EPH 2:3 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=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) In the past, we also lived like them inside our fleshly lusts and then living out those desires and fantasies, and so we were children deserving strong anger just like everyone else.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, 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 in which we all also once lived in the evil desires of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the body and of the minds. And we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest.

UST All of us used to live in the same way as these people who disobey God; we did the evil things that we desired, things that would bring pleasure to our bodies and our minds. We deserved that God should be very angry with us, just as he is with the other people.

BSB All of us also lived among [them] at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh [and] indulging [its] desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

BLB among whom we all also once lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the things willed of the flesh and of its thoughts; and we were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.

AICNT Among whom we all also once conducted ourselves in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the thoughts, and we were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.

OEB And it was among them that we all once lived our lives, indulging the cravings of our earthly nature, and carrying out the desires prompted by that earthly nature and by our own thoughts. Our nature exposed us to the divine wrath, like the rest of humanity.

WEBBE We also all once lived amongst them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…

LSV among whom we also all walked once in the desires of our flesh, doing the wishes of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath—as also the others,

FBV All of us were once like that, our behavior determined by the desires of our sinful human nature and our evil way of thinking. Like everyone else, in our nature we were children of anger.[fn]

2:3 The Greek literally says “Children in nature of anger.” Following the previous thought about human nature, this could mean we are “naturally angry” or rebellious towards God. Alternatively, this could be viewed that we are the object of divine anger, though God is not specifically mentioned here.

TCNT Among them we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, carrying out the desires of our flesh and our impulses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

T4T Formerly, we all used to disobey God as they do. We did the things that our self-centered nature wanted us to do. We habitually did those evil deeds that our bodies and our minds wanted to do. When we were acting like that, it was certain that God would punish [MTY] us, just like he will certainly punish all other evil people.

LEB among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will[fn] of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath[fn] by nature, as also the rest of them were.

2:3 Or “desires”

2:3 This phrase is a Semitic idiom which can mean either (1) “children characterized by wrath” or (2) “children destined for wrath”

BBE Among whom we all at one time were living in the pleasures of our flesh, giving way to the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and the punishment of God was waiting for us even as for the rest.

Moff among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by nature, like the rest of men.

Wymth Among them all of us also formerly passed our lives, governed by the inclinations of our lower natures, indulging the cravings of those natures and of our own thoughts, and were in our original state deserving of anger like all others.

ASV among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—

DRA In which also we all conversed in time past, in the desires of our flesh, fulfilling the will of the flesh and of our thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:

YLT among whom also we all did walk once in the desires of our flesh, doing the wishes of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath — as also the others,

Drby among whom we also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts willed to do, and were children, by nature, of wrath, even as the rest:

RV among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—

SLT Among whom also we then all occupied ourselves in the eager desire? of our flesh, doing the wills of the flesh and the thoughts; and were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest.

Wbstr Among whom also we all had our manner of life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

KJB-1769 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

KJB-1611 Among whom also we all had our conuersation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling [fn]the desires of the flesh, and of the minde, and were by nature the children of wrath, euen as others:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

2:3 Gr. the wills.

Bshps Among whom we all had our conuersation also in tyme past in the lustes of our flesshe, fulfyllyng the wyll of the flesshe, and of the mynde, & were by nature the chyldren of wrath, euen as other:
(Among whom we all had our conversation also in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the will of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as other:)

Gnva Among whom we also had our conuersation in time past, in the lustes of our flesh, in fulfilling the will of the flesh, and of the minde, and were by nature the children of wrath, as well as others.
(Among whom we also had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of our flesh, in fulfilling the will of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, as well as others. )

Cvdl amonge whom we also had oure conuersacion in tyme past in the lustes of oure flesh, and dyd the wyll of the flesh and of the mynde, and were naturally the children of wrath, euen as well as other.
(among whom we also had our conversacion in time past in the lusts of our flesh, and did the will of the flesh and of the mind, and were naturally the children of wrath, even as well as other.)

