THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE EPHESIANS 

Ignatius, who is also called Theopharus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, 
in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fulness 
of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning[1] of time, that 
it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united[2] 
and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus 
Christ, our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled 
grace.

CHAP. I.--PRAISE OF THE EPHESIANS.

    I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which ye 
have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and 
love in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Being the followers[4] of God, and 
stirring up[5] yourselves by the blood of God, ye have perfectly 
accomplished the work which was beseeming to you. For, on hearing that I 
came bound from Syria for the common name and hope, trusting through your 
prayers to be permitted to fight with beasts at Rome, that so by martyrdom 
I may indeed become the disciple of Him "who gave Himself for us, an 
offering and sacrifice to God,"[6][ye hastened to see me[7]]. I received, 
therefore,[8] your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a 
man of inexpressible love,[9] and your bishop in the  flesh, whom I pray 
you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him. 
And blessed be He who has granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such an 
excellent bishop.

CHAP. II.--CONGRATULATIONS AND ENTREATIES.

    As to my fellow-servant Burrhus, your deacon in regard to God and 
blessed in all things,[1] I beg that he may continue longer, both for your 
honour and that of your bishop. And Crocus also, worthy both of God and 
you, whom I have received as the manifestation[2] of your love, hath in all 
things refreshed[3] me, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ shall also 
refresh[3] him; together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and Euplus, and 
Fronto, by means of whom, I have, as to love, beheld all of you. May I 
always have joy of you, if indeed I be worthy of it. It is therefore 
befitting that you should in every way glorify Jesus Christ, who hath 
glorified you, that by a unanimous obedience "ye may be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the 
same thing concerning the same thing,"[5] and that, being subject to the 
bishop and the presbytery, ye may in all respects be sanctified.

CHAP. III.--EXHORTATIONS TO UNITY.

    I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For 
though I am bound for the name[of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus 
Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-
disciples with me. For it was needful for me to have been stirred up by you 
in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering. But inasmuch as love 
suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken[6] 
upon me first to exhort you that ye would all run together in accordance 
with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is 
the[manifested] will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to 
the utmost bounds[of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.

CHAP. IV.--THE SAME CONTINUED.

    Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with 
the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned 
presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the 
strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, 
Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being 
harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, ye may with 
one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear 
you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of His son. 
It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, 
that thus ye may always enjoy communion with God.

CHAP. V.--THE PRAISE OF UNITY.

    For if I in this brief space of time, have enjoyed such fellowship with 
your bishop--I mean not of a mere human, but of a spiritual nature--how 
much more do I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is 
to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things 
may agree in unity !Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within 
the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or 
two possesses[4] such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole 
Church !He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even[5] 
by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, 
"God resisteth the proud."[9] Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves 
in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.

CHAP. VI.--HAVE RESPECT TO THE BISHOP AS TO CHRIST HIMSELF.

    Now the more any one sees the bishop keeping silence,[10] the more 
ought he to revere him. For we ought to receive every one whom the Master 
of the house sends to be over His household,[11] as we would do Him that 
sent him. It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop 
even as we would upon the Lord Himself. And indeed Onesimus himself greatly 
commends your good order in God, that ye all live according to the truth, 
and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do ye 
hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth.

CHAP. VII.--BEWARE OF FALSE TEACHERS.

    For some are in the habit of carrying about the name[of Jesus Christ] 
in wicked guile, while yet they practise things unworthy of God, whom ye 
must flee as ye would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite 
secretly, against whom ye must be on your guard, inasmuch as they are men 
who can scarcely be cured. There is one Physician who is possessed both of 
flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life 
in death; both of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible,[7] 
even Jesus Christ our Lord.

CHAP. VIII.--RENEWED PRAISE OF THE EPHESIANS.

    Let not then any one deceive you, as indeed ye are not deceived, 
inasmuch as ye are wholly devoted to God. For since there is no strife 
raging among you which might distress you, ye are certainly living in 
accordance with God's will. I am far inferior to you, and require to be 
sanctified by your Church of Ephesus, so renowned throughout the world. 
They that are carnal cannot do those things which are spiritual, nor they 
that are spiritual the things which are carnal; even as faith cannot do the 
works of unbelief, nor the unbelief the works of faith. But even those 
things which ye do according to the flesh are spiritual; for ye do all 
things in Jesus Christ.

CHAP. IX.--YE HAVE GIVEN NO HEED TO FALSE TEACHERS.

    Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, 
having false doctrine, whom ye did not suffer to sow among you, but stopped 
your ears, that ye might not receive those things which were sown by them, 
as being stones[1] of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building 
of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, 
which is the cross,[2] making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your 
faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led 
up to God. Ye, therefore, as well as all your fellow-travellers, are God-
bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in 
all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ, in whom also I exult 
that I have been thought worthy, by means of this Epistle, to converse and 
rejoice with you, because with respect to your Christian life[7] ye love 
nothing but God only.

CHAP. X.--EXHORTATIONS TO PRAYER, HUMILITY, ETC.

    And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in 
them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See,[2] then, that 
they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be ye meek in 
response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their 
blasphemies return[4] your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye 
stedfast[5] in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. 
While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their 
brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the 
Lord(who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that 
so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all 
holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and 
spirit.

CHAP. XI.--AN EXHORTATION TO FEAR GOD, ETC.

