Ephesians 3–4

PAUL’S MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES

3For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner^w of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—²assuming you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that he gave me for you. ³The mystery was made known to me by revelation,^x as I have briefly written above. ⁴By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.^{y 5}This was not made known to people^A in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets^z by the Spirit: ⁶The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise^aa in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ⁷I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.^ab

⁸This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches^ac of Christ, ⁹and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created^ad all things. ¹⁰This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom^ae may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.^{af 11}This is according to his eternal purpose^ag accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In him we have boldness and confident access^ah through faith in him.^{B 13}So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged^ai over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.^aj

PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL POWER

¹⁴For this reason I kneel^ak before the Father^{C 15}from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches^al of his glory,^am to be strengthened with power^an in your inner being^ao through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,^{ap 19}and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able^aq to do above and beyond all that we ask or think^ar according to the power^as that works in us—²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.^at

UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

4Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord,^au urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ²with all humility^av and gentleness, with patience,^aw bearing^ax with one another in love,^{ay 3}making every effort to keep the unity^az of the Spirit^ba through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit^bb—just as you were called to one hope^Da at your calling—⁵one Lord,^b one faith,^c one baptism, ⁶one God^d and Father^e of all, who is above all and through all and in all.^f

⁷Now grace was given to each one of us^g according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸For it says:

When he ascended^h on high,

he took the captives captive;

he gave gifts to people.^Ei

⁹But what does “he ascended” mean except that he^A also descended to the lower parts of the earth?^{Bj 10}The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens,^k to fill all things.^{l 11}And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,^{m 13}until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son,ⁿ growing into maturity with a stature^o measured by Christ’s fullness. ¹⁴Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching,^p by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head^q—Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, fitted and knit together^r by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth^s of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

LIVING THE NEW LIFE

¹⁷Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because^C of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity^t with a desire for more and more.^D

²⁰But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth^u is in Jesus, ²²to take off^Ev your former way of life,^w the old self^x that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³to be renewed^F in the spirit^y of your minds, ²⁴and to put on^Gz the new self, the one created^aa according to God’s likeness^ab in righteousness and purity of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, putting away^ac lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,^Had because we are members of one another. ²⁶Be angry and do not sin.^Iae Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and don’t give the devil an opportunity. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share^af with anyone in need. ²⁹No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need,^J so that it gives grace to those who hear. ³⁰And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit.^ag You were sealed by him^K for the day of redemption.^{ah 31}Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. ³²And be kind^ai and compassionate^aj to one another, forgiving^ak one another, just as God also forgave you^L in Christ.