unfoldingWord® Translation Questions
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| Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints, the ones being [in Ephesus]and faithful in Christ Jesus. | I am Paul. The Messiah Jesus sent me to represent him because that is what God wanted. I write this letter to the people whom God has set apart for himself who are living [in the city of Ephesus]and who are loyal to the Messiah Jesus. |
Paul describes the people he is writing to as saints, and as faithfully trusting in Christ Jesus.
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| Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | {May} God our Father and our Lord Jesus the Messiah {continue to be} kind to you and {make you} peaceful. |
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| Blessed {be} the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly {places} in Christ, | Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah! He has blessed us with every kind of spiritual blessing that comes from heaven because we belong to the Messiah. |
God the Father has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
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| just as he chose us in him from the foundation of the world, {for} us to be holy and blameless before him. In love | In fact, even before God created the world, he chose us to belong to the Messiah, so that the Messiah could make us completely holy for him. Because God loves us, |
God the Father chose those who believe in Christ before the foundation of the world.
God the Father chose the believers so they could be holy and blameless before him.
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| he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, | he decided long ago to adopt us as his own children by means of Jesus the Messiah. It pleased him to do this, so he did what he wanted to do. |
God destined the believers in advance because he was pleased to do it.
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| to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely given us in the Beloved One, | Because of this, we now praise God for being so amazingly kind to us, far beyond what we could deserve, as he blessed us by means of his Son whom he loves. |
God destined the believers in advance so that he would be praised for his glorious grace.
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| in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of the trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, | When Jesus died in our place, he paid the price for our sin. That is, when he died for us, God forgave us our sins because that is how abundantly and generously kind he is. |
Believers receive redemption, the forgiveness of their trespasses through the blood Christ.
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| which he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and understanding. | God knew that we would need him to be extremely kind to us in this way because God knows everything and is completely wise. |
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| He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he had planned in him, | In this way, God has now revealed to us his plan that he had not revealed to anyone before—a plan that he was pleased to accomplish through the work of the Messiah. |
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| with a view to an administration of the fullness of time, to bring all the things together in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on earth, in him, | In this plan, when the time was just right, the Messiah would unite all things under himself so that all things in heaven and all things on earth would belong to the Messiah. |
God will bring together everything in heaven and on the earth under Christ.
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| in whom we were also allotted as a possession. We were predestined according to the purpose of the one working out everything according to the counsel of his will, | Because of what the Messiah has done, God has also claimed us as his own. He planned to do this long ago, and he always does exactly what he wishes to do. |
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| so that we, the ones having first hoped in Christ, would be for the praise of his glory. | In God’s plan, we Jews, who were the first to trust in the Messiah, would live to praise God because he is so great. |
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| In him, you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, | Then you non-Jews also heard the true message, the good news of how God saves you, and you believed in the Messiah. When you did that, God marked you as belonging to the Messiah by giving you the Holy Spirit, as he had promised to do. |
The believers were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
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| who is a down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the full possession, to the praise of his glory. | The Holy Spirit is like a down payment that proves that God will also give to us everything else that he has promised to give to us at that time when he will release everything that he has for us. Praise God because he is so great! |
The Spirit is a down payment of the inheritance of believers.
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| Because of this, I also, having heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and the lovefor all the saints, | Because God has done all of this for you, and because people have told me how you trust in the Lord Jesus and how much you love all the believers, |
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| I have not stopped giving thanks for you, making mention {of you} in my prayers, | I thank God for you constantly as I talk to God about you when I pray to him. |
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| so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, | I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, the glorious Father, will give you his Spirit to make you wise and to reveal God to you so that you can continually know him better. |
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| the eyes of your heart having been enlightened {for} you to know what is the hope of his calling {and} what {are} the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, | I pray that God may enable you to see things as they truly are so that you may know the wonderful plan that God has for us because he has called us to be his people. I pray that you may know how wonderful and abundant are the things he promises to give to us and to all the believers. |
Paul prays that the Ephesians will be enlightened to understand the hope of their calling and the glorious riches of Christ’s inheritance in the saints.
