Ephesians 2
New King James Version
By Grace Through Faith
2 And (A)you He made alive, (B)who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 (C)in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to (D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in (E)the sons of disobedience, 3 (F)among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in (G)the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and (H)were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, (I)who is rich in mercy, because of His (J)great love with which He loved us, 5 (K)even when we were dead in trespasses, (L)made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together (M)in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in (N)His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 (O)For by grace you have been saved (P)through faith, and that not of yourselves; (Q)it is the gift of God, 9 not of (R)works, lest anyone should (S)boast. 10 For we are (T)His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Brought Near by His Blood
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called (U)the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Christ Our Peace
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one (V)new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might (W)reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby (X)putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For (Y)through Him we both have access (Z)by one Spirit to the Father.
Christ Our Cornerstone
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been (AA)built (AB)on the foundation of the (AC)apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being (AD)the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into (AE)a holy temple in the Lord, 22 (AF)in whom you also are being built together for a (AG)dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:2 Gr. aion, aeon
Efesierbrevet 2
Svenska Folkbibeln 2015
2 (A) Också er har Gud gjort levande, ni som var döda genom era överträdelser och synder. 2 (B) Tidigare levde ni i dem på den här världens sätt och följde härskaren över luftens välde, den ande som nu är verksam i olydnadens barn. 3 (C) Bland dem var vi alla en gång, när vi följde våra köttsliga begär och gjorde vad köttet och tankarna ville. Av naturen var vi vredens barn, precis som de andra.
4 (D) Men Gud som är rik på barmhärtighet har älskat oss med så stor kärlek, 5 (E) även när vi ännu var döda genom våra överträdelser, att han har gjort oss levande med Kristus. Av nåd är ni frälsta! 6 (F) Han har uppväckt oss med honom och satt oss med honom i den himmelska världen, i Kristus Jesus, 7 (G) för att i kommande tider visa sin överväldigande rika nåd genom godhet mot oss i Kristus Jesus. 8 (H) Av nåden är ni frälsta genom tron, inte av er själva. Guds gåva är det, 9 (I) inte på grund av gärningar för att ingen ska berömma sig. 10 (J) Hans verk är vi, skapade i Kristus Jesus till goda gärningar som Gud har förberett för att vi ska vandra i dem.
Den rivna skiljemuren
11 (K) Kom därför ihåg hur det var tidigare: ni var födda som hedningar och kallades oomskurna av dem som kallar sig omskurna, med den omskärelse som görs på kroppen av människohand. 12 (L) På den tiden var ni utan Kristus, utestängda från medborgarskapet i Israel och utan del i förbunden med deras löfte[a]. Ni var utan hopp och utan Gud i världen.
13 (M) Men nu, genom Kristus Jesus, har ni som tidigare var långt borta kommit nära genom Kristi blod. 14 (N) Han är vår frid, han som har gjort de två till ett och rivit skiljemuren[b], fiendskapen. I sin kropp 15 (O) har han satt lagen ur kraft med dess bud och stadgar, för att i sig själv göra de båda till en enda ny människa och så skapa frid. 16 (P) Så skulle han försona de båda med Gud i en enda kropp genom korset, där han dödade fiendskapen. 17 (Q) Han har kommit och förkunnat frid för er som var långt borta och frid för dem som var nära. 18 (R) Genom honom har vi båda i en och samme Ande tillträde till Fadern.
19 (S) Därför är ni inte längre gäster och främlingar, utan medborgare med de heliga och medlemmar i Guds familj. 20 (T) Ni är uppbyggda på apostlarnas och profeternas grund, där hörnstenen är Kristus Jesus själv. 21 (U) I honom fogas hela byggnaden samman och växer upp till ett heligt tempel i Herren, 22 (V) och i honom blir också ni sammanbyggda till en boning åt Gud genom Anden.
Footnotes
- 2:12 löfte Dvs om Messias (jfr Gal 3:16f, Hebr 6:13f).
- 2:14 skiljemuren I Jerusalems tempel fanns en mur som vid dödsstraff utestängde hedningar från Israels inre förgård. En inskription från denna mur finns bevarad till idag.
Ephesians 2
Living Bible
2 Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. 2 You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. 3 All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much 5 that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again[a] when he raised Christ from the dead—only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved— 6 and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did. 7 And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ.
