[This letter is from] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to God's will, [and is being sent] to the saints [i.e., God's holy people] at Ephesus [Note: This was a major city in the western province of Asia Minor, and now a part of Turkey. The words "at Ephesus" are omitted in some manuscripts, suggesting it was a circular letter], and the faithful ones in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus [everywhere else ?].

according as He did choose us in him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,

For He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ--such being His gracious will and pleasure--

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

for our being to the praise of His glory, even those who did first hope in the Christ,

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.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age.

which is His body, that is being filled by Him who fills everything everywhere.

and you, being dead in your offences and sins --

All of us [Jews] also once lived among such people, fulfilling the improper cravings of our physical being and doing what our bodies and minds desired. In this natural [unconverted] state we were deserving of [God's] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].

but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

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

And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus,

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

and now, in Christ Jesus, ye being once afar off became nigh in the blood of the Christ,

and being come, he preached the glad tidings of peace to YOU who were afar off, and to US that were nigh.

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord.

In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

[Note: Paul here digresses from his prayer, begun in 1:15-16, to explain the circumstances of his being a prisoner on behalf of these Gentiles]. [I assume] you have heard about my commission [to minister] to you, which was given to me by God's unearned favor.

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;

To me, [though I am] the very least of all the saints (God’s people), this grace [which is undeserved] was graciously given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the incomprehensible riches of Christ [that spiritual wealth which no one can fully understand],

This was done so that now God's many-sided wisdom could be made known through the church, to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the world around us, where these angelic beings (good or bad) view the unfolding of God's wonderful plan],

May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality],

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

that, being rooted and founded in love, you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and hight,

and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

And to him being able to do above all things more abundantly above what we ask or think, according to the power being energetic in us,

being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace;

being one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

And He gave some people [the gift of being] apostles; and some people prophets; and some people evangelists; and some people pastors [i.e., elders] and teachers,

till being united in a perfect belief, and acknowledgment of the son of God, we grow up to that full state of maturity required by Christ:

and, being true in love, we may increase to Him in all things, who is the head -- the Christ;

from whom the whole body, being fitly joined together and united, through the supply of every joint, according to the working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body doth make for the building up of itself in love.

Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

[that] you take off, according to your former way of life, the old man, who is being destroyed according to deceitful desires,

and being renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ].

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

But fornication, and all impurity, or inordinate desire, let it not be approved by you, as being unworthy of christians: neither ribaldry,

Being certain of this, that no man who gives way to the passions of the flesh, no unclean person, or one who has desire for the property of others, or who gives worship to images, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and God.

you were heretofore altogether in the dark, but now being enlightned by the Lord, behave as children of light:

For it is shameful even to speak [about] the things being [done] by them in secret,

But all things being exposed by the light are made evident.

Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit.

being subject to one another {out of reverence for} Christ

For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.

Even so husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.

because we are members of his body, being of his flesh, and of his bones.

However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear].

not {while being watched}, as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart,

put on the whole armour of God, for your being able to stand against the wiles of the devil,

For our struggle is not [actually] against human beings, but against rulers and authorities and leaders of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the struggle against Satanic powers which permeates life around us].

Stand therefore, being girded about as to your loins with truth, and being invested with the breastplate of righteousness,

and being firm-footed in the gospel of peace.

with all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and to this [end] being alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,