EPHESIANS

Chapter

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¤1 °1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

to the saints in Ephesus, to you who share Christian faith:

°2 receive grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus the Lord.

°3 Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord,

who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing.

°4 God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world

to be holy and without sin in his presence.

°5 From eternity he destined us in love

to be his sons and daughters through Christ Jesus,

thus fulfilling his free and generous will.

This goal suited him:

°6 that his loving-kindness which he granted us in his Beloved

might finally receive all glory and praise.

°7 For in Christ we obtain freedom, sealed by his blood,

and have the forgiveness of sins.

In this appears the greatness of his grace,

°8 which he lavished on us.

In all wisdom and understanding,

°9 God has made known to us his mysterious design,

in accordance with his loving-kindness in Christ.

°10 In him and under him God wanted to unite,

when the fullness of time had come,

everything in heaven and on earth.

°11 By a decree of Him who disposes all things

according to his own plan and decision

we, the Jews, have been chosen and called

°12 and we were awaiting the Messiah,

for the praise of his glory.

°13 You, on hearing the word of truth,

the Gospel that saves you,

have believed in him.

And, as promised, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit,

°14 the first pledge of what we shall receive,

on the way to our deliverance as a people of God,

for the praise of his glory.

§ God has put all things under the feet of Christ

°15 I have been told of your faith and your affection towards all the believers, °16 so I always give thanks to God, remembering you in my prayers.

°17 May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of Glory, reveal himself to you and give you a spirit of wisdom, that you may know him.

°18 May he enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God.

May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for his saints;

°19 may you understand with what extraordinary power he acts in favor of us who believe.

°20 He revealed his almighty power in Christ when he raised him from the dead and had him sit at his right hand in heaven, °21 far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world but in the world to come as well.

°22 Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set him above all things, as head of the Church °23 which is his body. He who fills all in all unfolds his fullness in the Church.

§ By grace you have been saved!

¤2 °1 You were dead through the faults and sins. °2 Once you lived through them according to this world and followed the Sovereign Ruler who reigns between heaven and earth and who goes on working in those who resist the faith. °3 All of us belonged to them at one time and we followed human greed; we obeyed the urges of our human nature and consented to its desires. By ourselves, we went straight to the judgment like the rest of humankind.

°4 But God, who is rich in mercy, revealed his immense love. °5 As we were dead through our sins, he gave us life with Christ. By grace you have been saved! °6 And he raised us to life with Christ, giving us a place with him in heaven.

°7 In showing us such kindness in Christ Jesus, God willed to reveal and unfold in the coming ages the extraordinary riches of his grace. °8 By the grace of God you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you: it is God’s gift. °9 This was not the result of your works, so you are not to feel proud. °10 What we are is God’s work. He has created us in Christ Jesus for the good works he has prepared that we should devote ourselves to them.

§ Christ is our Peace

°11 Remember that you were pagans even in your flesh and the Jews, who call themselves Circumcised (because of a surgical circumcision), called you Uncircumcised. °12 At that time you were without Christ, you did not belong to the community of Israel; the covenants of God and his promises were not for you; you had no hope and were without God in this world. °13 But now, in Christ Jesus and by his blood, you who were once far off have come near.

°14 For Christ is our peace, he who has made the two peoples one, °15 destroying in his own flesh the wall – the hatred – which separated us. He abolished the Law with its commands and precepts. He made peace in uniting the two peoples in him, creating out of the two one New Man. °16 He destroyed hatred and reconciled us both to God through the cross, making the two one body.

°17 He came to proclaim peace; peace to you who were far off, peace to the Jews who were near. °18 Through him we – the two peoples – approach the Father in one Spirit.

°19 Now you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people: you are of the household of God. You are the house °20 whose foundations are the apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. °21 In him the whole structure is joined together and rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. °22 In him you too are being built to become the spiritual sanctuary of God.

§ God’s inheritance is for all

¤3 °1 For this reason I, Paul, came to be the prisoner of Christ for you, the non-Jews. °2 You may have heard of the graces God bestowed on me for your sake. °3 By a revelation he gave me the knowledge of his mysterious design, as I have explained in a few words. °4 On reading them you will have some idea of how I understand the mystery of Christ.

°5 This mystery was not made known to past generations but only now, through revelations given to holy apostles and prophets. °6 Now the non-Jewish people share the Inheritance; in Christ Jesus the non-Jews are incorporated and are to enjoy the Promise.

This is the Good News °7 of which I have become minister by a gift of God, a grace he gave me, when his power worked in me.

°8 This grace was given to me, the least among all the holy ones: to announce to the pagan nations the immeasurable riches of Christ °9 and to make clear to all how the mystery, hidden from the beginning in God, the Creator of all things, is to be fulfilled.

°10 Even the heavenly forces and powers will now discover through the Church the wisdom of God in its manifold expression, as the plan is being fulfilled °11 which God designed from the beginning in Christ Jesus, our Lord. °12 In him we receive boldness and confidence to approach God.

°13 So I ask you not to be discouraged at seeing the trials I endure for you, but rather to feel proud because of them.

°14 And now I kneel in the presence of the Father °15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth has received its name.

°16 May he strengthen in you the inner self through his Spirit, according to the riches of his glory;

°17 may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith;

may you be rooted and founded in love.

°18 All of this so that you may understand with all the holy ones the width, the length, the height and the depth – in a word, °19 that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled and reach the fullness of God.

°20 Glory to God who shows his power in us and can do much more than we could ask or imagine; °21 glory to him in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations for ever and ever. Amen.