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| and what {is} the incomparable greatness of his power toward us, the ones believing, according to the working of the force of his strength, | And I pray that you will know how exceedingly powerfully God acts for us who believe in the Messiah. He is just as powerfully strong for us |
| ULT | UST |
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| which he worked in Christ, having raised him from the dead and seated {him} at his right hand in the heavenly places, | as he was for the Messiah when he caused the Messiah to become alive again after he died, and raised him to the place of highest honor in heaven. |
The same power raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God’s right hand in the heavenly places.
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| far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the one coming. | The Messiah rules as supreme there over every ruler and powerful spirit on every level of authority and over every being that people revere. He rules over them not only now, but forever. |
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| And he put all things under his feet and gave him {as} head over all things to the church, | God has made everything to be subject to the Messiah and has appointed the Messiah as the ruler over everything among all believers everywhere. |
God has put all things under Christ’s feet.
Christ is the head over all things in the Church.
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| which is his body, the fullness of the one filling all in all. | We believers relate to the Messiah as the parts of a person’s body relate to its head. He supplies what is lacking for all believers just as he completes everything everywhere. |
The Church is Christ’s body.
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| And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, | Before you trusted the Messiah, you were spiritually dead—you were unable to stop sinning. |
All unbelievers are dead in their trespasses and sins.
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| in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authorities of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, | You used to live in a sinful way, guided by the spirit of this world. You were guided by the ruler of the evil spirits, who controls the authorities of this world. This ruler is Satan, who now works through the people who disobey God. |
The ruler of the authorities of the air is working in the sons of disobedience.
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| in which we all also once lived in the evil desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the body and of the minds. And we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest. | All of us used to live in the same way as these people who disobey God; we did the evil things that we desired, things that would bring pleasure to our bodies and our minds. We deserved that God should be very angry with us, just as he is with the other people. |
All unbelievers are by nature children of wrath.
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| But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, | But God is very merciful to us because he loves us very much. |
God is rich mercy because of his great love.
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| and we being dead in the trespasses, he made us alive together in Christ—by grace you have been saved— | God loved us so much that even when we were spiritually dead and constantly sinning, he made us alive by joining us to the Messiah. Remember, when God saved you from being spiritually dead, he was being very kind to you in a way that you did not deserve. |
Believers have been saved by God’s grace.
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| and raised us up with {him} and seated us with {him} in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, | God saved us from being spiritually dead just as he raised Jesus from being physically dead and he made us spiritually alive with him. Then he gave us seats of honor to rule with the Messiah Jesus in heaven. |
Believers are seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus.
| ULT | UST |
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| so that in the ages that are coming he might show the immeasurably great riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. | He did that to show to everyone in all future times how exceedingly gracious he is in being kind to us by joining us to the Messiah Jesus. |
God has saved and raised up believers so that in the ages that are coming he might show them the great riches of his grace.
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| For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this {is} not from yourselves; {it is} the gift of God, | So God was very kind to you in a way that you did not deserve when he saved you from being spiritually dead. He did this because you trust in Jesus. You have not saved yourselves; this is a gift from God— |
We have been saved by grace through faith as God’s gift.
| ULT | UST |
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| not from works, so that no one may boast. | a gift that no one can earn, so no one can boast and say that he has saved himself. |
No believer should boast because he is not saved by his own works.
| ULT | UST |
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| For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. | So God is making us what he wants us to be; through the Messiah Jesus he has created us as new people to do good things—things that God had previously arranged for us to do. |
God’s purpose for believers in Christ Jesus is that they should walk in good works.
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| Therefore, remember that once you {were} Gentiles in the flesh, the ones being called “uncircumcised” by the ones being called “circumcised” in the flesh, performed by human hands. | So remember that previously you non-Jewish people according to who your ancestors were did not belong to God’s people. The Jews insulted you by calling you “the uncircumcised.” They call themselves “the circumcised.” By this they mean that they, not you, are God’s people, although circumcision is something that humans do that only changes the body, not something that God does that changes the spirit. |
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| For at that time you were apart from Christ, excluded from the community of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. | Remember that, at that time, you were separated from the Messiah. You were foreigners to the people of Israel. You did not share in the things that God promised in his agreements with them. You did not confidently expect that God would save you. No, you were living in this world completely without God. |
Unbelieving Gentiles are separated from Christ, alienated from Israel, strangers to the covenants, without hope and without God.
