Ephesians 1–2

GREETING

1Paul,^a an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:^b

To the faithful saints^c in Christ Jesus^A at Ephesus.^Bd

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

GOD’S RICH BLESSINGS

³Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.^{f 4}For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.^{Cf 5}He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace^g that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.^h

⁷In him we have redemptionⁱ through his blood, the forgiveness^j of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.^{D 9}He made known to us the mystery of his will,^k according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ^{l 10}as a plan for the right time^E—to bring everything together in Christ,^m both things in heaven and things on earthⁿ in him.^o

¹¹In him we have also received an inheritance,^F because we were predestined^p according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, ¹²so that we who had already put our hope^q in Christ might bring praise to his glory.^r

¹³In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit^s when you heard the word of truth,^t the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. ¹⁴The Holy Spirit is the down payment^u of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL INSIGHT

¹⁵This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,^G would give you the Spirit^Hv of wisdom and revelation^w in the knowledge of him. ¹⁸I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope^x of his calling,^y what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power^z toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

GOD’S POWER IN CHRIST

²⁰He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand^aa in the heavens^ab—²¹far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given,^Aac not only in this age but also in the one to come.^{ad 22}And he subjected everything under his feet^Bae and appointed him^C as head^af over everything for the church, ²³which is his body,^ag the fullness^ah of the one who fills all things^ai in every way.

FROM DEATH TO LIFE

2And you were dead^aj in your trespasses and sins ²in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world,^ak according to the ruler of the power of the air,^al the spirit^am now working in the disobedient.^{D 3}We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly^an desires, carrying out the inclinations^ao of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath^ap as the others were also. ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy,^aq because of his great love^ar that he had for us,^{E 5}made us alive^as with Christ even though we were dead^at in trespasses. You are saved by grace! ⁶He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,^{au 7}so that in the coming ages^av he might display the immeasurable riches^aw of his grace through his kindness^a to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For you are saved by grace^b through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—⁹not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created^c in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time^d for us to do.

UNITY IN CHRIST

¹¹So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,”^e which is done in the flesh by human hands.^{f 12}At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise,^g without hope^h and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the bloodⁱ of Christ. ¹⁴For he is our peace, who made both groups one^j and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, ¹⁵he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create^k in himself one^l new man from the two, resulting in peace. ¹⁶He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body^m through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.^{F 17}He came and proclaimed the good newsⁿ of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.^{o 18}For through him we both have access^p in one Spirit to the Father.^{q 19}So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,^r with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building, being put together,^s grows into a holy temple in the Lord.^{t 22}In him you are also being built together^u for God’s dwelling^v in the Spirit.