Book of Common Prayer

1 I am Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. It was God's wish for me to be his messenger. I send greetings to God's people in the city of Ephesus, to those who believe in Christ Jesus.

² May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in their kindness give you peace.

³ Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every blessing which is in heaven, such as the Spirit gives us.

⁴ Before the world was made, God chose us in Christ. He chose us that we should be holy and good before him.

⁵ Because he loved us, he planned that we should be his own children. It is through Jesus Christ that we are God's children. That is the way God wanted it to be.

⁶ Praise him! His kindness is great and wonderful. We have been accepted by God through Jesus Christ, whom he loves so much.

⁷ Jesus Christ has given his blood [died] to make us free. He has forgiven us for our wrong ways. We have been put right with God freely because of his great kindness.

⁸ He has given us blessing after blessing in his wisdom and understanding.

⁹ He has shown us the plan he had. This plan was what he wanted to do through Christ.

¹⁰ When the right time came, God planned to bring together everything in heaven and on earth, and make Christ head of them all.

¹¹ In and through Christ we will have a share in all that belongs to him. Long ago God chose us for this. And he makes things happen that he wants to do.

¹² We believed in Christ first, so we will praise him because he is so great and wonderful.

¹³ You also believed in Christ when you heard the true message. That message is the good news by which you were saved. You received the Holy Spirit whom God had promised. You were marked as belonging to him.

¹⁴ The Holy Spirit is the first part of what we are to receive from God. This proves that we will get all God has promised. Some day we shall have them all. Praise God! He is very great and wonderful. 15,

1 This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God's Son.

² The men of God, called prophets, long ago wrote about it this way: God said, `See, I send my man ahead of you to tell about you. He will make the way ready for you.

³ A man is calling out in the desert, "Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for him." '

⁴ John baptised people in the desert. He told them to stop doing wrong things and be baptised, and God would forgive them for the wrong things they did.

⁵ People from all the land of Judea and all the city of Jerusalem went out to John. He baptised them in the Jordan River when they told about the wrong things they did.

⁶ John wore clothes made of camel's hair and a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷ He told the people, `Another person is coming. He is greater than I am. I am not good enough to bend down and untie his shoe strings.

⁸ I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.'

⁹ At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee. John baptised him in the Jordan River.

¹⁰ As soon as he came up out of the water, Jesus saw the sky open. He saw God's Holy Spirit come down on him like a bird called a dove.

¹¹ A voice from the sky said, `You are my dear Son. I am very pleased with you.'

¹² Right away, the Spirit made Jesus go into the desert.

¹³ Jesus was in the desert for forty days. All that time Satan tried to make Jesus do wrong. Jesus was with wild animals. Angels came and took care of him.