And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
wherein ye once walked according to the {Greek: age.}course of this world, according to the prince of the {Greek: power.}powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the {Greek: thoughts.}mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together {Some ancient authorities read in Christ.}with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not of works, that no man should glory.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;
that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace;
and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
and he came and {Greek: brought good tidings of peace. Compare Matthew 11:5.}preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh:
for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father.
So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;
in whom {Greek: every building.}each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy {Or, sanctuary}temple in the Lord;
in whom ye also are builded together {Greek: into.}for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Querverweise zu Epheser 2,4 Eph 2,4
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
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:
in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to {Greek: bring good tidings of the &c. Compare chapter 2:17.}preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may establish the word which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Know therefore, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.
And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth;
Jehovah appeared {Or, from afar}of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore {Or, have I continued lovingkindness unto thee}with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live.
I {Hebrew: made thee a myriad.}caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to {Hebrew: ornament of ornaments.}excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.
and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art {Hebrew: a God of forgivenesses.}a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and forsookest them not.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
that whosoever {Or, believeth in him may have}believeth may in him have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee.
For he saith to Moses, {Exodus 33:19}I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
But thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious,Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy.
Jehovah is merciful and gracious,Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness.
He will not always chide;Neither will he keep his anger for ever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins,Nor rewarded us after our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,So great is his lovingkindness toward them that fear him.
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:
Jehovah is gracious, and merciful;Slow to anger, and of great lovingkindness.
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,
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near:
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah.
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the {Or, laver}washing of regeneration {Or, and through renewing}and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
that, being justified by his grace, we might be made {Or, heirs, according to hope, of eternal life}heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; {Or, though}for we have rebelled against him;
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:
hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.
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.
Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love, because he first loved us.
And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I {Or, was beforehand in fleeing}hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.
He will again have compassion upon us; he will {Or, subdue our iniquities}tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
{Or, Thou wilt show thy faithfulness &c.}Thou wilt {Hebrew: give.}perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Because of the {Or, heart of mercy}tender mercy of our God, {Or, Wherein}Whereby the dayspring from on high {Many ancient authorities read hath visited us.}shall visit us,
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
And {Or, law}the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly:
that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
{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,
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him:
and the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
Blessed be {Or, God and the Father See Romans 15:6 margin.}the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,