Ephesians, chapter 1
1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who
are also faithful in Christ Jesus:
2: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
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,
4: even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
5: He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will,
6: to the praise of his glorious grace which 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 8: which
He lavished upon us.
9: For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the
mystery of his will, according to his purpose which He set forth in
Christ
10: as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in
Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11: In Him, according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all
things according to the counsel of His will,
12: we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed
to live for the praise of his glory.
13: In Him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit, 14: which is the guarantee of our
inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his
glory.
15: For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
16: I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my
prayers,
17: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
Him,
18: having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints,
19: and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who
believe, according to the working of his great might
20: which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead and made Him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
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 that
which is to come;
22: and He has put all things under his feet and has made Him the
head over all things for the church,
23: which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians,
chapter 2
1: And you He made alive, when you were dead through the
trespasses and sins
2: in which you once walked, following the course of this world,
following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at
work in the sons of disobedience.
3: Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature
children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4: But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with
which He loved us,
5: even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6: and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7: that in the coming ages 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 because of works, lest any man should boast.
10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
11: Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the
flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision,
which is made in the flesh by hands --
12: remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to 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 in the blood of Christ.
14: For He is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken
down the dividing wall of hostility,
15: by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and
ordinances, that He might create in himself one new man in place of the
two, so making peace,
16: and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the
cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.
17: And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and
peace to those who were near;
18: for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the
Father.
19: So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you
are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20: built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
21: in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into
a holy temple in the Lord;
22: in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of
God in the Spirit.
Ephesians,
chapter 3
1: For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf
of you Gentiles --
2: assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace
that was given to me for you,
3: how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have
written briefly.
4: When you read this you can perceive my insight into the
mystery of Christ,
5: which was not made known to the sons of men in other
generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit;
6: that is, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the
same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the
gospel.
7: Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of
God's grace which was given me by the working of his power.
8: To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this
grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ,
9: and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden
for ages in God who created all things;
10: that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now
be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.
11: This was according to the eternal purpose which He has
realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12: in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our
faith in Him.
13: So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for
you, which is your glory.
14: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15: from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16: that according to the riches of his glory He may grant you to
be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man,
17: and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that
you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18: may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth,
19: and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20: Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to do
far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
21: to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians,
chapter 4
1: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life
worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2: with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one
another in love,
3: eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.
4: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to
the one hope that belongs to your call,
5: one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6: one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all
and in all.
7: But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of
Christ's gift.
8: Therefore it is said, "When He ascended on high He led a
host of captives, and He gave gifts to men."
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9:
(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that He had
also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10: He who descended is He who also ascended far above all the
heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11: And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12: to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up
the body of Christ,
13: until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ;
14:
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their
craftiness in deceitful wiles.
15: Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into Him who is the head, into Christ,
16: from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every
joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly,
makes bodily growth and up builds itself in love.
17: Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no
longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;
18: they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the
life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their
hardness of heart;
19: they have become callous and have given themselves up to
licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness.
20: You did not so learn Christ! --
21: assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in
Him, as the truth is in Jesus.
22: Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner
of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,
23: and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24: and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God
in true righteousness and holiness.
25: Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the
truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
26: Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your
anger,
27: and give no opportunity to the devil.
28: Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let Him labor,
doing honest work with his hands, so that He may be able to give to
those in need.
29: Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is
good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to
those who hear.
30: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption.
31: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander
be put away from you, with all malice,
32: and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians,
chapter 5
1: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2: And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for
us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3: But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even
be named among you, as is fitting among saints.
4: Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which
are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving.
5: Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who
is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God.
6: Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of
these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7: Therefore do not associate with them,
8: for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord;
walk as children of light
9: (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right
and true),
10: and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11: Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead
expose them.
12: For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in
secret;
13: but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible,
for anything that becomes visible is light.
14: Therefore it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give you light."
15: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as
wise,
16: making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
17: Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of
the Lord is.
18: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but
be filled with the Spirit,
19: addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,
20: always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
21: Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22: Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.
23: For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head
of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24: As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be
subject in everything to their husbands.
25: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her,
26: that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the
washing of water with the word,
27: that He might present the church to himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and
without blemish.
28: Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
29: For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, as Christ does the church,
30: because we are members of his body.
31: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32: This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it
refers to Christ and the church;
33: however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and
let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians,
chapter 6
1: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2: "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first
commandment with a promise),
3: "that it may be well with you and that you may live long
on the earth."
4: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them
up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5: Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters,
with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ;
6: not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7: rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to
men,
8: knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the
same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9: Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing
that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there
is no partiality with Him.
10: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might.
11: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
12: For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but
against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers
of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places.
13: Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14: Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and
having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15: and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of
peace;
16: besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you
can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
18: Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and
supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making
supplication for all the saints,
19: and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my
mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
20: for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it
boldly, as I ought to speak.
21: Now that you also may know how I am and what I am doing,
Tych'icus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will
tell you everything.
22: I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may
know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.
23: Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24: Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love
undying.
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