Ephesians 1

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:

To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.^[a]

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Rich Blessings

³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. ⁴ For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.^[b] In love^{[c] 5} He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, ⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

⁷ We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him ¹⁰ for the administration^[d] of the days of fulfillment^[e]—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

¹¹ We have also received an inheritance^[f] in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, ¹² so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

¹³ When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. ¹⁴ He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession,^[g] to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Insight

¹⁵ This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,^[h] would give you a spirit^[i] of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the perception of your mind^[j] may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

God’s Power in Christ

²⁰ He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens— ²¹ far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given,^[k] not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put everything under His feet^[l] and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.