Ignatius to the Ephesians

Ⅰ

Having received in God your beloved name, which you have by natural right in faith and love in Christ Jesus, our Savior; being imitators of God, you perfectly completed your kinship work, rekindled in the blood of God. 2 When you heard that I was bound in chains for our common name and hope in Syria, hoping by your prayers to fight with wild beasts in Rome, so that by achieving this I might be a disciple, you eagerly sought to see me. 3 Since I have received your large congregation in the name of God through Onesimus, your bishop in incomparable love, whom I pray you love in Jesus Christ and may all of you be like him. Blessed is the one who granted you to have such a worthy bishop.

Ⅱ

Concerning my fellow servant Burrus, who is a deacon of God among you and blessed in everything, I pray that he may remain to honor you and the bishop. And also Crocus, who is worthy of God and you, whom I received as a symbol of your love, has refreshed me in every way, as the Father of Jesus Christ will refresh him, together with Onesimus, Burrus, Euplus, and Fronto, through whom I saw you all in love. 2 I wish I could benefit from you always, if I am worthy. So it is fitting in every way to glorify Jesus Christ who has glorified you, so that you may be fully prepared in one submission, obeying the bishop and the elders, and be holy in everything.

Ⅲ

I do not command you as if I were someone important. Even though I am bound in his name, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ; for now, I am just beginning to be a student, and I speak to you as my fellow learners. I need to be strengthened by your faith, advice, patience, and endurance. 2 But since love does not allow me to be silent about you, I have taken the initiative to encourage you to follow the will of God. For Jesus Christ, our undivided life, is the will of the Father, just as the bishops appointed to every corner of the earth are in the will of Jesus Christ.

Ⅳ

Therefore, you should align yourselves with the bishop's guidance, which you are already doing. For your worthy group of elders, fitting for God, is harmoniously joined with the bishop like strings to a harp. That's why in your unity and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is praised. 2 Form yourselves into a choir, so that being in harmony and in unity, you may glorify God with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father. This way, He will both hear you and recognize you, through your good deeds, as members of His Son. Therefore, it is beneficial for you to be in spotless unity, so that you may always share in God.

Ⅴ

If I, in such a short time, have developed such a relationship with your bishop, which is not just human but spiritual, how much more do I praise you who are so united, like the Church to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to the Father, so that everything may be in harmonious unity? 2 Let no one be misled; unless someone is within the altar, they lack the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two has such great power, how much more does the prayer of the bishop and the entire Church? 3 Therefore, anyone who does not come together is already arrogant and has separated themselves. For it is written: "God opposes the proud." Let us then be diligent not to oppose the bishop so that we may be obedient to God.

Ⅵ

And the more one sees a bishop remaining silent, the more one should fear him. For anyone whom the master sends to manage his household, we must receive as if he were the master himself. Clearly, we should regard the bishop as we would the Lord. 2 Onesimus himself praises your godly order, because you all live in truth and no heresy dwells among you. Moreover, you don't listen to anyone except those who speak about Jesus Christ in truth.

Ⅶ

For some people deceitfully carry the name, doing other things unworthy of God; you should avoid them like wild beasts. They are like rabid dogs that bite secretly, and you must guard against them because they are hard to heal. 2 There is one physician, both fleshly and spiritual, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ⅷ

So let no one deceive you, just as you are not deceived, because you all belong to God. When there is no strife among you that can cause you trouble, it means you live according to God. I am a sacrifice for you and I praise you, Ephesians, the church famous through the ages. 2 Those who are fleshly cannot do spiritual things, and those who are spiritual cannot do fleshly things, just as faith cannot do the works of unbelief and unbelief cannot do the works of faith. But the things you do according to the flesh are spiritual, for you do everything in Jesus Christ.

Ⅸ

I have learned that some people with bad teachings came that way. You did not let them plant their teachings among you, but closed your ears so as not to accept what they were spreading. You are like stones of the Father's temple, prepared to build the house of God the Father. You are lifted up to heaven by the machine of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, and you use the rope of the Holy Spirit. Your faith lifts you up, and your love is the road that leads you to God. 2 So you are all companions, bearers of God, bearers of the temple, bearers of Christ, bearers of holiness, adorned in every way with the commandments of Jesus Christ. I was glad to be found worthy to write to you and share in your joy, because you love nothing of human life except for God alone.

Ⅹ

And for other people, also pray without ceasing, for there is hope of repentance among them so they may attain God. Allow them to learn from your works, at least. 2 To their anger, you be gentle; to their prideful speech, you be humble; to their insults, you offer prayers; to their errors, you be firm in faith; to their wildness, you be calm. Do not try to imitate them. 3 Let us be their brothers through gentleness. Let us strive to imitate the Lord, enduring wrongs, loss, and rejection, so that no seeds of the devil are found among you. Instead, remain in Jesus Christ with all purity and self-control, both in body and spirit.

