The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

1 For this reason I, Paul, a ^aprisoner of Christ Jesus ^bon behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the ^cstewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the ^dmystery was made known to me by ^erevelation, ^fas I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 ^gwhich was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy ^hapostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 ⁱThis mystery is¹ that the Gentiles are ^jfellow heirs, ^kmembers of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a ^lminister according to the gift of ^mGod’s grace, which was given me ⁿby the working of his power. 8 To me, ^othough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and ^pto bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^qhidden for ages in² God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God ^rmight now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the ^sheavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal ^tpurpose that ^uhe has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have ^vboldness and ^waccess with ^xconfidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to ^ylose heart over what I am suffering ^zfor you, which is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family³ in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the ^ariches of his glory he may grant you to be ^bstrengthened with power through his Spirit in your ^cinner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^drooted and ^egrounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^fheight and depth, 19 and to know the ^glove of Christ that ^hsurpasses knowledge, that ⁱyou may be filled with all the ^jfullness of God.

20 ^kNow to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power ^lat work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 ^mI therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk ^oin a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with ^ppatience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the ^qbond of peace. 4 There is ^rone body and ^sone Spirit—just as you were called to ^tthe one hope that belongs to your call— 5 ^uone Lord, ^vone faith, ^wone baptism, 6 ^xone God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to ^yeach one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?⁵ 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended ^afar above all the heavens, that he might ^bfill all things.) 11 And he gave ^cthe apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds⁶ and teachers,⁷ 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the ^dbody of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^emature manhood,⁸ to the measure of the stature of the ^ffullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be ^gchildren, ^htossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, ⁱby human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the ^jhead, into Christ, 16 ^kfrom whom the whole body, ^ljoined and ^mheld together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ⁿtestify in the Lord, that you must ^ono longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the ^pfutility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, ^qalienated from the life of God because of the ^rignorance that is in them, due to their ^shardness of heart. 19 They have become ^tcallous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is ^unot the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were ^vtaught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^wput off your ^xold self,⁹ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be ^yrenewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the ^znew self, ^acreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away ^bfalsehood, let each one of you ^cspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^dwe are members one of another. 26 ^eBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^fgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest ^gwork with his own hands, ^hso that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ⁱLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for ^jbuilding up, as fits the occasion, ^kthat it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And ^ldo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were ^msealed for the ⁿday of redemption. 31 ^oLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be ^pkind to one another, tenderhearted, ^qforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

¹ To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.² A Psalm of David.