Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Redemption in Christ

3 aBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as bHe chose us in Him cbefore the foundation of the world, that we should dbe holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 ehaving predestined us to fadoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, gaccording to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, hby which He 1made us accepted in ithe Beloved.

7 jIn Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to kthe riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and 2prudence, 9 lhaving made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure mwhich He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of nthe fullness of the times oHe might gather together in one pall things in Christ, 3both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 qIn Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to rthe purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 sthat we twho first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard uthe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, vyou were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 wwho 4is the 5guarantee of our inheritance xuntil the redemption of ythe purchased possession, zto the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

15 Therefore I also, aafter I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 bdo not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that cthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, dmay give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 ethe eyes of your 6understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is fthe hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, gaccording to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when hHe raised Him from the dead and iseated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 jfar above all kprincipality 7and 8power and 9might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22 And lHe put all things under His feet, and gave Him mto be head over all things to the church, 23 nwhich is His body, othe fullness of Him pwho fills all in all.

By Grace Through Faith

2 And ayou He made alive, bwho were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 cin which you once walked according to the 1course of this world, according to dthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in ethe sons of disobedience, 3 famong whom also we all once conducted ourselves in gthe lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and hwere by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, iwho is rich in mercy, because of His jgreat love with which He loved us, 5 keven when we were dead in trespasses, lmade us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together min the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in nHis kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 oFor by grace you have been saved pthrough faith, and that not of yourselves; qit is the gift of God, 9 not of rworks, lest anyone should sboast. 10 For we are tHis workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Brought Near by His Blood

11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called uthe Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ Our Peace

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one vnew man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might wreconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby xputting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For ythrough Him we both have access zby one Spirit to the Father.

Christ Our Cornerstone

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been abuilt bon the foundation of the capostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being dthe chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into ea holy temple in the Lord, 22 fin whom you also are being built together for a gdwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The Mystery Revealed

3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—2 if indeed you have heard of the 1dispensation of the grace of God awhich was given to me for you, 3 bhow that by revelation cHe made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles dshould be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 eof which I became a minister faccording to the gift of the grace of God given to me by gthe effective working of His power.

Purpose of the Mystery

8 To me, hwho am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles ithe unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the 2fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who jcreated all things 3through Jesus Christ; 10 kto the intent that now lthe 4manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church mto the 5principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 naccording to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access owith confidence through faith in Him. 13 pTherefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, qwhich is your glory.

Appreciation of the Mystery

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the rFather 6of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, saccording to the riches of His glory, tto be strengthened with might through His Spirit in uthe inner man, 17 vthat Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, wbeing rooted and grounded in love, 18 xmay be able to comprehend with all the saints ywhat is the width and length and depth and height—19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled zwith all the fullness of God.

20 Now ato Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly babove all that we ask or think, caccording to the power that works in us, 21 dto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Walk in Unity

4 I, therefore, the prisoner 1of the Lord, 2beseech you to awalk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit bin the bond of peace. 4 cThere is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 done Lord, eone faith, fone baptism; 6 gone God and Father of all, who is above all, and hthrough all, and in 3you all.

Spiritual Gifts

7 But ito each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:

j“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

9 k(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also 4first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One lwho ascended far above all the heavens, mthat He might fill all things.)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, nfor the 5edifying of othe body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith pand of the knowledge of the Son of God, to qa perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be rchildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of sdeceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the thead—Christ—16 ufrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The New Man

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should vno longer walk as 6the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the wblindness of their heart; 19 xwho, being past feeling, yhave given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned