Ephesians 1

Greeting

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Rich Blessings

³Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.⁴For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.⁵He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,⁶to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace⁸that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.⁹He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ¹⁰as a plan for the right time — to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.

¹¹In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will,¹²so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory.

¹³In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.¹⁴The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Insight

¹⁵This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,¹⁶I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.¹⁸I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

God’s Power in Christ

²⁰He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens —²¹far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.²²And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church,²³which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.