The Letter to the Ephesians
1:1
¶ TO
2 | May God, our
Father, and the Lord Jesus
1:3 ¶ Praise be to the God and Father of Jesus
4 For in the person
of
5 From the first he
marked us out for the privileges of his sons through Jesus
6 and to win praise for that glorious blessing which he freely conferred upon us in his dear Son.
7 For by union with
8 that God heaped upon us, which were accompanied by countless gifts of wisdom and discernment,
9 when he made known
to us his secret purpose. And it is also in accordance with the loving design
which God planned from the first to carry out in
10 the establishment
of a New Order when the times were ripe for it, when he would make everything,
both in Heaven and on earth, centre in the
11 we also became God’s own Possession, having from the first been marked out for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is executing his own fixed purpose.
12 His intention is
that we should win praise for his glorious Name—we who have been the first to
rest our hopes on the
13 For—to take your
own case—after you had heard the Message of the Truth, the Good News of your
Salvation, it was through union with the
14 And the Spirit is a fore-taste of what is in store for us, pointing forward to the full redemption of those who belong to God, that so praise may be won for his glorious Name.
16 I have never omitted to give thanks on your behalf, making constant mention of you in my prayers.
17 I have prayed the
all-glorious Father, the God of Jesus
18 I have prayed that
your mental vision may be made so clear that you may know how great a hope is
given by God’s Call, what a wealth of glory there is in store for
19 and how surpassingly great is the power which he is able to exercise for us who believe in him. It is the same mighty power
20 as that which he exerted upon the
21 exalting him above all angelic Beings, whatever their power or rank, and conferring on him a Name above any name that can be mentioned, either in the present age, or in the age that is to come.
22 And God put
everything under
23 for the Church is
2:1 To take your own case again. Once you were, so to speak, dead because of your offenses and sins.
2 For at one time you lived in sin, after the way of the world, and in subjection to the Ruler of the Powers of the air—the Spirit who is now at work among the disobedient.
3 It was among such people that we all once lived, indulging the cravings of our earthly nature, and carrying out the desires prompted by it and by our own thoughts. By our very nature we were exposed to the divine judgement, like the rest of mankind.
4 Yet God, in his abundant compassion, and because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 gave Life to us in
giving Life to the
6 And through our
union with
7
in order that, by his goodness to us in
8 For it is by God’s mercy that you have been saved, through your faith. It is not due to yourselves; the gift is God’s.
9 It is not due to anything that you have done—for fear any of you should boast.
10 The truth is that
we are the handiwork of God. By our union with
12 At that time you
were far from
13 But now through
your union with
14 It is he who is our Peace. He made the two divisions of mankind one, broke down the barrier which separated them,
15 and in his human nature put an end to the cause of enmity between them—the Law with its rules and regulations. In doing this he sought to create out of the Jews and the heathen one New Man, and so make peace between them, by uniting both to himself.
16 And when he had through the cross killed their mutual enmity, he sought by the cross to reconcile both to God, united in one Body.
17 He came with the Good News of peace for you who were ‘far off,’ and of peace for those who were ‘near’;
18 for it is through him that we, the Jews and the heathen, united in spirit, are now able to approach the Father.
19 It follows, then,
that you are no longer outsiders and aliens, but are fellow-citizens with
20 You have been
built up upon the foundation laid by the Apostles and Prophets,
21 United in him,
each separate part will be closely joined to the others, and will grow into a
22 And through your union in him, you also are being built up together, to be a dwelling-place for God through his Spirit.
3:1 ¶ This, then, is the reason why I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus,
the
2 you heard, of course, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit,
3 and also that it was by direct revelation that the secret purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you.
4 And by reading what
I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this secret
purpose of God in
5 In former generations it was not made known to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy Apostles and Prophets.
6 I mean the truth
that, as the result of union with
7 It is of this Good News that I became a minister, by virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power.
8 Yes, to me the
least deserving of all
9 and to make clear what is God’s way of working out the secret purpose which for long ages has been lying hidden in the mind of the Creator of all things.
