EPH 3:20 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) 20-21 Now we offer praise to God in the church and for all the generations to come and to Yeshua the messiah—God who, through the power that works in us, is able to do far more than we can ask for or even understand. May it be so.

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And to the one being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us,

UST Praise God, who is able to do much more than anything that we ask him to do, or even that we think that he can do, because of how powerfully he works within us!

BLB Now to the One being able to do exceedingly above all things that we ask or think, according to the power working in us,

AICNT Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

OEB ¶ To him who, through his power which is at work within us, is able to do far more than anything that we can ask or conceive –

CSB Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—

NLT Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

NIV Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

ESV Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

NASB Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

LSB Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us,

WEBBE 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,

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(20-21)God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

NET Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,

LSV and to Him who is able to do exceedingly [and] abundantly above all things that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us,

FBV Now may he who—through his power working in us—can do infinitely more than we ever ask for or even think about,

TCNT Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us—

T4T God is able to do much ◄greater things/more► than we could ask him to do, or even that we might think that he can do, by his power that is working within us.

LEB Now to the one who is able to do beyond all measure more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work in us,

NRSV Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

NKJV 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,

NAB Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us,

BBE Now to him who is able to do in full measure more than all our desires or thoughts, through the power which is working in us,

Moff Now to him who by the action of his power within us can do all things, aye far more than we ever ask or imagine,

Wymth Now to Him who, in exercise of His power that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely beyond all our highest prayers or thoughts—

ASV 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,

DRA Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us;

YLT 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,

Drby But to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us,

RV 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,
(Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh/works in us, )

SLT And to him being able to do above all things more abundantly above what we ask or think, according to the power being energetic in us,

Wbstr Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

KJB-1769 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,
(Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh/works in us, )

KJB-1611 Now vnto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly aboue all that wee aske or thinke, according to the power that worketh in vs,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps Unto him that is able to do exceeding aboundauntly aboue all that we aske or thynke, accordyng to the power that worketh in vs,
(Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thynke, according to the power that worketh/works in us,)

Gnva Vnto him therefore that is able to do exceeding aboundantly aboue all that we aske or thinke, according to the power that worketh in vs,
(Unto him therefore that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh/works in us, )

Cvdl Vnto him that is able to do exceadinge abundauntly, aboue all that we axe or vnderstonde (acordinge to ye power that worketh in vs)
(Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we axe or understood (according to ye/you_all power that worketh/works in us))

TNT Vnto him that is able to do excedynge aboudantly above all that we axe or thynke accordynge to the power that worketh in vs
(Unto him that is able to do exceding aboudantly above all that we axe or think accordinge to the power that worketh/works in us )

Wycl And to hym that is myyti to do alle thingis more plenteuousli than we axen or vndurstondun, bi the vertu that worchith in vs,
(And to him that is mighty to do all things more plenteous/plentifully than we axen or understondun, by the virtue that worketh/works in us,)

Luth Dem aber, der überschwenglich tun kann über alles, was wir bitten oder verstehen, nach der Kraft, die da in uns wirket,
(To_him but, the/of_the in_abundance do/put can above all/everything, what/which we/us ask or understand, after the/of_the strength/power, the there in us/to_us/ourselves works/acts,)

ClVg Ei autem, qui potens est omnia facere superabundanter quam petimus aut intelligimus, secundum virtutem, quæ operatur in nobis:[fn]
(Ei however, who/which powerful it_is everything to_do superabundanter how petimus or we_understand, after/second virtue, which works in/into/on us: )

3.20 Potens est omnia facere, etc. In hac sunt quædam quæ nemo alioqui peteret vel intelligeret, ut quod Deus homo pro hominibus moreretur et hujusmodi alia.

3.20 Powerful it_is everything to_do, etc. In this_way are some which nobody/no_one anotherqui peteret or would_understand, as that God human for to_humans would_die and of_this_kind other.

