Ephesians 3 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Mystery of Christ Revealed

3For this reason I, Paul, ^athe prisoner of ^bChrist Jesus ^con behalf of you ^dGentiles— ²if indeed you heard of the ^astewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; ³^athat ^bby revelation there was ^cmade known to me ^dthe mystery, ^eas I wrote before in brief. ⁴About which, when you read you can understand ^amy insight ¹into the ^bmystery of Christ, ⁵which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy ^aapostles and prophets ¹in the Spirit: ⁶that the Gentiles are ^afellow heirs and ^bfellow members of the body, and ^cfellow partakers of the promise in ^dChrist Jesus through the gospel, ⁷^aof 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 ^bproclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable ^criches of Christ, ⁹and to bring to light for all 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 ¹^,^aconfident ^baccess through faith ²in Him. ¹³Therefore I ask ¹you not ^ato lose heart at my afflictions ^bon your behalf, which are your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Power

¹⁴For this reason I ^abow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom ¹every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that He would give 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 firmly ^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.

²⁰^aNow to Him who is ^bable to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, ^caccording to the power that works within us, ²¹^ato Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ¹forever and ever. Amen.

Unity of the Spirit

4Therefore I, ^athe prisoner in the Lord, ^bexhort you to ^cwalk worthy of the ^dcalling with which you have been ^ecalled, ²with all ^ahumility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another ^bin love, ³being diligent to keep 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; ⁵^aone 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 ²descended 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 Himself ^agave ^bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^cevangelists, and some as pastors and ^dteachers, ¹²^afor 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 ¹^,^bfull knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^cmature man, to the measure of the stature ²which belongs to the ^dfullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that 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 ¹in ^ddeceitful scheming, ¹⁵but ¹speaking the truth ^ain love, ²we are to ^bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^chead, that is Christ, ¹⁶from whom ^athe whole body, being joined and held together ¹by what every joint supplies, according to the properly ^bmeasured working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^cin love.

Put On the New Man

¹⁷^aTherefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, ^bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^cfutility of their mind, ¹⁸being ^adarkened in their mind, ^balienated 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 ^aheard Him and were ^btaught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²²¹to ^alay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the ^bold man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^clusts of deceit, ²³and to be ^arenewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to ^aput on the ^bnew man, which ¹^,^cin 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. ²⁶^aBe 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 ¹^,^aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^bbuilding up ²what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ³⁰^aAnd do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ¹by whom you were ^bsealed for the day of redemption. ³¹^aLet all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be ^bput away from you, along with all ^cmalice. ³²^aInstead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, ^bjust as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven ¹you.