Knox Bible

1

Paul, by God’s will an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those saints, the faithful in Jesus Christ, who dwell at Ephesus;

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Grace and peace be yours from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3

Blessed be that God, that Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing, higher than heaven itself.

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He has chosen us out, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him;✻

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marking us out beforehand (so his will decreed) to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ.

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Thus he would manifest the splendour of that grace by which he has taken us into his favour in the person of his beloved Son.

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It is in him and through his blood that we enjoy redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. So rich is God’s grace,

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that has overflowed upon us in a full stream of wisdom and discernment,

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to make known to us the hidden purpose of his will. It was his loving design, centred in Christ,

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to give history its fulfilment by resuming everything in him, all that is in heaven, all that is on earth, summed up in him.

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In him it was our lot to be called, singled out beforehand to suit his purpose (for it is he who is at work everywhere, carrying out the designs of his will);

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we were to manifest his glory, we who were the first to set our hope in Christ;

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in him you too were called, when you listened to the preaching of the truth, that gospel which is your salvation. In him you too learned to believe, and had the seal set on your faith by the promised gift of the Holy Spirit;

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a pledge of the inheritance which is ours, to redeem it for us and bring us into possession of it, and so manifest God’s glory.

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Well then, I too play my part; I have been told of your faith in the Lord Jesus, of the love you shew towards all the saints,✻

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and I never cease to offer thanks on your behalf, or to remember you in my prayers.

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So may he who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father to whom glory belongs, grant you a spirit of wisdom and insight, to give you fuller knowledge of himself.

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May your inward eye be enlightened, so that you may understand to what hopes he has called you, how rich in glory is that inheritance of his found among the saints,✻

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what surpassing virtue there is in his dealings with us, who believe. Measure it by that mighty exercise of power

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which he shewed when he raised Christ from the dead, and bade him sit on his right hand above the heavens,

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high above all princedoms and powers and virtues and dominations, and every name that is known, not in this world only, but in the world to come.

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He has put everything under his dominion, and made him the head to which the whole Church is joined,✻

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so that the Church is his body, the completion of him who everywhere and in all things is complete.✻