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Fulfill the commandments given to us, knowing that he who hears us hears Christ, and he who hears Christ hears his God and Father, to whom be glory for ever; amen. We therefore, being together, the twelve apostles of the Lord, command you these divine constitutions concerning every ecclesiastical form, with us also being present Paul, the chosen vessel, our fellow apostle, and James the bishop, and the rest of the presbyters, and the seven deacons. I, Peter, therefore, first say that a bishop is to be ordained, as we all together have previously ordained, one who is blameless in all things, chosen by the whole people for his merit. When he has been named and is approved, the people having assembled together with the presbytery and the bishops present on the Lord's day, the chief among the others should ask the presbytery and the people, if this is he whom they request for a ruler. And when they have assented, let him ask further, if he is testified by all to be worthy of this great and illustrious leadership, if his piety toward God has been rightly performed, if justice toward men has been kept, if the affairs of his own household have been well managed, if his life is without reproach. And when all have together testified that he is such a one, according to truth and not according to prejudice, as before God and Christ as judge, with the Holy Spirit also being present, and all the holy and ministering spirits, let them ask again a third time, if he is truly worthy of the ministry, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And when they have agreed a third time that he is worthy, let all be asked for their consent, and when they have given it cheerfully, let them be heard. And when silence has been made, one of the principal bishops, together with two others, standing near the altar, while the rest of the bishops and presbyters pray in silence, and the deacons hold the divine Gospels open over the head of the one being ordained, let him say to God: The One who is, Master, Lord God Almighty, the only unbegotten and not subject to a king, who always is and exists before the ages, who is in every way without need and better than every cause and generation, the only true, the only wise, who alone is Most High, who by nature is invisible, whose being is knowledge without beginning, the only good and incomparable, who knows all things before their generation, the knower of secret things, the unapproachable, the without-master; the God and Father of the only-begotten Son

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δοθείσας ἡμῖν ἐντολὰς ποιῆσθε, εἰδότες, ὅτι ὁ ἡμῶν ἀκούων Χριστοῦ ἀκούει, ὁ δὲ Χριστοῦ ἀκούων τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀκούει, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν. Ἅμα τοίνυν ὑπάρχοντες ἡμεῖς οἱ δεκαδύο τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπόστολοι τάσδε τὰς θείας ὑμῖν ἐντελλόμεθα διατάξεις περὶ παντὸς ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ τύπου, συμπαρόντος ἡμῖν καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεύους Παύλου τοῦ συναποστόλου ἡμῶν καὶ Ἰακώβου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ διακόνων. Πρῶτος οὖν ἐγώ φημι Πέτρος ἐπίσκοπον χειρο τονεῖσθαι, ὡς ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ἅμα πάντες διετα ξάμεθα, ἐν πᾶσιν ἄμεμπτον, ἀριστίνδην ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκλελεγμένον. Oὗ ὀνομασθέντος καὶ ἀρέσαντος συνελθὼν ὁ λαὸς ἅμα τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ καὶ τοῖς παροῦ σιν ἐπισκόποις ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κυριακῇ, ὁ πρόκριτος τῶν λοι πῶν ἐρωτάτω τὸ πρεσβυτέριον καὶ τὸν λαόν, εἰ αὐτός ἐστιν, ὃν αἰτοῦνται εἰς ἄρχοντα. Καὶ ἐπινευσάντων προσε περωτάτω, εἰ μαρτυρεῖται ὑπὸ πάντων ἄξιος εἶναι τῆς μεγάλης ταύτης καὶ λαμπρᾶς ἡγεμονίας, εἰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν εἰς Θεὸν αὐτῷ εὐσέβειαν κατώρθωται, εἰ τὰ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους δίκαια πεφύλακται, εἰ τὰ κατὰ τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ καλῶς ᾠκονόμηται, εἰ τὰ κατὰ τὸν βίον ἀνεπιλήπτως. Καὶ πάντων ἅμα κατὰ ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλ' οὐ κατὰ πρόληψιν μαρτυ ρησάντων τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν εἶναι, ὡς ἐπὶ δικαστῇ Θεῷ καὶ Χριστῷ, παρόντος δηλαδὴ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος καὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων καὶ λειτουργικῶν πνευμάτων, ἐκ τρίτου πάλιν πυθέσθωσαν, εἰ ἄξιός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς τῆς λειτουργίας, ἵνα ἐπὶ στόματος δύο ἢ τριῶν μαρτύρων σταθήσεται πᾶν ῥῆμα. Καὶ συνθεμένων αὐτῶν ἐκ τρίτου ἄξιον εἶναι, ἀπαιτείσθωσαν οἱ πάντες σύνθημα, καὶ δόντες προθύμως ἀκουέσθωσαν. Καὶ σιωπῆς γενομένης εἷς τῶν πρώτων ἐπισκόπων ἅμα καὶ δυσὶν ἑτέροις πλησίον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἑστώς, τῶν λοιπῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων σιωπῇ προσευχομένων, τῶν δὲ διακόνων τὰ θεῖα Eὐαγγέλια ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ χειροτονουμέ νου κεφαλῆς ἀνεπτυγμένα κατεχόντων, λεγέτω πρὸς Θεόν· Ὁ êν, δέσποτα Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ μόνος ἀγέννητος καὶ ἀβασίλευτος, ὁ ἀεὶ ὢν καὶ πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ὑπάρχων, ὁ πάντη ἀνενδεὴς καὶ πάσης αἰτίας καὶ γενέσεως κρείττων, ὁ μόνος ἀληθινός, ὁ μόνος σοφός, ὁ ὢν μόνος ὕψιστος, ὁ τῇ φύσει ἀόρατος, οὗ τὸ εἶναι γνῶσις ἄναρχος, ὁ μόνος ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἀσύγκριτος, ὁ τὰ πάντα εἰδὼς πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, ὁ τῶν κρυπτῶν γνώστης, ὁ ἀπρόσιτος, ὁ ἀδέσποτος· ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