Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies 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 the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved:

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,

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has 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 has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly,

And you has he made alive, who were dead in 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 has great love for us and abundant mercy [toward 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 is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of enclosure,

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.

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it,

(if indeed ye have heard of the administration of the grace of God which has been given to me towards 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 has not been made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the power of the 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,

in which I have been appointed to serve, in virtue of the work which God, in the exercise of His power within me, has graciously entrusted to me.

To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ,

and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has created 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 each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ.

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

He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things;

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, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him toil, working what is honest with his hands, that he may have to distribute to him that has need.

and be to one another kind, compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God also 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 this ye are well informed of, knowing that no fornicator, or unclean person, or person of unbridled lust, who is an idolater, has inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and 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--

because you know that everyone will receive a reward from the Lord for whatever good he has done, whether he is a slave or free.

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.