TNT amonge which we also had oure conversacion in tyme past in the lustes of oure flesshe and fullfilled the will of the flesshe and of the mynde: and were naturally the children of wrath even as wel as other.
(among which we also had our conversacion in time past in the lusts of our flesh and fullfilled the will of the flesh and of the mind: and were naturally the children of wrath even as well as other. )

Wycl in which also we `alle lyueden sum tyme in the desiris of oure fleisch, doynge the willis of the fleisch and of thouytis, and we weren bi kynde the sones of wraththe, as othere men;
(in which also we all lived some time in the desires of our flesh, doing the wills of the flesh and of thoughts, and we were by kind the sons of wrath, as other men;)

Luth unter welchen wir auch alle weiland unsern Wandel gehabt haben in den Lüsten unsers Fleisches, und taten den Willen des Fleisches und der Vernunft und waren auch Kinder des Zorns von Natur, gleichwie auch die andern;
(under which_(ones) we/us also all once/formerly ours change(n) had have in the desires(n) ours fleshes, and did the Will the fleshes and the/of_the reason and were also children the angers from Natur, same_as also the change/modify;)

ClVg in quibus et nos omnes aliquando conversati sumus in desideriis carnis nostræ, facientes voluntatem carnis et cogitationum, et eramus natura filii iræ, sicut et ceteri:[fn]
(in/into/on to_whom and us everyone sometimes conversati we_are in/into/on desires of_flesh our, they_will_does will of_flesh and thoughts, and eramus nature/element children anger, like and the_rest: )

2.3 Et eramus natura, etc. Quasi: Cum hæc prædicta fuerunt in nobis, non desperet gentilis quin par Judæis fiat. Filii iræ. Cum ira Dei nascuntur mortales, quia, peccante Adam, vitium pro natura inolevit. Tenebatur enim justa damnatione genus humanum, et erant omnes natura filii iræ.

2.3 And eramus nature/element, etc. Quasi: Since these_things aforementioned they_were in/into/on us, not/no despair Gentile because par To_the_Jews fiat. Children anger. Since anger/rage of_God they_are_born mortales, because, peccante Adam, vice/defect for nature/element inolevit. Tenebatur because just damnatione kind/class human, and they_were everyone nature/element children anger.

UGNT ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν; καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί.
(en hois kai haʸmeis pantes anestrafaʸmen pote en tais epithumiais taʸs sarkos haʸmōn, poiountes ta thelaʸmata taʸs sarkos kai tōn dianoiōn; kai aʸmetha tekna fusei orgaʸs, hōs kai hoi loipoi.)

SBL-GNT ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ⸀ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί·
(en hois kai haʸmeis pantes anestrafaʸmen pote en tais epithumiais taʸs sarkos haʸmōn, poiountes ta thelaʸmata taʸs sarkos kai tōn dianoiōn, kai ⸀aʸmetha tekna fusei orgaʸs hōs kai hoi loipoi;)

RP-GNT ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ἦμεν τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί·
(en hois kai haʸmeis pantes anestrafaʸmen pote en tais epithumiais taʸs sarkos haʸmōn, poiountes ta thelaʸmata taʸs sarkos kai tōn dianoiōn, kai aʸmen tekna fusei orgaʸs, hōs kai hoi loipoi;)

TC-GNT ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ [fn]ἦμεν τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί·
(en hois kai haʸmeis pantes anestrafaʸmen pote en tais epithumiais taʸs sarkos haʸmōn, poiountes ta thelaʸmata taʸs sarkos kai tōn dianoiōn, kai aʸmen tekna fusei orgaʸs, hōs kai hoi loipoi; )

2:3 ημεν ¦ ημεθα CT

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

SOTN SIL Open Translation Notes:

Section 2:1–10: God saved us by his grace

In this section Paul explained how the power of God, which he described in 1:19–20, changed the lives of the Ephesians. 2:1–3 describes their condition before they became believers. 2:4–10 describes the new life that God gave to them. Paul stressed that God has done many things for them because he is kind, so they should not be proud.

