Ephesians 3–4

Chapter 3

Paul’s Stewardship

¹For this reason I, Paul, ^athe prisoner of ^bChrist Jesus ^cfor the sake of you ^dGentiles—

²if indeed you have heard of the ^astewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

^3athat ^bby revelation there was ^cmade known to me ^dthe mystery, ^eas I wrote before in brief.

⁴¹By referring to this, when you read you can understand ^amy insight ²into the ^bmystery of Christ,

⁵which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy ^aapostles and prophets ¹in the Spirit;

⁶to be specific, that the Gentiles are ^afellow heirs and ^bfellow members of the body, and ^cfellow partakers of the promise in ^dChrist Jesus through the gospel,

^7aof which I was made a ^bminister, according to the gift of ^cGod’s grace which was given to me ^daccording to the working of His power.

⁸To me, ^athe very least of all ¹saints, this grace was given, to ^bpreach to the Gentiles the unfathomable ^criches of Christ,

⁹and to ¹bring to light what is the administration of the ^amystery which for ages has been ^bhidden in God ^cwho created all things;

¹⁰so that the manifold ^awisdom of God might now be ^bmade known through the church to the ^crulers and the authorities in ^dthe heavenly places.

¹¹This was in ^aaccordance with the ¹eternal purpose which He ²carried out in ^bChrist Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and ^1aconfident ^baccess through faith ²in Him.

¹³Therefore I ask ¹you not ^ato lose heart at my tribulations ^bon your behalf, ²for they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I ^abow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom ¹every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

¹⁶that He would grant you, according to ^athe riches of His glory, to be ^bstrengthened with power through His Spirit in ^cthe inner man,

¹⁷so that ^aChrist may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^brooted and ^cgrounded in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with ^aall the ¹saints what is ^bthe breadth and length and height and depth,

¹⁹and to know ^athe love of Christ which ^bsurpasses knowledge, that you may be ^cfilled up to all the ^dfullness of God.

^20aNow to Him who is ^bable to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^caccording to the power that works within us,

^21ato Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ¹forever and ever. Amen.

Chapter 4

Unity of the Spirit

¹Therefore I, ^athe prisoner of the Lord, ^bimplore you to ^cwalk in a manner worthy of the ^dcalling with which you have been ^ecalled,

²with all ^ahumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ^bin love,

³being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ^abond of peace.

⁴There is ^aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ^bhope of your calling;

^5aone Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶one God and Father of all ^awho is over all and through all and in all.

⁷But ^ato each one of us ^bgrace was given ^caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

⁸Therefore ¹it says,

“^aWhen He ascended on high,

He ^bled captive a host of captives,

And He gave gifts to men.”

⁹(Now this expression, “He ^aascended,” what ¹does it mean except that He also ²had descended into ^bthe lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^afar above all the heavens, so that He might ^bfill all things.)

¹¹And He ^agave ^bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^cevangelists, and some as pastors and ^dteachers,

^12afor the equipping of the ¹saints for the work of service, to the building up of ^bthe body of Christ;

¹³until we all attain to ^athe unity of the faith, and of the ^1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a ^cmature man, to the measure of the stature ²which belongs to the ^dfullness of Christ.

¹⁴¹As a result, we are ^ano longer to be children, ^btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ^ccraftiness ²in ^ddeceitful scheming;

¹⁵but ¹speaking the truth ^ain love, ²we are to ^bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^chead, even Christ,

¹⁶from whom ^athe whole body, being fitted and held together ¹by what every joint supplies, according to the ²proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^bin love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17aSo this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ^bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^cfutility of their mind,

¹⁸being ^adarkened in their understanding, ^1bexcluded from the life of God because of the ^cignorance that is in them, because of the ^dhardness of their heart;

¹⁹and they, having ^abecome callous, ^bhave given themselves over to ^csensuality ¹for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

²⁰But you did not ^alearn ¹Christ in this way,

²¹if indeed you ^ahave heard Him and have ^bbeen taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

²²that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ^alay aside the ^bold ¹self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^clusts of deceit,

²³and that you be ^arenewed in the spirit of your mind,

²⁴and ^aput on the ^bnew ¹self, which ^2cin the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, ^alaying aside falsehood, ^bspeak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are ^cmembers of one another.

^26aBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and do not ^agive the devil ¹an opportunity.

²⁸He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ^ahe must labor, ^bperforming with his own hands what is good, ^cso that he will have something to share with ¹one who has need.

²⁹Let no ^1aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^bedification ²according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

^30aDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ¹by whom you were ^bsealed for the day of redemption.

^31aLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ^bput away from you, along with all ^cmalice.

^32aBe kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ^bjust as God in Christ also has forgiven ¹you.