Chapter 3

¹This is why I, Paul, whom Jesus the Christ has made a prisoner for the sake of you heathen— ²if at least you have heard how I dealt with the mercy of God that was given me for you, ³and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written. ⁴As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ ⁵(which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets) ⁶that through union with Christ Jesus the heathen are fellow-heirs with the Jews, belong to the same body and share the promise with them, through the good news ⁷for which I became a worker by virtue of the gift of God’s mercy which by the exercise of his power he has given me. ⁸To me, the very least of all his people, this favor has been given, of preaching to the heathen the inexhaustible wealth of the Christ, ⁹and making clear how the secret purpose is to be worked out which has been hidden away for ages in God the creator of all things, ¹⁰so that the many-sided wisdom of God may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven, ¹¹fulfilling the eternal purpose which God carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²Through union with him and through faith in him, we have courage to approach God with confidence. ¹³So I ask that what I am having to suffer for your sake may not make me lose heart, for it does you honor.

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven or on earth takes its name, ¹⁶and beg him out of his wealth of glory to strengthen you mightily through his Spirit in your inner nature ¹⁷and through your faith to let Christ in his love make his home in your hearts. Your roots must be deep and your foundations strong, ¹⁸so that you and all God’s people may be strong enough to grasp what breadth, length, height, and depth mean, ¹⁹and to understand Christ’s love, so far beyond our understanding, so that you may be filled with the very fulness of God. ²⁰To him who by the exertion of his power within us can do unutterably more than all we ask or imagine, ²¹be glory through the church and through Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen.