on my route after the flesh went before me from city to city.
Now I write these things to you from Smyrna by the hand of the Ephesians who are worthy of all commendations. And Crocus also, a name very dear to me, is with me, with many others besides. As touching those who went before me from Syria to Rome to the glory of God, I believe that you have received instructions; whom also apprise that I am near; for they are all worthy of God and of you, and it is appropriate for you to refresh them in all things. These things I write to you on the ninth before the Calends of September. Farewell to the end in the patient waiting for Jesus Christ.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to the assembly of God the Father and of Jesus Christ, which is in Philadelphia of Asia, which has found mercy and is firmly established in the concord of God and rejoices in the passion of our Lord and in His resurrection without wavering, being fully assured in all mercy; which assembly I salute in the blood of Jesus Christ, that is continuous and abiding joy; more especially if they are at one with the overseer and the elders who are with him, and with the servants that have been appointed according to the mind of Jesus Christ, whom after His own will He confirmed and established by His Holy Spirit.
I have found your overseer to hold the ministry which pertains to the common [good], not of himself or through men, nor yet for vain glory, but in the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am amazed at his forbearance, whose silence is more powerful than others’ speech. For he is attuned in harmony with the commands, as a lyre with its strings. For what reason my soul blesses his godly mind, for I have found that it is virtuous and perfect—even the composed and calm temper which he has, while living in all godly forbearance.
Therefore, as children of the light and truth, shun division and wrong doctrines; and where the shepherd is, follow there as sheep. For many deceptive wolves with destructive delights lead captive the runners in God’s race; but, where you are at one, they will find no place.
Abstain from noxious herbs, which are not the farming of Jesus Christ, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found division among you, but filtering. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ, they are with the overseer; and as many as will convert and enter into the unity of the Assembly, these also will be of God, that they may be living after Jesus Christ. Do not be deceived, my brothers. If any man follows one that makes a schism, he does not inherit the Kingdom of God. If any man walks in strange doctrine, he has no fellowship with the passion.
Therefore, be careful to observe one thanksgiving (for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup to union in His blood; there is one altar, as there is one overseer, together with the eldership and the servants—my fellow-servants), that whatever you do, you may do it after God.
My brothers, my heart overflows altogether in love toward you; and rejoicing above measure I watch over your safety; yet not I, but Jesus Christ, wearing whose bonds I am the more afraid, because I am not yet perfected. But your prayer will make me perfect [to God], that I may attain to the inheritance wherein I have found mercy, taking refuge in the good news as the flesh of Jesus and in the apostles as the eldership of the Assembly. Yes, and we love the prophets also, because they too pointed to the good news in their preaching and set their hope on Him and awaited Him; in whom also having faith, they were saved in the unity of Jesus Christ, being worthy of all love and admiration as holy men, approved of Jesus Christ and numbered together in the good news of our common hope.
But if anyone presents Judaism to you, do not hear him; for it is better to hear Christianity from a man who is circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either the one or the other does not speak concerning Jesus Christ, I look on them as tombstones and graves of the dead, whereon are inscribed only the names of men. Therefore, shun the wicked arts and plottings of the prince of this world, lest by chance you are crushed by his devices, and grow weak in your love. But assemble all yourselves together with undivided heart. And I give thanks to my God, that I have a good conscience in my dealings with you, and no man can boast, either in secret or openly, that I was burdensome to anyone in small things or in great. Yes, and for all among whom I spoke, it is my prayer that they may not turn it into a testimony against themselves.
For even though certain persons desired to deceive me after the flesh, yet the Spirit is not deceived, being from God; for He knows from where He comes and where He goes, and He searches out the hidden things. I cried out when I was among you; I spoke with a loud voice, with God’s own voice, “Give heed to the overseer, and the eldership, and servants.” However, there were those who suspected me of saying this, because I knew beforehand of the division of certain persons. But He in whom I am bound is my witness that I did not learn it from flesh of man; it was the preaching of the Spirit who spoke concerning this: “Do nothing without the overseer; keep your flesh as a temple of God; cherish union; shun divisions; be imitators of Jesus Christ, as He Himself also was of His Father.”
Therefore, I did my own part, as a man composed to union. But where there is division and anger, there God does not abide. Now the Lord forgives all men when they convert, if converting they return to the unity of God and to the council of the overseer. I have faith in the grace of Jesus Christ, who will strike off every chain from you; and I entreat you to do nothing in a spirit of factiousness, but after the teaching of Christ. For I heard certain persons saying, “If I do not find it in the charters, I do not believe it in the good news.” And when I said to them, “It is written,” they answered me, “That is the question.” But as for me, my charter is Jesus Christ, the inviolable charter is His cross, and His death, and His resurrection, and faith through Him, wherein I desire to be justified through your prayers.
The priests likewise were good, but better is the Chief Priest to whom is committed the Holy of Holies; for to Him alone are committed the hidden things of God, He Himself being the door of the Father, through which Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob enter in, and the prophets, and the apostles, and the whole Assembly; all these things combine in the unity of God. But the good news has a singular preeminence in the advent of the Savior, even our Lord Jesus Christ, and His passion and resurrection. For the beloved prophets in their preaching pointed to Him; but the good news is the completion of immortality. All things together are good, if you believe through love.
Seeing that in answer to your prayer and to the tender sympathy which you have in Christ Jesus, it has been reported to me that the assembly which is in Antioch of Syria has peace, it is appropriate for you, as an assembly of God, to appoint a servant to go there as God’s ambassador, that he may congratulate them when they are assembled together, and may glorify the Name. Blessed in Jesus Christ is he that will be counted worthy of such a service; and you yourselves will be glorified. Now if you desire it, it is not impossible for you to do this for the Name of God, even as the assemblies which are nearest have sent overseers, and others elders and servants.
But as touching Philo the servant from Cilicia, a man of good report, who now also ministers to me in the word of God, together with Rhaius Agathopus, a chosen one who follows me from Syria, having bid farewell to this present life, these also bear witness to you—and I myself thank God on your behalf, because you received them, as I trust the Lord will receive you. But may those who treated them with dishonor be redeemed through the grace of Jesus Christ. The love of the brothers which are in Troas salutes you; from where I also write to you by the hand of Burrhus, who was sent with me by the Ephesians and Smyrnaeans as a mark of honor. The Lord will honor them, even Jesus Christ, on whom their hope is set in flesh, and soul, and spirit, by faith, by love, by concord. Farewell in Christ Jesus our common hope.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to the assembly of God the Father and of Jesus Christ the Beloved, which has been mercifully endowed with every grace, being filled with faith and love, and lacking in no grace, most worthy and bearing holy treasures; to the assembly which is in Smyrna of Asia, in a blameless spirit and in the word of God: abundant greetings.
I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who bestowed such wisdom on you; for I have perceived that you are established in immovable faith, being as it were nailed on the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, in flesh and in spirit, and firmly grounded in love in the blood of Christ, fully persuaded as touching our Lord that He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin and immersed by John that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him, truly nailed up in the flesh for our sakes under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (of which fruit we are—that is, of His most blessed passion), that He might set up an ensign to all the ages through His resurrection, for His holy ones and faithful people, whether among Jews or among nations, in one body of His Assembly.
For He suffered all these things for our sakes, that we might be saved; and He truly suffered, as He also truly raised Himself; not as certain unbelievers say, that He suffered in semblance [only], being themselves mere semblance. And according as their opinions are, so will it happen to them, for they are without body and demon-like.
For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when He came to Peter and his company, He said to them, “Lay hold and handle Me, and see that I am not a bodiless spirit.” And immediately they touched Him, and they believed, being joined to His flesh and His blood. For what reason they also despised death, no, they were found superior to death. And after His resurrection, He ate with them and drank with them as one in the flesh, though spiritually He was united with the Father.
But these things I warn you, dearly beloved, knowing that you yourselves are so minded. However, I watch over you early to protect you from wild beasts in human form—men whom not only you should not receive, but, if it were possible, not so much as meet [them]; only pray for them, if by chance they may convert. This is indeed difficult, but Jesus Christ, our true life, has power over it. For if these things were done by our Lord in semblance, then I am also a prisoner in semblance. And why then have I delivered myself over to death, to fire, to sword, to wild beasts? But near to the sword, near to God; in company with wild beasts, in company with God. Only let it be in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that we may suffer together with Him. I endure all things, seeing that He Himself, who is perfect Man, enables me.
But certain persons ignorantly deny Him, or rather have been denied by Him, being advocates of death rather than of the truth; and they have not been persuaded by the prophecies, nor by the Law of Moses, no, nor even to this very hour by the good news, nor by the sufferings of each of us separately; for they are of the same mind also concerning us. For what profit is it [to me] if a man praises me, but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing that He was a bearer of flesh? Yet he that does not affirm this, does thereby deny Him altogether, being himself a bearer of a corpse. But their names, being unbelievers, I have not thought fit to record in writing; no, far be it from me even to remember them, until they convert and return to the passion, which is our resurrection.
Let no man be deceived. Even the heavenly beings, and the glory of the messengers, and the rulers visible and invisible, if they do not believe in the blood of Christ, judgment awaits them also. He that receives let him receive. Do not let office puff up any man; for faith and love are all in all, and nothing is preferred before them. But mark those who hold strange doctrine touching the grace of Jesus Christ which came to us, how that they are contrary to the mind of God. They have no care for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the afflicted, none for the prisoner, none for the hungry or thirsty. They abstain from thanksgiving and prayer, because they do not allow that the thanksgiving is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which flesh suffered for our sins, and which the Father of His goodness raised up.
Therefore, they that deny the good gift of God perish by their questionings. But it would be expedient for them to have love, that they may also rise again. It is therefore appropriate that you should abstain from such, and not speak of them either privately or in public, but should give heed to the prophets, and especially to the good news, wherein the passion is shown to us and the resurrection is accomplished.
[But] shun divisions, as the beginning of evils. All of you must follow your overseer, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the eldership as the apostles; and pay respect to the servants, as to God’s command. Let no man do anything of things pertaining to the Assembly apart from the overseer. Let that be held a valid thanksgiving which is under the overseer or one to whom he will have committed it. Wherever the overseer will appear, let the people be there, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal Assembly. It is not lawful apart from the overseer either to immerse or to hold a love-feast; but whatever he will approve, this is also well-pleasing to God, that everything which you do may be sure and valid.
It is reasonable, from now on, that we wake to soberness, while we have time to convert and turn to God. It is good to recognize God and the overseer. He that honors the overseer is honored of God; he that does anything without the knowledge of the overseer renders service to the Devil. Therefore, may all things abound to you in grace, for you are worthy. You refreshed me in all things, and Jesus Christ will refresh you. In my absence and in my presence, you cherished me. May God reward you, for whose sake if you endure all things, you will attain to Him.
Philo and Rhaius Agathopus, who followed me in the cause of God, you did well to receive as ministers of God—who also give thanks to the Lord for you, because you refreshed them in every way. Nothing will be lost to you. My spirit is devoted for you, as are my bonds also, which you did not despise, neither were ashamed of them. Nor will He, who is perfect faithfulness, be ashamed of you, even Jesus Christ.
Your prayer sped forth to the assembly which is in Antioch of Syria, from where, coming [as] a prisoner in most godly bonds, I salute all men, though I am not worthy to belong to it, being the very last of them. By the Divine will this was granted to me—not of my own complicity, but by God’s grace, which I pray may be given to me perfectly, that through your prayers I may attain to God. Therefore, that your work may be perfected both on earth and in Heaven, it is suitable that your assembly should appoint, for the honor of God, an ambassador of God that he may go as far as Syria and congratulate them because they are at peace, and have recovered their proper stature, and their proper bulk has been restored to them. It seemed to me, therefore, a fitting thing that you should send one of your own people with a letter, that he might join with them in giving glory for the calm which by God’s will had overtaken them, and because they were already reaching a haven through your prayers. Seeing you are perfect, let your counsels also be perfect; for if you desire to do well, God is ready to grant the means.
The love of the brothers which are in Troas salutes you, from where I also write to you by the hand of Burrhus, whom you sent with me jointly with the Ephesians, your brothers. He has refreshed me in all ways. And I wish that all imitated him, for he is an example of the ministry of God. The Divine grace will repay him in all things. I salute your godly overseer, and your venerable eldership, [and] my fellow-servants the servants, and all of you separately and in a body, in the Name of Jesus Christ, and in His flesh and blood, in His passion and resurrection, which was both carnal and spiritual, in the unity of God and of yourselves. Grace to you, mercy, peace, patience, always.
I salute the households of my brothers with their wives and children, and the virgins who are called widows. I bid you farewell in the power of the Father. Philo, who is with me, salutes you. I salute the household of Gavia, and I pray that she may be grounded in faith and love, both of flesh and of spirit. I salute Alce, a name very dear to me, and the incomparable Daphnus, and Eutecnus, and all by name. Farewell in the grace of God.
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to Polycarp who is overseer of the assembly of the Smyrnaeans, or rather, who has for his overseer God the Father and Jesus Christ: abundant greetings.
