Eph.1.1

I, Paul, am under God's plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful Christians in Ephesus.

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

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Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

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This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

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I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

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

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

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May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

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How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

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How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.

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Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.

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For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

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just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

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Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

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Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)

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he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--

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having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

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His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.

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He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

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to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

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to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

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So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.

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Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people--free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!

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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

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In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

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He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven.

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He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need,

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that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

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which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

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He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

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letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ,

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And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

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having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

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God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure.

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a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

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to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

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that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him.

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And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth.

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It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,

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In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

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In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

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Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.

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part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

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in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

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that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

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God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God.

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It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free--signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.

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And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

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In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

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And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.

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This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

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who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

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who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

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The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

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That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the Christians,

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For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

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Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

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Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere,

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I couldn't stop thanking God for you--every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks.

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I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

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do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:

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I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,

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But I do more than thank. I ask--ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory--to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally,

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I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

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that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

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asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

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your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians,

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I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

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the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

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I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.

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oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him--endless energy, boundless strength!

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and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,

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and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

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I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power

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All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven,

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which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

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which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

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that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

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in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever.

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far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

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far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

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Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come.

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He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.

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And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

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And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,

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And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.

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The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

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which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

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which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

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And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.