Greeting

¹Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and care faithful1 in Christ Jesus:

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

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³eBlessed be fthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing gin the heavenly places, ⁴heven as he ichose us in him jbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be kholy and blameless before him. In love ⁵lhe predestined us2 for madoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, naccording to the purpose of his will, ⁶oto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in pthe Beloved. ⁷qIn him we have rredemption sthrough his blood, tthe forgiveness of our trespasses, uaccording to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹vmaking known3 to us the mystery of his will, naccording to his purpose, which he wset forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for xthe fullness of time, yto unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹In him we have obtained zan inheritance, ahaving been predestined baccording to the purpose of him who works all things according to cthe counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be dto the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard ethe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, fwere sealed with the gpromised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is hthe guarantee4 of our iinheritance until jwe acquire kpossession of it,5 lto the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

¹⁵For this reason, mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love6 toward all the saints, ¹⁶I ndo not cease to give thanks for you, oremembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is sthe hope to which he has called you, what are tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, uaccording to the working of vhis great might ²⁰that he worked in Christ wwhen he raised him from the dead and xseated him at his right hand yin the heavenly places, ²¹zfar above aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above bevery name that is named, not only in cthis age but also in the one to come. ²²And dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ehead over all things to the church, ²³fwhich is his body, gthe fullness of him hwho fills iall in all.

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By Grace Through Faith

¹jAnd you were kdead in the trespasses and sins ²lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 ⁴But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is bnot your own doing; cit is the gift of God, ⁹dnot a result of works, eso that no one may boast. ¹⁰For fwe are his workmanship, gcreated in Christ Jesus hfor good works, iwhich God prepared beforehand, jthat we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to nthe covenants of promise, ohaving no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were pfar off have been brought near qby the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For rhe himself is our peace, swho has made us both one and has broken down tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in uordinances, that he might create in himself one vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and xpreached peace to you who were yfar off and peace to those who were znear. ¹⁸For athrough him we both have baccess in cone Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, ²⁰gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, ²¹kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.

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The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

¹For this reason I, Paul, oa prisoner of Christ Jesus pon behalf of you Gentiles— ²assuming that you have heard of qthe stewardship of rGod's grace that was given to me for you, ³show the mystery was made known to me tby revelation, uas I have written briefly. ⁴vWhen you read this, you can perceive my insight into wthe mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶This mystery is1 that the Gentiles are xfellow heirs, ymembers of the same body, and zpartakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷aOf this gospel I was made ba minister according to the gift of cGod's grace, which was given me dby the working of his power. ⁸To me, ethough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, fto preach to the Gentiles the gunsearchable hriches of Christ, ⁹and ito bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery jhidden for ages in2 God, kwho created all things, ¹⁰so that through the church the manifold lwisdom of God mmight now be made known to nthe rulers and authorities oin the heavenly places. ¹¹This was paccording to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹²in whom we have qboldness and raccess with sconfidence through our tfaith in him. ¹³So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering ufor you, vwhich is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom wevery family3 in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to xthe riches of his glory yhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit zin your inner being, ¹⁷aso that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being brooted and cgrounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to dcomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and eheight and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ fthat surpasses knowledge, that gyou may be filled with all hthe fullness of God.

²⁰iNow to jhim who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, kaccording to the power at work within us, ²¹lto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

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Unity in the Body of Christ

¹I therefore, ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to nwalk in a manner worthy of othe calling to which you have been called, ²with all phumility and qgentleness, with rpatience, sbearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in tthe bond of peace. ⁴There is uone body and vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one whope that belongs to your call— ⁵xone Lord, yone faith, zone baptism, ⁶aone God and Father of all, bwho is over all and through all and in all. ⁷But cgrace was given dto each one of us eaccording to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸Therefore it says,

f“When he ascended on high ghe led a host of captives,

and he gave gifts to men.”1

⁹(hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ithe lower regions, the earth?2 ¹⁰He who descended is the one who also jascended kfar above all the heavens, that he might lfill all things.) ¹¹And mhe gave the napostles, the prophets, the oevangelists, the pshepherds3 and teachers,4 ¹²qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for rbuilding up sthe body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, uto mature manhood,5 to the measure of the stature of vthe fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in xdeceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather, yspeaking the truth in love, we are to zgrow up in every way into him who is athe head, into Christ, ¹⁶bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

¹⁷Now this I say and dtestify in the Lord, ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, fin the futility of their minds. ¹⁸They gare darkened in their understanding, halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to itheir hardness of heart. ¹⁹They jhave become callous and khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰But that is not the way you llearned Christ!— ²¹assuming that myou have heard about him and nwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to oput off pyour old self,6 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through qdeceitful desires, ²³and rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on sthe new self, tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for vwe are members one of another. ²⁶wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and xgive no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ylet him labor, zdoing honest work with his own hands, so athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give cgrace to those who hear. ³⁰And ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, eby whom you were sealed for the day of fredemption. ³¹gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, iforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

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Walk in Love

¹jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ²And kwalk in love, las Christ loved us and mgave himself up for us, a nfragrant ooffering and sacrifice to God.

³But psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Let there be rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, swhich are out of place, but instead tlet there be thanksgiving. ⁵For you may be sure of this, that ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶wLet no one xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ythe wrath of God comes upon zthe sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore ado not become partners with them; ⁸for bat one time you were cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. dWalk as children of light ⁹(for ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹gTake no part in the hunfruitful iworks of darkness, but instead jexpose them. ¹²For kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

m“Awake, O sleeper,

and narise from the dead,

and oChrist will shine on you.”

¹⁵pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶pmaking the best use of the time, because qthe days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what rthe will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is tdebauchery, but ube filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²zWives, asubmit to your own husbands, bas to the Lord. ²³For cthe husband is the head of the wife even as dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ehimself its Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit fin everything to their husbands.

²⁵gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word, ²⁷so kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.1 ²⁸In the same way mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰because nwe are members of his body. ³¹o“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and pthe two shall become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³However, qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she rrespects her husband.

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