Ephesians 2–5

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.

Chapter 4

Unity of the Spirit

¹Therefore I, ^athe prisoner of the Lord, ^bimplore you to ^cwalk in a manner worthy of the ^dcalling with which you have been ^ecalled,

²with all ^ahumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ^bin love,

³being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ^abond of peace.

⁴There is ^aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ^bhope of your calling;

^5aone Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶one God and Father of all ^awho is over all and through all and in all.

⁷But ^ato each one of us ^bgrace was given ^caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

⁸Therefore ¹it says,

“^aWhen He ascended on high,

He ^bled captive a host of captives,

And He gave gifts to men.”

⁹(Now this expression, “He ^aascended,” what ¹does it mean except that He also ²had descended into ^bthe lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^afar above all the heavens, so that He might ^bfill all things.)

¹¹And He ^agave ^bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^cevangelists, and some as pastors and ^dteachers,

^12afor the equipping of the ¹saints for the work of service, to the building up of ^bthe body of Christ;

¹³until we all attain to ^athe unity of the faith, and of the ^1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a ^cmature man, to the measure of the stature ²which belongs to the ^dfullness of Christ.

¹⁴¹As a result, we are ^ano longer to be children, ^btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ^ccraftiness ²in ^ddeceitful scheming;

¹⁵but ¹speaking the truth ^ain love, ²we are to ^bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^chead, even Christ,

¹⁶from whom ^athe whole body, being fitted and held together ¹by what every joint supplies, according to the ²proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^bin love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17aSo this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ^bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^cfutility of their mind,

¹⁸being ^adarkened in their understanding, ^1bexcluded from the life of God because of the ^cignorance that is in them, because of the ^dhardness of their heart;

¹⁹and they, having ^abecome callous, ^bhave given themselves over to ^csensuality ¹for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

²⁰But you did not ^alearn ¹Christ in this way,

²¹if indeed you ^ahave heard Him and have ^bbeen taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

²²that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ^alay aside the ^bold ¹self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^clusts of deceit,

²³and that you be ^arenewed in the spirit of your mind,

²⁴and ^aput on the ^bnew ¹self, which ^2cin the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, ^alaying aside falsehood, ^bspeak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are ^cmembers of one another.

^26aBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and do not ^agive the devil ¹an opportunity.

²⁸He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ^ahe must labor, ^bperforming with his own hands what is good, ^cso that he will have something to share with ¹one who has need.

²⁹Let no ^1aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^bedification ²according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

^30aDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ¹by whom you were ^bsealed for the day of redemption.

^31aLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ^bput away from you, along with all ^cmalice.

^32aBe kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ^bjust as God in Christ also has forgiven ¹you.

Chapter 5

Be Imitators of God

^1aTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

²and ^awalk in love, just as Christ also ^bloved ¹you and ^cgave Himself up for us, an ^doffering and a sacrifice to God ²as a ^efragrant aroma.

³But ^aimmorality ¹or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among ²saints;

⁴and there must be no ^afilthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which ^bare not fitting, but rather ^cgiving of thanks.

⁵For this you know with certainty, that ^ano ¹immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom ^bof Christ and God.

^6aLet no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^bthe wrath of God comes upon ^cthe sons of disobedience.

⁷Therefore do not be ^apartakers with them;

⁸for ^ayou were formerly ^bdarkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as ^cchildren of Light

⁹(for ^athe fruit of the Light consists in all ^bgoodness and righteousness and truth),

^101atrying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

^11aDo not participate in the unfruitful ^bdeeds of ^cdarkness, but instead even ^1dexpose them;

¹²for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.

¹³But all things become visible ^awhen they are ¹exposed by the light,…