THE

EPISTLE OF PAULOS TO THE EPHESOYEE.

I.

PAULOS, an apostle of Jeshu Meshiha by the will of Aloha, to those who are in Ephesos, saints and believers in Jeshu Meshiha: peace be with you, and grace from Aloha our Father, and from our Lord Jeshu Meshiha. Blessed be He, Aloha, the Father of our Lord Jeshu Meshiha, who hath blessed us with all blessings of the Spirit in heaven, in the Meshiha; as he before elected us in him, from before the foundations of the world, that we should be saints, and without blemish before him, and in love predesignated us unto himself, and constituted. us children in Jeshu Meshiha, according to the pleasure of his will; that the glory of his grace might be glorified, that (grace) which he hath poured upon us by the hand of his Beloved: in whom we have redemption, and by his blood the remission of sins, according to the riches of his grace which he hath made to abound in us in all wisdom and in all understanding of the Spirit; and hath made known to us the mystery of his will, which before he had determined in himself should be done : that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times, every thing from the first might be renovated in the Meshiha, in heaven and in earth. And by him we have been chosen, even as he predesignated and willed, who worketh all according to the mind of his will; that we who first hoped in the Meshiha, should be to the honour of his glory. In whom you also heard the word of truth, which

is the gospel of your salvation; and in whom you believed and were sealed with the Spirit of Holiness who was promised; who is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of those who are saved, and unto the praise of his majesty.

II.

ON account of this, behold, I also, since I heard of your faith in our Lord Jeshu Meshiha, and your love to all the saints, have not ceased to give thanks on your behalf, and to remember you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jeshu Meshiha, the Father of glory, would give to you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in his knowledge, and would enlighten the eyes of your hearts to know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance for the saints, and what is the inheritance of his power in us who believe, according to the operation of the might of his power, which he wrought in the Meshiha, and raised him from among the dead, and set him at his right hand in heaven, above all the principalities, and powers, and mighty ones, and rulers, and above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in (that) to come; and subjected every thing beneath his feet: and Him who is over all he hath given to be the head of the church, which is His body, the completeness of Him who all in all completeth.

You also who were dead in your sins and in your transgressions, in which from the first you walked according to the worldliness of this age,1 and according to the will of the prince of the power of the air, of that Spirit who urgeth 2 in the sons of disobedience; in those works in which we also walked from the first in the lusts of our

1 Olmoyutheh dolmo hono.

2

D'methchaphto.

flesh, doing the will of our flesh and of our mind, and were the sons of wrath fully as the rest.

III.

BUT Aloha, who is rich in his mercies, for his great love wherewith he loved us while we were dead in our sins, made us alive with the Meshiha, and through his grace delivered us, and raised us with him, and made us to sit with him in heaven in Jeshu the Meshiha, that he might show to the ages to come the greatness of the riches of his grace and his goodness, which hath been upon us in Jeshu the Meshiha. For by his grace are we saved through faith, and this was not of you, but is the gift of Aloha, not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his creation, who are created in Jeshu Meshiha unto good works, which Aloha hath prepared before, that in them we should walk.

3

Wherefore be mindful, that you Gentiles at first were carnal, and were called the Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision, and is the work of the hands in the flesh; and were at that time without the Meshiha, and were aliens from the polity3 of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of the promise, and, without hope, were without Aloha in the world. But now, by Jeshu the Meshiha, you who before were far off, are brought nigh by the blood of the Meshiha. For he is our peace, he who hath made the two one, and hath destroyed the wall which stood in the midst, and the enmity, through his flesh; and the law of prescriptions, with its requirements, he hath abolished, that of the two he might create in himself one new man, and make peace; and hath reconciled the two in one body with Aloha, and by his cross hath slain the enmity. And coming, he preached peace to

3 Duboree, the manners, or regulations, of Israel.

you, to the far off, and to the nigh; therefore, through Him there hath been made for us both an access by one Spirit unto the Father.

IV.

THEREFORE are you no more strangers and sojourners, but sons of the city of the saints, and sons of the house of Aloha ; and you are builded upon the foundation of the apostles and of the prophets, and Jeshu the Meshiha himself is the chief corner of the building; and in him is the whole building increased and enlargeth into a holy temple in the Lord, while you also in him are being builded the dwelling of Aloha by the Spirit.

On account of this I, Paulos, am bound for Jeshu Meshiba for the sake of you Gentiles: if you have heard the dispensation of the grace of Aloha which was given me for you; that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have written to you in few (words); so that while you read you are able to understand my knowledge of the mystery of the Meshiha, which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed to his holy apostles and to his prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be sons of his inheritance and partakers of his body, and in the promise which is given concerning him by the gospel, of which I am made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of Aloha, which he hath given me by the operation of his power. To me, who am the least of all the saints, is given this grace, that I should preach among the Gentiles the riches of the Meshiha, which are not searched; and to bring to light unto all men what is the dispensation of the mystery which was hidden from the ages in Aloha, who created all that through the church might be made known the wisdom of Aloha, which is full of diversities, to the principalities and powers who are in

heaven, that which he prepared from of old, and which he hath executed by Jeshu our Lord, by whom we have freedom and access with the confidence of the faith of him.

V.

4

WHEREFORE I pray that I may not weary in my affliction, which is on your account, for this is your glory; and I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jeshu Meshiha, from whom is named the whole family who are in heaven and in earth; that he would give to you, according to the riches of his glory, with power to be confirmed by his Spirit in your interior man; that the Meshiha may dwell by faith in your hearts in love; your root and your foundations being confirmed, that you may be able to follow out with all the saints, what the height, and depth, and the length, and breadth; and know the grandeur of the love of the Meshiha, and be filled with all the fulness of Aloha.

But to Him who is able with power beyond all to do for us above what we ask or conceive, according to his power which worketh in us, to Him be glory in his church, by Jeshu Meshiha, in all ages, for ever and ever. Amen.

VI.

I BESEECH of you, therefore, I, the bound one for our Lord, that you walk as is worthy of the calling wherewith you are called, in all lowliness of mind, and composedness, and long-suffering; and be patient towards one another in love. And be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, that you may be in one body and in one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. For one is the Lord, and one the

▲ Abohutho, paternity.