The letter to the Ephesian saints was written by Paul, the apostle and the steward of the dispensation of grace, in 62 A.D. from Rome to reveal to the Church the mystery of God, which He kept hidden until now, and give instruction on how to live the Christian life, including how to overcome an attack from Satan.
1.1 Paul, an apostle belonging to Jesus Christ through God’s desirous will, to the saints, the ones in Ephesus, even faithful in Christ Jesus. 1.2 Grace and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. 1.3 The God even Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is well spoken of, the One speaking well of us in all spiritual eulogizing in the heavens in Christ, 1.4 just as He has chosen us in Him before a foundation of [the] world for us to be set apart and blameless before Him in love, 1.5 having marked off our bounds unto the placement of sons[1] through Jesus Christ unto Himself according to the good pleasure of His desirous will, 1.6 unto praise[2] of a proper opinion of His grace which He graciously gave to us in the Beloved, 1.7 in Whom we have the full redemption through His blood, the sending away of the trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 1.8 which He abounded unto us in all wisdom and prudence[3], 1.9 having made known to us the mystery of His desirous will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him 1.10 unto a dispensation of the fullness of times to bring together all things in the Christ: the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, in Him, 1.11 in Whom also we were appointed an inheritance, having been marked off according to a purpose of the One working all things according to the council of His desirous will, 1.12 resulting in us, the ones first hoping in the Christ, being unto praise concerning His proper opinion[4], 1.13 in Whom also you [hoped], after having heard the word of the truth; the gospel[5] of your salvation, in Whom also after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 1.14 Who is the earnest of our inheritance until redemption of the purchased possession, unto praise concerning His proper opinion.
1.15 Because of this, I also, after hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, 1.16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you upon my communication, 1.17 in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory[6], may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the experiential knowledge concerning Him. 1.18 Having illuminated[7] the eyes of your heart that you may intuitively know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the proper opinion of His inheritance among the saints 1.19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His inherent ability towards us, the ones believing, according to the working of the might of His strength, 1.20 which was active in Christ when He raised Him out of the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavens 1.21 far above all rulers and authorities and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one about to come. 1.22 And put all under His feet, and gave Him to be [the] head concerning all the Church, 1.23 which is His body, the fullness of the One filling the all things in all things.
2.1 And you all being dead in your trespasses and sins, 2.2 wherein formerly you all walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience, 2.3 among whom also we all formerly conducted our lives by the lusts of our flesh, doing the desirous will of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath even as the rest. 2.4 But the God, Who is rich in mercy, through His great love by which He loved us, 2.5 even being dead in the trespasses, He made us alive together with the Christ (by grace you are in the state of being saved), 2.6 and co-raised us, and co-seated us in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 2.7 in order that in the ages to come He should show the exceeding riches of His grace by kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 2.8 For by grace you are in a state of being saved through the faith and this [faith] is not out from you, it is the gift from God. 2.9 Not out from works, in order that no one should boast. 2.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on the basis of good works which God prepared beforehand in order that we should walk in them.
2.11 Wherefore, remember that you were formerly the Gentiles in flesh – who are called uncircumcision by the ones called the circumcision in the flesh made through hands – 2.12 because you were in that time without Christ, alienated ones from the citizenship of Israel and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 2.13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. 2.14 For He Himself is our peace, Who made the both one and has released the middle wall of partition;2.15 rendering useless the enmity by His flesh; the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that of the two He should create in Himself one new man, making peace, 2.16 and He should reconcile both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it. 2.17 And having come, He brought good news of peace to you; the ones far away and the ones near, 2.18 because through Him we both have access by One Spirit facing the Father. 2.19 Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 2.20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, of whom Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, 2.21 in Whom all [the] building is being joined together, growing into a holy temple in [the] Lord, 2.22 in Whom also you are being built together for a dwelling place of the God by [the] Spirit.
3.1 For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ on behalf of you the Gentiles, 3.2 since indeed you have heard the dispensation of the grace from the God which is given to me because of you, 3.3 that according to a revelation He made known unto me the mystery, according as I wrote before in few words, 3.4 towards which you have the ability when reading to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of the Christ, 3.5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 3.6 the Gentiles to be fellow-heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in the Christ through the gospel, 3.7 from Whom I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of the God, the [gift] given to me according to the working of His natural ability. 3.8 To me, the least of all saints is this grace given: to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of the Christ, 3.9 and to illuminate to all what is the dispensation of the mystery, the one concealed from the ages by the God, the One Who created all the things through Jesus Christ, 3.10 in order that now it should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavens through the Church the manifold wisdom of the God, 3.11 according to a purpose of the ages which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord, 3.12 in Whom we have the boldness and access by the confidence through the faith concerning Him.
3.13 Wherefore I ask that you not faint at my tribulations on your behalf, which are a proper opinion of you. 3.14 For this reason I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 3.15 out from Whom every linage in heavens and upon earth are named, 3.16 in order that He might give to you, according to the riches of His proper opinion, an ability to be strengthened[8] through His Spirit in the inner man: 3.17 the Christ to dwell in your hearts through the faith – 3.18 being rooted and grounded in love, in order that you should be fully able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, 3.19 and to know the surpassing love of Christ from the knowledge, in order that you should be filled up into all the fullness of the God. 3.20 Moreover, to the One having the ability over all to do exceedingly more than that which we ask or think according to the inherent ability of the One working in us, 3.21 to Him the proper opinion among the assembly in Christ Jesus into all the generation of the age of the ages, amen.
4.1 Therefore I urge you, I, the prisoner in Lord, that you walk worthy of the calling from which you were called, 4.2 with all humbleness of mind and objectivity of mind, with longsuffering, tolerating one another in love, 4.2 diligent to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace. 4.4 One body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. 4.5 One Lord, one faith, one immersion, 4.6 one God even Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in you all. 4.7 Indeed, to each one of us was given the grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. 4.8 Wherefore it says. “When He ascended up on high He led captive captivity and gave gifts unto men.” 4.9 And what is it, “He ascended”, except that also He descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 4.10 The One who descended is the same also Who ascended far above all the heavens, that He should complete all things. 4.11 And He, Himself, gave on the one hand the apostles, and on the other hand the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors even teachers, 4.12 facing the equipping of the saints unto a work of ministry unto the edifying of the body of Christ, 4.13 until we all should come into the oneness of the faith and of the full experiential knowledge of the Son of God, into a mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, 4.14 in order that we should no longer be inarticulate babblers, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of teaching by the trickery of men in craftiness facing the scheming of the error, 4.15 but we, speaking truth in love, should grow in all the things unto Him, Who is the Head: the Christ, 4.16 out from Whom the whole body, being fit and knit together, through every supporting ligament according to the operating by measure of each individual part performing the growth of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
4.17 Therefore, this I say and testify by the Lord, you are to no longer walk as also the remaining Gentiles walk in the emptiness of their mind, 4.18 having the working of the mind darkened, being alienated from the life of the God through the ignorance that is in them, through the hardness of their heart, 4.19 who being callous gave themselves over unto lasciviousness unto every unclean work with covetousness. 4.20 But you have not in this way learned the Christ, 4.21 indeed since you have heard it and have been taught by it, just as truth is in Jesus, 4.22 all of you to put off according to the former conduct the old man, the one being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceitfulness, 4.23 and to begin again[9] in the spirit of your mind, 4.24 and put on the new man, the one created according to God in righteousness and piety of the truth.
4.25 Therefore after laying aside the lie, let each one speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 4.26 Be wrathful and stop sinning. Stop letting the sun go down upon your indignation, 4.27 neither give place to the devil. 4.28 The one stealing, let him no longer steal, but rather let him labor, working the good with his hands, in order that he should have to give to the one having need. 4.29 Stop letting every rotten word proceed out of your mouth, but if something is good toward the edification of the need, in order that it should give grace to those hearing. 4.30 And stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed unto the day of full redemption. 4.31 Let all bitterness and inner burning anger and wrath and shouting and blasphemy be sent away from you with all bad. 4.32 Moreover you become kind to one another, compassionate, being gracious to yourselves, even as God in Christ was gracious to you. 5.1 Therefore, you become imitators of the God, as beloved children, 5.2 and walk in love, according as also the Christ loved us and give himself concerning us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 5.3 Moreover. fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, according as it is proper for saints. 5.4 And indecent behavior and foolish talking or jesting, which are not proper, but rather giving of thanks. 5.5 For this you are experientially knowing that all fornicators or unclean person or covetous one, which is idolatry, has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ even God. 5.6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for through these things comes the wrath of the God upon the sons of disobedience. 5.7 Therefore, stop becoming partakers with them. 5.8 For you were formally darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord, walk as children of light – 5.9 for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth – 5.10 proving what is pleasing to the Lord. 5.11 And stop participation with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 5.12 For it is shameful even to speak the things which come to be by them in secret. 5.13 But all things, the things being reproved by the light, are being revealed, for everything that is revealing is light. 5.14 Wherefore it says, “You, the ones sleeping, awake and arise out from the dead ones and the Christ will shine to you.”
