Ephesians

1

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are 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 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ,
⁴ Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,
⁵ Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
⁶ To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;
⁷ In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace,
⁸ Which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and prudence,
⁹ Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself,
¹⁰ Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;
¹¹ In whom also we were designated as an inheritance, having been predestinated according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
¹² That we would be to the praise of His glory who have first hoped in Christ,
¹³ In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
¹⁴ Who is the pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory.
¹⁵ Therefore I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you and your love to all the saints,
¹⁶ Do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
¹⁷ That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,
¹⁸ The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
¹⁹ And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the operation of the might of His strength,
²⁰ Which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies,
²¹ Far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come;
²² And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,
²³ Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

2

¹ And you, though dead in your offenses and sins,
² In which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit which is now operating in the sons of disobedience;
³ Among whom we also all conducted ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest;
⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
⁵ Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
⁶ And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
⁷ That He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;
⁹ Not of works that no one should boast.
¹⁰ For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.
¹¹ Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, those who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands,
¹² That you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have become near in the blood of Christ.
¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity,
¹⁵ Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace,
¹⁶ And might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it.
¹⁷ And coming, He announced peace as the gospel to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near,
¹⁸ For through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto 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 Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone;
²¹ In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord;
²² In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.

3

¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you, the Gentiles —
² If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
³ That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief,
⁴ By which, in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ,
⁵ Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit,
⁶ That in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the Body and fellow partakers of the promise through the gospel,
⁷ Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the operation of His power.
⁸ To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel
⁹ And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things,
¹⁰ In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church,
¹¹ According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,
¹² In whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in Him.
¹³ Therefore I ask you not to faint at my afflictions for your sake, since they are your glory.
¹⁴ For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
¹⁵ Of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named,
¹⁶ That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man,
¹⁷ That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
¹⁸ May be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are
¹⁹ And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
²⁰ But to Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us,
²¹ To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen.

4

¹ I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
² With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love,
³ Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace:
⁴ One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
⁵ One Lord, one faith, one baptism;
⁶ One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
⁸ Therefore the Scripture says, “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.”
⁹ (Now this, “He ascended,” what is it except that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
¹⁰ He who descended, He is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.)
¹¹ And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,
¹² For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,
¹³ Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
¹⁴ That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error,
¹⁵ But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ,
¹⁶ Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.
¹⁷ This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind,
¹⁸ Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
¹⁹ Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness in greediness.
²⁰ But you did not so learn Christ,
²¹ If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus,
²² That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit,
²³ And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind
²⁴ And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
²⁵ Therefore having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
²⁶ Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation,
²⁷ Neither give place to the devil.
²⁸ He who steals should steal no more, but rather should labor, working with his own hands in that which is respectable, that he may have something to share with him who has need.
²⁹ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear.
³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.
³¹ Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and clamor and evil speaking be removed from you, with all malice.
³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ also forgave you.

5

¹ Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;
² And walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.
³ But fornication and all uncleanness or greediness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints,
⁴ And obscenity and foolish talking or sly, filthy jesting, which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks.
⁵ For this you realize, knowing that every fornicator or unclean person or greedy person (who is an idolater) has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
⁶ Let no one deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.
⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them;
⁸ For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light
⁹ (For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
¹⁰ Proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
¹¹ And do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
¹² For the things which are done by them in secret it is shameful even to speak of.
¹³ But all things which are reproved are made manifest by the light; for everything that makes manifest is light.
¹⁴ Therefore He says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
¹⁵ Look therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise,
¹⁶ Redeeming 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 be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit,
¹⁹ Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord,
²⁰ Giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father,
²¹ Being subject to one another in the fear of Christ:
²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord;
²³ For a husband is head of the wife as also Christ is Head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the Body.
²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be subject to their husbands in everything.
²⁵ Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her
²⁶ That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,
²⁷ That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
²⁸ In the same way the husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his own wife loves himself.
²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church,
³⁰ Because we are members of His Body.
³¹ For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.
³² This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.
³³ Nevertheless you also, each one of you, in the same way love your own wife as yourself; and the wife should fear her husband.

6

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
² “Honor your father and mother,” which 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 And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
⁵ Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ;
⁶ Not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul;
⁷ With good will serving as slaves, as serving the Lord and not men;
⁸ Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man.
⁹ And masters, do the same things toward them, giving up your threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in the heavens, and there is no respect of persons with Him.
¹⁰ Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil,
¹² For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.
¹³ Therefore take up 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 firm foundation of the gospel of peace;
¹⁶ Besides all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
¹⁷ And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God,
¹⁸ By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints,
¹⁹ And for me, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known in boldness the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰ For which I am an ambassador in a chain, that in it I would speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
²¹ But that you also may know the things concerning me, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you.
²² Him I have sent to you for this very thing, that you may know the things concerning us and that he may comfort your hearts.
²³ Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.