Ephesians 2:11-17

11So you who were born as Gentiles should remember what you were like before. Jews insulted you because nobody has circumcised you. They themselves are proud that men have circumcised them as God's people.

12At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help.

13You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ's death on the cross as a sacrifice.

14It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies.

15When his body died on the cross, Christ took away the power of the Jewish laws and rules. In that way, he made the two groups join together as one new group of people. As a result, he caused them to have peace.

16As a single group, Christ brought Jews and Gentiles back to God. He stopped them from hating each other. He did this by his death on the cross.

17When Christ came, he told people God's good news about peace. He told that message to you Gentiles, who were far away from God. He also told it to us Jews, who were near to God.