EPH 1:4 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT just as he chose us in him from the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and blameless before him. In love

UST In fact, even before God created the world, he chose us to belong to the Messiah, so that the Messiah could make us completely holy for him. Because God loves us,

BLB just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world for us to be holy and blameless before Him, in love

AICNT just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love,

OEB For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, so that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love.

WEBBE 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,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love.

LSV according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,

FBV just as he chose us to be in him[fn] before the beginning of this world, so that in love we could be holy and without fault before him.

1:4 Or “in union with him.”

TCNT just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and unblemished before him in love.

T4T Before God created the world, he chose us to be his people because of our ◄relationship with/union with► Christ, in order that God could consider us to be completely holy [DOU]. Because God loves us,

LEB just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love,[fn]

1:4 Or “before him, having predestined us in love” (the phrase “in love” could go either with v. 4 or v. 5 )

BBE Even as he made selection of us in him from the first, so that we might be holy and free from all evil before him in love:

Moff He chose us in him ere the world was founded, to be consecrated and unblemished in his sight,

Wymth even as, in His love, He chose us as His own in Christ before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and without blemish in His presence.

ASV 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:

DRA As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity.

YLT according as He did choose us in him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,

Drby according as he has chosen us in him before [the] world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;

RV 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:

SLT As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and blameless before him in love:

Wbstr 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:

KJB-1769 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:
(According as he hath/has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: )

KJB-1611 According as he hath chosen vs in him, before the foundation of the world, that wee should bee holy, and without blame before him in loue:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps According as he had chosen vs in hym before the foundation of the world, that we shoulde be holy, and without blame before hym, through loue.
(According as he had chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him, through love.)

Gnva As hee hath chosen vs in him, before the foundation of the worlde, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in loue:
(As he hath/has chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love: )

Cvdl acordinge as he had chosen vs by him, or euer the foundacion of the worlde was layed, that we shulde be holy and without blame before him in loue,
(according as he had chosen us by him, or ever the foundation of the world was laid, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love,)

TNT accordynge as he had chosen vs in him before the foundacion of the worlde was layde that we shuld be saintes and without blame before him thorow loue.
(accordinge as he had chosen us in him before the foundation of the world was laid that we should be saints and without blame before him through love. )

Wycl as he hath chosun vs in hym silf bifor the makyng of the world, that we weren hooli, and with out wem in his siyt, in charite.
(as he hath/has chosen us in himself before the making of the world, that we were holy, and with out spot/blemish in his sight, in charity.)

Luth wie er uns denn erwählet hat durch denselbigen, ehe der Welt Grund gelegt war, daß wir sollten sein heilig und unsträflich vor ihm in der Liebe;
(as/like he us/to_us/ourselves because/than chosen has through the_same, before the/of_the world Grund placed was, that we/us should be holy and blameless before/in_front_of him in the/of_the love(n);)

ClVg sicut elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem, ut essemus sancti et immaculati in conspectu ejus in caritate.[fn]
(like chose us in/into/on himself before world constitutionem, as we_would_be holy and immaculati in/into/on in_sight his in/into/on caritate. )

1.4 Sicut elegit, etc. Ne quis ergo putet animas cum Deo æternas, et tunc aliquid meruisse juxta errorem illorum, qui ante hæc visibilia dicunt quasdam fuisse animas sanctas, et ideo tunc fuisse electas.

1.4 Like chose, etc. Don't who/any therefore smell souls when/with to_God eternals, and then something meruisse next_to error of_them, who/which before these_things visible_(things) they_say certain to_have_been souls holys, and therefore/for_that_reason then to_have_been chosens.

UGNT καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ; ἐν ἀγάπῃ
(kathōs exelexato haʸmas en autōi pro katabolaʸs kosmou, einai haʸmas hagious kai amōmous katenōpion autou; en agapaʸ)

SBL-GNT καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ,
(kathōs exelexato haʸmas en autōi pro katabolaʸs kosmou, einai haʸmas hagious kai amōmous katenōpion autou en agapaʸ,)

RP-GNT καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ,
(kathōs exelexato haʸmas en autōi pro katabolaʸs kosmou, einai haʸmas hagious kai amōmous katenōpion autou en agapaʸ,)

TC-GNT [fn]καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ,
(kathōs exelexato haʸmas en autōi pro katabolaʸs kosmou, einai haʸmas hagious kai amōmous katenōpion autou en agapaʸ, )

1:4 καθως ¦ καθως και ANT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:3–14: God has done good things for us by means of Christ

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to his people through Christ. Before God created the world, he chose us and then he redeemed us through Christ. God also revealed his plan to us. His plan is to unite everything in the world in the future with Christ as the Head. To show that we are his people, God gave us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the guarantee that God will give us all the good things he has promised us.

