1. Ignatius, To Polycarp, 2.3, 3.1, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.3. The season requireth thee, as pilots require winds or as a storm-tossed mariner a haven, that it may attain unto God. Be sober, as God's athlete. The prize is incorruption and life eternal, concerning which thou also art persuaded. In all things I am devoted to thee -- I and my bonds which thou didst cherish. 3.1. Let not those that seem to be plausible and yet teach strange doctrine dismay thee. Stand thou firm, as an anvil when it is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows and be victorious. But especially must we for God's sake endure all things, that He also may endure us. 3.1. For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; 6.1. Give ye heed to the bishop, that God also may give heed to you. I am devoted to those who are subject to the bishop, the presbyters, the deacons. May it be granted me to have my portion with them in the presence of God. Toil together one with another, struggle together, run together, suffer together, lie down together, rise up together, as God's stewards and assessors and ministers. 6.1. Let no man be deceived. Even the heavenly beings and the glory of the angels and the rulers visible and invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ [who is God], judgment awaiteth them also. He that receiveth let him receive. Let not office puff up any man; for faith and love are all in all, and nothing is preferred before them. |
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2. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 5.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 5.1. My brethren, my heart overfloweth altogether in love towards you; and rejoicing above measure I watch over your safety; yet not I, but Jesus Christ, wearing whose bonds I am the more afraid, because I am not yet perfected. But your prayer will make me perfect [unto God], that I may attain unto the inheritance wherein I have found mercy, taking refuge in the Gospel as the flesh of Jesus and in the Apostles as the presbytery of the Church. |
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3. Ignatius, To The Ephesians, 1.1-1.3, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 5.3, 11.2, 12.1-12.2, 18.1, 21.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.1. While 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 Saviour -- being imitators of God, and having your hearts kindled in the blood of God, ye have perfectly fulfilled your congenial work -- 1.2. for 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 with wild beasts in Rome, that by so succeeding I might have power to be a disciple, ye were eager to visit me: -- 1.3. eeing then that 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: -- 2.2. May I have joy of you always, if so be I am worthy of it. It is therefore meet for you in every way to glorify Jesus Christ who glorified you; that being perfectly joined together in one submission, submitting yourselves to your bishop and presbytery, ye may be sanctified in all things. 3.1. I do not command you, as though I were somewhat. For even though I am in bonds for the Name's sake, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ. [For] now am I beginning to be a disciple; and I speak to you as to my school-fellows. For I ought to be trained by you for the contest in faith, in admonition, in endurance, in long-suffering. 4.1. So then it becometh you to run in harmony with the mind of the bishop; which thing also ye do. For your honourable presbytery, which is worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, even as its strings to a lyre. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. 5.3. Whosoever therefore cometh not to the congregation, he doth thereby show his pride and hath separated himself; for it is written, God resisteth the proud. Let us therefore be careful not to resist the bishop, that by our submission we may give ourselves to God. 11.2. Let nothing glitter in your eyes apart from Him, in whom I carry about my bonds, my spiritual pearls in which I would fain rise again through your prayer, whereof may it be my lot to be always a partaker, that I may be found in the company of those Christians of Ephesus who moreover were ever of one mind with the Apostles in the power of Jesus Christ. 12.1. I know who I am and to whom I write. I am a convict, ye have received mercy: I am in peril, ye are established. 12.2. Ye are the high-road of those that are on their way to die unto God. Ye are associates in the mysteries with Paul, who was sanctified, who obtained a good report, who is worthy of all felicitation; in whose foot-steps I would fain be found treading, when I shall attain unto God; who in every letter maketh mention of you in Christ Jesus. 18.1. My spirit is made an offscouring for the Cross, which is a stumbling-block to them that are unbelievers, but to us salvation and life eternal. Where is the wise? Where is the disputer? Where is the boasting of them that are called prudent? 21.2. Pray for the church which is in Syria, whence I am led a prisoner to Rome -- I who am the very last of the faithful there; according as I was counted worthy to be found unto the honour of God. Fare ye well in God the Father and in Jesus Christ our common hope. |
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4. Ignatius, To The Magnesians, 1.1, 1.2, 2.1-3.2, 14.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.1. When I learned the exceeding good order of your love in the ways of God, I was gladdened and I determined to address you in the faith of Jesus Christ. |
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5. Ignatius, To The Philadelphians, 5.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 5.1. My brethren, my heart overfloweth altogether in love towards you; and rejoicing above measure I watch over your safety; yet not I, but Jesus Christ, wearing whose bonds I am the more afraid, because I am not yet perfected. But your prayer will make me perfect [unto God], that I may attain unto the inheritance wherein I have found mercy, taking refuge in the Gospel as the flesh of Jesus and in the Apostles as the presbytery of the Church. |
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6. Ignatius, To The Romans, 2.1-2.2, 4.1-4.2, 5.1-5.3, 6.2-6.3, 9.1, 9.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.1. For I would not have you to be men-pleasers but to please God, as indeed ye do please Him. For neither shall I myself ever find an opportunity such as this to attain unto God, nor can ye, if ye be silent, win the credit of any nobler work. For, if ye be silent and leave me alone, I am a word of God; but if ye desire my flesh, then shall I be again a mere cry. 2.2. [Nay] grant me nothing more than that I be poured out a libation to God, while there is still an altar ready; that forming yourselves into a chorus in love ye may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ, for that God hath vouchsafed that the bishop from Syria should be found in the West, having summoned him from the East. It is good to set from the world unto God, that I may rise unto Him. 4.1. I write to all the churches, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless ye should hinder me. I exhort you, be ye not an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given to the wild beasts, for through them I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. 4.2. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my sepulchre and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen asleep, be burdensome to any one. Then shall I be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not so much as see my body. Supplicate the Lord for me, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. 5.1. From Syria even unto Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only wax worse when they are kindly treated. Howbeit through their wrong doings I become more completely a disciple; yet am I not hereby justified. 5.2. May I have joy of the beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them prompt; nay I will entice them that they may devour me promptly, not as they have done to some, refusing to touch them through fear. Yea though of themselves they should not be willing while I am ready, I myself will force them to it. 5.3. Bear with me. I know what is expedient for me. Now am I beginning to be a disciple. May nought of things visible and things invisible envy me; that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross and grapplings with wild beasts, [cuttings and manglings,] wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushings of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to assail me. Only be it mine to attain unto Jesus Christ. 6.2. Bear with me, brethren. Do not hinder me from living; do not desire my death. Bestow not on the world one who desireth to be God's, neither allure him with material things. Suffer me to receive the pure light. When I am come thither, then shall I be a man. 6.3. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If any man hath Him within himself, let him understand what I desire, and let him have fellow- feeling with me, for he knoweth the things which straiten me. 9.3. My spirit saluteth you, and the love of the churches which received me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as a mere wayfarer: for even those churches which did not lie on my route after the flesh went before me from city to city. |
