---
title: "Ephesians: Summary & All 6 Chapters · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/
description: "The Letter to the Ephesians, a circular letter in 6 chapters. Bp. Challoner’s summary of all 6 chapters, and the full text free."
---

New Testament

# The Letter to the Ephesians

The Letter to the Ephesians is the tenth of the 27 books of the New Testament: 6 chapters and 155 verses.

[Start reading: Ephesians 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/)

[1](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/) [2](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/2/) [3](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/) [4](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/4/) [5](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/5/) [6](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/)

## About Ephesians

About Ephesians · Circular letter

Ephesians reads less like a response to problems than a meditation to be read aloud in many churches: God's eternal plan to unite all things in Christ, the Church as his body and bride, Jew and Gentile made one new man by the cross. It comes down under Paul's name from prison; its authorship is debated among scholars, some seeing a disciple writing in his master's voice. It was written to give ordinary believers the largest possible view of what they had been baptized into, and then to spell out that calling in household life and spiritual combat.

*Ephesians in Bless*

|  |  |
|---|---|
| Testament | New Testament — book 10 of 27, 56 of 73 in the Bible |
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 6 |
| Verses | 155, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 6 chapters · 8 notes |
| Catechism | 109 paragraphs cite it |

Chapter by chapter

## All 6 chapters, *in brief.*

Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.

1. ### [Ephesians 1](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/)
   23 verses
   The great blessings we have received through Christ. He is the head of all the church.
2. ### [Ephesians 2](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/2/)
   22 verses
   All our good comes through Christ. He is our peace.
3. ### [Ephesians 3](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/)
   21 verses
   The mystery hidden from former ages was discovered to the apostle, to be imparted to the Gentiles. He prays that they may be strengthened in God.
4. ### [Ephesians 4](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/4/)
   32 verses
   He exhorts them to unity, to put on the new man, and to fly sin.
5. ### [Ephesians 5](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/5/)
   33 verses
   Exhortations to a virtuous life. The mutual duties of man and wife, by the example of Christ and of the Church.
6. ### [Ephesians 6](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/)
   24 verses
   Duties of children and servants. The Christian's armour.

Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries

In the comments

## What the saints *said.*

10 quotations from 10 saints linked to passages of Ephesians in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.

[St. Pius X](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-pius-x/) · on [Ephesians 1:10](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/#v10)

On this theme

> To restore all things in Christ.

Motto, 1903

[St. Ignatius of Antioch](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-ignatius-of-antioch/) · on [Ephesians 1:22](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/#v22)

On this theme

> Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8, c. 107

[St. Bernadette Soubirous](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-bernadette-soubirous/) · on [Ephesians 3:17](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/#v17)

On this theme

> O Jesus, keep me under the standard of Your cross. Let me not just look at You crucified but have You living in my heart.

Words to a fellow sister, c. 1870

[St. Francis de Sales](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-francis-de-sales/) · on [Ephesians 3:18](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/#v18)

Attributed

> The measure of love is to love without measure.

Popular saying, source unconfirmed

[St. Joan of Arc](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-joan-of-arc/) · on [Ephesians 5:23](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/5/#v23)

On this theme

> About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they are just one thing, and we should not complicate the matter.

Trial testimony, 1431, 1431

[St. Cyprian](https://blessbible.app/saints/st-cyprian/) · on [Ephesians 5:25](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/5/#v25)

On this theme

> He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.

On the Unity of the Church, 6, 251

### 4 more, on the chapter pages

- [Ephesians 5:26](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/5/#v26) St. John Vianney
- [Ephesians 6:4](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/#v4) St. John Bosco
- [Ephesians 6:14](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/#v14) St. Polycarp
- [Ephesians 6:17](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/#v17) St. Dominic

Coming up

## Read at *Mass.*

From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, Ephesians is read at the principal Mass on 17 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings:

| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Thu, Oct 29, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/10/29/) | Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | [Ephesians 6:10-20](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/6/) |
| [Tue, Dec 8, 2026](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2026/12/08/) | Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Second Reading | [Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/) |
| [Sun, Jan 3, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/01/03/) | The Epiphany of the Lord | Second Reading | [Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/) |
| [Tue, Jan 19, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/01/19/) | Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | [Ephesians 1:17-18](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/) |
| [Sun, Mar 7, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/03/07/) | Fourth Sunday of Lent | Second Reading | [Ephesians 2:4-10](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/2/) |
| [Sun, May 9, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/05/09/) | Seventh Sunday of Easter — Ascension | Second Reading | [Ephesians 1:17-23](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/) |
| [Tue, Jun 1, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/06/01/) computed | St. Justin, Martyr | Alleluia | [See Ephesians 1:17-18](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/1/) |
| [Fri, Jun 4, 2027](https://blessbible.app/calendar/2027/06/04/) computed | Most Sacred Heart of Jesus | Second Reading | [Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19](https://blessbible.app/bible/ephesians/3/) |

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

[Previous book The Letter to the Galatians](https://blessbible.app/bible/galatians/) [Next book The Letter to the Philippians](https://blessbible.app/bible/philippians/)