    The last times are come upon us. Let us therefore be of a reverent 
spirit, and fear the long-suffering of God, that it tend not to our 
condemnation. For let us either stand in awe of the wrath to come, or show 
regard for the grace which is at present displayed--one of two things. 
Only[in one way or another] let us be found in Christ Jesus unto the true 
life. Apart from Him, let nothing attract[16] you, for whom I bear about 
these bonds, these spiritual jewels, by which may I arise through your 
prayers, of which I entreat I may always be a partaker, that I may be found 
in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always been of the same 
mind with the apostles through the power of Jesus Christ.

CHAP. XII.--PRAISE OF THE EPHESIANS.

    I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am a condemned man, ye 
have been the objects of mercy; I am subject to danger, ye are established 
in safety. Ye are the persons through(1) whom those pass that are cut off 
for the sake of God. Ye are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with 
Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at whose feet(4) 
may I be found, when I shall attain to God; who in all his Epistles makes 
mention of you in Christ Jesus.

CHAP. XIII.--EXHORTATION TO MEET TOGETHER FREQUENTLY FOR THE WORSHIP OF 
GOD.

    Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show 
forth His praise. For when ye assemble frequently in the same place, the 
powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims(7) is 
prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, 
by which all war, both in heaven and earth,(8) is brought to an end.

CHAP. XIV.--EXHORTATIONS TO FAITH AND LOVE.

    None of these things is hid from you, if ye perfectly possess that 
faith and love towards Christ Jesus(10) which are the beginning and the end 
of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love.(11) Now these 
two. being inseparably connected together,(12) are of God, while all other 
things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them. No man 
[truly] making a profession of faith sinneth;(13) nor does he that 
possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit;(15) so 
those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their 
conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession,(16) but that a 
man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.

CHAP. XV.--EXHORTATION TO CONFESS CHRIST BY SILENCE AS WELL AS SPEECH.

    It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk 
and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. There 
is then one Teacher, who spake and it was done; while even those things 
which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word 
of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be 
perfect, and may both act as he speaks, and be recognised by his silence. 
There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to 
Him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, 
that we may be His temples,(20) and He may be in us as our God, which 
indeed He is, and will manifest Himself before our faces. Wherefore we 
justly love Him.

CHAP. XVI.--THE FATE OF FALSE TEACHERS.

    Do not err, my brethren.(3) Those that corrupt families shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God.(4) If, then, those who do this as respects the 
flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any 
one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus 
Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go 
away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.

CHAP. XVII.--BEWARE OF FALSE DOCTRINES.

    For this end did the Lord suffer the ointment to be poured upon His 
head,(7) that He might breathe immortality into His Church. Be not ye 
anointed with the bad odour of the doctrine of the prince of this world; 
let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you. 
And why are we not all prudent, since we have received the knowledge of 
God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, not recognising the 
gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us?

CHAP. XVIII.--THE GLORY OF THE CROSS.

    Let my spirit be counted as nothing(10) for the sake of the cross, 
which is a stumbling-block" to those that do not believe, but to us 
salvation and life eternal. "Where is the wise man? where the disputer?"(1) 
Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus 
Christ, was, according to the appointment(3) of God, conceived in the womb 
by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and 
baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.

CHAP. XIX.--THREE CELEBRATED MYSTERIES.

    Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as 
was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of 
renown,(5) which were wrought in silence by(6) God. How, then, was He 
manifested to the world?(7) A star shone forth in heaven above all the 
other stars, the light of Which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck 
men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and 
moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great 
above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new 
spectacle came, so unlike to everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every 
kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; 
ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being 
manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life. And now that took 
a beginning which had been prepared by God. Henceforth all things were in a 
state of tumult, because He meditated the abolition of death.

CHAP. XX.--PROMISE OF ANOTHER LETTER.

    If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if 
it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, 
make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I 
have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His 
faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially 
[will I do this 14] if the Lord make known to me that ye come togetherman 
by man in common through grace, individually,(1) in one faith, and in Jesus 
Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the 
Son of man and the Son of God, so that ye obey the bishop and the 
presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which 
is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, 
but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ.

CHAP. XX.--EXHORTATIONS TO STEDFASTNESS AND UNITY.

    Stand fast, brethren, in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in His love, in 
His passion, and in His resurrection. Do ye all come together in common, 
and individually,(15) through grace, in one faith of God the Father, and of 
Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, and "the first-born of every 
creature,"(16) but of the seed of David according to the flesh, being under 
the guidance of the Comforter, in obedience to the bishop and the 
presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which 
is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from 
dying, but a cleansing remedy driving away evil, [which causes] that we 
should live in God through Jesus Christ.

CHAP. XXI.--CONCLUSION.

    My soul be for yours and theirs(2) whom, for the honour of God, ye have 
sent to Smyrna; whence also I write to you, giving thanks unto the Lord, 
and loving Polycarp even as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also 
remembered you. Pray ye for the Church which is in Syria, whence I am led 
bound to Rome, being the last of the faithful who are there, even as I have 
been thought worthy to be chosen(4) to show forth the honour of God. 
Farewell in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, our common hope.

    My soul be for yours and theirs(2) whom, for the honour of God, ye have 
sent to Smyrna; whence also I write to you, giving thanks to the Lord, and 
loving Polycarp even as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also 
remembers you, who is blessed for evermore. Pray ye for the Church of 
Antioch which is in Syria, whence I am led bound to Rome, being the last of 
the faithful that are there, who(3) yet have been thought worthy to carry 
these chains to the honour of God. Fare ye well in God the Father, and the 
Lord Jesus Christ, our common hope, and in the Holy Ghost. Fare ye well. 
Amen. Grace [be with you].(5)