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Opening greeting
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto her which hath been blessed in greatness through the plentitude of God the Father; which hath been foreordained before the ages to be forever and unto abiding and unchangeable glory, united and elect in a true passion, by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God; even unto the church which is at Ephesus [of Asia], worthy of all felicitation; abundant greeting in Christ Jesus and in blameless joy.
1While I welcomed in God [your] well beloved name which ye bear by natural right, [in an upright and virtuous mind], by faith and love in Christ Jesus our Savior--being imitators of God, and having your hearts kindled in the blood of God, ye have perfectly fulfilled your congenial work--
2for when ye 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 the wild beasts in Rome, that by so succeeding I might have power to be a disciple, ye were eager to visit me--
3seeing then in God's name I have received your whole multitude in the person of Onesimus, whose love passeth utterance and who is moreover your bishop [in the flesh] and I pray that ye may love him according to Jesus Christ and that ye all may be like him; for blessed is He that granted unto you according to your deserving to have such a bishop.
Text: J. B. Lightfoot. Public-domain translation by J. B. Lightfoot (1828–1889), transcribed by CCEL. Chapter divisions and paragraph order are retained; prologues are presented separately.
Translation details.