Passage

Ephesians 1.4-5

Book: Ephesians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:"

"4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 5. having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,"

"6. to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: 7. in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace," (Ephesians 1:2-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;"

"4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love; 5. having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,"

"6. to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, 7. in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace," (Ephesians 1:2-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ^{places: or, things}"

"4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,"

"6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1:2-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ! 3. Blessed [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"

"4. according as He did choose us in him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love, 5. having foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,"

"6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He did make us accepted in the beloved, 7. in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the remission of the trespasses, according to the riches of His grace," (Ephesians 1:2-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle (imprisonment)
Audience: Christian believers in Ephesus (and circular to other Asian churches)
Location: composed during Roman imprisonment
Time period: composed c. AD 60-62

Theological reading

Key words

G0026 - agape, agape (Strong's G26). Also appears in: John 5, John 13.34-35, John 15.9.
G2424 - Iesous, Iesous (Strong's G2424). Also appears in: Matthew 1.1, Matthew 1.16, Matthew 1.18.
G2889 - kosmos, kosmos (Strong's G2889). Also appears in: Mark 14, John 1.1-14, John 1.10.
G5547 - christos, christos (Strong's G5547). Also appears in: Matthew 1.1, Matthew 1.16, Matthew 1.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.