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.

so that we might praise the splendid favor which He has shown us in His beloved Son.

He has made known to us the secret of His will, which is in accordance with His purpose which He planned in Christ,

And so He has put all things under His feet and made Him the supreme Head of the church,

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

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.

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.

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;

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

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

which in the earlier ages, so different from the present, was not made known to mankind as fully as now, but through the Spirit it has been revealed to His Holy apostles and prophets --

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,

But in accordance with the measure of Christ's gift, His favor has been bestowed upon each one of us.

The very One that went down has gone up, too, far above all the heavens, to fill the universe.

And He has given some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,

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.

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

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