Chapter 2

Made Alive in Christ

1 And you 1were adead 2in your trespasses and sins,

2 in which you aformerly walked according to the 1course of bthis world, according to cthe prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in dthe sons of disobedience.

3 Among them we too all aformerly lived in bthe lusts of our flesh, 1indulging the desires of the flesh and of the 2mind, and were cby nature dchildren of wrath, eeven as the rest.

4 But God, being arich in mercy, because of bHis great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were adead 1in our transgressions, made us alive together 2with Christ (bby grace you have been saved),

6 and araised us up with Him, and bseated us with Him in cthe heavenly places in dChrist Jesus,

7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing ariches of His grace in bkindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For aby grace you have been saved bthrough faith; and 1that not of yourselves, it is cthe gift of God;

9 anot as a result of works, so that bno one may boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, acreated in bChrist Jesus for cgood works, which God dprepared beforehand so that we would ewalk in them.

11 Therefore remember that aformerly byou, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “cUncircumcision” by the so-called “cCircumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—

12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, 1aexcluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to bthe covenants of promise, having cno hope and dwithout God in the world.

13 But now in aChrist Jesus you who bformerly were cfar off 1have cbeen brought near 2dby the blood of Christ.

14 For He Himself is aour peace, bwho made both groups into one and broke down the 1barrier of the dividing wall,

15 1by aabolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is bthe Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might 2cmake the two into done new man, thus establishing epeace,

16 and might areconcile them both in bone body to God through the cross, 1by it having cput to death the enmity.

17 And aHe came and preached bpeace to you who were cfar away, and peace to those who were cnear;

18 for through Him we both have aour access in bone Spirit to cthe Father.

19 So then you are no longer astrangers and aliens, but you are bfellow citizens with the 1saints, and are of cGod’s household,

20 having been abuilt on bthe foundation of cthe apostles and prophets, dChrist Jesus Himself being the ecorner stone,

21 ain whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into ba holy 1temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being abuilt together into a bdwelling of God in the Spirit.

Chapter 3

Paul’s Stewardship

1 For this reason I, Paul, athe prisoner of bChrist Jesus cfor the sake of you dGentiles—

2 if indeed you have heard of the astewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

3 athat bby revelation there was cmade known to me dthe mystery, eas I wrote before in brief.

4 1By referring to this, when you read you can understand amy insight 2into the bmystery of Christ,

5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy aapostles and prophets 1in the Spirit;

6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are afellow heirs and bfellow members of the body, and cfellow partakers of the promise in dChrist Jesus through the gospel,

7 aof which I was made a bminister, according to the gift of cGod’s grace which was given to me daccording to the working of His power.

8 To me, athe very least of all 1saints, this grace was given, to bpreach to the Gentiles the unfathomable criches of Christ,

9 and to 1bring to light what is the administration of the amystery which for ages has been bhidden in God cwho created all things;

10 so that the manifold awisdom of God might now be bmade known through the church to the crulers and the authorities in dthe heavenly places.

11 This was in aaccordance with the 1eternal purpose which He 2carried out in bChrist Jesus our Lord,

12 in whom we have boldness and 1aconfident baccess through faith 2in Him.

13 Therefore I ask 1you not ato lose heart at my tribulations bon your behalf, 2for they are your glory.

14 For this reason I abow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom 1every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

16 that He would grant you, according to athe riches of His glory, to be bstrengthened with power through His Spirit in cthe inner man,

17 so that aChrist may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being brooted and cgrounded in love,

18 may be able to comprehend with aall the 1saints what is bthe breadth and length and height and depth,

19 and to know athe love of Christ which bsurpasses knowledge, that you may be cfilled up to all the dfullness of God.

20 aNow to Him who is bable to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, caccording to the power that works within us,

21 ato Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations 1forever and ever. Amen.

Chapter 4

Unity of the Spirit

1 Therefore I, athe prisoner of the Lord, bimplore you to cwalk in a manner worthy of the dcalling with which you have been ecalled,

2 with all ahumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another bin love,

3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the abond of peace.

4 There is aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one bhope of your calling;

5 aone Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all awho is over all and through all and in all.

7 But ato each one of us bgrace was given caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

8 Therefore 1it says,

“aWhen He ascended on high,

He bled captive a host of captives,

And He gave gifts to men.”

9 (Now this expression, “He aascended,” what 1does it mean except that He also 2had descended into bthe lower parts of the earth?

10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended afar above all the heavens, so that He might bfill all things.)

11 And He agave bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as cevangelists, and some as pastors and dteachers,

12 afor the equipping of the 1saints for the work of service, to the building up of bthe body of Christ;

13 until we all attain to athe unity of the faith, and of the 1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a cmature man, to the measure of the stature 2which belongs to the dfullness of Christ.

14 1As a result, we are ano longer to be children, btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ccraftiness 2in ddeceitful scheming;

15 but 1speaking the truth ain love, 2we are to bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the chead, even Christ,

16 from whom athe whole body, being fitted and held together 1by what every joint supplies, according to the 2proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself bin love.

The Christian’s Walk

17 aSo this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the cfutility of their mind,

18 being adarkened in their understanding, 1bexcluded from the life of God because of the cignorance that is in them, because of the dhardness of their heart;

19 and they, having abecome callous, bhave given themselves over to csensuality 1for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

20 But you did not alearn 1Christ in this way,

21 if indeed you ahave heard Him and have bbeen taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you alay aside the bold 1self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the clusts of deceit,

23 and that you be arenewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and aput on the bnew 1self, which 2cin the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25 Therefore, alaying aside falsehood, bspeak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are cmembers of one another.

26 aBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not agive the devil 1an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ahe must labor, bperforming with his own hands what is good, cso that he will have something to share with 1one who has need.

29 Let no 1aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for bedification 2according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 aDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 1by whom you were bsealed for the day of redemption.

31 aLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be bput away from you, along with all cmalice.

32 aBe kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, bjust as God in Christ also has forgiven 1you.