Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are {Some very ancient authorities omit at Ephesus.}at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be {Or, God and the Father See Romans 15:6 margin}the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before {Or, him: having in love foreordained us}him in love:
having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, {Or, wherewith he endued us}which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:
in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
{Or, wherewith he abounded}which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
unto a dispensation of the fulness of the {Greek: seasons.}times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things {Greek: upon.}in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say,
in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;
to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who {Or, have}had before hoped in Christ:
in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the {Or, good tidings. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel of your salvation,— in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory.
For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is {Or, in}among you, and {Many ancient authorities omit the love.}the love which ye show toward all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this {Greek: age.}world, but also in that which is to come:
and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Querverweise zu Epheser 1,4 Eph 1,4
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, {Or, out of}above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples:
Father, {Greek: that which thou hast given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that &c.}I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemiesShould serve him without fear,
who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
For {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah hath chosen Jacob unto himself,And Israel for his own possession.
Saith the Lord, {Or, who doeth these things which were known & c.}who maketh these things known from of old.
In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as {Greek: luminaries. Wisd. 13:2; compare Revelation 21:11}lights in the world,
but {Or, dealing, truly}speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ;
But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake,
Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
yet now {Some ancient authorities read ye have been reconciled.}hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:
from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together {Greek: through every joint of the supply.}through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away;
And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.
And we know that to them that love God {Some ancient authorities read God worketh all things with them for good.}all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.
and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for {Some ancient authorities read you.}us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the {Or, nations (and elsewhere)}Gentiles.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, {Some ancient authorities read and he goeth.}and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written {Greek: on.}in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and {Greek: shall be present.}shall come.
For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith {Or, wrought}working through love.
Thus saith Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
And Sharon shall be a {Or, pasture}fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;
For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another.
At that season Jesus answered and said, I {Or, praise}thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
yea, Father, {Or, that}for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.
who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus {Or, long ages ago}before times eternal,
that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the {Or, fulness}full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, {The ancient authorities vary much in the text of this passage.}even Christ,
And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, {Numbers 16:5?}The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, {Isaiah 26:13?}Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.
and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you;
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
For the grace of God {Or, hath appeared to all men, bringing salvation}hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
And we know and have believed the love which God hath {Or, in our case}in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.
And he shall send forth his angels with {Or, a trumpet of great sound}a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present {Or, age}world;
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must {Or, lead}bring, and they shall hear my voice: and {Or, there shall be one flock}they shall become one flock, one shepherd.
Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control {Or, stedfastness}patience; and in your {Or, stedfastness}patience godliness;
and in your godliness {Greek: love of the brethren.}brotherly kindness; and in your {Greek: love of the brethren.}brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For he that lacketh these things is blind, {Or, closing his eyes}seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:
And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of {Many ancient authorities read the Lord.}God: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.
And we know that to them that love God {Some ancient authorities read God worketh all things with them for good.}all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? {Or, Shall God that justifieth?}It is God that justifieth;
{Some ancient authorities omit and.}and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,
even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you {Many ancient authorities read as firstfruits.}from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and {Or, faith}belief of the truth:
whereunto he called you through our {Greek: good tidings: see chapter 1:8.}gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Paul, a {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised {Or, long ages ago}before times eternal;
Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: