Ephesians 1; Ephesians 2; Ephesians 3

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will: To the saints and believers in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

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

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ;

4 for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love

5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,

6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him

10 for the administration) of the days of fulfillment-to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

11 In Him we were also made His inheritance, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,

12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

13 In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation-in Him when you believed-were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.

17 [I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

18 [I pray] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

20 He demonstrated [this power] in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens-

21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

22 And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church,

23 which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

2 in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also.

4 But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,

5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved!

6 He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus,

7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in [His] kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift-

9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are His creation-created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

11 So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh-called "the uncircumcised" by those called "the circumcised," done by hand in the flesh.

12 At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

14 For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh,

15 He did away with the law of the commandments in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

16 [He did this so] that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.

17 When [Christ] came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household,

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

21 The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together for God's dwelling in the Spirit.

1 For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-

2 you have heard, haven't you, about the administration of God's grace that He gave to me for you?

3 The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

4 By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah.

5 This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

6 the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 I was made a servant of this [gospel] by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of His power.

8 This grace was given to me-the least of all the saints!-to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah,

9 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

10 This is so that God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

11 This is according to the purpose of the ages, which He made in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord,

12 in whom we have boldness, access, and confidence through faith in Him.

13 So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

16 [I pray] that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. [I pray that] you, being rooted and firmly established in love,

18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth [of God's love],

19 and to know the Messiah's love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think-according to the power that works in you-

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