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

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.

and in arranging, when the time should have fully come, that everything in heaven and on earth should be unified in Christ??11 the Christ through whom it is our lot to have been predestined by the design of him who in everything carries out the purpose of his will,

and how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe; like the mighty strength

which is his body, filled by him who fills everything everywhere.

in the midst of which you once lived under the control of the present age of the world, and the master-spirit of the air, who is still at work among the disobedient.

So remember that you were once physically heathen, and called uncircumcised by those who called themselves circumcised, though only physically, by human hands.

But now through your union with Christ Jesus you who were once far away have through the blood of Christ been brought near.

He came with the good news of peace for you who were far away and for those who were near;

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,

from whom every family in heaven or on earth takes its name,

To him who by the exertion of his power within us can do unutterably more than all we ask or imagine,

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

It is he who went down who has also gone up above all the heavens, to fill the universe.

We must lovingly hold to the truth and grow up into perfect union with him who is the head??hrist himself.

The man who stole must not steal any more; he must work with his hands at honest toil instead, so as to have something to share with those who are in need.

No bad word must ever pass your lips, but only words that are good and suited to improve the occasion, so that they will be a blessing to those who hear them.

For you may be sure that no one who is immoral, or greedy for gain (for that is idolatry) can have any share in the Kingdom of Christ and God.

You who are husbands must love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself for her,

That is the way husbands ought to love their wives??s if they were their own bodies; a man who loves his wife is really loving himself,

You who are slaves, obey your earthly masters, in reverence and awe, with sincerity of heart, as you would the Christ,

You who are masters, too, must treat your slaves in the same way, and cease to threaten them, for you know that their Master and yours is in heaven, and that he will show no partiality.

God's blessing be with all who have an unfailing love for our Lord Jesus Christ.