Ephesians 1
1
1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
To God’s holy people living in Ephesus, believers in Christ Jesus:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. 4That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people—people without blame before him. 5Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him, 6and it brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves. 7In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is God’s grace, 8which he has given to us so fully and freely. God, with full wisdom and understanding, 9let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. 10His goal was to carry out his plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.
11In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people, because from the very beginning God had decided this in keeping with his plan. And he is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. 12We are the first people who hoped in Christ, and we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God’s glory. 13So it is with you. When you heard the true teaching—the Good News about your salvation—you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised. 14That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive what God promised for his people until God gives full freedom to those who are his—to bring praise to God’s glory.
Paul’s Prayer
15That is why since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I always remember you in my prayers, 17asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know him better. 18I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called us and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people. 19And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength 20God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world. 21God has put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings, not only in this world but also in the next. 22God put everything under his power and made him the head over everything for the church, 23which is Christ’s body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.
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Ephesians 1: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.