Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful^[a] in Christ Jesus:

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

⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.^{(A) 8} Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.^{(B) 9} For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.^{(C) 10} But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me.^(D)

Gratitude for Mercy

¹² I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful and appointed me to his service,^{(A) 13} even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,^{(B) 14} and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me^[a] with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.^{(C) 15} The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.^{(D) 16} But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience as an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible,^[b] the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.^[c] Amen.^(E)

⁸ We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.^{(A) 9} Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us;^[a] on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,^{(B) 11} as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our^[b] behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.^(C)