In Greek, 1:3–14 is all one long sentence. Most translations break this sentence into several shorter sentences. In your translation, you can use a few long sentences or many shorter sentences, whichever sounds best.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Spiritual blessings in Christ

God blesses us because we are joined to Christ

Paragraph 1:3–6

Paul praised God for all the blessings that come to us believers through Christ. Long ago before God created the world, he chose us to be his people, because he wanted to adopt us as his children. He did all this because he loved us, because he wanted to show us favor (help us), in order that we might become holy people.

1:4a

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world

Specifically, God chose us because of Christ before he created the world/universe
Before God made the heavens and the earth, he chose us to be his people because of Christ.

For: There is an issue with the Greek word that the BSB translates as For. Scholars have various views about the way in which this Greek word connects 1:3 and 1:4. Here are the three main interpretations:

The Greek word introduces some of the specific blessings that God has given us. In 1:3, Paul made the general statement that God has blessed us with every blessing. Beginning with 1:4, he tells specifically what some of these blessings are. An example of this interpretation is the NCV, which says:
^3bGod has given us every spiritual blessing…. ⁴That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made…. (NCV) (NCV, NJB footnote)
The Greek word indicates the reason that God blessed us. All the blessings in 1:3 come to us because God chose us before he made the world. So according to this interpretation, the Greek word should be translated as “for” or “because.” For example:
For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world… (NET) (BSB, NIV, NET, JBP)
The Greek word indicates that the manner in which God has blessed us is the same as the manner in which he chose us. God has blessed us in Christ just as he chose us in Christ. According to this interpretation, the Greek word should be translated as “just as” or “even as.” For example:
…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… (NASB) (RSV, KJV, NASB, ESV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

Here are some other ways to translate following interpretation (1):

Translate the Greek word with a word or a phrase to explicitly show the connection between 1:3 and 1:4. For example:
specifically
that is (NCV)
Do not translate the Greek word and leave the connection implicit.

The Display gives an example of each.

He chose us in Him: The pronoun He refers to God. The pronoun Him refers to Christ.

In order to make the meaning of He chose us clear you may need to say:

he chose us to be his people.

in Him: Most commentators agree that the phrase in Him indicates the reason God chose us.

Here is one way to translate:

God chose us because of Christ.

before the foundation of the world: In some languages, the meaning of before the foundation of the world will be clearer if you change the noun foundation into a verb and add the agent, who is God. For example:

before God created the world

Also consider whether it would be more natural in your language to put this clause at the beginning rather than at the end of the sentence. For example:

Before God created the world, he chose us…

world: Here the word world refers to the entire universe. It includes both the heavens and the earth. See world, Meaning 2 in the Glossary for more information.

1:4b

to be holy and blameless in His presence.

in order that we should be holy and innocent before him.
He did this so that he could consider us to be pure and without any fault/blame.

to be holy and blameless in His presence: Because this sentence that began in 1:4a is already long, you could break it and start a new sentence here by saying:

He did this so that we should be holy and blameless in his presence.

to be: The verb to be indicates the purpose God chose us.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

He chose us in order that we should be holy and blameless.

He chose us so that we should be holy and blameless.

holy: Here holy “means pure, clean and without any sin.” See holy, Meaning 2 in the Glossary.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

without sin

pure spiritually

blameless: The word blameless means that there is nothing bad in a person’s behavior that God (or other people) could find fault with.Moore in his article “Doublets in the New Testament” rejects holy and blameless as a near-synonymous doublet.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

without blame (NCV

without fault (GNT, NLT)

innocent (CEV)

in His presence: The pronoun His refers to God. This is literally “before him.”

Here are some other ways to translate 1:4b:

that he will consider us to be holy and innocent

holy and blameless when we stand before him

he will see us as holy and innocent

1:4c

In love

Because God loves us,
Because of his love,

In love: There are different views as to whether the phrase In love relates to what precedes or what follows:

In love goes with 1:5. According to this interpretation, In love gives the reason why God decided to adopt us. One way to translate this phrase is, “because of his love” or “because he loves us.” For example:
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us… (GW) (BSB, NIV, RSV, GNT, NASB, NCV, GW, ESV)
In love goes with 1:4. According to this interpretation, In love further describes the life for which God has chosen us, that is, we should be full of love. The REB follows this interpretation:
he chose us in Christ to be his people, to be without blemish in his sight, to be full of love (REB) (NJB, NRSV, KJV, REB, CEV, NLT, NET)