Parallel Bible results for "ephesians 2"

Ephesians 2

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 And to you did he give life, when you were dead through your wrongdoing and sins,

2 In which you were living in the past, after the ways of this present world, doing the pleasure of the lord of the power of the air, the spirit who is now working in those who go against the purpose of God;

3 Among whom we all at one time were living in the pleasures of our flesh, giving way to the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and the punishment of God was waiting for us even as for the rest.

4 But God, being full of mercy, through the great love which he had for us,

5 Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation),

6 So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus;

7 That in the time to come he might make clear the full wealth of his grace in his mercy to us in Christ Jesus:

8 Because by grace you have salvation through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is given by God:

9 Not by works, so that no man may take glory to himself.

10 For by his act we were given existence in Christ Jesus to do those good works which God before made ready for us so that we might do them.

11 For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;

12 That you were at that time without Christ, being cut off from any part in Israel's rights as a nation, having no part in God's agreement, having no hope, and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who at one time were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who has made the two into one, and by whom the middle wall of division has been broken down,

15 Having in his flesh put an end to that which made the division between us, even the law with its rules and orders, so that he might make in himself, of the two, one new man, so making peace;

16 And that the two might come into agreement with God in one body through the cross, so putting an end to that division.

17 And he came preaching peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near;

18 Because through him the two of us are able to come near in one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then you are no longer as those who have no part or place in the kingdom of God, but you are numbered among the saints, and of the family of God,

20 Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone,

21 In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord;

22 In whom you, with the rest, are united together as a living-place of God in the Spirit.

Good News Translation GNT

1 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins.

2 At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God.

3 Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

4 But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great,

5 that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved.

6 In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world.

7 He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts,

9 but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.

10 God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

11 You Gentiles by birth - called "the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies) - remember what you were in the past.

12 At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.

13 But now, in union with Christ Jesus you, who used to be far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies.

15 He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules, in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with himself, in this way making peace.

16 By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God.

17 So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all - to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.

18 It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father.

19 So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God.

20 You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.

21 He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord.

22 In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.