The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 3 -

Because God has done all this for you non-Jews, Messiah Jesus has put me, Paul, in prison for your sake.

I assume that you know that God has honored me by giving me a certain task to do for your sake.

He gave me this task because of the secret truth about which I wrote to you briefly;

when you read what I have already written briefly about that, you will be able to understand that I clearly understand the truth about Messiah.

Formerly, God did not fully reveal the good news that was to come to anyone. It was something that no one understood, but now his Spirit has revealed the good news to his apostles and prophets whom the Spirit called to serve God.

This hidden truth is that the non-Jews now share together with Jews the spiritual riches of God, and belong to the same group of God’s people, and will share all the things God has promised them because they are joined to Messiah Jesus, this is the gospel.

I am now God’s servant to spread the good news, a work I did not deserve to do, but which God gave me working in me with his power.

Although I am the least worthy of all God’s people, God has enabled me by his kindness and mercy to proclaim to non-Jews the good news about what Messiah has done for us, which is so much that no one can learn all about it.

My mission is to explain to everyone what God’s plan is, something that God has kept hidden from long ago, from the time when he created everything.

What God has wisely planned, he has even shown to powerful angels in heaven through his people who trust in Messiah.

That is what God had always planned for eternity, and it is what he accomplished through the work of Messiah Jesus our Lord.

So now when we pray, we can come to God confidently and without being afraid, because we trust in Jesus, who has fulfilled God’s plan.

So I ask that you do not be discouraged because of my suffering many things for you here in prison, which actually end up honoring you.

Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians

Because God has done all this for you, I kneel and pray to God our Father.

He is the one who gives every family in heaven and on the earth their name.

I pray because of his great power that God will give you power and will strengthen you by his Spirit who lives in your spirits.

I pray that Messiah may live in your hearts because you trust in him, and that you will be like a firmly rooted tree and a building founded upon stone,

so that you may be fully able to understand, along with the all those set apart for God, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Messiah.

For this love is so great that we cannot understand it, but because of this love, I pray that God may fill you all with himself.

God is able to do much greater things than we usually ask him to do, or even that we might think that he can do, because of his power that is working within us.

May all believers assembled to worship God, and Messiah Jesus himself, honor God more than they honor anything else. May all believers from all generations of history praise him forever and ever! So let it be done.

For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,

if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you,

how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words,

by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ,

which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit,

that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.

To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and to make all men see what is the administration

(a)

of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ,

to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,

according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.

Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians

For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,

and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

(a)3:9 TR reads “fellowship” instead of “administration”