Page:Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.djvu/266

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252
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS
you,[1] and my bonds, which ye have not despised or been ashamed of; nor shall Jesus Christ, our perfect hope, be ashamed of you.

spirit be for you,[1] and my bonds, which ye have not despised or been ashamed of. Wherefore, neither shall Jesus Christ, our perfect hope, be ashamed of you.

Chap. xi.Request to them to send a messenger to Antioch.

Your prayer has reached to the church which is at Antioch in Syria. Coming from that place bound with chains, most acceptable to God,[2] I salute all; I who am not worthy to be styled from thence, inasmuch as I am the least of them. Nevertheless, according to the will of God, I have been thought worthy [of this honour], not that I have any sense[3] [of having deserved it], but by the grace of God, which I wish may be perfectly given to me, that through your prayers I may attain to God. In order, therefore, that your work may be complete both

Your prayers have reached to the church of Antioch, and it is at peace. Coming from that place bound, I salute all; I who am not worthy to be styled from thence, inasmuch as I am the least of them. Nevertheless, according to the will of God, I have been thought worthy [of this honour], not that I have any sense[3] [of having deserved it], but by the grace of God, which I wish may be perfectly given to me, that through your prayers I may attain to God. In order, therefore, that your work may be complete both on earth and in heaven, it is fitting that, for the honour of God, your church should elect some worthy

  1. 1.0 1.1 Comp. Epistle of Ignatius to Ephesians, chap. xxi.; to Polycarp, chap. ii. vi.
  2. Literally, "most becoming of God."
  3. 3.0 3.1 Or, "from any conscience."