Chronological Plan

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.

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 grace

⁸that 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 Christ

¹⁰as 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.

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.

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.

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

²in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

³We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,

⁵made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

⁶He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —

⁹not from works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

¹²At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,

¹⁵he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

¹⁶He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.

¹⁷He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

¹For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —

²you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you?

³The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.

⁴By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

⁵This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

⁶The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.

⁸This grace was given to me — the least of all the saints — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ,

⁹and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

¹⁰This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

¹¹This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

¹³So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

¹⁶I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,

¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,

¹⁹and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us —

²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received,

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit  — just as you were called to one hope at your calling —

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

⁷Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

⁸For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people.

⁹But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.

¹¹And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

¹²equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head  — Christ.

¹⁶From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

¹⁷Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts.

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

¹⁹They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

²⁰But that is not how you came to know Christ,

²¹assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,

²²to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires,

²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

²⁴and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

²⁶Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and don’t give the devil an opportunity.

²⁸Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

²⁹No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

³⁰And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.

³¹Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.

³²And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

¹Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

²and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

³But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.

⁴Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.

⁵For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.

⁷Therefore, do not become their partners.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  —

⁹for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth  —

¹⁰testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret.

¹³Everything exposed by the light is made visible,

¹⁴for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you live — not as unwise people but as wise —

¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

¹⁸And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

¹⁹speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord,

²⁰giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,

²³because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

²⁷He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

²⁸In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,

³⁰since we are members of his body.

³¹For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

³²This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

³³To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

²Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise,

³so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

⁴Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.

⁶Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.

⁷Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,

⁸knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

⁹And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

¹⁰Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

¹³For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

¹⁴Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

¹⁵and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

¹⁶In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit  — which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

²⁰For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

²¹Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.

²²I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

²³Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.