UGNT τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα, ποιῆσαι ὑπέρἐκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν, κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν;
(tōi de dunamenōi huper panta, poiaʸsai huperekperissou hōn aitoumetha aʸ nooumen, kata taʸn dunamin taʸn energoumenaʸn en haʸmin;)

SBL-GNT Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν,
(Tōi de dunamenōi huper panta poiaʸsai huperekperissou hōn aitoumetha aʸ nooumen kata taʸn dunamin taʸn energoumenaʸn en haʸmin,)

RP-GNT Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπὲρ ἐκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν, κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν,
(Tōi de dunamenōi huper panta poiaʸsai huper ekperissou hōn aitoumetha aʸ nooumen, kata taʸn dunamin taʸn energoumenaʸn en haʸmin,)

TC-GNT Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπὲρ ἐκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν, κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἡμῖν,
(Tōi de dunamenōi huper panta poiaʸsai huper ekperissou hōn aitoumetha aʸ nooumen, kata taʸn dunamin taʸn energoumenaʸn en haʸmin, )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:14–21: Paul prayed again for the believers at Ephesus

In this section, Paul resumed his prayer for the Ephesian Christians. He asked God to strengthen them by the Holy Spirit so that Christ could live in them. He prayed that they would love each other, and that they would know how much Christ loved them, even though he loved them more than people could understand. Paul finished his prayer by praising God for his great power.

Here are some other titles for this section:

Paul prayed that God would strengthen the Ephesians

Paul’s prayer for spiritual strength and love for the Ephesians

Paragraph 3:20–21

This paragraph is a “doxology” or song of praise to God. Paul was expressing his praise for God in a very strong way.

It may be necessary to begin this paragraph with a phrase taken from 3:21. For example:

Let us glorify/praise God

May God be praised

Praise God

That God’s name would be huge

3:20a

Now to Him

¶ Let us glorify/praise God
¶ Praise God.

Now: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Now simply connects 3:20 to the preceding verses. It is not a time word. Some of the more modern English versions do not translate it.

to Him: The pronoun Him refers to God. Even though Paul did not mention God by name, you may want to say “God” explicitly in your translation. For example:

Glory belongs to God (GW)

3:20b

who is able to do so much more

who is able to do so much more than all the things
He has power to do things which are very much greater

who is able to do so much more: The Greek word that the BSB translated as so much more literally means “super-abundantly above.” So, the clause who is able to do so much more means that God has power to do much, much more than we can ever ask of him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

who can do far more

He has power to do immeasurably more

3:20c

than all we ask or imagine,

that we ask him to do, or think that he can do.
than anything we request from him or we can ever even imagine is possible.

than all we ask or imagine: Paul is saying that God is able to do infinitely more than he or the Ephesians could ask or think to ask.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

than we could possibly think of to ask

than is even possible to request or even think of

General Comment on 3:20

Commentators are divided over whether Paul was referring to his requests in 3:16–19 or to requests in general.

Translations leave the reference here ambiguous and it is recommended that you translate this verse the same way.

3:20d

according to His power that is at work within us,

He does all this by his power which is working/acting in our hearts.
He can do this because he is working powerfully/mightily in us.

according to His power that is at work within us: God does more than people can ask or think. He does this according to or by the power of his Holy Spirit who works in the hearts of his people.

In some languages it may not be possible to say that God’s power “works” in us. You may have to say that God’s power “acts” or “moves” in us. Use whichever verb goes with power. Or you may have to say that God is working powerfully/mightily in us.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (NLT)

To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: (GNT)

General Comment on 3:20a–d

It may be more natural in your language to change the order of 3:20a–d. For example:

^20aGlory belongs to God, ^20dwhose power is at work in us. ^20b–cBy this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine (GW)

Parallel EPH 3:20

Section 3:14–21: Paul prayed again for the believers at Ephesus

Paragraph 3:20–21

3:20a

3:20b

3:20c

General Comment on 3:20

3:20d

General Comment on 3:20a–d