Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus^[a] and faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise to God for Spiritual Blessings

³ Blessed is^[b] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love,^{[c] 5} having predestined us to adoption through Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, ⁷ in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in him, ¹⁰ for the administration of the fullness of times, to bring together all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him ¹¹ in whom also we were chosen, having been predestined according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² that we who hoped beforehand in Christ should be for the praise of his glory, ¹³ in whom also you, when you heard^[d] the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also when you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

¹⁵ Because of this I also, hearing of your faith^[e] in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father^[f],^[g] may give you a spirit of wisdom^[h] and revelation in the knowledge of him ¹⁸ (the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength ²⁰ which he has worked^[i] in Christ, raising^[j] him from the dead and seating him^[k] at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this age but also in the coming one, ²² and he subjected all things under his feet^[l] and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Made Alive in Christ

2 And you, although you were dead^[m][n] in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will^[o] of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath^[p] by nature, as also the rest of them were.

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, ⁵ and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), ⁶ and raised us together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ it is not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we may walk in them.

Jewish and Gentile Believers United in Christ

¹¹ Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, the so-called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, ¹² that you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, not having hope, and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones who once were far away, have become near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh, ¹⁵ invalidating the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that he might create the two in himself into one new man, thus^[q] making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself.^{[r] 17} And coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to the ones who were near, ¹⁸ because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ Consequently, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,^{[s] 21} in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.^[t]