Ephesians 2:1-22.
Ephesians 2:1-22 (Good News Translation)
1In the past you were spiritually dead because of your
disobedience and sins.
2At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the
ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the
people who disobey God.
3Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our
natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and
minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to
suffer God's anger.
4But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so
great,
5that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he
brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been
saved.
6In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to
rule with him in the heavenly world.
7He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the
extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ
Jesus.
8-9For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through
faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that
no one can boast about it.
10God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ
Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already
prepared for us to do.
11You Gentiles by birth—called
"the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the
circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies)—remember what
you were in the past.
12At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners
and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the
covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived
in this world without hope and without God.
13But now, in union with Christ Jesus you, who used to be far
away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and
Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that
separated them and kept them enemies.
15He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules,
in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with
himself, in this way making peace.
16By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by
means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them
back to God.
17So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to
all—to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who
were near to him.
18It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are
able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father.
19So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any
longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the
family of God.
20You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles
and prophets,
the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.
21He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes
it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord.
22In union with him you too are being built together with all
the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.
1In the past you were spiritually dead because of your
disobedience and sins.
2At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the
ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the
people who disobey God.
3Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our
natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and
minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to
suffer God's anger.
4But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so
great,
5that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he
brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been
saved.
6In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to
rule with him in the heavenly world.
7He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the
extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ
Jesus.
8-9For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through
faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that
no one can boast about it.
10God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ
Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already
prepared for us to do.
11You Gentiles by birth—called
"the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the
circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies)—remember what
you were in the past.
12At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners
and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the
covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived
in this world without hope and without God.
13But now, in union with Christ Jesus you, who used to be far
away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and
Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that
separated them and kept them enemies.
15He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules,
in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with
himself, in this way making peace.
16By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by
means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them
back to God.
17So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to
all—to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who
were near to him.
18It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are
able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father.
19So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any
longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the
family of God.
20You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles
and prophets,
the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.
21He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes
it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord.
22In union with him you too are being built together with all
the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.
God bless you.
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