Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit. and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
በክርስቶስ ሕያው መሆን
1እናንተ በበደላችሁና በኀጢአታችሁ ምክንያት ሙታን ነበራችሁ፤ 2በዚህም፣ የዓለምን ክፉ መንገድ ተከትላችሁ፣ በአየር ላይ ላሉት መንፈሳውያን ኀይላት ገዥ ለሆነውና አሁንም ለእግዚአብሔር በማይታዘዙት ሰዎች ላይ ለሚሠራው መንፈስ እየታዘዛችሁ ትኖሩ ነበር። 3እኛ ሁላችን በአንድ ወቅት የሥጋችንን ምኞት2፥3 ወይም የአሮጌውን ባሕርይ ፈቃድ እያረካን፣ መንገዱንም እየተከተልን በመካከላቸው እንኖር ነበር፤ እንደ ሌሎቹም የቍጣ ልጆች ነበርን። 4ነገር ግን በምሕረቱ ባለጠጋ የሆነ እግዚአብሔር ለእኛ ካለው ከታላቅ ፍቅሩ የተነሣ፣ 5በበደላችን ሙታን ሆነን ሳለ፣ በክርስቶስ ሕያዋን አደረገን፤ የዳናችሁት በጸጋ ነው። 6እግዚአብሔርም ከክርስቶስ ጋር አስነሣን፤ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ በሰማያዊ ስፍራ ከእርሱ ጋር አስቀመጠን፤ 7ይኸውም በሚመጣው ዘመን በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ በቸርነቱ የገለጠልንን ወደር የሌለውን የጸጋውን ባለጠግነት ያሳይ ዘንድ ነው፤ 8በእምነት፣ በጸጋ ድናችኋልና፤ ይህም የእግዚአብሔር ስጦታ ነው እንጂ ከእናንተ አይደለም፤ 9ማንም እንዳይመካ በሥራ አይደለም፤ 10ምክንያቱም፣ እግዚአብሔር አስቀድሞ ያዘጋጀልንን መልካም ሥራ እንድንሠራ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ የተፈጠርን የእግዚአብሔር እጅ ሥራዎች ነን።
በክርስቶስ አንድ መሆን
11ስለዚህ እናንተ ቀድሞ በትውልድ አሕዛብ የሆናችሁ፣ በአካል ላይ በሰው እጅ ከተደረገው የተነሣ፣ ራሳቸውን “ተገርዘናል” በሚሉት፣ “ያልተገረዙ” የተባላችሁ ያን አስታውሱ፤ 12በዚያን ዘመን ከክርስቶስ ተለይታችሁ፣ ከእስራኤል ወገንነት ርቃችሁ፣ ለኪዳኑም ተስፋ ባዕዳን ሆናችሁ፣ በዓለም ላይ ያለ ተስፋና ያለ እግዚአብሔር እንደ ነበራችሁ አስታውሱ። 13አሁን ግን እናንተ ቀድሞ ርቃችሁ የነበራችሁ፣ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ሆናችሁ በክርስቶስ ደም አማካይነት ቀርባችኋል።
14ሁለቱን አንድ ያደረገ፣ የሚለያየውንም የጥል ግድግዳ ያፈረሰ ሰላማችን እርሱ ራሱ ነውና፤ 15ሕግንም፣ ከትእዛዞቹና ከሥርዐቱ ጋር በሥጋው ሻረ። ዐላማውም ከሁለቱ አንድን አዲስ ሰው በራሱ ፈጥሮ ሰላምን ለማድረግ ነው። 16ጥልን በገደለበት በመስቀሉም ሁለቱን በዚህ በአንድ አካል ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር አስታረቀ። 17መጥቶም ርቃችሁ ለነበራችሁት ለእናንተ፣ ቀርበው ለነበሩትም ለእነርሱ ሰላምን ሰበከ፤ 18ሁላችንም በእርሱ አማካይነት በአንዱ መንፈስ ወደ አብ መቅረብ እንችላለንና።
19ከዚህ የተነሣ እናንተ ከቅዱሳን ጋር የአንድ አገር ዜጋ፣ የእግዚአብሔርም ቤተ ሰብ አባል ናችሁ እንጂ፣ ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ መጻተኞችና እንግዶች አይደላችሁም። 20በሐዋርያትና በነቢያት መሠረት ላይ ታንጻችኋል፤ የማእዘኑ ራስ ድንጋይም ክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ራሱ ነው፤ 21በእርሱ ሕንጻ ሁሉ አንድ ላይ ተገጣጥሞ በጌታ ቅዱስ ቤተ መቅደስ እንዲሆን ያድጋል። 22እናንተም ደግሞ እግዚአብሔር በመንፈሱ የሚኖርበት ማደሪያ ትሆኑ ዘንድ አብራችሁ እየተገነባችሁ ነው።
