To Polycarp

Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to Polycarp, bishop of the church of the Smyrnaeans, or rather one who has God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as his bishop: abundant greetings.

Welcoming your godly mind, which is established as on an immovable rock, I give exceeding glory that I have been counted worthy of your blameless face; may I have joy of it in God.

I urge you, by the grace with which you are clothed, to press on in your course and to urge all people to be saved. Do justice to your office with all diligence, both of the flesh and of the spirit. Take thought for unity, than which nothing is better. Bear all people, as the Lord also bears you; put up with all in love, as indeed you do.

Give yourself to unceasing prayers; ask for more understanding than you have; keep watch, with a spirit that does not sleep. Speak to each person individually, in the manner of God; bear the diseases of all, as a perfect athlete. Where there is more toil, there is much gain.

If you love good disciples, it is no credit to you; rather, bring the more troublesome into submission by gentleness. Not every wound is healed by the same plaster. Relieve fits of fever with cold compresses.

Be wise as the serpent in all things and always innocent as the dove. For this reason you are both of flesh and of spirit, so that you may deal kindly with the things that appear before your face; but ask that the invisible things be revealed to you, so that you may lack nothing and abound in every spiritual gift.

The times require you, as pilots require winds and as one who is storm-tossed requires a harbor, so that you may attain to God. Be sober, as God's athlete; the prize is incorruptibility and eternal life, of which you too are convinced. In every way I am a ransom for you, I and my bonds, which you loved.

Do not let those who seem trustworthy but teach otherwise overwhelm you. Stand firm, like an anvil being struck. It is the mark of a great athlete to be beaten and yet to win. Above all, for God's sake we must endure all things, so that he may also endure us.

Be more diligent than you are. Understand the times. Look for the one who is above time, the timeless, the invisible, who became visible for our sake; the one who cannot be touched, who cannot suffer, who became subject to suffering for our sake; who endured in every way for our sake.

Do not let widows be neglected. After the Lord, you be their guardian. Let nothing be done without your consent, and do nothing without God, as indeed you do not. Stand firm.

Let meetings be held more often. Seek out all by name.

Do not be arrogant toward male and female slaves; but neither let them be puffed up. Rather, let them serve all the more to the glory of God, so that they may obtain a better freedom from God. Let them not desire to be set free at the common expense, so that they may not be found slaves of desire.

Flee evil practices, or rather preach sermons about them. Tell my sisters to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and in spirit. In the same way also command 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 purity to the honor of the flesh of the Lord, let him remain so without boasting. If he boasts, he is lost; and if it becomes known beyond the bishop, he is ruined. It is fitting for men who marry and women who are married to form their union with the consent of the bishop, 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.

Pay attention to the bishop, so that God may also pay attention to you. I am a ransom for those who are subject to the bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons; and with them may it be granted me to have my portion in God. Toil together with one another, contend together, run together, suffer together, rest together, rise together, as God's stewards, assistants, and servants.

Please the one under whom you serve as soldiers, from whom you also receive your wages. Let none of you be found a deserter. Let your baptism remain as your weapons, faith as a helmet, love as a spear, endurance as full armor. Let your works be your deposits, so that you may receive the back pay that is due to you. Be patient, then, with one another in gentleness, as God is with you. May I have joy of you always.

Since the church in Antioch of Syria is at peace, as has been made known to me, through your prayer, I too have become more cheerful, in a freedom from care that comes from God, if indeed through suffering I may attain to God, so that I may be found a disciple at your resurrection.

It is fitting, most blessed Polycarp, to call together a most godly council and to appoint someone whom you regard as especially dear and tireless, who can be called God's courier; to count him worthy to go to Syria and glorify your tireless love, to the glory of God.

A Christian does not have authority over himself, but gives his time to God. This is God's work, and yours as well, when you complete it. For I trust in grace that you are ready for a good deed that befits God. Knowing your intense zeal for the truth, I have exhorted you in few words.

Since I have not been able to write to all the churches, because I am sailing suddenly from Troas to Neapolis, as the will commands, you will write to the churches that lie ahead, as one who has the mind of God, so that they too may do the same (those who are able to send messengers on foot, the others letters by those whom you send), so that you may be glorified by an everlasting work, as you are worthy.

I greet all by name, and the wife of Epitropus, with her whole household and her children. I greet Attalus, my beloved. I greet the one who is to be counted worthy to go to Syria. Grace will be with him always, and with Polycarp who sends him.

I bid you farewell always in our God Jesus Christ; may you remain in him in the unity and oversight of God. I greet Alce, a name dear to me. Farewell in the Lord.