Ephesians 1-2

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

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.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,^{[b](A) 4} just as he chose us in Christ^[c] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.^{(B) 5} He destined us^[d] for adoption as his children^[e] through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,^{(C) 6} to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace^{(D) 8} that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight ⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,^{(E) 10} as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.^{(F) 11} In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,^[f] having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,^{(G) 12} so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;^{(H) 14} this^[g] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.^(I)

Paul’s Prayer

¹⁵ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love^[h] toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers,^{(J) 17} that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,^{(K) 18} so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰ God^[i] put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,^{[j](L) 21} far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.^{(M) 22} And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,^{(N) 23} which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.^(O)

From Death to Life

2 You were dead through the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world,^[k] following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.^{[l](P) 3} All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else,^{(Q) 4} but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us^{(R) 5} even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ^[m]—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places^[n] in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.^(S)

One in Christ

¹¹ So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth,^[o] called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands^(T)— ¹² remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.^{(U) 13} But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.^{(V) 14} For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us,^{(W) 15} abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,^{(X) 16} and might reconcile both to God in one body^[p] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.^{[q](Y) 17} So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, ¹⁸ for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.^{(Z) 19} So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,^{(AA) 20} built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone;^{[r](AB) 21} in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord,^{(AC) 22} in whom you also are built together spiritually^[s] into a dwelling place for God.