Ephesians 3

World English Bible 120 include this book

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 accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 In him 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 inner person,

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.

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1 place named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

Where this was written

Rome disputed Traditionally from Roman imprisonment; authorship and destination are both contested.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 62 AD–67 AD Paul
Ascribed to Paul in the text and by early tradition.
Critical: 80 AD–110 AD Written in Paul's name
Vocabulary, style and the church structures assumed differ markedly from the undisputed letters; many critical scholars read these as written by followers in Paul's name, a recognised ancient practice.

Who ruled Rome

Emperors reigning while this book is dated. Where the traditions differ, they often fall under different rulers.

Critical

Titus 79 AD–81 AD
Commanded the army that destroyed the Jerusalem temple before becoming emperor.
Domitian 81 AD–96 AD
An autocratic reign under which Revelation is traditionally placed, on the testimony of Irenaeus.
Nerva 96 AD–98 AD
A brief reign that eased the pressures of Domitian's last years.
Trajan 98 AD–117 AD
His correspondence with Pliny the Younger is the earliest surviving statement of official Roman policy toward Christians.

Traditional

Nero 54 AD–68 AD
The fire of Rome in 64 was followed by the first state persecution of Christians. Paul and Peter are traditionally martyred in this reign.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (62 AD–110 AD).

1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
500 BC–500 AD The Nazca lines South America
Vast figures drawn on the Peruvian desert, visible only from the surrounding hills.
206 BC–220 AD The Han dynasty China
Four centuries of Chinese rule contemporary with the whole of Roman expansion.
150 BC–100 AD Roman concrete and the aqueducts Rome
Hydraulic concrete let Rome build harbours, domes and aqueducts that still stand.
100 BC–550 AD Teotihuacan Mesoamerica
A city of perhaps a hundred thousand people in the valley of Mexico, with monumental pyramids.
43 AD–84 AD Rome conquers Britain Britain
Claudius invaded and the province was gradually extended to the Scottish lowlands.
66 AD–73 AD First Jewish–Roman war Levant
Revolt against Rome ending in the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70 — the decisive rupture in Second Temple Judaism.
27 BC–100 AD Roman road and sea network matures Rome
Consolidated roads, harbours and suppressed piracy made long-distance travel unusually safe, a precondition for the rapid spread of early Christian communities.

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