Ephesians
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, To the saints who are in
2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ,
4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made
us accepted in the Beloved.
7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and
prudence,
9having made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times
He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are on earth--in Him.
11In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to
the counsel of His will,
12that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the
praise of His glory.
13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
15Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers:
17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him,
18the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21far above all principality and power and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that
which is to come.
22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be head over all things to the church,
23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all
in all.
2And you He made alive, who were dead
in trespasses and sins,
2in which you once walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of disobedience,
3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great
love with which He loved us,
5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6and raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
11Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the
flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in
the flesh by hands--
12that at that time you were without Christ, being
aliens from the
13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one,
and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the
law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new
man from the two, thus making peace,
16and that He might reconcile them both to God in one
body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17And He came and preached peace to you who were afar
off and to those who were near.
18For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to
the Father.
19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of
God,
20having been built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21in whom the whole building, being fitted together,
grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22in whom you also are being built together for a
dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
3For this reason I, Paul, the
prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--
2if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which was given to me for you,
3how that by revelation He made known to me the
mystery (as I have briefly written already,
4by which, when you read, you may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5which in other ages was not made known to the sons of
men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and
prophets:
6that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same
body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
7of which I became a minister according to the gift of
the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
8To me, who am less than the least of all the saints,
this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ,
9and to make all see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who
created all things through Jesus Christ;
10to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God
might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places,
11according to the eternal purpose which He
accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12in whom we have boldness and access with confidence
through faith in Him.
13Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my
tribulations for you, which is your glory.
14For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ,
15from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named,
16that He would grant you, according to the riches of
His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is
the width and length and depth and height--
19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that
you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
4I, therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2with all lowliness and gentleness, with
longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace.
4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called in one hope of your calling;
5one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all.
7But to each one of us grace was given according to
the measure of Christ's gift.
8Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He
led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
9(Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean
but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is also the One who ascended far
above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ;
14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and
fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in
the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all
things into Him who is the head--Christ--
16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by
what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every
part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love.
17This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that
you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of
their mind,
18having their understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart;
19who, being past feeling, have given themselves over
to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20But you have not so learned Christ,
21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by
Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the
old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24and that you put on the new man which was created
according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of
you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
26"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the
sun go down on your wrath,
27nor give place to the devil.
28Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him
labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give
him who has need.
29Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but
what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the
hearers.
30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you
were sealed for the day of redemption.
31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil
speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
5Therefore be imitators of God as
dear children.
2And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and
given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness,
let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse
jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and God.
6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because
of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord. Walk as children of light
9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth),
10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather expose them.
12For it is shameful even to speak of those things
which are done by them in secret.
13But all things that are exposed are made manifest by
the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise
from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools
but as wise,
16redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the
will of the Lord is.
18And do not be drunk with wine, in which is
dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21submitting to one another in the fear of God.
22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ
is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
24Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ,
so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved
the church and gave Himself for her,
26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the
washing of water by the word,
27that He might present her to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be
holy and without blemish.
28So husbands ought to love their own wives as their
own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of
His bones.
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."
32This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the church.
33Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so
love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her
husband.
6Children, obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is right.
2"Honor your father and mother," which is
the first commandment with promise:
3"that it may be well with you and you may live
long on the earth."
4And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to
wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
5Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your
masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart,
as to Christ;
6not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as
bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not
to men,
8knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will
receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving
up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no
partiality with Him.
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might.
11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;
16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication
for all the saints--
19and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I
may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I
may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21But that you also may know my affairs and how I am
doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make
all things known to you;
22whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that
you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.
23Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Amen.