Ⅺ

These are the last times. So let us be ashamed and fear the patience of God, so it doesn't become judgment against us. Either we fear the coming wrath, or we love the present grace, one of the two. Just be found in Christ Jesus for true life. 2 Apart from this, let nothing else concern you. I carry these bonds, the spiritual pearls, in which I hope to rise through your prayers. May I always share in those prayers, so I may be found among the Christians of Ephesus, who have always been in agreement with the apostles through the power of Jesus Christ.

Ⅻ

I know who I am and to whom I am writing. I am condemned, and you are shown mercy. I am in danger, and you are secure. 2 You are companions of those who are taken up to God, partners of Paul the sanctified, the testified, the blessed. May I be found under his footsteps when I reach God, who remembers you in every letter in Christ Jesus.

ⅩⅢ

So make sure to gather more frequently for thanksgiving to God and for His glory. For when you meet often, the powers of Satan are destroyed and his destruction is undone by your unity in faith. 2 There is nothing better than peace, in which all conflicts, both heavenly and earthly, are ended.

ⅩⅣ

Nothing escapes your notice if you have complete faith and love in Jesus Christ, which are the beginning and the end of life. Faith is the beginning, and love is the end. When these two are united, they are God, and everything else follows from goodness and righteousness. 2 No one who claims faith sins, and no one who has love hates. A tree is known by its fruit. In the same way, those who claim to belong to Christ will be seen by what they do. For it is not just words, but the power of faith that will be found in the end.

ⅩⅤ

It is better to be silent and be, than to speak and not be. It is good to teach, if the speaker acts. There is one teacher who spoke, and it happened; and what he did in silence is worthy of the Father. 2 The one who truly has the word of Jesus can also hear his silence, so that he may be perfect, so that he may act by what he speaks and be known by what he does in silence. 3 Nothing is hidden from the Lord, but even our secrets are close to him. So let us do everything as if he lives in us, so that we may be his temples and he may be our God in us; which he is and will appear before us, from which we justly love him.

ⅩⅥ

Do not be deceived, my brothers; those who destroy homes will not inherit the kingdom of God. 2 So if those who did these things in the flesh died, how much more will those who corrupt the faith of God with false teaching, for which Jesus Christ was crucified? Such a person, becoming filthy, will go into the unquenchable fire, and likewise the one who listens to him.

ⅩⅦ

Because of this, the Lord received ointment on his head, so that he might breathe immortality into the Church. Do not anoint yourselves with the foul smell of the teaching of the ruler of this age, lest he capture you away from the life set before you. 2 Why don't we all become wise by receiving the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, ignoring the gift that the Lord has truly sent?

ⅩⅧ

My spirit glories in the cross, which is a stumbling block to unbelievers, but to us, it is salvation and eternal life. Where is the wise person? Where is the debater? Where is the boasting of those who are called clever? 2 For our God, Jesus Christ, was carried by Mary according to God's plan, from the seed of David and by the Holy Spirit. He was born and baptized, so that through His suffering, He might purify the water.

ⅩⅨ

The virginity of Mary and her childbirth, as well as the death of the Lord, were hidden from the ruler of this world; three loud mysteries that happened in the silence of God. 2 So, how was it revealed to the ages? A star shone in the sky, brighter than all the stars, and its light was indescribable and brought amazement by its newness. All the other stars, along with the sun and moon, formed a chorus around this star, but its light surpassed them all. There was confusion, wondering where this new and different light came from. 3 Because of this, all magic was broken, and every bond of evil vanished. Ignorance was overthrown, and the old kingdom was destroyed with God being revealed in human form, bringing the newness of eternal life. What was prepared by God began, and everything was shaken because death's end was being proclaimed.

ⅩⅩ

If Jesus Christ grants me the honor through your prayers and it is His will, in the second little book that I plan to write to you, I will explain to you about the mission I began concerning the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and love, in His suffering and resurrection. 2 Especially if the Lord reveals to me that you all, as men, gather together in grace, in His name, in one faith and in Jesus Christ, who in the flesh is from the line of David, the Son of Man and the Son of God. You should obey the bishop and the elders with a single-minded focus, breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote so that you will not die, but live forever in Jesus Christ.

ⅩⅪ

I give my life for you and those you sent for God's honor to Smyrna, from where I am also writing to you. I give thanks to the Lord and love Polycarp as I do you. Remember me, just as Jesus Christ remembers you. 2 Pray for the church in Syria, from where I am being taken as a prisoner to Rome. I am the last of the believers there, as I was found worthy to be so for the honor of God. Stay strong in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, our shared hope.