to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him

so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,

so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

not from works, so that no one can boast.

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it.

you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you?

I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.

This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit,

and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,

and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—

diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.

But what does “He ascended” mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth?

The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.

They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

But that is not how you learned about the Messiah,

You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires;

The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

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

And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.

This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.

Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.