Ephesians 2

¹ And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

² in which you once walked, following the ways of this world, following the ruler of the realm of the air, the spirit now at work in those who disobey.

³ All of us also once lived among them, indulging the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

⁵ made us alive together with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses—it is by grace you have been saved—

⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

⁷ so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace, expressed in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God—

⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰ For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in.

¹¹ So then, remember that formerly you Gentiles in the flesh—called 'the uncircumcised' by those who call themselves 'the circumcision' (which is done in the body by human hands)—

¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, the barrier between us, in his flesh,

¹⁵ having set aside the law of commandments and regulations, so that in himself he might create the two into one new humanity, making peace,

¹⁶ and so reconcile both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which he put their hostility to death.

¹⁷ He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's holy people and members of God's household,

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹ In him the whole building, joined together, rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.