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| But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones once being far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. | But now, because you have trusted in Jesus the Messiah, God has brought you into his family, even though before that you did not know him. This was possible because the Messiah died on the cross for you. |
Some Gentile unbelievers have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.
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| For he himself is our peace, the one having made the two one and destroyed in his flesh the middle wall of partition, the hostility. | It is the Messiah who has made it possible for Jews and non-Jews to live peacefully with each other. He made the two separate groups into one group. The two groups hated each other, but he took away every reason for hating each other when he died for all of us. |
Christ made believing Gentiles and Jews into one group, destroying the hostility that divided them.
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| He abolished the law of the commandments in regulations so that he might make the two into one new man in himself, making peace, | He made it no longer necessary for us to obey the commandments and requirements of the Jewish law for him to accept us. He did this in order to make the Jews and the non-Jews into one new people who would live peacefully together because of their relationship to him. |
Christ abolished the law of commandments and regulations in order to make peace between Jews and Gentiles.
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| and so that he might reconcile both to God as one body through the cross, putting to death the hostility in it. | He did this in order to reconcile both groups to God as one group by dying on the cross for all of them. By dying for them, Jesus made it possible for them to stop being enemies to each other and to God. |
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| And he came {and} proclaimed peace to you, the ones far away and peace to the ones near, | Jesus came and announced the good news that we can be at peace with God; he announced this to you non-Jews, who did not know about God, and to us Jews, who did know about God. |
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| for through him both have access in one Spirit to the Father. | Because of what Jesus did for us, both Jews and non-Jews now can come to God the Father with the help of God’s Spirit. |
All believers have access to the Father by means of the Holy Spirit.
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| So then, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Instead, you are fellow citizens with the saints and {members} of the household of God, | Therefore now you non-Jews are no longer left out of God’s people, but instead you are fellow members with those whom God has set apart for himself, and you belong to God’s family. |
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| having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, | You are like stones that God has put together into a building, and the apostles and prophets are like the foundation stones of that building. You depend on what they have taught, just as building stones depend on the foundation stones below them to form a wall that is upright and strong. The Messiah Jesus himself is like the cornerstone, which is the most important stone of the building. |
God’s family is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.
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| in whom the whole building, being fit together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, | Jesus determines where each person belongs, just as the cornerstone determines where each stone fits in the building. Just as a builder joins stones together to make a holy temple, Jesus is assembling his family of believers to be one holy group which serves the Lord. |
They are becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
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| in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. | Because you belong to Jesus, he is building you up together, both Jews and non-Jews, into one family that is like a building in which God lives by means of his Spirit. |
God dwells in the Spirit within believers.
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| For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, | Because God is working out this plan for you non-Jews, I, Paul, pray to the Father for you, even as I am in prison because I serve the Messiah Jesus for your sake. |
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| if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God that was given to me for you, | I assume that people have told you about me, that God has given me the task of communicating to you non-Jews his plan to be extremely kind to you. |
God gave Paul his stewardship for the benefit of the Gentiles.
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| according to a revelation made known to me, the mystery about which I already wrote in brief. | God told me this message that people did not understand before by revealing it to me directly, just as I wrote to you before briefly. |
The revelation about the mystery was made known to Paul.
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| Concerning that, reading {it}, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, | As you read that, you can perceive that I clearly understand things that God had not previously revealed about the Messiah. |
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| which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it now has been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets— | Formerly, God did not fully reveal this message to people, but now his Spirit has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. |
God revealed the hidden truth about Christ to his apostles and prophets.
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| that the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, | The message is this: the non-Jews now share together with Jews the spiritual riches of God and belong to the same group of God’s people and will share all the things God has promised to his people because they are joined to the Messiah Jesus as a result of believing the good news. |
The hidden truth revealed is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus.
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| for which I became a servant by the gift of the grace of God that was given to me through the working of his power. | I now serve God by telling people this good news. God was very kind to me and gave me this work to do even though I am not worthy of it, and he enables me to do it by powerfully working in me. |
The gift of God’s grace was given to Paul.
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| To me—the least of all the saints—this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, | Although I am the least worthy of all of God’s people, God kindly gave me this gift: he appointed me to proclaim to the non-Jews the good news about the unending spiritual blessings that the Messiah has for us |
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| and to reveal for everyone what {is} the administration of the mystery that was hidden from the ages in God, the one having created all things, | and to enable everyone to understand what God’s plan is. This plan is something that God, who created everything, has kept hidden from long ago. |
Paul was sent to help the Gentiles understand the administration of the mystery that was hidden from the ages in God.