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7. Ignatius, To The Smyrnaeans, 4.2, 8.1-9.1, 10.2, 11.1, 12.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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8. Ignatius, To The Trallians, 2.2, 4.2, 10.1, 11.1, 12.2, 13.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.2. It is therefore necessary, even as your wont is, that ye should do nothing without the bishop; but be ye obedient also to the presbytery, as to the Apostles of Jesus Christ our hope; for if we live in Him, we shall also be found in Him. 4.2. For though I desire to suffer, yet I know not whether I am worthy: for the envy of the devil is unseen indeed by many, but against me it wages the fiercer war. So then I crave gentleness, whereby the prince of this world is brought to nought. 10.1. But if it were as certain persons who are godless, that is unbelievers, say, that He suffered only in semblance, being themselves mere semblance, why am I in bonds? And why also do I desire to fight with wild beasts? So I die in vain. Truly then I lie against the Lord. 11.1. Shun ye therefore those vile offshoots that gender a deadly fruit, whereof if a man taste, forthwith he dieth. For these men are not the Father's planting: for if they had been, they would have been seen to be branches of the Cross, and their fruit imperishable -- the Cross whereby He through His passion inviteth us, being His members. Now it cannot be that a head should be found without members, seeing that God promiseth union, and this union is Himself. 12.2. My bonds exhort you, which for Jesus Christ's sake I bear about, entreating that I may attain unto God; abide ye in your concord and in prayer one with another. For it becometh you severally, and more especially the presbyters, to cheer the soul of your bishop unto the honour of the Father [and to the honour] of Jesus Christ and of the Apostles. 13.1. The love of the Smyrnaeans and Ephesians saluteth you. Remember in your prayers the church which is in Syria; whereof [also] I am not worthy to be called a member, being the very last of them. |
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9. New Testament, 1 John, 2.18 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.18. Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the end times. |
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10. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1.1, 15.8, 15.32 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the willof God, and our brother Sosthenes 15.8. and last of all, as to the child born at the wrongtime, he appeared to me also. 15.32. If I fought withanimals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If thedead are not raised, then "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. |
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11. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 1.1, 3.1-3.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and Christ Jesus our hope; 3.1. This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work. 3.2. The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3.3. not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 3.4. one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 3.5. (but if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?) 3.6. not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 3.7. Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil. 3.8. Deacons, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money; 3.9. holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 3.10. Let them also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, if they are blameless. 3.11. Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 3.12. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 3.13. For those who have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. |
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12. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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13. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 1.1, 1.8, 2.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus 1.8. Therefore don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the gospel according to the power of God 2.9. in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God's word isn't chained. |
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14. New Testament, Philemon, 10, 13, 9, 1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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15. New Testament, Colossians, 1.1, 4.18 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother 4.18. The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. |
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16. New Testament, Ephesians, 1.1, 1.9, 3.1, 3.9, 4.1, 5.32 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1.9. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 3.1. For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles 3.9. and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ; 4.1. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called 5.32. This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly. |
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17. New Testament, Galatians, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead) |
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18. New Testament, Hebrews, 13.4 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 13.4. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. |
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19. New Testament, Philippians, 1.7, 1.13, 1.17 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.7. It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 1.13. so that it became evident to the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ; 1.17. but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. |
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20. New Testament, Romans, 1.1-1.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 1.2. which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures 1.3. concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh 1.4. who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord 1.5. through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; 1.6. among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ; |
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21. New Testament, Titus, 1.1, 1.5-1.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness 1.5. I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you; 1.6. if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. 1.7. For the overseer must be blameless, as God's steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain; 1.8. but given to hospitality, as a lover of good, sober-minded, fair, holy, self-controlled; 1.9. holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict those who contradict him. |
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22. New Testament, Matthew, 23.8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 23.8. But don't you be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. |
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