Ephesians, 2

1. And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins

2. which used to make up your way of life when you were living by the principles of this world, obeying the ruler who dominates the air, the spirit who is at work in those who rebel.

3. We too were all among them once, living only by our natural inclinations, obeying the demands of human self-indulgence and our own whim; our nature made us no less liable to God's retribution than the rest of the world.

4. But God, being rich in faithful love, through the great love with which he loved us,

5. even when we were dead in our sins, brought us to life with Christ -- it is through grace that you have been saved-

6. and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.

7. This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how extraordinarily rich he is in grace.

8. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God;

9. not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit.

10. We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life.

11. Do not forget, then, that there was a time when you who were gentiles by physical descent, termed the uncircumcised by those who speak of themselves as the circumcised by reason of a physical operation,

12. do not forget, I say, that you were at that time separate from Christ and excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants of the Promise, limited to this world, without hope and without God.

13. But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far off have been brought close, by the blood of Christ.

14. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one entity and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, by destroying in his own person the hostility,

15. that is, the Law of commandments with its decrees. His purpose in this was, by restoring peace, to create a single New Man out of the two of them,

16. and through the cross, to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own person he killed the hostility.

17. He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

18. Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father.

19. So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God's household.

20. You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

21. Every structure knit together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

22. and you too, in him, are being built up into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit.