Devine Scripture

Ephesians 2:3

What does Ephesians 2:3 mean?

A plain-English look at Ephesians 2:3 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Ephesians 2:3 means

Paul now includes himself and his fellow Jews: “we also all once lived” under the same tyranny. Sin is not merely outward actions but desires—of the flesh and of the mind. We willingly pursued what was twisted and self-centered. By nature, therefore, we were “children of wrath,” rightly under God’s holy judgment like the rest of humanity. This does not deny God’s love; it highlights his justice and the seriousness of sin. Everyone, religious or irreligious, stood condemned apart from God’s intervention. The verse levels all pride: the division is not first Jew and Gentile, but dead and alive, condemned and pardoned, a line that only God can move us across.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

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:—

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

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:—

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

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.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

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,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

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:

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

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:

Context

Verse 3 completes the indictment begun in verses 1–2 by showing that Jews and Gentiles alike were enslaved to sinful desires and under wrath. This universalizes the need for salvation and removes any claim of ethnic or moral superiority. The grim assessment sets up the dramatic reversal of verses 4–6, where God’s mercy and love create life where there was death. The transition from “we were” to “God…made us alive” is the heartbeat of the chapter’s first half.

v.2wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;

v.3This passage

v.4but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 2 Peter 2:18

    For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;

  • Galatians 5:16

    But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

  • John 1:13

    who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

  • Isaiah 53:6

    All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

  • Romans 9:22

    What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:

  • John 8:44

    Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

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