Ephesians

¹ From: Paul, an emissary from Christ Jesus by God’s desire

To: The sacred who are in Ephesus and faithful regarding Christ, who is Jesus

² Good fortune and peace to you from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

³ May our God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ be praised, having pronounced good things for you regarding every benefit associated with the Life-breath in the highest heavens with Christ. ⁴ Just as, in connection with him, God designated us before the founding of the world to be sacred and without blemish, as far as God’s concerned, through love, ⁵ having marked us out in advance for adoption as heirs through Jesus Christ based on what seemed good for God's intention ⁶ toward affirming the praiseworthiness of God's generosity, through which God generously gave you the one God loved. ⁷ Through him we have the purchase of liberation from enslavement through his blood, the release of shortfalls, based on the richness of God's generosity, ⁸ which God shared lavishly for us regarding all wisdom and awareness, ⁹ making it known to you as God intended, based on what seemed good to God to present, through Christ, ¹⁰ for management of the household when the time was right—to bring under one Head everything connected with Christ, everything connected with him from the sky to the ground. ¹¹ We were also assigned with him, marked out in advance to be presented by the one who enacts everything based on the intentions God has in mind, ¹² for us to be the affirmation of his renown, the first ones to have hope in connection with Christ. ¹³ Having heard and trusted the message about the truth (the triumphant message of your rescue), you were marked with an insignia, with the promised Sacred Life-breath, ¹⁴ which is a down payment on our inheritance, toward acquiring the purchase of liberation from enslavement for the affirmation of his renown.

¹⁵ Based on this, I have heard about you and your faithfulness to the lord Jesus and your love for all the sacred ones, ¹⁶ and I do not stop giving thanks for you when I remember you during my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our lord Jesus Christ, the renowned Father, may give you a wise and curious spirit through getting to know God, ¹⁸ the eyes of your heart having been illuminated for you to see what hope God's invitation is about, what wealth God's renowned inheritance is for those who are sacred, ¹⁹ and what immeasurable surplus God's power is for us who are faithful based on what God's intense strength has accomplished. ²⁰ God accomplished it through Christ when God woke him up from among the dead and seated him on God's right in the highest heavens, ²¹ above every leader and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one about to arrive. ²² God made everything responsible to cooperate under his feet and gave him to the Assembly as Head at the top of everything. ²³ It is his Body, the completion of the one through whom everything is made complete.

¹ It is you, who were lifeless through your shortfalls and deviations ² with which you used to walk, conforming with the age mapped out by this world system and conforming to the standard of the one who rules by the authority of the lowest atmosphere and the spirit-breath now at work in those who refuse to be persuaded. ³ Along with them, we all also used to get turned around by the longings of our bodies, doing whatever our bodies and minds wanted, and we were aggressively reactive and childish like everyone else. ⁴ But since God is wealthy with loving faithfulness—because of the extent of the love God gives us— ⁵ and since we were lifeless through shortfalls, God brought us to life along with Christ—you have been liberated because of generosity— ⁶ and God woke us up and seated us in the highest heavens along with Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that it would show the surplus wealth of God's generosity throughout the coming ages with active kindness for you through Christ Jesus. ⁸ You see, you have been liberated through faithfulness because of generosity. This is not because of you; it’s God’s gift. ⁹ It’s not because of accomplishments, so no one should take pride in it ¹⁰ since we are God's doing, created with Christ Jesus for kind actions that God prepared in advance so that we may walk in line with them.

¹¹ Therefore, remember that those of you who used to be biologically other people groups—and called ‘the foreskin’ by the so-called ‘circumcision,’ which is physically done by hand— ¹² that you used to be at that time without Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and foreign to the covenants of promise, having no hope and godless like the world system. ¹³ But now, with Christ Jesus, you who used to be far away have been drawn close by Christ’s blood. ¹⁴ That’s because he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and tore down the wall between us—the hostility—with his body. ¹⁵ He took away the power of law from directives given through decrees, so that—using himself—he could make peace between the two and create one new Person ¹⁶ and reconcile them both in the interest of God into one Body through the cross, having eliminated the hostility with himself. ¹⁷ After he arrived, he spread the message of the victory of peace to you who were far away and peace to you who were close by, ¹⁸ which is that we who share one Life-breath both have access to the Father through him. ¹⁹ That means, then, you are no longer foreigners and immigrants, but rather, you are fellow citizens among the sacred and part of God’s House, ²⁰ being built on the foundation of the emissaries and prophets with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone of the foundation. ²¹ The whole building, when it is put together by him, grows into a sacred temple for the Lord. ²² Namely, you are being built together by him with the Life-breath into a home for God.