8 Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves;[b] it too is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. 10 It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.
11 Never forget that once you were heathen and that you were called godless and “unclean” by the Jews. (But their hearts, too, were still unclean, even though they were going through the ceremonies and rituals of the godly, for they circumcised themselves as a sign of godliness.) 12 Remember that in those days you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God’s children, and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope.
13 But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood.
14 For Christ himself is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one family,[c] breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the angry resentment between us, caused by the Jewish laws that favored the Jews and excluded the Gentiles, for he died to annul that whole system of Jewish laws. Then he took the two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of himself; thus he fused us together to become one new person, and at last there was peace. 16 As parts of the same body, our anger against each other has disappeared, for both of us have been reconciled to God. And so the feud ended at last at the cross. 17 And he has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were very far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the Father with the Holy Spirit’s help because of what Christ has done for us.
19 Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.
20 What a foundation you stand on now: the apostles and the prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ himself! 21 We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple for God. 22 And you also are joined with him and with each other by the Spirit and are part of this dwelling place of God.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:5 gave us back our lives again, literally, “made us alive.”
- Ephesians 2:8 And even trusting is not of yourselves, or “Salvation is not of yourselves.”
- Ephesians 2:14 by making us all one family, literally, “by making us one.” breaking down the wall of contempt, implied.
Ephesians 2
EasyEnglish Bible
God has made us alive with Christ
2 Remember how you lived before. You did wrong things and bad things. As a result, you were dead in your spirits. 2 You lived in a bad way, like the people who belong to this world. You were obeying Satan, who rules the powerful spirits in the air. Those spirits are working now in everyone who refuses to obey God. 3 At one time, all of us lived like those people. We did whatever bad things our bodies wanted to do. If our thoughts made us want to do something, we did it. Because we were like that, God was angry with us. He should have punished us, just like everyone else.
4 But God is very good and kind! He loved us very much. 5 Because of our sins, we were dead in our spirits. But God gave us a new life, because we are united with Christ. Yes, God has saved you because he is so kind. 6 Also, God raised us up with Christ, so that we now sit with Christ in heaven. God has done this for us because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 He wanted to show, for all future time, how very kind he is. He has helped us so much because of what Christ Jesus has done. 8 When you believed in Jesus, God saved you because he is very kind. You could not save yourselves, but that is God's gift to you. 9 He has not saved you as a result of any good things that you have done. So nobody has any reason to be proud about it. 10 It is God who has worked in us to make us what we are. He has given us a new life because we are united with Christ Jesus. He saved us so that now we can do good things in our lives. Those are good things that he has already prepared for us to do.
Christ has brought Jews and Gentiles together
11 So you who were born as Gentiles should remember what you were like before. Jews insulted you because nobody has circumcised you. They themselves are proud that men have circumcised them as God's people. 12 At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help. 13 You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ's death on the cross as a sacrifice.
14 It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies. 15 When his body died on the cross, Christ took away the power of the Jewish laws and rules. In that way, he made the two groups join together as one new group of people. As a result, he caused them to have peace. 16 As a single group, Christ brought Jews and Gentiles back to God. He stopped them from hating each other. He did this by his death on the cross.
17 When Christ came, he told people God's good news about peace. He told that message to you Gentiles, who were far away from God. He also told it to us Jews, who were near to God.[a] 18 Now we all have received the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us. As a result, we can all come near to God the Father.
19 So now, you Gentiles are not strangers among God's people any more. You belong to the group of God's people that he rules. You belong to God's family, as all God's people do. 20 You are like a house that God is building for himself. God's apostles and his prophets are like the foundation under the house. Jesus Christ is like the most important stone in the house. 21 He makes the whole building stand together strongly. In that way, all God's people together become like a special house that belongs to the Lord. 22 Because you belong to Christ, God is building you all together to become his house. That is where God lives by his Spirit.
Footnotes
- 2:17 The Jews already knew about God. God had given them his Laws. He promised to take care of them if they obeyed him. He promised to send his special Messiah to save them. The Gentiles did not know about those things.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Svenska Folkbibeln 2015, Copyright © 2015 by Svenska Folkbibeln Foundation
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.