Ephesians 3
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus, the Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles –
2 Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
For you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit,
3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
and also that it was by direct revelation that the hidden purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you.
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
And, by reading what I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this hidden purpose of God in Christ.
5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
In former generations it was not made known to humanity, as fully as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and prophets among Christ’s people –
6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
That, by union with Christ Jesus and through the good news, the Gentiles are coheirs with us and members of one body, and that they share with us in God’s Promise.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.
Of this good news I become an assistant, in virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power –
8 Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Yes, to me, who am less than the least of all Christ’s people, was this charge entrusted! – to tell the Gentiles the good news of the boundless wealth to be found in the Christ,
9 and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. (aiōn g165)
and to make clear what is God’s way of working out that hidden purpose which from the first has been concealed in the mind of the Creator of all things; (aiōn g165)
10 His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
so that now to the archangels and to all the powers on high should be made known, through the church, the all-embracing wisdom of God,
in accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master. (aiōn g165)
12 In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.
And in union with him, and through our trust in him, we find courage to approach God with confidence.
13 So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Therefore I beg you not to be disheartened at the sufferings that I am undergoing for your sakes; for they redound to your honor.
14 ... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
For this reason, then, I kneel before the Father –
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
from whom all ‘fatherhood’ in heaven and on earth derives its name –
16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
and pray that, in proportion to the wealth of his glory, he will strengthen you with his power by breathing his Spirit into your inmost soul,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
so that the Christ, through your faith, may make his home within your hearts in love; and I pray that you, now firmly rooted and established, may, with all Christ’s people,
18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
have the power to comprehend in all its width and length and height and depth,
19 of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
and to understand – though it surpasses all understanding – the love of the Christ; and so be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
To him who, through his power which is at work within us, is able to do far more than anything that we can ask or conceive –