10 And the object of this is that God’s many-sided wisdom should now, through the Church, be made known to the angelic Beings on high of every rank,
11 in accordance with
the purpose which he has had in view all through the ages and has now carried
out in the person of Jesus, the
12 And in union with
13 I, therefore, beg you not to be dismayed at the sufferings that I am undergoing for your sakes; for they are an honour to you.
15 from whom all ‘fatherhood’ in Heaven and on earth derives its name—
16 I pray that, in the wealth of his glory, he will strengthen you with his power by breathing his Spirit into your very souls,
17 so that, as the
result, the
18 you may, in
company with all
19 and to
understand—though it is beyond all understanding—what the love of the
21 to him be given praise through the Church and through
4:1 ¶ I urge you, then—I who am a prisoner for the Master’s sake—to live lives worthy of the Call that you have received.
2 Be always humble and gentle, and always patient. Bear lovingly with one another,
3 and try hard to maintain in the bond of peace the unity which the Spirit gives.
4 There is but one Body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your Call.
5 There is but one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.
6 There is but one God and Father of all—the God who rules over all, works through all, and lives in all.
4:7 ¶ Every one of us, however, has been entrusted with some
charge, each in accordance with the extent of the
8 That is why it is said— | ‘When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. | And gave gifts to mankind.’
9 Now surely this ‘going up’ must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath.
10 He who went down is the same as he who went up—up beyond the highest Heaven, for it is his aim to fill the whole universe with his presence.
11 And he it is who gave to the Church Apostles, Prophets, Missionaries, Pastors, and Teachers,
12
with a view to fitting his People for the work of the ministry, and so for
building up the Body of the
13 This work will
continue until we all attain to that unity which comes from faith in the Son of
God and from a fuller knowledge of him, and until we reach the perfection of
manhood and that degree of development of which the ideal to be found in the
14 We shall then no longer be like children, tossed backward and forward and blown about by every breath of human teaching, and driven towards the snares of error by the trickery and the craftiness of men;
15 but by following
truth in a spirit of love, we shall grow into complete union with our Head—
16 For it is from him that the whole Body, which is closely joined and held together by means of every link in the system, derives its power to grow in proportion to the activity of each individual part; and so it is being built up in a spirit of love.
18 Owing to the ignorance existing among them and the hardening of their hearts, their powers of discernment are darkened, and they are cut off from the Life of God.
19 For lost to all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, in order to practice every kind of impurity without restraint.
20 But as for you, far
different is the lesson that you learnt from the
21 if, that is, you really listened to him, and by living in union with him were taught the Truth, as it is to be found in Jesus.
22 For you learnt with regard to your former life that you must lay aside your old nature, which, owing to the passions fostered by Error, was in a corrupt state;
23 and that you must undergo a mental and spiritual transformation,
24 and once for all clothe yourselves with a new nature—one made to resemble God in the righteousness and holiness demanded by the Truth.
26 Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your anger;
27 and do not give any opportunity to the Devil.
28 The man who used to steal must cease to do so, but, instead of that, must toil with his hands at honest work, so that he may have something to share with any one in want.
29 Never let any bad word pass your lips, but as many good words as you please, as occasion requires, to be a help to those who hear them.
30 And do not grieve God’s holy Spirit; for it was through that Spirit that God set his mark upon you, in preparation for the Day of Redemption.
31 Banish from among you all bitterness, passion, anger, brawling, and abusive language, as well as all spitefulness.
32 Be kind to one
another and tender-hearted, and be ready to forgive each other, just as God, in
5:1 Learn, then, as his dearly loved children, to imitate God,
2 and live a life of
love just as the
5:3 ¶ As for unchastity and every kind
of impurity, or greed, it is unbecoming for you, as
4 So, too, with anything dishonourable, and with all foolish talk and jesting, for they are quite out of place. Substitute for them thanksgiving.
