|
Ephesians 1:1-6
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful to Christ Jesus. 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 in the heavens with every spiritual blessing in Christ, 4 for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him. In love, 5 He set us apart from the beginning to be adopted as His through Jesus Christ, for the purpose of His will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:7-10
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the richness of His grace 8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good purpose, which He has planned for us in Christ; 10 a heavenly task for the fullness of time which is to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:11-14
11 In Him we have also been chosen, having been set apart from the beginning according to the plan of Him who makes everything work so that it conforms to His will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might exist for the praise of His glory. 13 You were also included in Him when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; and having believed in Him, you were sealed by the promised Holy Spirit 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the release of what has been kept for us; to the praise His glory!
Ephesians 1:15-23
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I have not ceased to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 17 I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your understanding of Him, 18 and that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope of your calling, what are the riches of His glory and inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the unsurpassed greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his might and strength 20 which God has accomplished in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and seating Him at His right hand in heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, authority, power and dominion, and above every name that is named not only in this age but in the one to come. 22 He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him head over the entire church 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who brings to completion everything in every way.
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 You were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the ways of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now at work in the children of disobedience, 3 and in which we all once lived in the passions of our earthly nature, following the desires of the body and mind; for by nature we were children of wrath, like everyone else.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy because of the great love by which He has loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, has brought us to life together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and He has raised us up and seated us together with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places, 7 so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, 9 not by means of works lest anyone should boast, 10 for we are His craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the good deeds God has previously prepared as the pathway in which we should walk.
Ephesians 2:11-16
11 So keep it in mind that you were once Gentiles by natural descent, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (a bodily mark made by human hands), 12 and that in those times you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He indeed is our peace, who has made both one, and in His own body He has broken down the hostility, the wall of division, 15 by cancelling the law of commandments in the form of regulations, so that He might by Himself make one new humanity in place of the two, and establish peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, destroying the hostility in Him.
Ephesians 2:17-22
17 Christ came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through Him all have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and outsiders, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s family, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone 21 in whom the entire structure is held together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 and in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:1-6
1 This is the reason why I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. 2 Now you surely know about the special responsibility of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation. I have already written a summary of this, 4 and reading it will enable you to discern my understanding of the mystery of Christ.
5 This was not disclosed to people of other generations in the way that it has now been revealed to God's holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 and it means that through the Gospel, the Gentiles have shared blessings, a shared body and a shared participation in the promise through Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:7-13
7 I have become a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God's grace, which was given to me through the working of His power. 8 As the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the limitless riches of Christ, 9 and to reveal to everyone the purpose of this mystery, which for past generations was hidden in God, who made all things.
10 He did this so that through the church, the vast extent of God’s wisdom should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly world, 11 according to the eternal plan he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 We have assurance in Him and the right to have access to God by faith in Him, 13 so I therefore ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, 16 so that out of the riches of His glory He may enable you to be strengthened in your inner being through His Spirit, 17 with Christ living in your hearts through faith. Being rooted and grounded in love, 18 I pray that together with all the saints, you may able to fully comprehend the breadth, length, height and depth... 19 indeed, to know the love of Christ that far exceeds all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine by means of the power at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
|