Chapter 1

¹Paul, by God’s will an apostle of Christ Jesus, to God’s people who are steadfast in Christ Jesus; ²God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. ⁴Through him he chose us out before the creation of the world, to be consecrated and above reproach in his sight in love. ⁵He foreordained us to become his sons through Jesus Christ, in fulfilment of his generous purpose, ⁶so that we might praise the splendid blessing which he has given us through his beloved Son. ⁷It is through union with him and through his blood that we have been delivered and our offenses forgiven, ⁸in the abundance of his mercy which he has lavished upon us. ⁹He has given us perfect insight into his secret purpose and understanding of it, in following out the design he planned to carry out in Christ, ¹⁰and in arranging, when the time should have fully come, that everything in heaven and on earth should be unified in Christ— ¹¹the Christ through whom it is our lot to have been predestined by the design of him who in everything carries out the purpose of his will, ¹²to win praise for his glory, by having been the first to believe in Christ. ¹³You also have heard the message of the truth, the good news of your salvation, and believed in him, and through union with him you have been marked with the seal of the holy Spirit that was promised, ¹⁴which is the advance installment of our inheritance, so that we may get full possession of it, and praise his glory for it.

¹⁵This is why I, for my part, since I have heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that prevails among you and among all God’s people, ¹⁶never cease to thank God for you when I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation through the knowledge of himself, ¹⁸enlightening the eyes of your mind so that you may know what the hope is to which he calls you, and how gloriously rich his inheritance is among God’s people, ¹⁹and how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe; like the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted in raising Christ from the dead, and seating him at his right hand in heaven, ²¹far above all hierarchies, authorities, powers, and dominions, and all titles that can be bestowed not only in this world but in the world to come. ²²He has put everything under his feet and made him the indisputable head of the church, ²³which is his body, filled by him who fills everything everywhere.