Ephesians 1–2

Greeting

1Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and ^care faithful¹ in Christ Jesus:

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

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

^3eBlessed be ^fthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing ^gin the heavenly places, ^4heven as he ⁱchose us in him ^jbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be ^kholy and blameless before him. In love ^5lhe predestined us² for ^madoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, ⁿaccording to the purpose of his will, ^6oto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in ^pthe Beloved. ^7qIn him we have ^rredemption ^sthrough his blood, ^tthe forgiveness of our trespasses, ^uaccording to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ^9vmaking known³ to us the mystery of his will, ⁿaccording to his purpose, which he ^wset forth in Christ^{4 10}as a plan for ^xthe fullness of time, ^yto unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.

¹¹In him we have obtained ^zan inheritance, ^ahaving been predestined ^baccording to the purpose of him who works all things according to ^cthe counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be ^dto the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard ^ethe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, ^fwere sealed with the ^gpromised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is ^hthe guarantee⁵ of our ⁱinheritance until ^jwe acquire ^kpossession of it,^{6 l}to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

¹⁵For this reason, ^mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love⁷ toward all the saints, ¹⁶I ⁿdo not cease to give thanks for you, ^oremembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that ^pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ^18rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is ^sthe hope to which he has called you, what are ^tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^uaccording to the working of ^vhis great might ²⁰that he worked in Christ ^wwhen he raised him from the dead and ^xseated him at his right hand ^yin the heavenly places, ^21zfar above ^aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above ^bevery name that is named, not only in ^cthis age but also in the one to come. ²²And ^dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ^ehead over all things to the church, ^23fwhich is his body, ^gthe fullness of him ^hwho fills ⁱall in all.

By Grace Through Faith

2^jAnd you were ^kdead in the trespasses and sins ^2lin which you once walked, following the course¹ of this world, following ^mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ⁿthe sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in ^othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and ^pwere by nature ^qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^{2 4}But³ God, being ^rrich in mercy, ^sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even ^twhen we were dead in our trespasses, ^umade us alive together with Christ—^vby grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and ^wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^xriches of his grace in ^ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For ^zby grace you have been saved ^athrough faith. And this is ^bnot your own doing; ^cit is the gift of God, ^9dnot a result of works, ^eso that no one may boast. ¹⁰For ^fwe are his workmanship, ^gcreated in Christ Jesus ^hfor good works, ⁱwhich God prepared beforehand, ^jthat we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember ^lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, ^malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ⁿthe covenants of promise, ^ohaving no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^pfar off have been brought near ^qby the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For ^rhe himself is our peace, ^swho has made us both one and has broken down ^tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^uordinances, that he might create in himself one ^vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might ^wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and ^xpreached peace to you who were ^yfar off and peace to those who were ^znear. ¹⁸For ^athrough him we both have ^baccess in ^cone Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer ^dstrangers and aliens,⁴ but you are ^efellow citizens with the saints and ^fmembers of the household of God, ^20gbuilt on the foundation of the ^hapostles and prophets, ⁱChrist Jesus himself being ^jthe cornerstone, ^21kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^la holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him ^myou also are being built together ⁿinto a dwelling place for God by⁵ the Spirit.