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| so that now through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places, | God hid this plan so that as he reveals it now by making it happen in those who believe, he also reveals to the spiritual authorities at the highest levels how profoundly wise he is. |
Through the church the complex wisdom of God will be made known.
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| according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, | This is the plan that God has always had, and it is what he accomplished through the work of the Messiah Jesus, our Lord. |
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| in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. | So now, because of what Jesus has done, we can come to God freely and confidently because, when we trust in Jesus, he joins us to himself. |
Paul says believers have boldness and access with confidence because of faith in Christ.
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| Therefore, I ask you not to be discouraged by my sufferings for you, which is your glory. | So please do not be discouraged by the things that I am suffering here in prison on your behalf, because they produce a glorious result for you. |
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| For this reason I bend my knees to the Father, | Because God has done all this for you, I kneel and pray to God our Father. |
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| from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, | He is the original father, who gave the pattern for every family in heaven and on the earth to follow. |
Every family in heaven and on earth is named and created after the Father.
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| so that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, | I pray that God will give you his Spirit to strengthen your spirit in proportion to how abundantly great he is. |
Paul prays for the believers to be strengthened with power through God’s Spirit.
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| that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love, | I pray that the Messiah may stay as close to you as your own hearts because you trust in him, and that everything that you do and say will be a result of God’s love for you and your love for him and others |
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| so that you may be fully able to comprehend, along with all the saints, what {is} the width and length and height and depth, | so that you may be fully able to understand, along with all of God’s people, how very much the Messiah loves us. |
Paul prays that the believers will be able to understand how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
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| and to know the love of Christ surpassing knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. | I pray that you will come to know how much the Messiah loves us, even though he loves us so much that we cannot understand it. I pray that God will give you a full measure of everything that he is. |
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| And to the one being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, | Praise God, who is able to do much more than anything that we ask him to do, or even that we think that he can do, because of how powerfully he works within us! |
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| to him {be} the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever {and} ever. Amen. | May all believers praise him for how great he is and for the awesome work that he has done through the Messiah Jesus! May they praise him throughout all generations forever! May it be so. |
Paul prays that the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus will be given to the Father to all generations.
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| Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthily of the calling by which you were called, | Because of all this, as someone who is in prison because I serve the Lord Jesus, I appeal to you to live in a way that honors Jesus, who called you to live for him. |
Paul urges believers to walk in a way that is worthy of their calling.
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| with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, | Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, enduring the bothersome things that others do because you love each other. |
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| doing your best to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. | Since God’s Spirit has united you, do everything that you can to remain united with one another. Bind yourselves together by acting peacefully toward each other. |
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| {There is} one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, | God only has one family of believers and one Holy Spirit, just as he also called all of you to receive the one and only thing that people can hope for, that belongs to you whom God has called. |
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| one Lord, one faith, one baptism, | There is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, only one way to believe in him, and they baptized us to show that we belong to him alone. |
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| one God and Father of all, the one over all and through all and in all. | There is one God, who is the Father of all of us, whether Jew or non-Jew. He rules over all of us, works through all of us, and is in all of us. |
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| And to each one of us this grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. | To each one of us God has given spiritual gifts in just the way that the Messiah has decided that we should have them. |
Christ gave each believer grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
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| Therefore it says: “Having ascended to the heights, he led captives into captivity, {and} he gave gifts to men.” | That is why the scripture says, As he went up to the high place, he brought with him many people whom he had captured, and gave gifts to his people. |
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| And this “He ascended,” what is it except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? | The words “he went up” certainly make us know that the Messiah had also previously gone down to the lower parts of the earth. |
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| The one having descended is also himself the one having ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. | The Messiah, who came down to earth from heaven, is also the one who returned upward to the most exalted position in heaven in order that he might fill the universe. |
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| And he himself gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers, | As gifts to his people, he appointed some of them to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to seek out people to tell them the good news about Jesus, and some to care for and to teach the groups of believers. |
Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
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|---|---|
| for the equipping of the saints for the work of serving, for building up of the body of Christ, | God appointed all of them to prepare God’s people to do the work of serving others so that all the people who belong to the Messiah might become spiritually strong. |
These five types of people are supposed to equip the believers for the work of service, for the building up of the body.