5 For of this you may
be sure—that no one who is unchaste or impure or greedy of gain (for to be
greedy of gain is idolatry) has any place awaiting him in the Kingdom of the
5:6 ¶ Do not let any one deceive you with meaningless phrases. It is such sins that are bringing down God’s judgement upon the disobedient.
7 Therefore have nothing to do with them.
8 For although you
were once in Darkness, now, as
9 for the results of a life lived in the Light show themselves in every form of goodness, righteousness, and sincerity;
10 and always be trying to find out what best pleases the Lord.
11 Take no part in deeds of Darkness, from which nothing good can come, but on the contrary expose them.
12 It is degrading, indeed, even to speak of the things continually done by these people in secret.
14 And that is why it
is said— | ‘Sleeper, awake! | Arise from the dead, | And
the
16 making the most of every opportunity; for these are evil days.
17 For the same reason do not grow thoughtless, but try to understand what the Lord’s will is.
18 Do not drink wine to excess, for that leads to profligacy; but seek to be filled with God’s Spirit,
19 and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and sacred songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.
20 Always give thanks
for everything to our God and Father, as followers of Jesus
21 and out of
reverence for
23 For a man is the
Head of his wife in the same way as the
24 But as the Church
submits to the
25 Husbands, love
your wives, just as the
26 in order to make her holy, after purifying her by the Washing with the Water, according to his promise.
27 His intention is himself to bring the Church in all her beauty into his own presence with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but, on the contrary, holy and faultless.
28 That is how husbands ought to love their wives—as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself;
29 for no one ever
yet hated his own body. But every one feeds his body and takes care of it, just
as the
30 We are members of his Body.
31 ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be closely united to his wife; and the man and his wife shall become one.’
32 There is a deep
truth here—I am speaking now with reference to
33 But, as for you, you must each of you love his own wife exactly as if she were yourself; and the wife, for her part, should show respect for her husband.
6:1 ¶ Children, obey
your parents as
2 ‘Honour thy father and mother’—this is the first Commandment that has a promise attached—
3 ‘so that thou mayest prosper and have a long life on earth.’
4 And you fathers
should not irritate your children, but should bring them up with
6:5 ¶ Slaves, obey
your earthly masters, and hold them in respect and awe, giving them undivided
service, as you would the
6 Do not do this only
when their eyes are on you, as if you had but to please men, but do it as
slaves of
7 Give your service heartily and cheerfully, as if you were working for the Master and not for men;
8 for you know that every one will be rewarded by the Master for any honest work he has done, no matter whether he is a slave or a free man.
9 And you masters should treat your slaves in the same spirit. Give up threatening them; for you know that their Master, who is yours also, is in Heaven, and that he recognizes no distinctions between one man and another.
11 Put on all the armour of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground against the stratagems of the Devil.
12 For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the Powers of Evil, against those that hold sway in the Darkness around us, and against the Spirits of Wickedness on high.
13 Therefore take all the armour of God in order that when the evil day comes, you may be able to withstand the attack, and having carried the struggle through, still to stand your ground.
14 Stand your ground, then, with truth for your belt, and with righteousness for your breast-plate,
15 and with the firm foothold of the Good News of Peace as shoes for your feet.
16 And besides all these, take faith for your shield; for with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of Evil.
17 And accept the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is God’s truth.
18 Do this with
continual prayer and supplication. Pray in your hearts at all times. Be intent
upon this, with unwearying perseverance and with
supplication for all
19 and on my behalf also, that, when I begin to speak, words may be given me, so that I may courageously make known the secret truths of the Good News.
20 It is on behalf of the Good News that I am an Ambassador—though in chains! Pray then, that, when telling it, I may have the courage to speak as I ought.
22 For I am sending him to you on purpose that you may learn all about us, and that he may cheer your hearts.
24 May God’s blessing
be with all whose love for Jesus