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Ephesians 3

1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—2assuming you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace given to me for you: 3the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote briefly before. 4By reading this, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which in other generations was not made known to the sons of humanity as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: 6the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow participants in the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news, 7of which I became a servant according to the gift of God's grace given to me according to the working of his power. 8To me, less than the least of all the holy ones, this grace was given: to announce to the Gentiles the good news of Christ's unsearchable riches 9and to enlighten everyone about the administration of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, who created all things, 10so that now, through the assembly, the richly varied wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to the eternal purpose he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. 13Therefore I ask you not to lose heart over my afflictions for you, which are your glory.

14For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in the heavens and on earth takes its name, 16so that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner person, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are rooted and founded in love, 18so that you may have strength, together with all the holy ones, to grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.

20Now to the one who is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, 21to him be glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Translation notes 6

3:1–3, 14 — An interrupted prayer. Verse 1 begins a sentence that is interrupted by the account of Paul's commission. “For this reason” resumes at verse 14. “Assuming you have heard” need not express real doubt. “As I wrote briefly before” can refer to the preceding chapters; a lost letter is not required.

3:5–6 — Shared participation. “Sons of humanity” is a gendered expression for human beings, not a restriction of revelation to males. “As it has now been revealed” leaves room for earlier knowledge without identifying it with the present disclosure. Three Greek compounds repeat the idea of sharing together, represented here by “fellow” three times.

3:8–12 — Riches, administration, and faith. “Less than the least” retains the Greek's emphatic comparative. “Unsearchable” describes riches beyond tracing or fully exploring. “Administration” concerns how God's purpose is carried out; “stewardship” in verse 2 translates the same word in the setting of Paul's commission. “Through faith in him” at verse 12 can also be understood as “through his faithfulness.”

3:13 — The request for endurance. The English supplies “you” as the people being asked not to lose heart. Another defensible reading is “I ask that I may not lose heart,” making this a request to God. The relation to the following prayer remains open.

3:14–15 — Father and family. The Greek words for “Father” and “family” are related. “Every family” can also be “the whole family,” referring to a unified heavenly and earthly household. The text does not identify the heavenly families more precisely.

3:17–19 — Rooted, founded, and filled. Planting and building images stand together. The four dimensions in verse 18 have no expressed object; Christ's love in verse 19 is a natural connection, but “of his love” is not added to the translation. Knowing what surpasses knowledge is the passage's own deliberate paradox.