Ephesians
Greeting
1 Paul, an aapostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in bEphesus, and are cfaithful1 in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 dBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the eheavenly places, 4 feven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be gholy and blameless before him. In love 5 he hpredestined us2 for iadoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the jpurpose of his will, 6 kto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the lBeloved. 7 In him we have mredemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our ntrespasses, according to the oriches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in pall wisdom and insight 9 making known3 to us the qmystery of his will, according to his purpose, which rhe set forth in Christ4 10 as a plan for the sfullness of time, tto unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.
11 In him we have obtained an uinheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you vheard the wword of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were xsealed with ythe promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the zguarantee5 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,6 to the praise of his glory.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
15 For this reason, because aI have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love7 toward all the saints, 16 bI do cnot cease to give thanks for you, dremembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you ethe Spirit of wisdom and of frevelation in the gknowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts henlightened, that you may know what is ithe hope to which jhe has called you, what are the kriches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, laccording to the working of his great mmight 20 that he worked in Christ when nhe raised him from the dead and oseated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 pfar qabove all rule and authority and power and dominion, and rabove every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he sput tall things under his feet and gave him as uhead over all things to the church, 23 which is his vbody, the wfullness of him who xfills all in all.
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were ydead in the trespasses and sins 2 zin which ayou once walked, following the course1 of this world, following the bprince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the csons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the dpassions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4 But3 God, being rich in emercy, fbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 geven when we were dead in our trespasses, hmade us alive together with Christ—iby grace you have been saved— 6 and jraised us up with him and seated us with him in the kheavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable lriches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For mby grace you have been saved nthrough faith. And this is onot your own doing; it is the pgift of God, 9 qnot a result of works, rso that no one may sboast. 10 For we are his tworkmanship, ucreated in Christ Jesus for good works, vwhich God prepared beforehand, that we should wwalk in them.
One in Christ
11 Therefore remember that xat one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ythe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, zalienated from the commonwealth of Israel and astrangers to bthe covenants of cpromise, dhaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus eyou who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our fpeace, who has made us both gone and has broken down hin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 iby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might jreconcile us both to God kin one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and lpreached mpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have naccess in oone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,4 but you are pfellow citizens with the saints and members of the qhousehold of God, 20 rbuilt on the sfoundation of the tapostles and prophets, uChrist Jesus himself being the vcornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, wbeing joined together, grows into a xholy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being ybuilt together into a zdwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.
The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed
3 For this reason I, Paul, a aprisoner of Christ Jesus bon behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the cstewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the dmystery was made known to me by erevelation, fas I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 gwhich was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy hapostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 iThis mystery is1 that the Gentiles are jfellow heirs, kmembers of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7 Of this gospel I was made a lminister according to the gift of mGod’s grace, which was given me nby the working of his power. 8 To me, othough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and pto bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery qhidden for ages in2 God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God rmight now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the sheavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal tpurpose that uhe has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have vboldness and waccess with xconfidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to ylose heart over what I am suffering zfor you, which is your glory.
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family3 in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the ariches of his glory he may grant you to be bstrengthened with power through his Spirit in your cinner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being drooted and egrounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and fheight and depth, 19 and to know the glove of Christ that hsurpasses knowledge, that iyou may be filled with all the jfullness of God.
20 kNow to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power lat work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Unity in the Body of Christ
4 mI therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to nwalk oin a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with ppatience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the qbond of peace. 4 There is rone body and sone Spirit—just as you were called to tthe one hope that belongs to your call— 5 uone Lord, vone faith, wone baptism, 6 xone God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to yeach one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
z“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”1
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?2 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended afar above all the heavens, that he might bfill all things.) 11 And he gave cthe apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds3 and teachers,4 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the dbody of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to emature manhood,5 to the measure of the stature of the ffullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be gchildren, htossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, iby human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the jhead, into Christ, 16 kfrom whom the whole body, ljoined and mheld together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The New Life
17 Now this I say and ntestify in the Lord, that you must ono longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the pfutility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, qalienated from the life of God because of the rignorance that is in them, due to their shardness of heart. 19 They have become tcallous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is unot the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were vtaught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to wput off your xold self,6 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be yrenewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the znew self, acreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away bfalsehood, let each one of you cspeak the truth with his neighbor, for dwe are members one of another. 26 eBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and fgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest gwork with his own hands, hso that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 iLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for jbuilding up, as fits the occasion, kthat it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And ldo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were msealed for the nday of redemption. 31 oLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be pkind to one another, tenderhearted, qforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Walk in Love
5 Therefore rbe imitators sof God, as beloved children. 2 And twalk uin love, as Christ loved us vand wgave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But xsexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 yLet there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 zFor you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous a(that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you bwith empty words, for cbecause of these things the wrath of God comes upon the dsons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for eat one time you were fdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. gWalk as hchildren of light 9 (for the ifruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to jdiscern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 kTake no part in the unfruitful lworks of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But mwhen anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
n“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will oshine on you.”
15 Look carefully then phow you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the qdays are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but runderstand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get sdrunk with wine, for that is debauchery, tbut be filled with the Spirit, 19 uaddressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the vname of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 wsubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22 xWives, ysubmit to your own husbands, zas to the Lord. 23 For athe husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the bhead of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 cHusbands, love your wives, as Christ dloved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might esanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 fso that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be gholy and without blemish.1 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as htheir own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because iwe are jmembers of his body. 31 k“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and lthe two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mmystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
