Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who is also a witness of Jesus Christ, to Polycarp, bishop of the church of the Smyrnaeans, or rather one who is overseen by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: abundant greetings.
Welcoming your godly resolve, grounded as upon an immovable rock, I exceedingly glorify God, having been counted worthy of your blameless countenance, in which I would have joy in God.
I exhort you, in the grace with which you are clothed, to press on in your course and to exhort all, that they may be saved. Vindicate your office with all diligence, both fleshly and spiritual. Be concerned for unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all, as the Lord also bears with you. Endure all in love, as indeed you do.
Devote yourself to unceasing prayers; ask for greater understanding than you have. Be watchful, possessing an unsleeping spirit. Speak to each one according to God's manner. Bear the diseases of all, as a perfect athlete, as the Lord of all also does; for he himself, it says, "took our infirmities and bore our diseases." Where the labor is greater, the gain is great.
If you love good disciples, there is no thanks to you; rather, subdue the more troublesome ones in gentleness. Not every wound is healed with the same plaster; check the inflammations with fomentations.
Be wise as the serpent in all things, and ever harmless as the dove. For this reason you are composed of soul and body, fleshly and spiritual, that you may correct to their face the things that appear to you; but as for the unseen things, ask that they may be made manifest to you, that you may lack nothing and may abound in every gift.
The time demands that you pray. For just as the wind aids the helmsman, and as well-situated harbors mean safety for a storm-tossed ship, so also for you does attaining God. Be sober as God's athlete; His will is incorruptibility and eternal life, of which you too are persuaded. In every respect I am a ransom for you, I and my chains, which you have loved.
Let not those who seem trustworthy yet teach strange doctrines dismay you; but stand firm as an anvil that is struck. It is the mark of a great athlete to be bruised and yet to conquer. Above all, for God's sake we must endure all things, that He too may endure with us into the kingdom.
Add yet more to the diligence in which you are; run with greater intensity. Discern the times. As one who is here, conquer; for here is the arena, and there are the crowns. Look for Christ the Son of God, the One who is timeless yet came in time, invisible by nature yet visible in flesh, intangible and untouchable as bodiless, yet for our sake graspable and tangible in a body, impassible as God, yet for our sake passible as man, who in every way endured for our sake.
Let not the widows be neglected; after the Lord, be you their guardian. Let nothing be done without your consent, and do nothing yourself without God's consent—as indeed you do not. Be steadfast.
Do not treat male and female slaves with contempt; but neither let them be puffed up. Rather let them serve all the more for the glory of God, that they may obtain a better freedom from God. Let them not long to be set free at the church's expense, lest they be found slaves of desire.
Flee evil arts; rather, make them a subject of your exhortation. Speak to my sisters to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and in spirit. Likewise charge my brothers in the name of Jesus Christ to love their wives, as the Lord loves the church.
If anyone is able to remain in chastity to the honor of the Lord's flesh, let him remain so without boasting. If he boasts, he is lost; and if it becomes known apart from the bishop, he is corrupted. It is fitting for men and women who marry to make their union with the bishop's consent, so that the marriage may be according to the Lord and not according to lust. Let all things be done to the honor of God.
Give heed to the bishop, that God also may give heed to you. I am a ransom for those who are subject to the bishop, the presbytery, and the deacons; may it be granted me to have my portion with them in God. Labor together with one another, contend together, run together, suffer together, rest together, rise together, as God's stewards and assessors and servants.
Please Him in whose army you serve, from whom also you will receive your wages; let none of you be found a deserter. Let your baptism remain as your armor, your faith as a helmet, your love as a spear, your endurance as full armor. Let your works be your deposits, that you may receive the credits owed you, worthy of God. Be patient, therefore, with one another in meekness, and God will be with you. May I have joy of you forever.
Since the church in Antioch of Syria is now at peace, as has been made known to me through your prayers, I too have become more cheerful in the freedom from care that God gives—provided that through suffering I may attain to God, so that in your petition I may be found a disciple.
It is fitting, most blessed-of-God Polycarp, to convene a council most worthy of God and to appoint someone, if you have any who is greatly beloved and untiring, who could be called a courier of God; deem him worthy to journey into Syria, so that, having gone into Syria, he may glorify your untiring love to the glory of God.
The Christian does not have authority over himself, but devotes his leisure to God. This is the work of God and of you, when you accomplish it. For I trust in His grace that you are ready for the good work that pertains to God. Knowing your love of brevity in the truth, I have exhorted you in few letters.
Since, then, I have not been able to write to all the churches because of my sudden sailing from Troas to Neapolis, as the will commands, you will write to the nearer churches, as one possessing the mind of God, so that they too may do this—those who are able sending messengers on foot, and others sending letters by those dispatched by you—that you may be glorified by an eternal work, since you are worthy.
I greet all by name, and the wife of Epitropus together with her whole household and her children. I greet Attalus my beloved. I greet the one who is to be deemed worthy to journey into Syria. Grace will be with him always, and with Polycarp who sends him.
I pray that you may always fare well in our God Jesus Christ, in whom may you abide in the unity and oversight of God. I greet Alce, a name dear to me. Amen. Grace be with you. Fare well in the Lord.