(Acts 19:8–12; Revelation 2:1–7)

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus,¹ the faithful in Christ Jesus:

1. Some manuscripts do not include in Ephesus.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings

(Romans 8:28–34)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

⁴ For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

⁵ He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

⁸ that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

⁹ And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.

¹³ And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

¹⁴ who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

Spiritual Wisdom

(1 Corinthians 2:6–16)

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

¹⁸ I ask that the eyes of your heart¹ may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

1. TR the eyes of your understanding

¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

²² And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,

²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.