Ephesians chapters 1-3

1¹Paul, An apostle of Jesus Christ by God's will
To: The Saints, who are at Ephesus and those faithful in Christ
²Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, ³blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, ⁴[even as] He has chosen us [for Himself] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, without blame before Him in love, ⁵having [determined before hand] we would be adopted sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, [because it pleased Him], ⁶His grace to be praised and glorified, (because His grace) has made us acceptable in the beloved (Christ); ⁷in whom we are redeemed through His blood, and forgiven of sins according to the riches of His grace, ⁸which He has made to abound (in abundance) for us all wisdom and prudence, ⁹having made known to us the mystery of His will, for His good pleasure which He has [designed and intended] in Himself (God the Father); ¹⁰so that in the fullness of time He (will) gather together, in one, all things that are in Christ, things in heaven and in the earth, even in Him; ¹¹in whom, we've also obtained an inheritance, being [determined before hand] even to the [design and intention] of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will, ¹²that we, who first trusted in Christ, should be the praise of His glory; ¹³in whom you also trusted after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise after you believed. ¹⁴Who is the assurance of our inheritance until the possession of the purchase, to the praise of His glory.

¹⁵After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love (for) ALL the saints, I've ¹⁶given unceasing thanks for you, mentioning you in my prayers; ¹⁷The Prayer: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸(that) the eyes of your understanding, having been enlightened, you may know what is the hope of His calling and what [His inheritance and His gift] (is) in the saints, ¹⁹the [magnitude] of His power toward us who believe, (thus) to the working of His mighty power, ²⁰which He (wrought) in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places; ²¹FAR ABOVE ALL principalities and power, might, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but in that which is to come; (Christ is above it!); ²²and has put all things under His feet and given Him head-ship over all things (pertaining) to the (body of Christ), ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.

2¹And He has made you, who were dead in trespasses and sin, alive; ²(where before) you walked (in the ways) of the world (in harmony) with the prince of the power of the air, the same spirit that now works in the son's of disobedience; ³we also had our manner of life in the past, among them, in the lusts of and fulfilling the desires of our flesh and minds and were children of wrath, even as (they are). ⁴BUT God, with His great LOVE, LOVED us, our God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵even when we were dead in sins He made us alive together with Christ (by grace are you saved), ⁶and has raised us up together and has made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. ⁷(So) that in ages to come He might show the [abundant] riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. ⁸For it is by (HIS) grace that YOU are saved through FAITH, NOT (by anything you did or deserve BUT) it is a GIFT of God, ⁹NOT by (any) WORKS (YOU did), (that not) any man should (exalt himself) (or think himself more justified than another). ¹⁰Because we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (to do) good works which God has [prepared] that we should walk in them.

¹¹(So) REMEMBER that YOU used to be Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, ¹²(being) without Christ at that time and alienated from the common wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise (oaths, contracts) having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³(However), now, in Christ Jesus you who were once far off are now made near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴Because He is our peace, breaking down teh middle wall of partition between us and has made us both one, ¹⁵having abolished in the flesh the enmity, brought about by the working of the law of separatism, to [create] in Himself of two one new man and so making peace; ¹⁶that He might reconcile both to God in one body by dying on the cross and slaying the enmity, ¹⁷and came and preached peace to you who were afar and to those near, ¹⁸because through Him we BOTH have access by one spirit to the Father.

¹⁹(So) now you are no more strangers and [foreigners] but fellow citizens with the saints and the family of God, ²⁰and are built upon the foundation (laid by) the apostles and prophets (of which) Jesus Christ is, Himself, the chief cornerstone, ²¹in whom all the building fitly framed together (still in progress) grows into a sacred temple in the Lord, ²²in (Him) you are also built together for a habitation (permanent dwelling) of God through the spirit.

3¹For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner (for) Jesus Christ (expressly sent to) you Gentiles--²(Supposing that) you've heard of the [stewardship] (divine arrangement) of the grace of God which is given to me toward you, ³how he made known to me, by revelation, the mystery (as with few words I wrote before,⁴(so that) you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ when you read (them).) ¹⁵(that) in other [generations] was not made known to the son's of men, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the spirit; ⁶(so) the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel, ⁷I was made minister (of the gospel) according to the gift of the grace of God given to me according to the workings of His power. ⁸To me, who is the least of all saints, is this grace given, (so) I (could) preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, (that) from the beginning of (all) ages has been hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ, ¹⁰(intending) that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, the manifold (various; comprehensive) wisdom of God might be known by the true (believers), ¹¹according to the eternal purpose which He (fulfilled) in Christ our Lord, ¹²in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by (our) faith in Him.

¹³(So) I desire that you do't [lose heart] at my [anguish; burden] for you, which is your glory. ¹⁴This is the reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵(after) whom the family, in heaven and earth, are named, ¹⁶that He'd grant you, according to His riches of His glory, strength with power by His Spirit in the inner man (hidden man of the heart); ¹⁷that Christ may (permanently) [live] in your hearts by faith; that you be ROOTED and FOUNDED IN LOVE, ¹⁸(and) able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, length, depth and height ¹⁹and to KNOW the LOVE of Christ which (surpasses mere) knowledge, so you might be filled with all the fulness of God. ²⁰Now to Him who is able to do super-abundantly above all things that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹to Him be glory in the (family of true believers) by Christ Jesus [to all the generations of the age of ages], world without end. Amen.