NETtext - Ephesians - 3

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

3:2  if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

3:3  that by revelation the divine secret was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.

3:4  When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret of Christ.

3:5  Now this secret was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,

3:6  namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

3:7  I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power.

3:8  To me - less than the least of all the saints - this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

3:9  and to enlighten everyone about God's secret plan - a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things.

3:10  The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

3:11  This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

3:12  in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ's faithfulness.

3:13  For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

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

3:15  from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named.

3:16  I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

3:17  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,

3:18  you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

3:19  and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

3:20  Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,

3:21  to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.