Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God: To God's people who are in Ephesus--believers in Christ Jesus.

May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has crowned us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ;

even as, in His love, He chose us as His own in Christ before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and without blemish in His presence.

For He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ--such being His gracious will and pleasure--

so that we should be devoted to the extolling of His glorious attributes--we who were the first to fix our hopes on Christ.

that Spirit being a pledge and foretaste of our inheritance, in anticipation of its full redemption--the inheritance which He has purchased to be specially His for the extolling of His glory.

when He displayed it in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in the heavenly realms,

Among them all of us also formerly passed our lives, governed by the inclinations of our lower natures, indulging the cravings of those natures and of our own thoughts, and were in our original state deserving of anger like all others.

caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved--

in order that, by His goodness to us in Christ Jesus, He might display in the Ages to come the transcendent riches of His grace.

For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is God's gift, and is not on the ground of merit--

so that it may be impossible for any one to boast.

Therefore, do not forget that formerly you were Gentiles as to your bodily condition. You were called the Uncircumcision by those who style themselves the Circumcised--their circumcision being one which the knife has effected.

At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

by setting aside the Law with its commandments, expressed, as they were, in definite decrees. His design was to unite the two sections of humanity in Himself so as to form one new man,

thus effecting peace, and to reconcile Jews and Gentiles in one body to God, by means of His cross--slaying by it their mutual enmity.

and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you.

By means of that explanation, as you read it, you can judge of my insight into the truth of Christ

concealed in order that the Church might now be used to display to the powers and authorities in the heavenly realms the innumerable aspects of God's wisdom.

to grant you--in accordance with the wealth of His glorious perfections--to be strengthened by His Spirit with power penetrating to your inmost being.

as it is grasped by all God's people, of the breadth and length, the height and depth--

yes, to attain to a knowledge of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, so that you may be made complete in accordance with God's own standard of completeness.

to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, world without end! Amen.

in the uniting bond of peace, the unity given by the Spirit.

And He Himself appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,

So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men's cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead.

Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.

with darkened understandings, having by reason of the ignorance which is deep-seated in them and the insensibility of their moral nature, no share in the Life which God gives.

Let no unwholesome words ever pass your lips, but let all your words be good for benefiting others according to the need of the moment, so that they may be a means of blessing to the hearers.

Let all bitterness and all passionate feeling, all anger and loud insulting language, be unknown among you--and also every kind of malice.

On the contrary learn to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as His dear children.

But fornication and every kind of impurity, or covetousness, let them not even be mentioned among you, for they ought not to be named among God's people.

For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber--or in other words idol-worshipper--has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

for the things which are done by these people in secret it is disgraceful even to speak of.

But everything can be tested by the light and thus be shown in its true colors; for whatever shines of itself is light.

Therefore be very careful how you live and act. Let it not be as unwise men, but as wise.

Buy up your opportunities, for these are evil times.

Always and for everything let your thanks to God the Father be presented in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

And just as the Church submits to Christ, so also married women should be entirely submissive to their husbands.

in order to make her holy, cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word,

that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished.

"For this reason a man is to leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall be as one."

Children, be obedient to your parents as a Christian duty, for it is a duty.

"so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth."

Slaves, be obedient to your earthly masters, with respect and eager anxiety to please and with simplicity of motive as if you were obeying Christ.

Let it not be in acts of eye-service as if you had but to please men, but as Christ's bondservants who are doing God's will from the heart.

With right good will, be faithful to your duty as service rendered to the Lord and not to man.

Put on the complete armour of God, so as to be able to stand firm against all the stratagems of the Devil.

Therefore put on the complete armour of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground on the day of battle, and, having fought to the end, to remain victors on the field.

And besides all these take the great shield of faith, on which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the Wicked one;

Pray with unceasing prayer and entreaty on every fitting occasion in the Spirit, and be always on the alert to seize opportunities for doing so, with unwearied persistence and entreaty on behalf of all God's people,

and ask on my behalf that words may be given to me so that, outspoken and fearless, I may make known the truths (hitherto kept secret)

Peace be to the brethren, and love combined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with perfect sincerity.