Passage

Ephesians 3

Book: Ephesians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,, 2. if so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward; 3. how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, 4. whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; 5. which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6. to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7. whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. 8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9. and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things; 10. to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11. according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12. in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 13. Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you, which are your glory. 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, 15. from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16. that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 17. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18. may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19. and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21. unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:1-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, 2. if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you; 3. how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, 4. by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; 5. which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6. that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News, 7. of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. 8. To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9. and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10. to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, 11. according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; 12. in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 13. Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory. 14. For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15. from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16. that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 17. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18. may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19. and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21. to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:1-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, ^{afore: or, a little before} 4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6. That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7. Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 8. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11. According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 13. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:1-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations, 2. if, indeed, ye did hear of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me in regard to you, 3. that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few [words], 4. in regard to which ye are able, reading [it], to understand my knowledge in the secret of the Christ, 5. which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, 6. that the nations be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the good news, 7. of which I became a ministrant, according to the gift of the grace of God that was given to me, according to the working of His power; 8. to me, the less than the least of all the saints, was given this grace, among the nations to proclaim good news, the untraceable riches of the Christ, 9. and to cause all to see what [is] the fellowship of the secret that hath been hid from the ages in God, who the all things did create by Jesus Christ, 10. that there might be made known now to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenly [places], through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, 11. according to a purpose of the ages, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12. in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of him, 13. wherefore, I ask [you] not to faint in my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15. of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named, 16. that He may give to you, according to the riches of His glory, with might to be strengthened through His Spirit, in regard to the inner man, 17. that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts, in love having been rooted and founded, 18. that ye may be in strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, 19. to know also the love of the Christ that is exceeding the knowledge, that ye may be filled, to all the fulness of God; 20. and to Him who is able above all things to do exceeding abundantly what we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, 21. to Him [is] the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen." (Ephesians 3:1-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

G3466 - mysterion

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.