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|---|---|
| until we all reach to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, | This work will continue until all of us together become what God wants us to be: united as we together fully trust in the Son of God and experience his working in us, and completely mature as a group of believers—as fully mature in trusting and knowing God as the Messiah himself. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| so that we may no longer be children tossed back and forth by the waves and carried away by every wind of teaching through the trickery of men in cleverness for deceitful scheming. | Then we will no longer be spiritually immature, as little children are immature. We will no longer follow every new teaching, always changing what we believe like a boat that goes one way and then the other as the wind and waves change direction. We will not allow clever people who teach what is false to deceive us with their lies. |
Believers can be like children by being tossed around and carried away by people’s trickery and erring deceit.
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| Instead, speaking truth in love, let us grow up in all things into him who is the head, {even} Christ, | Rather than that, as we lovingly speak to each other what is true, let us become more and more like the Messiah in every way as he directs us, just like a person’s head directs the person’s body. |
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|---|---|
| from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working in measure of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for building up itself in love. | He is the one who joins us all together and keeps us connected to each other. He teaches us how to support each other and to work in a coordinated way as he gives the ability that is appropriate to each one of us, just as a person’s head does that for the parts of his body. In this way, as we love each other, we will grow together and make each other stronger. |
The body of believers fits together, held together by each joint, each part working in the body’s growth, for the building up of each one in love.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore, I say this and strongly urge you in the Lord, to walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk, in futility of their minds. | For that reason, and with the authority of the Lord Jesus, I tell you this: from now on you must not live in the same way as the other non-Jews live. The way that they live comes from an empty way of thinking. |
The Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| They have been darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts. | They are unable to think clearly about what is right or wrong because they try to live completely separated from God. They do this because they do not know what they are missing and because they stubbornly refuse to obey God. |
The understanding of the Gentiles has been darkened.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| They, being dead to all feeling, handed themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. | They have become unable to sense if something is good or bad, and so they have devoted themselves to doing whatever shameful things their bodies desire. They commit all kinds of immoral acts and want to do them more and more. |
The Gentiles have handed themselves over to sensuality to do every kind of impurity.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But you did not thus learn about Christ, | But that is not how you learned to live when you learned about the Messiah, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| if indeed you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. | to the extent that you have heard and understood the message about Jesus and have learned from him, since his way is the true way to live. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| You are to put aside {what} belongs to your former manner of life, the old man being corrupted according to {its} deceitful desires, | Your teachers taught you to stop living the way that you used to live. Because you desired to do evil things, you deceived yourselves into thinking that those things were good. Living like that was destroying you spiritually. |
Believers must put off what belongs to the old man.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, | So you must let God give you a new spirit and a new way of thinking, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and to put on the new man {that is} according to God—having been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. | and you must start living like the new person that God created you in his own image to be. He created you to live in the right way with each other and with himself, in the true way of Jesus. |
Believers must put on the new man.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore, putting aside the lying, let each of you speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. | So stop lying to one another. Speak truthfully to each other because we belong to each other as members of God’s family. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your indignation, | Be angry about sinful behavior, but do not sin because you are angry. Before the end of each day, take care of whatever has made you angry |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| nor give an opportunity to the devil. | so that you will not allow the devil to do evil things among you. |
A believer must never give opportunity to the devil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| The thief must steal no longer. But rather, he must labor, working good with his hands, so that he may have something to share with the ones having need. | Those who have been stealing must not steal anymore. Instead, they must work hard, doing good work by their own efforts so that they may have something to give to those who are needy. |
Believers must labor so that they may be able to share with the person who has need.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Do not let any corrupt talk come out from your mouth, but whatever {is} good for building up of the {one in} need, so that it might give grace to the hearers, | Do not say harmful things. Instead, say good things that will encourage people when they need help so that God can work through your words to benefit those who hear. |
No corrupt talk must come out of the believer’s mouth, but, instead, words that build up others.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. | God has marked you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, who will be with you until the day that the Messiah will rescue you from this world. So do not make the Holy Spirit of God sad by how you live. |
A believer must not grieve the Holy Spirit.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let all bitterness, and rage, and anger, and quarreling, and insults be removed from yourselves, along with all malice. | Do your best to completely stop behaving in these ways: Do not be resentful or furious toward others or even become angry with others. Do not shout abusively at others or slander others. Never act maliciously in any way. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. | Rather than behave like that, be kind to one another. Act mercifully toward each other. Forgive each other in the same way that God also forgave you through what the Messiah has done for you. |
A believer must forgive others because God in Christ forgave him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, | Because of what God has done for you, imitate him just as children imitate the father who loves them dearly. |
Believers should imitate God the Father as his children.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and walk in love, as also Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma. | Do everything in a way that shows that you love others. Be like the Messiah, who loved us so much that he willingly died for us on the cross as the offering and sacrifice to God in our place. This sacrifice pleased God very much. |
Christ gave himself up for the believers as an offering and sacrifice to God.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But sexual immorality and every impurity or greed must not even be named among you, just as is proper for saints, | But there should be no reason for anyone to even suggest that any of you are involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral or obsessive sexual behavior. Such sins do not belong among God’s people. |
Sexual immorality, impurity, and greed must not be suggested among believers.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and filthiness and foolish talk or crude jokes—which are not fitting—but instead, thanksgiving. | When you speak to each other, do not tell obscene stories or say foolish things or joke about committing sins. Such things are not what people who belong to God talk about. Instead, express the things that you are thankful for. |
Believers should instead have an attitude of thankfulness.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Indeed, know this for certain, that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy {person}—that is, an idolater—has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. | It is quite true that these people will be excluded from the kingdom of the Messiah who is God: everyone who is sexually immoral or indecent, or who is obsessed with sex, which is the same as worshiping an idol. |
The sexually immoral, impure, and greedy have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. | Do not let anyone deceive you by telling you that God will not punish people who do these things. It is because of these very things that God will punish the people who disobey him. |
The wrath of God is coming upon the children of disobedience.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore, do not become partners with them, | So do not join with those people in doing these kinds of sins. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| because formerly you were darkness, but now {are} light in the Lord. Walk as children of light | Remember that before you believed in the Lord Jesus, you did not know what was true, just as people who are in a dark place do not know what is around them. But now it is as though you have come out into the light, because the Lord has shown to you what is true. So live in the way that the Lord has shown to you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), | Because just as people who have light will walk in the right way, as a result of knowing Jesus you can always live in a way that is good, right, and true. |
The fruit of goodness, righteousness, and truth is pleasing to the Lord.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| carefully testing what is pleasing to the Lord. | As you live this way, keep learning what pleases the Lord. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And do not take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even expose {them}. | So do not participate together with those who are doing the worthless deeds that they do in spiritual darkness. Instead, expose to everyone how worthless those deeds are. |
Believers are not to participate with, but instead expose, the works of darkness.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret. | Of course it is shameful for God’s people to even talk about the evil things that those people do in secret, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But everything exposed by the light is revealed, for everything that is revealed is light. | but it is necessary for us to expose them so that people can know and understand that these deeds are evil. This is like when we bring something into the light in order to reveal to everyone what it truly is. Then people can examine and judge that thing that light has exposed. |
Everything is revealed by the light.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” | Before you knew God you were like someone asleep or dead in a dark place. This is what believers are talking about when they say, “You who are asleep, wake up! You who are dead, come out of the darkness and live! The Messiah will show you what is true, just as a light that shines shows people what was in the darkness.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Watch carefully, therefore, how you walk—not as unwise but as wise, | So be very careful how you live. Do not behave as foolish people do. Instead, behave as wise people do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| redeeming the time because the days are evil. | Do the most good that you can with the time that you have, because people are doing more and more evil things every day. |
Believers should redeem the time since the days are evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Because of this, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord {is}. | So be wise, understand well what it is that the Lord Jesus wants you to do, and do it! |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And do not get drunk with wine, in which is recklessness. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, | Do not become drunk by drinking alcoholic drinks, because people cannot control themselves when they are drunk. Instead, let God’s Spirit control what you do at all times. |
Getting drunk with wine leads to recklessness.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| speaking to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and singing psalms in your heart to the Lord, | Sing to each other Psalms and songs about the Messiah and songs that God’s Spirit gives you. Let this music come from deep within you as sincere praise to the Lord. |
