1 You too were dead because of the shortcomings and sins
2 in which you once lived in accordance with the spirit of this present world, and the mighty prince of the air, who is always at work in the disobedient, among whom all of us, we Jews as well as you heathen,
3 once lived while gratifying the cravings of our lower nature, as we continued to carry out the impulses of our lower nature and its thoughts, and by nature we were exposed to God's wrath, as the rest of mankind.
4 But God, who is so rich in mercy on account of the great love He has for us,
5 has made us, though dead because of our shortcomings, live again in fellowship with Christ -- it is by His unmerited favor that you have been saved.
6 And He raised us with Him and through union with Christ Jesus He made us sit down with Him in the heavenly realm,
7 to show, throughout the coming ages, the boundless generosity of His unmerited favor shown us in His goodness to us through Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by His unmerited favor through faith that you have been saved; it is not by anything that you have done, it is the gift of God.
9 It is not the result of what anyone can do, so that no one can boast of it.
10 For He has made us what we are, because He has created us through our union with Christ Jesus for doing good deeds which He beforehand planned for us to do.
11 So remember that you were once heathen in a physical sense, called the uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcised -- though only in a physical sense, by human hands.
12 At that time you were without any connection with Christ; you were aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the sacred compacts made by God's promise, with no hope, and no God in the world.
13 But now through your union with Christ Jesus you who were once far away have through the blood of Christ been brought near.
14 For He Himself is our peace, He is the one who has made us both into one body and has broken down the barrier that kept us apart;
15 through His human nature He has put a stop to the hostility between us, namely, the law with its commands and decrees, in order to create one new humanity out of the two parties and so make peace through union with Himself, and in one body
16 to reconcile them both to God with His cross after He had killed the hostility through it.
17 When He came, He brought the good news of peace for you who were far away and for you who were near;
18 for it is by Him through one Spirit that both of us now have an introduction to the Father.
19 So you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow-citizens of God's people and members of His family;
20 for you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself the cornerstone.
21 In union with Him the whole building is harmoniously fitted together and continues to grow into a temple, sacred through its union with the Lord,
22 and you yourselves, in union with Him, in fellowship with one another, are being built up into a dwelling for God through the Spirit.