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

Made alive in Christ (NLT)

From Death to life (GNT, CEV)

God Saved Us Because of His Great Love for Us (GW)

Because God is loving and kind he saved us^(incl)

Paragraph 2:1–3

In this paragraph, Paul described the condition of the Ephesians before they became Christians. They were spiritually “dead” because of their sins, Satan controlled them, and God was angry with them.

To begin this paragraph, a good model to follow is the GNT. The GNT starts this paragraph with the phrase “in the past” to show that Paul was talking about the former condition of the Ephesians. The CEV and NCV also begin this paragraph in the same way. Some other ways you can make this implied information clear are:

As for you, formerly you were dead

As for you, before you believed you were dead

2:3a

All of us also lived among them at one time,

We^(incl) all also behaved like them in the past.
Before/earlier we^(incl) believed in Christ, we^(incl) all behaved/acted like them.

All of us: In 2:1–2, Paul was talking about the Ephesian Christians, who were not Jews. But in this verse he includes himself also. So the phrase All of us refers to both Jews and non-Jews.

lived among them: The pronoun them refers to those people who are disobedient in 2:2c.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

were like them (GNT)

behaved like them

as they did so we^(incl) also did

at one time: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as at one time is one word in Greek and it means “in the past.” It refers to a time before they believed in Christ.

This time word can also be put earlier in the clause. For example:

In the past all of us lived like them (CEV)

All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh (RSV)

2:3b

fulfilling the cravings of our flesh

We satisfied the desires of our bodies.
We did whatever evil/selfish things we wanted to do.
We did the things that our selfish nature pushed us to do.

fulfilling the cravings of our flesh: The Greek word that the BSB translates as fulfilling literally means “doing” or “making.” In this context it means to do the sinful things we desire to do.

cravings: The word cravings refers to very strong desires. In this context, it refers to lusts or selfish desires.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

desires to sin

ungodly wants

flesh: The Greek word that the BSB literally translates as flesh refers to the evil/selfish character of humans. See flesh, Meaning 6 in the Glossary for more information.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds (GNT)

following the passions and desires of our evil nature (NLT96)

trying to please our sinful selves (NCV)

2:3c

and indulging its desires and thoughts.

We followed/did whatever our evil desires and thoughts told/wanted us to do.
We behaved according to the evil/selfish desires of our bodies and our evil/selfish thoughts.

This verse part restates the same idea that is found in 2:3b.

indulging its desires and thoughts: The pronoun its refers to the sinful nature in 2:3b.

indulging: The Greek participle that the BSB translates as indulging is literally “doing.” It is another way of expressing “fulfilling” in 2:3b. People did whatever their sinful nature caused them to want to do.

desires and thoughts: The phrase desires and thoughts is similar in meaning to “cravings” in 2:3b.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

doing the evil we want to do and think about

2:3d

Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

We were naturally evil, just like everyone else, so God was angry with us.
Because we were naturally sinful, we were people at whom God was angry and would punish, like everyone else.

Like the rest: The phrase Like the rest means that the Ephesians and Jews were just like all the other people in the world.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

just like everyone else (NLT)

We were the same as all other people (NCV)

as they did so have all of us^(incl) done

by nature: The phrase by nature refers to the condition that believers were in before God showed them mercy. They were naturally sinful.

Here are some other ways this phrase has been translated:

We were born with an evil nature (NLT96)

In our natural condition (GNT)

children of wrath: The Greek phrase that the BSB literally translates as children of wrath is a Jewish figure of speech that means “deserving of or subject to God’s wrath.” The word wrath means “anger.” In the New Testament, the word translated as wrath often represents the idea of punishment. So the idea of punishment is also implied in this phrase. See the second meaning line of the display for an example of including this implied information.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

subject to God’s anger (NLT)

destined to suffer God’s anger (GNT)

people whom God would punish

Parallel EPH 2:3

Section 2:1–10: God saved us by his grace

Paragraph 2:1–3

2:3a

2:3b

2:3c

2:3d