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

according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;

to display the glory of his grace, which has render'd us acceptable by his beloved son:

who has by his blood obtained for us the redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace,

which he has caused to abound towards us in all wisdom and intelligence,

for he has discover'd to us the secret of his will, that out of his meer good pleasure, he had purposed in himself,

for the government of the world when the times are ripe for it--the purpose which He has cherished in His own mind of restoring the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ; yes, things in Heaven and things on earth, to find their one Head in Him.

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.

And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people),

and how exceedingly great that power is, which he has employ'd upon us who believe, a power corresponding to that energy of his mighty strength;

which he has worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating [him] at his right hand in the heavenly [places],

above all the angelic Rulers, Authorities, Powers, and Lords, above every Name that is to be named not only in this age but in the age to come ??22 he has put everything under his feet and set him as head over everything for the church,

And He put all things [in every realm] in subjection under Christ’s feet, and appointed Him as [supreme and authoritative] head over all things in the church,

And so God has given life to you Gentiles also, who were once dead in your trespasses and sins,

which were once habitual to you while you walked in the ways of this world and obeyed the Prince of the powers of the air, the spirits that are now at work in the hearts of the sons of disobedience--to you God has given Life.

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

(we too being dead in offences,) has quickened us with the Christ, (ye are saved by grace,)

and has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,

It has not been earned, so that no one can boast of it.

For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them.

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.

For He Himself is our peace and our bond of unity. He who made both groups—[Jews and Gentiles]—into one body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall [of spiritual antagonism between us],

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

and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.

and, coming, he has preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off, and the glad tidings of peace to those who were nigh.

You are a building which has been reared on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself,

who by his spirit has likewise made you a part of this divine mansion.

This is why I, Paul, whom Jesus the Christ has made a prisoner for the sake of you heathen??2 if at least you have heard how I dealt with the mercy of God that was given me for you,

If that ordering of the grace of God has come to your knowledge, which was given to me for you,

that by revelation the mystery has been made known to me, (according as I have written before briefly,

by reading which you can understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ,??5 which in other generations was not made known to the children of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,

which in other generations was not disclosed to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit;

I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews, and that they form one body with us, and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

for which I became a worker by virtue of the gift of God's mercy which by the exercise of his power he has given me.

To me, who am less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, that I should proclaim among the Gentiles the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ;

And make all men see what is the ordering of the secret which from the first has been kept in God who made all things;

This is in accordance with [the terms of] the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,

But to every one of us has grace been given in the measure of the giving of Christ.

Wherefore he says, Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men.

He who descended is the very same as He who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things [that is, the whole universe]).

and he has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers,

This I say, then, and give witness in the Lord, that you are to go no longer in the way of the Gentiles whose minds are turned to that which has no profit,

their intelligence is darkened, they are estranged from the life of God by the ignorance which their dulness of heart has produced in them ??19 men who have recklessly abandoned themselves to sensuality, with a lust for the business of impurity in every shape and form.

They have stopped caring [i.e., about morality], so God has abandoned them to lives of unrestrained indecency and to engage in all kinds of [moral] impurity, with a constant desire for more.

That you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of life, the old man, which has become evil by love of deceit;

And put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living.

Let the man who steals steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the good, so that he may have to give to him who has need.

and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you.

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling fragrance.

For be sure of this: no immoral, impure, or greedy person—for that one is [in effect] an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a person places a higher value on something other than God].

For everything that has its true character made manifest is clear as light. And that is why it is said--'Sleeper, awake! Arise from the dead, and the Christ shall give thee light!'

Husbands, love your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it,

Even so it is right for husbands to have love for their wives as for their bodies. He who has love for his wife has love for himself:

For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as also the Christ the assembly:

But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.

"Honour your father and your mother" --this is the first Commandment which has a promise added to it--

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

And, you masters, do the same things to them, not making use of violent words: in the knowledge that their Master and yours is in heaven, and he has no respect for a man's position.

So that you may know what has happened to me and how I am doing, Tychicus, our dear brother and a faithful minister in service to the Lord, will tell you everything.