Ephesians 3

Worldwide English (New Testament)

3 That is why I, Paul, am a prisoner who belongs to Jesus Christ. It is for the sake of you people who are not Jews.

² I am sure you have heard that God gave me work to do for you.

³ He showed me what his plan was. And I have already written a little about it to you.

⁴ When you read this, you can understand why I know about his plan for Christ.

⁵ In the past, God did not tell his plan to people. But now the Holy Spirit has shown it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶ This is God's plan. Those who are not Jews will also share in the blessings of God. They also are a part of the body of Jesus Christ. They also will receive the things God has promised in Jesus Christ through the good news.

⁷ God gave me the work of telling that good news. And he blessed me by his power.

⁸ I am less than the least of all God's people, and yet he blessed me. It is my work to tell those who are not Jews about the wonderful blessings of Christ. There are so many that we cannot know them all.

⁹ God has blessed me so that I might tell all people plainly what his plan is. God, who made all things, did not tell anyone about his plan in all the times in the past.

¹⁰ Now he wants those who rule and have power in the sky to know how very wise God is. They will know this when they look at the church people.

¹¹ This is what God has always planned to do. And he did it in Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹² In Christ we are not to be afraid to come to God. We are sure we can come because we believe in Christ.

¹³ So I ask you not to be sad when you think of the troubles I have for your sake. You should be proud about it.

¹⁴ That is why I kneel down before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ From him every family in heaven or on earth gets its name.

¹⁶ I ask him to make you very strong in heart by his Spirit. He has great and wonderful blessings and is able to do so because of the fullness of his glory.

¹⁷ And I ask that Christ may live in your hearts because you believe in him. I ask that you may live and grow in love.

¹⁸ I ask that God will give you power to know how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is. All Christians should know that.

¹⁹ I ask God that you may know the love of Christ which is more than we can ever know. I ask that you may be filled with everything that God has.

²⁰ God can do much more than we ask him to do, or we even think of. He does it by his power which is working in us.

²¹ So, praise him in the church meeting in Christ Jesus. Praise him for ever and ever! May it be so!