Paul's Greeting 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual Blessings 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 5having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: 7in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 10unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say, 11in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will; 12to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: 13in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,-- in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom 15For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which ye show toward all the saints, 16cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; 18having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 20which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places , 21far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. |