¹ Toward that end, I, Paul, am a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus and in support of you who are of other ethnicities. ² Of course, you have heard about my assignment to the management of the house which was given to me for your benefit through God’s generosity ³ and that the mystery was made known to me for the purpose of revealing it (as I previously wrote about briefly) ⁴ so that when you read it, you will be able to conceive of how I think regarding the mystery of Christ. ⁵ It was not made known to other generations of people like it has now been revealed to his sacred emissaries and prophets through the Life-breath, ⁶ which is that other ethnicities are to be fellow heirs, the same Body, and co-participants in the same promise through Christ Jesus through the triumphant message, ⁷ of which I became a servant accordingly with God’s generous gift given to me corresponding with his powerful accomplishment. ⁸ This generosity was given to me, very least of all the sacred, to spread the triumphant message of the endless wealth of Christ to other ethnicities ⁹ and to illuminate everyone with the plan developed for the House by the God who created everything, the mystery hidden since ages past. ¹⁰ That way, God’s multicolored wisdom might now be made known to the leaders and authorities in the highest heavens through the Assembly, ¹¹ according to what has been proposed since ages past which God did through Christ Jesus our lord. ¹² Through him we have courage to speak, and we have access through what has been done through his faithfulness. ¹³ Therefore, I wish for you not to be troubled about my hardships on your behalf which honor you.

¹⁴ To that end, I kneel to the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every lineage from the sky to the ground receives their identity, ¹⁶ so that God may give you power proportionate to God's renowned wealth to be strengthened by God's Life-breath for the person inside, ¹⁷ through faithfulness to have Christ move in to live in your desires, being entrenched and your foundation laid on love, ¹⁸ so that, along with all the sacred, you might be fully enabled to grasp the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ both to know Christ’s love that is spread beyond understanding and so that you may be filled to the complete fullness produced by God.

²⁰ So, for the one with power to do above and far beyond everything we wish or conceive, corresponding to the power working through you, ²¹ may honor be for God through the Assembly and through Christ Jesus throughout all generations from age to age. Amen.

¹ Therefore, I, who am a prisoner for the sake of the lord, encourage you to walk appropriately for the calling with which you have been called: ² with complete humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with each other with love, ³ striving to protect the unity produced by the Life-breath with bonding peace. ⁴ You are one Body and one life-breath, just as you were called with your calling’s one hope: ⁵ one lord, one allegiance, one submersion, ⁶ one God and everyone’s Father who is over everyone and throughout everyone and between everyone.

⁷ So, generosity was given to each and every one of us, proportionate to Christ’s gift. ⁸ That is why it says, “After he ascended to the high place, he captured captivity itself, and he gave gifts to the people.” ⁹ But what is ‘he ascended’ if not that he also descended to the lower ground? ¹⁰ He is the one who descended and ascended above the whole sky so that everything would be made full. ¹¹ He also gave some emissaries, some prophets, some heralds of victory, and some shepherds and teachers, ¹² supplying the sacred for service work, for bringing together Christ’s Body, ¹³ until we all can arrive at unity produced by the Son of God’s faithfulness and way of thinking—at a complete Person, at Christ’s standard of full maturity. ¹⁴ That way, we would no longer be infants tossed by waves and blown around by every wind of teaching the way people roll dice or deliberately working toward misleading schemes, ¹⁵ but by speaking truth with love, we would cause everything to develop toward the one who is the Head, Christ. ¹⁶ Out from him, the whole Body is joined and held together by every ligament, the parts contributing proportionately with what each one has the ability to accomplish, making the Body develop, bringing itself together with love.

¹⁷ Therefore, I’m saying this and insisting by the Lord, you are no longer to walk as other people groups walk, guided by ineffective thinking. ¹⁸ Their way of thinking is clouded, estranged from the vitality of God because of the unawareness that is among them because of the numbness of their hearts. ¹⁹ They have given up grieving for themselves and given in to unrestrained indulgence in unclean activity and every greedy appetite. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned about Christ ²¹ if you really heard about him and were taught about him, how the truth is with Jesus. ²² You are to strip off the you of the former way of life, the old person withered up in pursuit of illusory desires, ²³ and let your way of thinking be rejuvenated with the Life-breath, ²⁴ and you are to put on the new Person created aligned with God’s standard of justness and dedication to the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, having stripped off the lie, everyone speak truth with their neighbor since we are all part of each other. ²⁶ Get angry—also, don’t deviate—do not let the sun set on the cause of your anger. ²⁷ Do not provide a platform for the False Accuser. ²⁸ Whoever steals is not to steal anymore; instead, they are to labor, accomplishing something beneficial with their own hands so that they can have something to share with someone who has a need. ²⁹ Not a single rotten word is to come out of your mouth but, instead, only what is beneficial for putting together what is needed so that it can teach generosity to those who hear it. ³⁰ Do not cause grief for God’s Sacred Life-breath, which is the insignia marking you for the day of liberation from slavery. ³¹ Remove from among you all bitterness, reactivity, aggression, shouting, disrespectful speech, and all animosity. ³² Be active in kindness toward each other, deeply compassionate, being generous with each other, just as God also was generous with you through Christ.

