Ephesians 2:14–3:13

¹⁴So he is our peace. In his body he has made Jewish and non-Jewish people one by breaking down the wall of hostility that kept them apart. ¹⁵He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses’ Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace. ¹⁶He also brought them back to God in one body by his cross, on which he killed the hostility. ¹⁷He came with the Good News of peace for you who were far away and for those who were near. ¹⁸So Jewish and non-Jewish people can go to the Father in one Spirit. 

¹⁹That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family. ²⁰You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. ²¹In him all the parts of the building fit together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord. ²²Through him you, also, are being built in the Spirit together with others into a place where God lives. 

3RD CHAPTER

Paul’s Work of Spreading the Good News

¹This is the reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus^afor those of you who are not Jewish. 

²Certainly, you have heard how God gave me the responsibility of bringing his kindness^bto you. ³You have heard that he let me know this mystery through a revelation. I’ve already written to you about this briefly. ⁴When you read this, you’ll see that I understand the mystery about Christ. ⁵In the past, this mystery was not known by people as it is now. The Spirit has now revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. ⁶This mystery is the Good News that people who are not Jewish have the same inheritance as Jewish people do. They belong to the same body and share the same promise that God made in Christ Jesus. ⁷I became a servant of this Good News through God’s kindness freely given to me when his power worked ⸤in me⸥. 

⁸I am the least of all God’s people. Yet, God showed me his kindness by allowing me to spread the Good News of the immeasurable wealth of Christ to people who are not Jewish. ⁹He allowed me to explain the way this mystery works. God, who created all things, kept it hidden in the past. ¹⁰He did this so that now, through the church, he could let the rulers and authorities in heaven know his infinite wisdom. ¹¹This was God’s plan for all of history which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²We can go to God with bold confidence through faith in Christ. ¹³So then, I ask you not to become discouraged by the troubles I suffer for you. In fact, my troubles bring you glory.