Greeting and Thanks for the Ephesians' Visit

1 Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the church in Ephesus [of Asia], which has been blessed with greatness through the fullness of God the Father, destined before time began for lasting and unchanging glory, united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God, and deserving of every blessing: warmest greetings in Christ Jesus and in blameless joy. In God I welcomed [your] much-loved name, which is yours by your very nature [in an upright and virtuous mind], through faith and love in Christ Jesus our Savior. You imitate God, and with hearts set on fire by the blood of God, you have done perfectly the work that comes naturally to you— 2 for when you heard that I was on my way from Syria in chains for the sake of the Name and the hope we share, and that I hoped through your prayers to succeed in fighting wild beasts in Rome, so that by succeeding I could truly become a disciple, you were eager to visit me— 3 since, then, in God's name I have received your whole community in the person of Onesimus, whose love is beyond words and who is also your bishop [in the flesh];⁠a I pray that you will love him in Jesus Christ and that all of you will be like him; for blessed is the One who has given you, as you deserve, such a bishop—