¹ Therefore, become people who imitate God, like beloved children, ² and walk with love, just like Christ also loved us and handed himself over for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet fragrance. ³ So sexual exploitation and all uncleanness or greed must not even be identifiable among you—as is important for the sacred— ⁴ also remove obscenity and harassment or demeaning joking, which is out of line, but practice gratitude instead. ⁵ Understand this, you who have knowledge: everyone who is sexually unethical or unclean or greedy (which means they practice idolatry) has no inheritance in the Reign of Christ and God.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, because these things are the cause of God’s anger toward those who refuse to be persuaded. ⁷ Therefore, do not become co-participants with them ⁸ since you used to be darkness, but now are light with the Lord; walk like children of light ⁹ (the fruit of the light consists of every beneficial thing and justice and truth), ¹⁰ seeking to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Do not be co-participants in the fruitless actions of the darkness, but even expose them instead. ¹² It feels shameful even to speak of the things they are doing with secrecy, ¹³ but everything exposed by the light becomes visible ¹⁴ since everything that becomes visible is light. That’s why it says, “Wake up, you who are asleep! Get up from among the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” ¹⁵ Therefore, watch attentively how you walk, not like the unwise but like the wise, ¹⁶ making the moment count, since the days are full of oppression. ¹⁷ because of this, do not be oblivious; instead, make the connection about what the Lord’s desires are.

¹⁸  Don’t be drunk with wine, which is accompanied by negligence; instead, be filled with the Life-breath, ¹⁹ speaking to each other with psalms and songs of praise and songs in harmony with the Life-breath, singing and playing instruments with your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always expressing gratitude for everything to the God and Father of—and as a representative of—our lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ As you are cooperating with each other with Christ’s respectfulness, ²² wives do so with your husbands like with the lord, ²³ since a husband is head of the wife like Christ is also the Head of the Assembly—he is the caregiver for the Body. ²⁴ On the other hand, like the Assembly cooperates with Christ, wives do the same with husbands regarding everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Assembly and handed himself over on its behalf ²⁶ so that it would be made sacred, cleansing it by washing it with water in connection with what was spoken, ²⁷ so that he could present the Assembly along with himself being highly esteemed, not having a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but rather so that it may be sacred and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands owe their wives love like they show to their own bodies. Whoever loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ No one ever treated their own body maliciously; instead, they nurture it and take care of it tenderly, just as Christ also does for the Assembly ³⁰ since we are the parts of his Body. ³¹ “That is why a person will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two become one body. ³² This mystery is big (Now I am speaking about Christ and the Assembly). ³³ Nevertheless, each and every one of you: treat your wife with love like you treat yourself so that the wife can show respect to her husband.

¹ Children, listen to your parents in connection with the Lord since this is part of the vision for all things well. ² “Value your father and your mother.” That’s the first direction with a promise, ³ “that it may go well for you and you will be in the land a long time.” ⁴ Fathers, do not be the cause of your children’s anger; instead, nurture them with childrearing and directing their attention to the Lord.

⁵ Enslaved workers, listen with openness of your heart to those who are lords based on following their bodily impulses, respectfully and carefully, as in connection with Christ. ⁶ Do so not only while your work is being watched, as people-pleasers, but as workers enslaved to Christ, doing what God desires from your very being, ⁷ serving with goodwill as for the Lord and not for people ⁸ since you understand that each person who does what is beneficial—that person will be provided for by the Lord, whether enslaved or free. ⁹ Lords, you also do these things for them, giving up the use of threats, since you understand that the divine Lord is over both them and you, and there is no discrimination with him.

¹⁰ Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and with the Lord's intense strength. ¹¹ Put on the battle gear associated with God in order to be able to withstand against the False Accuser’s schemes ¹² because our battle is not against blood and body but against the leaders, against the authorities, against the conquerors of the world system—who are characterized by this darkness—and against the things that are associated with the oppressive spirit-breath in the highest heavens. ¹³ Because of this, wear the battle gear associated with God so that you can be able to stand up to them on the day of oppression, having accomplished everything necessary to take your stand. ¹⁴ Therefore, take your stand while binding your waist with truth and putting on the breastplate, justice, ¹⁵ and while binding readiness produced by the triumphant message of peace under your feet, ¹⁶ and while wearing with all of it the shield, faithfulness, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of oppression. ¹⁷ Take in your hand the helmet, liberation, and the shortsword, the Life-breath, which comes from the mouth of God. ¹⁸  Do so with every prayer and wholehearted request, praying in every moment with the Life-breath, and give it attention with persistence and a wholehearted request about all the sacred ones ¹⁹ and on my behalf, that what to say may be given to me when I open my mouth, along with courage to speak up and make known the mystery of the triumphant message— ²⁰ which is why I am an ambassador in chains—that I may have courage to speak as it is necessary to speak about it.

²¹ Tychicus, the beloved member of the Family and faithful servant with the lord, will make known everything to you so that you can understand everything about me and what I am doing ²² as I sent him to you for this very thing, that you may know about us and he may encourage your hearts.

²³ To the members of the Family, peace and love with faithfulness from Father God and Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ May good fortune be with all who undyingly love our lord, Jesus Christ.