§ We shall become the perfect creation

¤4 °1 Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. °2 Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.

°3 Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. °4 Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. °5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism. °6 One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.

°7 But to each of us divine grace is given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. °8 Therefore it is said:When he ascended to the heights, he brought captives and gave his gifts to people.

°9He ascended:this refers to the one who first descended to the dead in the lower parts of the world. °10 He himself who went down, then ascended far above all the heavens to fill all things. °11 As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. °12 So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, °13 until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

°14 Then no longer shall we be like children tossed about by any wave or wind of doctrine, and deceived by the cunning of people who drag them along into error. °15 Rather, with sincere love, we shall grow in every way towards him who is the head, Christ. °16 From him comes the growth of the whole body to which a network of joints gives order and cohesion, taking into account and making use of the function of each one. So the body builds itself in love.

§ Put on the new self

°17 I say to you, then, and with insistence I advise you in the Lord: do not imitate the pagans who live an aimless kind of life. °18 Their understanding is in darkness and they remain in ignorance because of their blind conscience, very far from the life of God. °19 As a result of their corruption, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and have eagerly given themselves to every kind of immorality.

°20 But it is not for this that you have followed Christ. °21 For I suppose that you heard of him and received his teaching which is seen in Jesus himself. °22 You must give up your former way of living, theold self,whose deceitful desires bring self-destruction. °23 Renew yourselves spiritually, from inside, °24 and put on thenew self,orselfaccording to God, that is created in true righteousness and holiness.

°25 Therefore, give up lying; let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors for we are members of one another. °26Be angry but do not sin:do not let your anger last until the end of the day, °27 lest you give the devil a foothold.

°28 Let the one who used to steal, steal no more, but busy himself working usefully with his hands so that he may have something to share with the needy. °29 Do not let even one bad word come from your mouth, but only good words that will encourage when necessary and be helpful to those who hear.

°30 Do not sadden the Holy Spirit of God which you were marked with. It will be your distinctive mark on the day of salvation. °31 Do away with all quarreling, rage, anger, insults and every kind of malice: °32 be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ.

§ Imitate God

¤5 °1 As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate him. °2 Follow the way of love, the example of Christ who loved you. He gave himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim whose fragrance rises to God. °3 And since you are holy, there must not be among you even a hint of sexual immorality or greed, or any kind of impurity: these should not be named among you. °4 So too for scandalous words, nonsense and foolishness, which are not fitting; instead offer thanksgiving to God.

°5 Know this: no depraved, impure or covetous person who serves the god ‘Money’ shall have part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. °6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for these are the sins which God is about to condemn in people who do not obey. °7 Do not associate with such people. °8 You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; °9 the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth in every form.

°10 You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, °11 and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead. °12 Indeed it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, °13 but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear. °14 And what has become clear becomes light. Therefore it is said:

“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you.”

°15 Pay attention to how you behave. Do not live as the unwise do, but as responsible persons. °16 Try to make good use of the present time, because these days are evil. °17 So do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.

°18 Do not get drunk: wine leads to levity; but be filled with the Holy Spirit. °19 Gather together to pray with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and celebrate the Lord in your heart, °20 giving thanks to God the Father in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, always and for everything.

§ Husbands, love your wives

°21 Let all kinds of submission to one another become obedience to Christ. °22 So wives to their husbands: as to the Lord.

°23 The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of whom he is also the Savior. °24 And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband.

°25 As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. °26 He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. °27 As he wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, he himself had to prepare and present her to himself.

°28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. °29 And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. That is just what Christ does for the Church, °30 because we are a part of his body.

°31 Scripture says:Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.°32 This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church. °33 As for you, let each one love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.

§ Children, parents, servants and masters

¤6 °1 Children, obey your parents for this is right: °2Honor your father and your mother.And this is the first commandment that has promise: °3that you may be happy and enjoy long life in the land.°4 And you, fathers, do not make rebels of your children, but educate them by correction and instruction which the Lord may inspire.

°5 Servants, obey your masters of this world with fear and respect, with simplicity of heart, as if obeying Christ. °6 Do not serve only when you are watched or in order to please others, but become servants of Christ who do God’s will with all your heart. °7 Work willingly, for the Lord and not for humans, mindful that the good each one has done, °8 whether servant or free, will be rewarded by the Lord.

°9 And you, masters, deal with your servants in the same way, and do not threaten them, since you know that they and you have the same Lord who is in heaven, and he treats all fairly.

§ Be strong in the Lord

°10 Finally, be strong in the Lord with his energy and strength. °11 Put on the whole armor of God to be able to resist the cunning of the devil. °12 Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil.

°13 Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that in the evil day, you may resist and stand your ground, making use of all your weapons. °14 Take truth as your belt, justice as your breastplate, °15 and zeal as your shoes to propagate the Gospel of peace. °16 Always hold in your hand the shield of faith to repel the flaming arrows of the devil. °17 Finally, use the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the Word of God.

°18 Pray at all times as the Spirit inspires you. Keep watch, together with sustained prayer and supplication for all the holy ones. °19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, I may be given words to proclaim bravely the mystery of the Gospel. °20 Even when in chains I am an ambassador of God; may he give me the strength to speak as I should.

°21 I also want you to know how I am and what I am doing. Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. °22 I am sending him precisely to give you news of us and comfort you all.

°23 May peace and love with faith from God the Father and from Christ Jesus the Lord, be with the brothers and sisters. °24 And may his blessing be with all who love Christ Jesus, our Lord, with undying love.

The End.