Believers should speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| giving thanks always for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, | At all times thank God the Father for everything because of what our Lord Jesus the Messiah has done for you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| submitting yourselves to one another in reverence for Christ— | Humbly submit yourselves to each other because you deeply respect the Messiah. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. | Wives should submit to their own husband’s leadership as they do to the Lord Jesus because the husband is the leader of the wife as also the Messiah is the leader of the worldwide assembly of believers. He is the Savior who has saved all believers from being condemned for their sins. (vv22-23) |
Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For a husband is the head of the wife as Christ also {is} the head of the church—he himself {is} the savior of the body. | Wives should submit to their own husband’s leadership as they do to the Lord Jesus because the husband is the leader of the wife as also the Messiah is the leader of the worldwide assembly of believers. He is the Savior who has saved all believers from being condemned for their sins. (vv22-23) |
The husband is head of the wife, and Christ is head of the Church.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But as the church is subject to Christ, so also {are} wives to their husbands in everything. | As for wives, just as all believers submit themselves to the authority of the Messiah, in the same way wives must also submit themselves completely to the authority of their husbands. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her, | Each of you husbands, love your wife as much as the Messiah loved all who would believe in him. He even gave up his own life for us on the cross |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, | so that he might set us apart for himself. He purified us by telling us his plan to forgive us and by removing our sins as though washing them away in water. |
Christ sanctifies the Church holy by the washing her of water with the word.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| so that he might present the church to himself as glorious, not having stain or wrinkle or any of those things, but so that she might be holy and blameless. | He did this so that he could present the group of all believers to himself as a glorious group that does not have any sin or moral imperfection, but instead is holy and perfect, like a glorious bride ready to meet her groom. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In the same way, the husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one loving his own wife loves himself. | In that same way, each man should love his own wife as much as he loves his own body. A man who loves his wife is also, by doing that, loving himself |
Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and treats it with care, just as Christ also {does} the church, | because no one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds his own body and cares for it, just like the Messiah also cares for all us believers in his worldwide assembly. We have become one group of believers that belongs to him. (vv29-30) |
A person nourishes and loves his own body.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| because we are members of his body. | because no one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds his own body and cares for it, just like the Messiah also cares for all us believers in his worldwide assembly. We have become one group of believers that belongs to him. (vv29-30) |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Because of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” | The scriptures say this about people who marry: “Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and will join himself to his wife, and the two of them will become as though they were one person.” |
When a man is joined to his wife, they become one flesh.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| This mystery is great—but I am speaking about Christ and about the church. | There is very much about this that we cannot understand, but I am telling you that this example of a husband and wife also helps us to understand the relationship between the Messiah and the group of people who belong to him. |
The hidden truth about Christ and his Church is demonstrated by the joining of a man and his wife.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Nevertheless, you also—each one of you—must love his own wife in this way—as himself, and the wife must respect her husband. | However, as for you, each man must love his wife just as he loves himself, and each woman must deeply respect her husband. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is righteous. | As for you who are children, obey your parents as a way of serving the Lord Jesus because it is right for you to do that. |
Christian children should obey their parents.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), | God commanded in the scriptures, “Greatly respect your father and mother.” That is the first law that God commanded in which he also promised something. He promised, |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| “so that it may be well with you and you may be long-lived on the earth.” | “If you do that, you will prosper, and you will live a long time on the earth.” |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Instead, raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. | As for you who are fathers, do not treat your children in a way that makes them become angry. Instead, bring them up well by instructing them and by disciplining them in the manner that the Lord Jesus wants you to do. |
Christian fathers are to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in honesty of your heart, as to Christ, | As for you who are slaves, very respectfully and sincerely obey those who are your masters here on the earth, just as you obey the Messiah. |
Christian slaves should obey their masters in the honesty of their heart as for the Lord.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, | Obey them not only when they are watching you, as people do who only care about appearing to work hard. Instead, work as though you were slaves of the Messiah, doing enthusiastically what God wants you to do. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| serving with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, | Serve your masters willingly, as though you are serving the Lord Jesus rather than people. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| knowing that each person, if he does something good, this he will receive from the Lord, whether slave or free. | Do this because you know that the Lord Jesus will reward each person for whatever good deeds that person has done. It makes no difference whether that person was a slave or a free person. |
