Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, to God's people who are faithful in Christ Jesus;

spiritual blessing and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.

in union with whom we were made God's portion, since we had been foreordained in accordance with the purpose of Him who in everything carries out the plan of His will,

You too, as you have heard the message of the truth, the good news that means your salvation, and as you have trusted in Him too, have been stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,

never cease to thank God for you when I mention you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may grant you the Spirit to give wisdom and revelation which come through a growing knowledge of Him,

by having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, so that you may know what the hope is to which He calls you, how glorious rich God's portion in His people is,

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.

But God, who is so rich in mercy on account of the great love He has for us,

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.

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.

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.

to reconcile them both to God with His cross after He had killed the hostility through it.

When He came, He brought the good news of peace for you who were far away and for you who were near;

So you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow-citizens of God's people and members of His family;

and you yourselves, in union with Him, in fellowship with one another, are being built up into a dwelling for God through the Spirit.

that is, if you have heard how God's favor has been entrusted to me for you,

that the heathen through union with Christ Jesus are fellow-heirs with the Jews, are members with them of the same body, and sharers with them of the promise through the good news,

for which I was called to serve in accordance with the gift of God's unmerited favor which was bestowed on me by the exercise of His power--

yes, on me, the very least of all His people, this unmerited favor was bestowed -- that I might preach as good news to the heathen the boundless riches of Christ,

and to make clear how is to be carried out the trusteeship of this secret which has for ages been hidden away in God, the Creator of all things,

so that the many phases of God's wisdom may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven,

in accordance with the eternal purpose which God executed in the gift of Christ Jesus our Lord.

By union with Him and through faith in Him we have a free and confidential introduction to God.

so that you with all God's people may be strong enough to grasp the idea of the breadth and length, the height and depth,

yes, to come at last to know the love of Christ, although it far surpasses human understanding, so that you may be filled with the perfect fullness of God.

one God and Father of all, who is over us all, who pervades us all, and who is within us all.

for the immediate equipment of God's people for the work of service, for the ultimate building up of the body of Christ,

until we all attain to unity in faith and to perfect knowledge of the Son of God, namely, to a mature manhood and to a perfect measure of Christ's moral stature;

with darkened understanding, estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that exists among them and because of the stubbornness of their hearts;

and put on the new self which has been created in the likeness of God, which fruits in right and holy living inspired by the truth.

If you do get angry, you must stop sinning in your anger. Do not ever let the sun go down on your anger;

You must stop letting any bad word pass your lips, but only words that are good for building up as the occasion demands, so that they will result in spiritual blessing to the hearers.

You must stop offending the Holy Spirit of God by whom you have been stamped for the day of redemption.

You must practice being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has graciously forgiven you.

So you must keep on following God's example, as dearly loved children of His,

and practice living in love, just as Christ loved you too and gave Himself for you as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual vice and any form of immorality or sensual greed must not so much as be mentioned among you, as that is the only course becoming in God's people;

For you may be absolutely sure that no one who is sexually impure, immoral or greedy for gain (for that is idolatry) can have a part in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Stop letting anyone deceive you with groundless arguments about these things, for it is because of these very sins that God's anger comes down upon the disobedient.

for the product of light consists in practicing everything that is good and right and true;

So it is said: "Wake up, sleeper; get up from the dead, and Christ will make day dawn on you."

continue giving thanks for everything to God our Father;

"You must honor your father and mother" -- this is the first commandment, with a promise to make it good

not serving them as though they were watching you, but as true slaves of Christ, trying to carry out the will of God.

for you know that everyone, slave or free, will get his reward from the Lord for anything good he has done.

You must put on God's full armor, so as to be able to stand up against the devil's stratagems.

So you must take on God's full armor, so as to be able to take a stand in the day when evil attacks you, and, after having completely finished the contest, to hold your own.

Hold your position, then, with your waist encircled with the belt of truth, put on right-doing as a coat of mail,

and put on your feet the preparation the good news of peace supplies.

take the helmet salvation provides, and take the sword the Spirit wields, which is the word of God.

Keep on praying in the Spirit, with every kind of prayer and entreaty, at every opportunity, be ever on the alert with perfect devotion and entreaty for all God's people,

and for me that a message may be given me when I open my lips, so that I may boldly make known the open secret of the good news,

Peace to the brothers and love with faith, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.