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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Eph 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) according_to the_purpose of_the ages, which he_established in the chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa), the master of_us,
OET (OET-RV) God did this according to his plan for the ages which he established in our master Yeshua the messiah.
In 3:1, Paul was about to pray for the Christians. Instead, in 3:2 he stopped his sentence and began to write about the special work that God had given him. It was not until 3:14 that Paul resumed his prayer.
The special work that God had given Paul was to preach God’s message to the Gentiles. The blessings of God are for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, but God had hidden this great truth for a long time. Then God gave Paul the task of telling people about this truth. In this way, everyone would know that God was very wise and loving because he saved both Jews and Gentiles and united them into one church.
Here are some other titles for this section:
God’s mysterious plan revealed (NLT)
Paul’s work in telling the Good News (NCV)
God’s plan to unite Jews and Gentiles in Christ is revealed to Paul
In the previous verses 3:3–6, Paul talked about God’s mystery/plan. However, beginning in 3:7, he changed topics. Here he talked about his work preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.
Even though Paul was not one of the twelve apostles, God gave him the work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. God intended that through the church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, all the angels and evil spirits would see his wisdom. So Paul urged the Christians not to be discouraged by the fact that he was suffering in prison. He reminded them that it was for their honor that he was suffering in prison.
according to the eternal purpose
God planned/decided to do this before he made the world,
just as he always planned to do.
It may be better to begin a new sentence here. For example:
God did this according to his eternal purpose. (GNT)
The word “this” in the GNT (and in the Display of 3:11a) refers to 3:9b–10b. That is, it refers to God’s plan to save mankind, both Gentiles and Jews.
according to the eternal purpose: Here the word eternal refers primarily to the past not the future. So the phrase eternal purpose means that God had planned (to save Gentiles and Jews) from eternity past or from the beginning. He planned it before he created the world.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
eternal plan (NLT)
God’s plan for all of history (GW)
the purpose God had since the beginning of time (NCV)
that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
and he did/achieved it through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now he has caused it to happen by means of what Christ Jesus our supreme Master has done.
that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord: The word accomplished means “to get something done.” God accomplished or achieved his plan through Christ Jesus.
in Christ Jesus our Lord: Another way to express this is that God accomplished his plan by means of what Christ has done.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
because of all that Christ Jesus our Lord had done (CEV)
which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord (NLT)
κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατά πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων ἥν ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν)
Alternate translation: [in keeping with the eternal plan] or [consistent with the eternal plan]
3:1-13 Paul now describes his own role in God’s eternal plan: to proclaim God’s grace to the Gentiles.
OET (OET-LV) according_to the_purpose of_the ages, which he_established in the chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa), the master of_us,
OET (OET-RV) God did this according to his plan for the ages which he established in our master Yeshua the messiah.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.