Ephesians 1

Greeting

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's Rich Blessings

³Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.⁴For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love⁵He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,⁶to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

⁷We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace⁸that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.⁹He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him¹⁰for the administration of the days of fulfillment — to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

¹¹We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,¹²so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

¹³When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.¹⁴He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Insight

¹⁵This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,¹⁶I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.¹⁸I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

God's Power in Christ

²⁰He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens —²¹far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.²²And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church,²³which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.