1 I , Paul, am in prison because I am a missionary for Jesus Christ to you who are not Jews.

For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations,

2 I am sure you have heard that God trusted me with His loving-favor.

if, indeed, ye did hear of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me in regard to you,

3 I wrote a little about this to you before. In a special way, God showed me His secret plan.

that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few --

4 W hen you read this, you will understand how I know about the things that are not easy to understand about Christ.

in regard to which ye are able, reading, to understand my knowledge in the secret of the Christ,

5 L ong ago men did not know these things. But now they have been shown to His missionaries and to the early preachers by the Holy Spirit.

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 L et me tell you that the Good News is for the people who are not Jews also. They are able to have life that lasts forever. They are to be a part of His church and family, together with the Jews. And together they are to receive all that God has promised through Christ.

that the nations be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the good news,

7 G od asked me to preach this Good News. He gave me the gift of His loving-favor. He gave me His power to preach it.

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 O f all those who belong to Christ, I am the least important. But this loving-favor was given to me to preach to the people who are not Jews. I was to tell them of the great riches in Christ which do not come to an end.

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 I was to make all men understand the meaning of this secret. God kept this secret to Himself from the beginning of the world. And He is the One Who made all things.

and to cause all to see what the fellowship of the secret that hath been hid from the ages in God, who the all things did create by Jesus Christ,

10 T his was done so the great wisdom of God might be shown now to the leaders and powers in the heavenly places. It is being done through the church.

that there might be made known now to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenly, through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God,

11 T his was the plan God had for all time. He did this through Christ Jesus our Lord.

according to a purpose of the ages, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,

12 W e can come to God without fear because we have put our trust in Christ.

in whom we have the freedom and the access in confidence through the faith of him,

13 S o I ask you not to lose heart because of my suffering for you. It is to help you. Paul’s Prayer for the Church

wherefore, I ask not to faint in my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14 F or this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 I t is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name.

of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named,

16 I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit.

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 I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love.

that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts, in love having been rooted and founded,

18 I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is.

that ye may be in strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,

19 I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.

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 G od is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us.

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 M ay we see His shining-greatness in the church. May all people in all time honor Christ Jesus. Let it be so.

to Him the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.