A believer should remember that for whatever good deed he does, he will receive a reward from the Lord.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And masters, do the same to them. Stop using threats. You know that the Master, both theirs and yours, is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. | As for you who are masters, just like your slaves should serve you well, in the same way you must treat them well. Stop threatening them. Do not forget that the one who is both their Lord and your Lord is in heaven and he judges all people equally whether their position is high or low. |
A Christian master should remember that his and his servant’s Master is in heaven, and that there is no favoritism with him.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the force of his strength. | Finally, rely completely on the Lord Jesus to strengthen you spiritually because he is immeasurably strong. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Put on the whole armor of God, to enable you to stand against the scheming of the devil. | Just as a soldier puts on all of his armor to be ready to fight his enemy, you should use every spiritual resource that God provides for you so that you may successfully resist the devil when he cleverly schemes against you. |
A believer must put on the whole armor of God to stand against the wicked plans of the devil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-controllers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly {places}. | Remember that we are not fighting against other human beings. Instead, we are fighting against the demons who have authority to rule over the people doing evil things in this evil time, that is, against the evil spirits who live in the air. |
A believer battles against governments and rulers of the realm of darkness and against spiritual forces of evil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Because of this, put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done everything, to stand. | That is why you must use well all of the spiritual resources that God has given you, like a soldier who puts on all of his armor. If you do that, you will be able to resist the evil spirits when they attack you. You will also be ready for when they attack you again and able to continue to live well for God. |
A believer must put on the whole armor of God to stand against the wicked plans of the devil.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Stand, therefore, having girded up your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, | You must be ready to resist the devil and his evil spirits just as soldiers must always be ready to resist the enemy. To do that, keep thinking about the true things that God has shown you. Also, continue to act righteously. This will protect you like a soldier’s armor protects his chest. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and having shod your feet with readiness of the gospel of peace. | Just like a soldier who keeps his boots on, be ready to go anywhere you are needed for the sake of the good news that tells people how to be at peace with God. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| In everything take up the shield of the faith, by which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. | Just as a soldier holds up a shield to stop the flaming arrows that his enemy shoots at him, you must keep trusting firmly in the Lord at all times. That will protect you from all of the things that your enemy, Satan, the evil one, will try to do to harm you spiritually. |
The shield of faith puts out the flaming arrows of the evil one.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. | Also, as a soldier relies on a helmet to protect his head, rely on the fact that God has saved you. And just as a soldier uses a sword to defeat his enemies, use the weapon that God’s Spirit gives you, which is the message that comes from God. |
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit. And to this {end}, be watchful with all perseverance and requests for all the saints, | Whenever you pray to God and request things from him, always let God’s Spirit direct you in how you pray and what you pray for. To be most effective, keep watching to see what God is doing, and be persistent as you continue to pray for all of God’s people. |
Believers should pray at all times, persevering and watching for God’s answer.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| and for me, so that a message might be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel | Pray for me, also, that God would tell me what I should say whenever I speak, in order that I may boldly tell others the good news about the Messiah that people did not know before. |
Paul wishes to have the word given to him with boldness when he speaks the gospel.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| (for which I am an ambassador in chains), so that in it I may speak boldly, as it is necessary for me to speak. | It is because I have been telling people about the Messiah that I am now representing him here in prison. Pray that as I continue to tell others about the Messiah, I may speak boldly because that is how I ought to speak. |
Paul is in chains in prison as he writes this letter.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| But so that you also may know the things concerning me, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you everything, | Now in order that you may know about what is happening with me and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything that is happening here. He is a fellow believer whom we all love very much, and he serves the Lord Jesus faithfully. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, so that you may know the things about us and your hearts may be encouraged. | That is the reason that I am sending him to you with this letter; I want you to know how we are, and I want him to comfort and encourage you. |
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Messiah may give to all of you fellow believers a peaceful spirit and enable you to love each other and to continue to trust in God. |
Paul asks that God will give them peace and love with faith.
| ULT | UST |
|---|---|
| Grace {be} with all the ones loving our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility. | I pray that God will continue to act graciously among all people who steadfastly love our Lord Jesus the Messiah. |