Ephesians 2–3

Chapter 2

Made Alive in Christ

¹And you ¹were ^adead ²in your trespasses and sins,

²in which you ^aformerly walked according to the ¹course of ^bthis world, according to ^cthe prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in ^dthe sons of disobedience.

³Among them we too all ^aformerly lived in ^bthe lusts of our flesh, ¹indulging the desires of the flesh and of the ²mind, and were ^cby nature ^dchildren of wrath, ^eeven as the rest.

⁴But God, being ^arich in mercy, because of ^bHis great love with which He loved us,

⁵even when we were ^adead ¹in our transgressions, made us alive together ²with Christ (^bby grace you have been saved),

⁶and ^araised us up with Him, and ^bseated us with Him in ^cthe heavenly places in ^dChrist Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing ^ariches of His grace in ^bkindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For ^aby grace you have been saved ^bthrough faith; and ¹that not of yourselves, it is ^cthe gift of God;

^9anot as a result of works, so that ^bno one may boast.

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, ^acreated in ^bChrist Jesus for ^cgood works, which God ^dprepared beforehand so that we would ^ewalk in them.

¹¹Therefore remember that ^aformerly ^byou, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “^cUncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—

¹²remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, ^1aexcluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to ^bthe covenants of promise, having ^cno hope and ^dwithout God in the world.

¹³But now in ^aChrist Jesus you who ^bformerly were ^cfar off ¹have been brought near ^2dby the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For He Himself is ^aour peace, ^bwho made both groups into one and broke down the ¹barrier of the dividing wall,

¹⁵¹by ^aabolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is ^bthe Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might ^2cmake the two into ^done new man, thus establishing ^epeace,

¹⁶and might ^areconcile them both in ^bone body to God through the cross, ¹by it having ^cput to death the enmity.

¹⁷And ^aHe came and preached ^bpeace to you who were ^cfar away, and peace to those who were near;

¹⁸for through Him we both have ^aour access in ^bone Spirit to ^cthe Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer ^astrangers and aliens, but you are ^bfellow citizens with the ¹saints, and are of ^cGod’s household,

²⁰having been ^abuilt on ^bthe foundation of ^cthe apostles and prophets, ^dChrist Jesus Himself being the ^ecorner stone,

^21ain whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into ^ba holy ¹temple in the Lord,

²²in whom you also are being ^abuilt together into a ^bdwelling of God in the Spirit.

Chapter 3

Paul’s Stewardship

¹For this reason I, Paul, ^athe prisoner of ^bChrist Jesus ^cfor the sake of you ^dGentiles—

²if indeed you have heard of the ^astewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

^3athat ^bby revelation there was ^cmade known to me ^dthe mystery, ^eas I wrote before in brief.

⁴¹By referring to this, when you read you can understand ^amy insight ²into the ^bmystery of Christ,

⁵which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy ^aapostles and prophets ¹in the Spirit;

⁶to be specific, that the Gentiles are ^afellow heirs and ^bfellow members of the body, and ^cfellow partakers of the promise in ^dChrist Jesus through the gospel,

^7aof which I was made a ^bminister, according to the gift of ^cGod’s grace which was given to me ^daccording to the working of His power.

⁸To me, ^athe very least of all ¹saints, this grace was given, to ^bpreach to the Gentiles the unfathomable ^criches of Christ,

⁹and to ¹bring to light what is the administration of the ^amystery which for ages has been ^bhidden in God ^cwho created all things;

¹⁰so that the manifold ^awisdom of God might now be ^bmade known through the church to the ^crulers and the authorities in ^dthe heavenly places.

¹¹This was in ^aaccordance with the ¹eternal purpose which He ²carried out in ^bChrist Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and ^1aconfident ^baccess through faith ²in Him.

¹³Therefore I ask ¹you not ^ato lose heart at my tribulations ^bon your behalf, ²for they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I ^abow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom ¹every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

¹⁶that He would grant you, according to ^athe riches of His glory, to be ^bstrengthened with power through His Spirit in ^cthe inner man,

¹⁷so that ^aChrist may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^brooted and ^cgrounded in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with ^aall the ¹saints what is ^bthe breadth and length and height and depth,

¹⁹and to know ^athe love of Christ which ^bsurpasses knowledge, that you may be ^cfilled up to all the ^dfullness of God.

^20aNow to Him who is ^bable to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^caccording to the power that works within us,

^21ato Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ¹forever and ever. Amen.