5.15 Therefore, watch how accurately you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, 5.16 redeeming the time, because the days are malignantly evil. 5.17 Because of this, stop becoming unwise, but understand what is the desirous will of the Lord. 5.18 And stop being drunk with wine, wherein there is no saving quality, but be filled by the Spirit, 5.19 speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 5.20 while giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God even Father 5.21 submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. 5.22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord, 5.23 because a husband is head of the wife even as the Christ is head of the assembly, and He, Himself, is Savior of the body. 5.24 But just as the assembly submits itself to the Christ, also in this way the wives to their own husbands in all thing. 5.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the assembly and gave Himself for her, 5.26 in order that He should sanctify her after being cleansed by the washing of water by an utterance, 5.27 in order that He should present her, the glorious assembly, to Himself not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she should be holy and without blemish. 5.28 In this way the husbands are obliged to love their wives as their own bodies. The one loving his wife loves himself. 5.29 For no one at some time was indifferent to his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also the Lord the assembly, 5.30 because we are members of His body, out from His flesh and out from His bone. 5.31 In place of this a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined unto his wife, and the two will be one flesh. 5.32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and concerning the assembly. 5.33 Beyond this also you, the [husbands] according to each one, love your own wife thusly as yourself. And the wife, in order that she should respect the husband. 6.1 The children, all of you obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 6.2 Honor your father and mother, which is a first commandment with promise, 6.3 in order that it should become well with you and you may live long on the earth. 6.4 And the fathers, stop provoking to wrath your children, but nourish them in child-training and instruction of the Lord. 6.5 Servants, all of you obey the masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in simplicity of your heart, according as to the Christ, 6.6 not according to eye service as men pleasers but as servants of the Christ, doing the desirous will of God out from a soul, 6.7 with a good mind doing service, as to the Lord and not to men, 6.8 intuitively knowing that which if perhaps what each one does is good, this thing he will be paid for from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 6.9 And the masters, do the same things unto them, giving up the threatening, intuitively knowing that also theirs and your Master is in heavens, and there is no respect of persons with Him.
6.10 The remaining, my brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of His strength. 6.11 Clothe yourself with the whole armor from God, facing your inherent ability to stand facing the methodologies of the devil, 6.12 because we are not wrestling facing blood and flesh, but facing rulers, facing authorities, facing the world rulers of the darkness of this age, facing spiritual ones from the malignantly evil one in the heavens. 6.13 Because of this, take up the whole armor from God, in order that you should have a natural ability to stand in the malignantly evil day, and after working out all to stand. 6.14 Therefore, stand after having your loins girt[10] about in truth, and putting on the breastplate of the righteousness, 6.15 and your feet bound up with preparation of the gospel of the peace. 6:16 Above all, after taking the shield of the faith, by which you will be inherently able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the malignantly evil one. 6.17 And to receive the helmet of the salvation, and the sword belonging to the Spirit, which is an individual utterance from God, 6.18 through all, worship and supplication, communicating at all times in spirit, and unto yourselves watch in all perseverance and supplication concerning all saints.
6.19 And concerning me, in order that a word should be given unto me, in opening my mouth in boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel 6.20 concerning which I am an ambassador in chain, in order that in it I should speak freely as it is necessary for me to speak. 6.21 Moreover, in order that even you may intuitively know the things according to me, how I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother even faithful minister in [the] Lord will make known to you all things, 6.22 who I sent towards you unto this same thing, in order that you should know the things concerning us, and that he should comfort your hearts. 6.23 Peace is to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ. 6.24 The grace is with all the ones loving our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility. Amen.
[1] Combination of the word “son” and “to place”. υἱοθεσία does not mean adoption (Galatians 4:1-3). Romans 8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5. “ἄμφανσις” – Adoption, and “ἐκποίητος” – given to be adopted, are not used in Scripture since the concept of adoption is foreign to the Christian life. Those saved today become legitimate children of God, 1 John 3:2,9.
[2] The Fruit of our lips confessing His character, Hebrews 13:15. There is a translation issue in some bible versions making it “thanksgiving”; however, the original does not support this reading since it uses the word for confess – “to say the same thing”.
[3] Giving forethought. Ephesians 1:8
[4] To have a proper opinion
[5] 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Christ died for your sins, was buried according to the Scriptures, was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
[6] A proper opinion
[7] Your eyes are in a state of having been illuminated. This is not an ongoing process. It was completed in the past with abiding results into the indefinite future.
[8] Comes from the word for “might”. The manifestation of strength. This is strength being used.
[9] A legal term that means to start a contract again – or renew.
[10] 1 Peter 1:13