< Ephesians 1 >
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus,
2 grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.
4 Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish in his sight.
5 For in his love he predestined us (such was the good pleasure of his will) to adoption for himself as sons through Jesus Christ,
6 and to the praise of his glorious grace which he graciously bestowed upon us in the Beloved.
7 It is in him we have deliverance, the forgiveness of our trespasses, through his blood;
8 so abundantly did he lavish upon us the riches of his grace in all wisdom and understanding,
9 when he made known to us, I say, that good pleasure which he purposed in himself
10 for the government of the fulness of the ages, that all things in heaven and earth are alike should be gathered up in Christ, as Head.
11 It is he in whom we Jews also have our inheritance, having been chosen beforehand according to the purpose of Him who executes all things according to the counsel of his will,
12 that we who first hoped in Christ should be for the praise of his glory.
13 And in him, because you listened to the proclamation of the truth, the evangel of your salvation, and trusted it, you Gentiles too were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who for the praise of his glory is the pledge of our common heritage, unto the complete redemption of his purchased property.
15 For this reason I also, from the time when I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which prevails among you, and your love to all the saints,
16 do not cease to praise God for you, whenever I mention you in my prayers.
17 I am praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father most glorious, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, through an intimate knowledge of himself;
18 and that the eyes of your heart may be flooded with light so that you may understand what is the hope of his calling, what the wealth of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 and what the surpassing greatness of his might in us who believe, as seen in the energy of that resistless might
20 which he exercised in raising Christ from the dead, and in seating him at his right hand in the heavenly heights,
21 far above all hierarchies and authorities and powers and dominions and every name that is named, not only in this age but in that which is to come. (aiōn )
22 God has put all things under Christ’s feet, and placed him as Head over all in the church,
23 which is his body, the fulness of Him who fills the universe.
