Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the holy church which is at Tralles in Asia, beloved by God the Father of Jesus Christ, elect and worthy of God, at peace in flesh and spirit through the passion of Jesus Christ, our hope, in the resurrection unto him; which I also greet in the fullness, in the apostolic manner, and I wish abundant joy.
I have learned that you have a blameless and unwavering mind in endurance, not as a matter of practice but of nature, as Polybius your bishop made clear to me, who came by the will of God and of Jesus Christ to Smyrna and so rejoiced with me, bound in Christ Jesus, that I beheld your whole multitude in him.
For when you are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, you appear to me to be living not according to man but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, believing in his death, you might escape dying.
It is necessary, then— as you indeed do— that you do nothing apart from the bishop, but be subject also to the presbytery as to the apostles of Jesus Christ our hope, in whom, if we walk, we shall be found.
And the deacons too, being ministers of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, must in every way be pleasing to all. For they are not ministers of food and drink, but servants of the church of God; therefore they must guard against accusations as against fire.
Likewise let all reverence the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as also the bishop, who is a type of the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and as the band of the apostles. Apart from these there is no church.
Concerning these I am persuaded that you are so disposed. For I received the model of your love and have it with me in the person of your bishop, whose very bearing is a great lesson, and whose meekness is power; whom I think even the godless reverence.
Loving you, I spare you, though I am able to write more pointedly on this matter. But I did not think it fitting that I, a condemned man, should command you as if I were an apostle.
I think many things in God; but I measure myself, lest I perish through boasting. For now I ought the more to fear and not heed those who puff me up; for those who praise me scourge me.
For I love to suffer, but I do not know whether I am worthy. For the zeal does not appear to many, but it wars against me the more. I have need, then, of meekness, by which the ruler of this age is destroyed.
Am I not able to write to you of heavenly things? But I fear lest I do harm to you who are infants; and bear with me, lest, not being able to take it in, you be choked.
For even I, not because I am bound and am able to comprehend heavenly things and the angelic positions and the orders of the rulers, things visible and invisible— not for this am I already a disciple. For we lack many things, that we may not be lacking of God.
those who entangle Jesus Christ with themselves while pretending to be trustworthy, like those who administer a deadly drug with honeyed wine, which the unsuspecting gladly takes, and in evil pleasure drinks down his own death.
Guard yourselves, then, against such men. This will be so for you if you are not puffed up and are inseparable from God— Jesus Christ— and from the bishop and the ordinances of the apostles.
He who is within the sanctuary is pure; but he who is outside the sanctuary is not pure. That is, whoever does anything apart from the bishop and the presbytery and the deacons, this man is not pure in conscience.
Not because I have learned of any such thing among you, but I forewarn you, being my beloved, foreseeing the snares of the devil. You therefore, taking up gentleness, restore yourselves in faith, which is the flesh of the Lord, and in love, which is the blood of Jesus Christ.
Let none of you hold anything against his neighbour. Give no occasion to the Gentiles, lest because of a few foolish persons the godly multitude be blasphemed. For: 'Woe to him through whom my name is blasphemed in vanity before some.'
Be deaf, then, when anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, of Mary, who truly was born, both ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died, while those in heaven and on earth and under the earth looked on;
who also was truly raised from the dead, his Father having raised him; in whose likeness his Father will also so raise us who believe in him, in Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not have true life.
But if, as some who are godless— that is, unbelievers— say, he suffered only in appearance (they themselves being only in appearance), why am I bound, and why also do I pray to fight wild beasts? Then I die in vain; in that case I bear false witness against the Lord.
Flee, then, the evil offshoots that bear deadly fruit, of which if anyone tastes, he immediately dies. For these are not the planting of the Father; for if they were, they would appear as branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible— through which, in his passion, he calls you who are his members. The head, then, cannot be born apart from the members, since God promises union, which is himself.
My bonds exhort you, which I carry about for the sake of Jesus Christ, asking to attain to God: remain in your concord and in mutual prayer. For it is fitting for you, each one, and especially the presbyters, to refresh the bishop, to the honour of the Father, of Jesus Christ, and of the apostles.
I pray that you listen to me in love, that I may not be a testimony against you by having written. And pray for me too, who need your love in the mercy of God, that I may be counted worthy of the lot which I am set to attain, lest I be found rejected.
The love of the Smyrnaeans and the Ephesians greets you. Remember in your prayers the church in Syria, of which I am not worthy to be called a member, being the least of them.
Farewell in Jesus Christ, being subject to the bishop as to the commandment, and likewise to the presbytery. And love one another, each one, with an undivided heart.
My spirit sanctifies you, not only now, but also when I attain to God. For I am still in danger; but the Father is faithful in Jesus Christ to fulfil my request and yours, in which may you be found blameless.