Ephesians 1:4-14
New Catholic Bible
4 Before the foundation of the world
he chose us in Christ
to be holy and blameless in his sight
and to be filled with love.
5 He predestined us
for adoption as his children
through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with his purpose and pleasure,
6 to the praise of the glory
of his grace
that he so freely bestowed on us
in the Beloved.
Realized by the Son
7 In Christ
and through his blood
we have redemption[a]
and the forgiveness of our sins.
In accord with the riches of his grace,
8 God lavished on us
all wisdom and insight.
9 He has made known to us
the mystery of his will
in accordance with his good pleasure
that he had predetermined in Christ
10 to be realized when
the fullness of time had been achieved:
namely, the plan to bring all things,
both in heaven and on earth,
together[b] in Christ
as the head.
Fulfilled by the Holy Spirit
11 In Christ we were also chosen,
having been predestined
by the one who accomplishes all things
in accordance with the design of his will,
12 so that we,
who were the first ones
to place our hopes in Christ,
would devote ourselves
to the praise of his glory.
13 In Christ
you also heard the message of truth
and the gospel of your salvation,
and you came to believe in him.
In him,
you were marked with the seal
of the Holy Spirit
who had been promised.
14 That Spirit is the down payment[c] of our inheritance,
which we shall share
when God has redeemed us
as his own possession,
to the praise of his glory.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 1:7 Redemption: Paul uses the Greco-Roman practice of redeeming slaves by the payment of ransom to show what Christian redemption means. Christ’s death (“his blood”) constitutes the ransom necessary to free sinners from the bondage of sin and the curse of the Law (see Gal 3:13).
- Ephesians 1:10 Bring . . . together: i.e., “recapitulate.” The Greek verb contains two ideas: to gather together or unite and to place under a rule or head.
- Ephesians 1:14 Down payment: for “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Rom 8:11).