Welcoming your godly mind which is grounded as it were on an immovable rock, I give exceeding glory that it has been granted to me to see your blameless face, of which I would gladly have joy in God. I exhort you in the grace with which you are clothed to press forward in your course and to exhort all men that they may be saved. Vindicate your office in all diligence of flesh and of spirit. Have a care for union, more than which there is nothing better. Bear all men, as the Lord also bears you. Permit all men in love, as you do also. Give yourself to unceasing prayers. Ask for larger wisdom than you have. Be watchful and keep your spirit from slumbering. Speak to each man separately after the manner of God. Bear the ailments of all, as a perfect athlete. Where there is more toil, there is much gain.
If you love good scholars, this is not worthy of thanks in you. Rather, bring the more pernicious to submission by gentleness. All wounds are not healed by the same salve. Lessen sharp pains by poultices. Be prudent as the serpent in all things and always guileless as the dove. Therefore, you are made of flesh and spirit, that you may humor the things which appear before your eyes; and as for the invisible things, pray that they may be revealed to you, that you may be lacking in nothing, but may abound in every spiritual gift. The season requires you, as pilots require winds or as a storm-tossed mariner a haven, that it may attain to God. Be sober, as God’s athlete. The prize is incorruption and continuous life, concerning which you are also persuaded. In all things I am devoted to you—myself and my bonds which you cherished.
Do not let those that seem to be plausible and yet teach strange doctrine dismay you. Stand firm, as an anvil when it is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows and be victorious. But we must especially endure all things for God’s sake, that He may also endure us. Be more diligent than you are. Mark the seasons. Await Him that is above every season—the Perpetual, the Invisible, who became visible for our sake; the Impalpable, the Impassible, who suffered for our sake, who endured in all ways for our sake.
Do not let widows be neglected. After the Lord, be their protector. Let nothing be done without your consent; neither do anything without the consent of God, as indeed you do not. Be steadfast. Let meetings be held more frequently. Seek out all men by name. Do not despise slaves, whether men or women. Yet do not let these be puffed up, but rather let them serve the more faithfully to the glory of God, that they may obtain a better freedom from God. Do not let them desire to be set free at the public cost, lest they are found slaves of lust.
Flee evil arts, or rather, hold discourse about these. Tell my sisters to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and in spirit. In like manner also, charge my brothers in the Name of Jesus Christ to love their wives, as the Lord loved the Assembly. If anyone is able to abide in chastity to the honor of the flesh of the Lord, let him so abide without boasting. If he boasts, he is lost; and if it is known beyond the overseer, he is polluted. It is appropriate for men and women too, when they marry, to unite themselves with the consent of the overseer, that the marriage may be after the Lord and not after lust. Let all things be done to the honor of God.
Give heed to the overseer, that God may also give heed to you. I am devoted to those who are subject to the overseer, the elders, [and] the servants. May it be granted to me to have my portion with them in the presence of God. Toil together with one another, struggle together, run together, suffer together, lie down together, rise up together, as God’s stewards, and assessors, and ministers. Please the Captain in whose army you serve, from whom you will also receive your pay. Let none of you be found a deserter. Let your immersion abide with you as your shield, your faith as your helmet, your love as your spear, your patience as your body armor. Let your works be your deposits, that you may receive your assets due to you. Therefore, be long-suffering with one another in gentleness, as God is with you. May I have your joy always.
Seeing that the assembly which is in Antioch of Syria has peace, as it has been reported to me, through your prayers, I myself have also been the more comforted since God has banished my care, if [it] so be [that] I may attain to God through suffering, that I may be found a disciple through your intercession. It is appropriate for you, most blessed Polycarp, to call together a godly council and to choose some one among you who is very dear to you and zealous also, who will be fit to bear the name of God’s courier—to appoint him, I say, that he may go to Syria and glorify your zealous love to the glory of God. A Christian has no authority over himself, but gives his time to God. This is God’s work, and yours also, when you will complete it; for I trust in the Divine grace, that you are ready for an act of well-doing which is [to] meet for God. Knowing the fervor of your sincerity, I have exhorted you in a short letter.
1 Since I have not been able to write to all the assemblies, by reason of my sailing suddenly from Troas to Neapolis, as the Divine will prescribes, you will write to the assemblies in front, as one possessing the mind of God, to the intent that they may also do this same thing—let those who are able send messengers, and the rest letters by the persons who are sent by you, that you may be glorified by an ever memorable deed—for this is worthy of you. 2 I salute all by name, and especially the wife of Epitropus with her whole household and her children’s. I salute my beloved Attalus. I salute him that will be appointed to go to Syria. Grace will be with him always, and with Polycarp who sends him. 3 I bid you farewell always in our God Jesus Christ, in whom you abide in the unity and supervision of God. I salute Alce, a name very dear to me. Farewell in the Lord.