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to the prophets and to those who have preached to you the word of salvation. But flee from ill-named heresies and those who create schisms, as the beginning of evils. Let all follow the bishop, as Christ Jesus follows the Father, and the presbytery as the apostles; and reverence the deacons as serving God's command. Let no one do anything of what belongs to the church without the bishop. Let that Eucharist be considered valid which is under the bishop or to whomever he himself may entrust it. Wherever the bishop appears, there let the multitude be, just as where Christ is, all the heavenly host stands by as to the commander-in-chief of the power of the Lord and the distributor of every spiritual nature. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to offer or to present a sacrifice or to celebrate a love feast, but whatever seems good to him, according to the good pleasure of God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.

It is reasonable, then, for us to become sober, while we still have time to repent to God. For in Hades there is no one who confesses. For behold the man, and his work is before his face. Honor, it says, my son, God and the king. But I say: Honor God as the cause of all things and Lord, and the bishop as high priest, bearing the image of God, in ruling as God, and in ministering as a priest as Christ. And after him one must also honor the king; for there is no one better than God or like him among all beings, nor in the church is anyone greater than the bishop, consecrated to God for the salvation of the whole world, nor is anyone like a king among rulers, administering peace and good order to those who are ruled. He who honors the bishop will be honored by God, just as he who dishonors him will be punished by God. For if he who rises up against kings will rightly be deemed worthy of punishment, as one who dissolves the common good order, of how much worse punishment do you think he will be deemed worthy who presumes to do anything without the bishop, and rends unity, and confounds good order? For the priesthood is the pinnacle of all good things among men, and he who rages against it dishonors not man, but God and Christ Jesus, the firstborn and only high priest by nature of the Father. Therefore let all things be done among you with good order in Christ. Let the laity be subject to the deacons, the deacons to the presbyters, the presbyters to the bishop, the bishop to Christ, as He is to the Father. As you have refreshed me, brothers, so may Jesus Christ refresh you. You loved me when I was absent and when I was present; God will reward you, for whose sake you have shown these things to his prisoner. For even if I am not worthy, yet your eagerness is great. For he who honors a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; clearly, also, he who honors a prisoner of Jesus Christ will receive the reward of martyrs. Philo and Gaius and Agathopus, who followed me for the word of God, being deacons of Christ, you did well in receiving them as deacons of Christ; who also give great thanks to the Lord on your behalf, because you refreshed them in every way. Nothing that you did for them will be reckoned against you. May the Lord grant you to find mercy from the Lord in that day.My spirit is a ransom for you, and my bonds, which you have not despised nor been ashamed of; therefore neither will the perfect hope, Jesus Christ, be ashamed of you. Your prayers have reached the church of the Antiochians, and it is at peace; whence, being in bonds, I greet everyone. not being worthy of being from there, being the last of them, I was counted worthy according to the will of God, not from my own conscience, but from the grace of God; which I pray may be given to me perfectly, so that in your prayers I may attain to God. Therefore, so that your work may be perfect both on earth and in heaven, it is fitting for the honor of God for your church to appoint a God-ambassador, so that when he has gone to Syria he may congratulate them, that they are at peace and have received their own stature, and their own small body has been restored to them. What seemed worthy to me, this is it, so that

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προφήταις καὶ τοῖς εὐαγγελισαμένοις ὑμῖν τὸν σωτήριον λόγον. τὰς δὲ δυσωνύμους αἱρέσεις καὶ τοὺς τὰ σχίσματα ποιοῦντας φεύγετε ὡς ἀρχὴν κακῶν. Πάντες τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ἀκολουθεῖτε, ὡς ὁ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς τῷ πατρί, καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ δὲ ὡς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις· τοὺς δὲ διακόνους ἐντρέπεσθε ὡς θεοῦ ἐντολὴν διακονοῦντας. μηδεὶς χωρὶς ἐπισκόπου τι πρασσέτω τῶν ἀνηκόντων εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. ἐκείνη βεβαία εὐχαριστία ἡγείσθω ἡ ὑπὸ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον οὖσα ἢ ᾧ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐπιτρέψῃ. ὅπου ἂν φανῇ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, ἐκεῖ τὸ πλῆθος ἔστω, ὥσπερ ὅπου ὁ Χριστός, πᾶσα ἡ οὐράνιος στρατιὰ παρέστηκεν ὡς ἀρχιστρατήγῳ τῆς δυνάμεως κυρίου καὶ διανομεῖ πάσης νοητῆς φύσεως. οὐκ ἐξόν ἐστιν χωρὶς τοῦ ἐπισκόπου οὔτε βαπτίζειν οὔτε προσφέρειν οὔτε θυσίαν προσκομίζειν οὔτε δοχὴν ἐπιτελεῖν, ἀλλ' ὃ ἂν ἐκείνῳ δοκῇ κατ' εὐαρέστησιν θεοῦ, ἵνα ἀσφαλὲς ᾖ καὶ βέβαιον πᾶν, ὃ πράσσεται.

