1 And you were once dead in your sins and offenses, 2 in which you walked in times past, according to the age of this world, according to the prince of the power of this sky, the spirit who now works in the sons of distrust. 3 And we too were all conversant in these things, in times past, by the desires of our flesh, acting according to the will of the flesh and according to our own thoughts. And so we were, by nature, sons of wrath, even like the others. 4 Yet still, God, who is rich in mercy, for the sake of his exceedingly great charity with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our sins, has enlivened us together in Christ, by whose grace you have been saved. 6 And he has raised us up together, and he has caused us to sit down together in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, 7 so that he may display, in the ages soon to arrive, the abundant wealth of his grace, by his goodness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God. 9 And this is not of works, so that no one may glory. 10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has prepared and in which we should walk. 11 Because of this, be mindful that, in times past, you were Gentiles in the flesh, and that you were called uncircumcised by those who are called circumcised in the flesh, something done by man, 12 and that you were, in that time, without Christ, being foreign to the way of life of Israel, being visitors to the testament, having no hope of the promise, and being without God in this world. 13 But now, in Christ Jesus, you, who were in times past far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace. He made the two into one, by dissolving the intermediate wall of separation, of opposition, by his flesh, 15 emptying the law of commandments by decree, so that he might join these two, in himself, into one new man, making peace 16 and reconciling both to God, in one body, through the cross, destroying this opposition in himself. 17 And upon arriving, he evangelized peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near. 18 For by him, we both have access, in the one Spirit, to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer visitors and new arrivals. Instead, you are citizens among the saints in the household of God, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the preeminent cornerstone. 21 In him, all that has been built is framed together, rising up into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him, you also have been built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians · Catholic Public Domain Version
Ephesians 2 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:5–6; Colossians 3:1–4; Romans 8:2; Ephesians 4:18
- 2 Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19; Ephesians 2:3; John 12:31; Colossians 3:6–7
- 3 Titus 3:3; Galatians 5:16–24; Ephesians 4:22; 1 Peter 1:14; Romans 13:14
- 4 1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 1:7; Titus 3:4–7; Psalm 86:15; Romans 5:8
- 5 Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:10; Romans 5:8; Acts 15:11
- 6 Colossians 3:1–3; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:12–13; Romans 6:4–5; John 17:21–26
- 7 1 Timothy 1:16–17; Titus 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; Ephesians 2:4; Isaiah 60:15
- 8 Romans 3:22–26; Ephesians 2:5; Romans 4:16; John 1:12–13; Romans 10:17
- 9 2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 11:6; Titus 3:3–5; Romans 9:16; 1 Corinthians 1:29–31
- 10 Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:21; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 9:8
- 11 Colossians 2:11; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:11; Romans 2:28–29; Galatians 6:12
- 12 Galatians 4:8; Colossians 1:21; 1 Peter 1:3; Jeremiah 31:31–34; 1 Thessalonians 4:13
- 13 Acts 2:39; Colossians 1:20–22; Colossians 1:13–14; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Corinthians 6:11
- 14 Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:15; Colossians 3:11; Ephesians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 12:12–13
- 15 Colossians 2:14; Galatians 3:10; Colossians 1:21–22; Hebrews 8:13; Galatians 6:15
- 16 Colossians 1:20–22; Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18–21; Colossians 2:14; Galatians 2:20
- 17 Isaiah 57:19–21; Acts 10:36; Romans 5:1; Acts 2:39; Ephesians 2:13–14
- 18 Ephesians 3:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 5:2; Ephesians 4:4; John 14:6
- 19 Philippians 3:20; 1 John 3:1; Galatians 6:10; Galatians 3:26–28; Ephesians 2:12
- 20 1 Peter 2:4–5; Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:7–8; Psalm 118:22; Ephesians 4:11–13
- 21 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 4:13–16; 1 Kings 6:7
- 22 1 Peter 2:4–5; 1 Corinthians 3:16; John 17:21–23; 1 John 4:16; John 14:17–23
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… dead, having loosed the bands of the grave." "In whom, though now ye see Him not, ye believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;" into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that "by grace ye are saved, not of works," but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.
… and His subjection to death, he employs the name of Christ, as in that passage: "Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died." And again: "But now, in Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." And again: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a …
In Thy Church, therefore, O our God, according to Thy grace which Thou hast accorded unto it, since we are Thy workmanship created in good works, there are not only those who are spiritually set over, but those also who are spiritually subjected to those placed over them; for in this manner hast Thou made man, male and female, in …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… a hedge; as the prophet saith: "Thou hast broken down her hedge, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck off her grapes:" and, "I have set a hedge about it:" and Paul, "Having broken down the middle wall of the hedge." But others say, that the saying, "Why was the hedge broken up for thee?" was …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For we are His workmanship, says the Apostle, created unto good works, which God afore prepared, that we should walk in them.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)