1 ^(A) From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.

To God's people who live in Ephesus and^[a] are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

² I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Christ Brings Spiritual Blessings

³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! ⁴ Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. ⁵ God was kind^[b] and decided that Christ would choose us to be God's own adopted children. ⁶ God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.

^7-8 (B) Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God's gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, ⁹ and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. ¹⁰ Then when the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.

¹¹ God always does what he plans, and this is why he appointed Christ to choose us. ¹² He did this so we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him. ¹³ Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show you belong to God. ¹⁴ The Spirit also makes us sure we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.

Paul's Prayer

¹⁵ I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people. ¹⁶ So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. ¹⁸ My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and you will understand the hope given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all God's people.

¹⁹ I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used ^20 (C) when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side^[c] in heaven. ²¹ There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. ^22 (D)(E) God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. ²³ The church is the body of Christ and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.^[d]

Ezekiel Acts Out an Attack on Jerusalem

The Lord said:

4 Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it. ² Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. ³ Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.

^4-5 After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for 390 days as a sign of Israel's punishment^[a]—one day for each year of its suffering. ⁶ Then turn over and lie on your right side 40 more days. That will be a sign of Judah's punishment—one day for each year of its suffering.

⁷ The brick stands for Jerusalem, so attack it! Stare at it and shout angry warnings. ⁸ I will tie you up, so you can't leave until your attack has ended.

⁹ Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. ¹⁰ Eat only a small loaf of bread each day ¹¹ and drink only two large cups of water. ¹² Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. ¹³ When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.^[b]

¹⁴ I said, “Lord God, please don't make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I've never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean.”

¹⁵ The Lord replied, “Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure. ¹⁶ Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless. ¹⁷ Everyone will be shocked at what is happening, and, because of their sins, they will die a slow death.”

Jerusalem's Coming Destruction

The Lord said:

5 Ezekiel, son of man, get a sharp sword and use it to cut off your hair and beard. Weigh the hair and divide it into three equal piles. ² After you attack the brick that stands for Jerusalem, burn one pile of your hair on the brick. Chop up the second pile and let the small pieces of hair fall around the brick. Throw the third pile into the wind, and I will strike it with my own sword.

³ Keep a few of the hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. ⁴ Then pull out a few of those hairs and throw them in the fire, so they will also burn. This fire will spread, destroying everyone in Israel.

⁵ I am the Lord God, and I have made Jerusalem the most important place in the world, and all other nations admire it. ⁶ But the people of Jerusalem rebelled and refuse to obey me. They ignored my laws and have become even more sinful than the nations around them.

⁷ So tell the people of Jerusalem:

I am the Lord God! You have refused to obey my laws and teachings, and instead you have obeyed the laws of the surrounding nations. You have become more rebellious than any of them! ⁸ Now all those nations will watch as I turn against you and punish you ⁹ for your sins. Your punishment will be more horrible than anything I've ever done or will ever do again. ^10 (A) Parents will be so desperate for food that they will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. Those who survive this horror will be scattered in every direction.

¹¹ Your sins have disgusted me and made my temple unfit as a place to worship me. So I swear by my own life that I will cut you down^[c] and show you no pity. ¹² A third of you will die here in Jerusalem from disease or starvation. Another third will be killed in war. And I will scatter the last third of you in every direction, then track you down and kill you.

¹³ You will feel my fierce anger until I have finished taking revenge. Then you will know that I, the Lord, was furious because of your disobedience. ¹⁴ Every passerby will laugh at your destruction. Foreign nations ¹⁵ will insult you and make fun of you, but they will also be shocked and terrified at what I did in my anger. ¹⁶ I will destroy your crops until you starve to death, and disasters will strike you like arrows. ^17 (B) Starvation and wild animals will kill your children. I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and your enemies will strike you down with their swords. I, the Lord, have spoken.

The Lord Is Good to His People