OEBcth - Ephesians - 3

3:1  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus, the Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles —

3:2  For you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit,

3:3  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.

3:4  And, by reading what I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this hidden purpose of God in Christ.

3:5  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 —

3:6  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.

3:7  Of this good news I became a minister, in virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power —

3:8  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,

3:9  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;

3:10  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,

3:11  in accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master.

3:12  And in union with him, and through our trust in him, we find courage to approach God with confidence.

3:13  Therefore I beg you not to be disheartened at the sufferings that I am undergoing for your sakes; for they redound to your honour.

3:14  For this reason, then, I kneel before the Father —

3:15  From whom all ‘fatherhood’ in heaven and on earth derives its name —

3:16  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,

3:17  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,

3:18  have the power to comprehend in all its width and length and height and depth,

3:19  and to understand — though it surpasses all understanding — the love of the Christ; and so be filled to the full with God himself.

3:20  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 —

3:21  To him be all glory through the church and through Christ Jesus, for all generations, age after age. Amen.