Eὔλογόν ἐστι λοιπὸν ἀνανῆψαι ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἔτι καιρὸν ἔχομεν εἰς θεὸν μετανοεῖν. ἐν γὰρ τῷ ᾅδῃ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐξομολογούμενος. ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. τίμα, φησίν, υἱὲ τὸν θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα. ἐγὼ δέ φημι· τίμα μὲν τὸν θεὸν ὡς αἴτιον τῶν ὅλων καὶ κύριον, ἐπίσκοπον δὲ ὡς ἀρχιερέα, θεοῦ εἰκόνα φοροῦντα κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἄρχειν θεοῦ, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἱερατεύειν Χριστοῦ. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον τιμᾶν χρὴ καὶ βασιλέα· οὔτε γὰρ θεοῦ τις κρείττων ἢ παραπλήσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν, οὔτε δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐπισκόπου τις μείζων ἱερωμένου θεῷ ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς σωτηρίας, οὔτε βασιλέως τις παραπλήσιος ἐν ἄρχουσιν, εἰρήνην καὶ εὐνομίαν τοῖς ἀρχομένοις πρυτανεύοντος. ὁ τιμῶν ἐπίσκοπον ὑπὸ θεοῦ τιμηθήσεται, ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ ἀτιμάζων αὐτὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ κολασθήσεται. εἰ γὰρ ὁ βασιλεῦσιν ἐπεγειρόμενος κολάσεως ἄξιος δικαίως γενήσεται ὥς γε παραλύων τὴν κοινὴν εὐνομίαν, πόσῳ δοκεῖτε χείρονος ἀξιωθήσεται τιμωρίας ὁ ἄνευ ἐπισκόπου τι ποιεῖν προαιρούμενος καὶ τὴν ὁμόνοιαν διασπῶν καὶ τὴν εὐταξίαν συγχέων; ἱερωσύνη γάρ ἐστιν τὸ πάντων ἀγαθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀναβεβηκός, ἧς ὁ καταμανεὶς οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἀτιμάζει, ἀλλὰ θεὸν καὶ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν πρωτότοκον καὶ μόνον τῇ φύσει τοῦ πατρὸς ἀρχιερέα. πάντα οὖν ὑμῖν μετ' εὐταξίας ἐπιτελείσθω ἐν Χριστῷ· οἱ λαϊκοὶ τοῖς διακόνοις ὑποτασσέσθωσαν, οἱ διάκονοι τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις, οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, ὁ ἐπίσκοπος τῷ Χριστῷ, ὡς αὐτὸς τῷ πατρί. καθά με ἀνεπαύσατε, ἀδελφοί, καὶ ὑμᾶς Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός. ἀπόντα με καὶ παρόντα ἠγαπήσατε· ἀμείψεται ὑμᾶς ὁ θεός, δι' ὃν ταῦτα εἰς τὸν δέσμιον αὐτοῦ ἐνεδείξασθε. εἰ γὰρ καὶ μή εἰμι ἱκανός, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς προθυμίας ὑμῶν μέγα. ὁ τιμῶν γὰρ προφήτην εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου μισθὸν προφήτου λήψεται· δηλονότι καὶ ὁ τιμῶν δέσμιον Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων λήψεται μισθόν. Φίλωνα καὶ Γάϊον καὶ Ἀγαθόποδα, οἳ ἐπηκολούθησάν μοι εἰς λόγον θεοῦ, διάκονοι Χριστοῦ ὄντες, καλῶς ἐποιήσατε ὑποδεξάμενοι ὡς διακόνους Χριστοῦ· οἳ καὶ σφόδρα εὐχαριστοῦσιν τῷ κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ὅτι αὐτοὺς ἀνεπαύσατε κατὰ πάντα τρόπον. οὐδὲν ὑμῖν παραλογισθήσεται, ὧν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐποιήσατε. δóη ὑμῖν ὁ κύριος εὑρεῖν ἔλεος παρὰ κυρίου ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ.ἀντίψυχον ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμά μου καὶ τὰ δεσμά μου, ἃ οὐχ ὑπερηφανεύσατε οὐδὲ ἐπῃσχύνθητε· διὸ οὐδὲ ὑμᾶς ἐπαισχυνθήσεται ἡ τελεία ἐλπίς, Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Aἱ προσευχαὶ ὑμῶν ἤγγισαν εἰς τὴν Ἀντιοχέων ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ εἰρηνεύεται· ὅθεν δεδεμένος πάντας ἀσπάζομαι. οὐκ ὢν ἄξιος ἐκεῖθεν, ἔσχατος αὐτῶν ὤν, κατὰ θέλημα κατηξιώθην, οὐκ ἐκ συνειδήσεως ἐμῆς, ἀλλ' ἐκ χάριτος θεοῦ· ἣν εὔχομαι τελείαν μοι δοθῆναι, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ὑμῶν θεοῦ ἐπιτύχω. ὅπως οὖν ὑμῶν τὸ ἔργον τέλειον γένηται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, πρέπει εἰς θεοῦ τιμὴν χειροτονῆσαι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὑμῶν θεοπρεσβύτην, εἰς τὸ γενόμενον ἐν Συρίᾳ συγχαρῆναι αὐτοῖς, ὅτι εἰρηνεύουσι καὶ ἀπέλαβον τὸ ἴδιον μέγεθος, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη αὐτοῖς τὸ ἴδιον σωμάτιον. ὃ ἐφάνη μοι ἄξιον, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὥστε