Ephesians 3 — NETB

3Verse 1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles –^{Verse 2}if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,^{Verse 3}that by revelation the divine secret was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.^{Verse 4}When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret of Christ.^{Verse 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,^{Verse 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.^{Verse 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.^{Verse 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^{Verse 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.^{Verse 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.^{Verse 11}This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,^{Verse 12}in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness.^{Verse 13}For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Prayer for Strengthened Love

^{Verse 14}For this reason I kneel before the Father,^{Verse 15}from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named.^{Verse 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,^{Verse 17}that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,^{Verse 18}you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,^{Verse 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.^{Verse 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,^{Verse 21}to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.