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Ephesians 2
Worldwide English (New Testament)
Ephesians 2
Worldwide English (New Testament)
2 There was a time when you were dead. That was because of the bad and the wrong things you did.
2 At one time you did those wrong things, just like the people around you. You obeyed the ruler who has the power over things in the air. That ruler is the spirit who is working now in the people who do not obey God.
3 At one time we too all lived like them. We lived to please ourselves. We did what our bodies and our minds wanted us to do. We were people with whom God was angry, just like other people.
4 But God was very, very kind. He loved us very, very much.
5 We were dead because of the wrong things we had done. He has made us alive with Christ. You have been saved by his love and kindness.
6 God raised us from death with Christ Jesus and gave us a place to sit with him in heaven.
7 He did this to show us in all times to come how much he can bless people and how kind he is. It was Jesus Christ who brought this kindness to us.
8 You have been saved by God's love and kindness because you believed. It was not because of anything you did, but it was a gift from God.
9 You were not saved by trying to do what the law says. So no one can be proud about it.
10 God has made us. In Jesus Christ God made us so that we can do good things. He planned that we should live that way.
11 So remember that you were not born Jews. (They call you `The Uncircumcised').
12 Remember you did not know Christ at that time. You were far away from the people of Israel. You had no part in the agreements which God promised to them. You had no hope and you were without God in this world.
13 At one time you were far away, but now you have been brought near to God by the blood [death] of Jesus Christ.
14 Christ has made peace between us. He has brought both Jews and non-Jews together into one people. He has broken down the wall that divided us.
15 In his own body Christ made an end of the law and its rules. He did this so that in him two peoples could become one. In this way, he made peace between us.
16 He did this so that by the cross he might bring both kinds of people back to God in one body. And by the cross he has stopped our hating each other.
17 He came and said that there is now peace. There is peace for you who were far away from God and for those who were near.
18 Because of what Christ has done, we can come to the Father by one Spirit.
19 So then you are no longer strangers or people far away. But you live with God's people and belong to God's family.
20 God's family is like a house and you are part of the building. The apostles and prophets are like the lower walls of the house and you are the building on this foundation. Jesus Christ is the big stone at the corner.
21 He is the one who holds the whole house together, and it becomes a holy house belonging to the Lord.
22 You too are a part of this house. God himself lives in this house by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2
New International Version
Ephesians 2
New International Version
Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,(A) 2 in which you used to live(B) when you followed the ways of this world(C) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,(D) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.(E) 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a](G) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us,(H) God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions(I)—it is by grace you have been saved.(J) 6 And God raised us up with Christ(K) and seated us with him(L) in the heavenly realms(M) in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,(N) expressed in his kindness(O) to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace(P) you have been saved,(Q) through faith(R)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works,(S) so that no one can boast.(T) 10 For we are God’s handiwork,(U) created(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11 Therefore, remember that formerly(X) you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)(Y)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners(Z) to the covenants of the promise,(AA) without hope(AB) and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once(AC) were far away have been brought near(AD) by the blood of Christ.(AE)
14 For he himself is our peace,(AF) who has made the two groups one(AG) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh(AH) the law with its commands and regulations.(AI) His purpose was to create in himself one(AJ) new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,(AK) by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace(AL) to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.(AM) 18 For through him we both have access(AN) to the Father(AO) by one Spirit.(AP)
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,(AQ) but fellow citizens(AR) with God’s people and also members of his household,(AS) 20 built(AT) on the foundation(AU) of the apostles and prophets,(AV) with Christ Jesus himself(AW) as the chief cornerstone.(AX) 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple(AY) in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.(AZ)
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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