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

which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each part, causes the growth of the body and builds itself up in love.

they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their heart;

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

For this reason it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

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