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Ephesians 2
New Living Translation
Ephesians 2
New Living Translation
Made Alive with Christ
2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Oneness and Peace in Christ
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
A Temple for the Lord
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Footnotes
- 2:2 Greek obeying the commander of the power of the air.
Ephesians 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Ephesians 2
Easy-to-Read Version
From Death to Life
2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. 2 Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers[a] that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. 3 In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.
4 But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
One in Christ
11 You were not born as Jews. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.[b]” Those Jews who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do to their bodies.) 12 Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you did not know about the agreements[c] with the promises that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 Yes, at one time you were far away from God, but now in Christ Jesus, you are brought near to him. You are brought near to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ.
14 Christ is the reason we are now at peace. He made us Jews and you who are not Jews one people. We were separated by a wall of hate that stood between us, but Christ broke down that wall. By giving his own body, 15 Christ ended the law with its many commands and rules. His purpose was to make the two groups become one in him. By doing this he would make peace. 16 Through the cross Christ ended the hate between the two groups. And after they became one body, he wanted to bring them both back to God. He did this with his death on the cross. 17 Christ came and brought the message of peace to you non-Jews who were far away from God. And he brought that message of peace to those who were near to God. 18 Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.
19 So now you non-Jewish people are not visitors or strangers, but you are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20 You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone[d] in that building. 21 The whole building is joined together in Christ, and he makes it grow and become a holy temple[e] in the Lord. 22 And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:2 ruler of the evil powers See “Satan” in the Word List.
- Ephesians 2:11 uncircumcised People not having the mark of circumcision like the Jews have.
- Ephesians 2:12 agreements The agreements with special promises that God gave at various times to people in the Old Testament. See “agreement” in the Word List.
- Ephesians 2:20 most important stone Literally, “cornerstone.” The first and most important stone in a building.
- Ephesians 2:21 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship him. Here, it means that believers are the spiritual temple where God lives.
Ephesians 2
The Message
Ephesians 2
The Message
He Tore Down the Wall
2 1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
11-13 But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.
14-15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
19-22 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
Ephesians 2
New International Version
Ephesians 2
New International Version
Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,(A) 2 in which you used to live(B) when you followed the ways of this world(C) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,(D) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.(E) 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a](G) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us,(H) God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions(I)—it is by grace you have been saved.(J) 6 And God raised us up with Christ(K) and seated us with him(L) in the heavenly realms(M) in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,(N) expressed in his kindness(O) to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace(P) you have been saved,(Q) through faith(R)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works,(S) so that no one can boast.(T) 10 For we are God’s handiwork,(U) created(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly(X) you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)(Y)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners(Z) to the covenants of the promise,(AA) without hope(AB) and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once(AC) were far away have been brought near(AD) by the blood of Christ.(AE)
14 For he himself is our peace,(AF) who has made the two groups one(AG) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh(AH) the law with its commands and regulations.(AI) His purpose was to create in himself one(AJ) new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,(AK) by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace(AL) to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.(AM) 18 For through him we both have access(AN) to the Father(AO) by one Spirit.(AP)
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,(AQ) but fellow citizens(AR) with God’s people and also members of his household,(AS) 20 built(AT) on the foundation(AU) of the apostles and prophets,(AV) with Christ Jesus himself(AW) as the chief cornerstone.(AX) 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple(AY) in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.(AZ)
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.