Ephesians 3:1

Contemporary English Version

Christ Jesus made me his prisoner, so that I could help you Gentiles.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

King James Version (1611)
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Iesus Christ for you Gentiles,

King James Version
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

English Standard Version
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

New American Standard Bible
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

New Century Version
So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Legacy Standard Bible
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

Berean Standard Bible
For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...

Complete Jewish Bible
It is a consequence of this that I, Sha'ul, am a prisoner of the Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Gentiles.

Darby Translation
For this reason *I* Paul, prisoner of the Christ Jesus for you nations,

Easy-to-Read Version
So I, Paul, am a prisoner because I serve Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For this cause, I Paul am the prisoner of Iesus Christ for you Gentiles,

George Lamsa Translation
FOR this cause I, Paul, am a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the sake of you Gentiles.

Good News Translation
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, pray to God.

Lexham English Bible
On account of this I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

Literal Translation
Because of this, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you, the nations,

Amplified Bible
For this reason [because I preach that you and believing Jews are joint heirs] I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—

American Standard Version
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,—

Bible in Basic English
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles,

Hebrew Names Version
For this cause I, Sha'ul, am the prisoner of Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Goyim,

International Standard Version
For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.Acts 21:33; Galatians 5:11; Ephesians 4:1; 6:20; Philippians 1:7,13-14,16; Colossians 1:24; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:9-10;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
On account of this I, Paulos, am bound for Jeshu Meshiha for the sake of you Gentiles:

Murdock Translation
On this account, I Paul am a prisoner of Jesus the Messiah, for the sake of you Gentiles:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For this cause I Paul [am] a prisoner of Iesus Christe, for you heathen:

English Revised Version
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,—

World English Bible
For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For this cause I Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, (Seeing ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God,

Weymouth's New Testament
For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles--

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For the grace of this thing I Poul, the boundun of Crist Jhesu, for you hethene men,

Update Bible Version
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-

Webster's Bible Translation
For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

New English Translation
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

New King James Version
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--

New Living Translation
When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .

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

New Revised Standard
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you the nations: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles:

Revised Standard Version
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles--

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For this cause I Paul a in ye bodes of Iesus christ for youre sakes which are hethen:

Young's Literal Translation
For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For this cause I Paul am a presoner of Iesus Christ for you Heythen,

Mace New Testament (1729)
This it is that makes me Paul a prisoner for Jesus Christ upon your account, O Gentiles;

THE MESSAGE
This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you're familiar with the part I was given in God's plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

Simplified Cowboy Version
It's because of this that I, Paul, who is a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of the outsiders, pray to God.

Contextual Overview

¹ Christ Jesus made me his prisoner, so that I could help you Gentiles. ² You have surely heard about God's kindness in choosing me to help you. ³ In fact, this letter tells you a little about how God has shown me his mysterious ways. ⁴ As you read the letter, you will also find out how well I really do understand the mystery about Christ. ⁵ No one knew about this mystery until God's Spirit told it to his holy apostles and prophets. ⁶ And the mystery is this: Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body. ⁷ God treated me with kindness. His power worked in me, and it became my job to spread the good news. ⁸ I am the least important of all God's people. But God was kind and chose me to tell the Gentiles that because of Christ there are blessings that cannot be measured. ⁹ God, who created everything, wanted me to help everyone understand the mysterious plan that had always been hidden in his mind. ¹⁰ Then God would use the church to show the powers and authorities in the spiritual world that he has many different kinds of wisdom.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I: 2 Corinthians 10:1, Galatians 5:2

the: Ephesians 4:1, Ephesians 6:20, Luke 21:12, Acts 21:33, Acts 26:29, Acts 28:17-20, 2 Corinthians 11:23, Philippians 1:7, Philippians 1:13-16, Colossians 1:24, Colossians 4:3, Colossians 4:18, 2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy 1:16, 2 Timothy 2:9, Philemon 1:1, Philemon 1:9, Revelation 2:10

for: Galatians 5:11, Colossians 1:24, 1 Thessalonians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:10

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 22:27 - Put this fellow Psalms 69:33 - his prisoners Jeremiah 36:5 - General Matthew 5:48 - even Acts 16:23 - they cast Acts 21:11 - So shall Acts 23:18 - Paul Acts 28:20 - this chain Romans 15:8 - truth Romans 15:16 - I should 2 Corinthians 6:5 - imprisonments Galatians 1:16 - that Ephesians 3:13 - at 2 Timothy 1:12 - the which Philemon 1:13 - the bonds Hebrews 10:34 - in my Hebrews 11:36 - bonds

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
The Lord God then asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The snake tricked me," she answered. "And I ate some of that fruit."

Genesis 3:15
You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel."

Ecclesiastes 4:10
If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.

Isaiah 27:1
On that day, Leviathan, the sea monster, will squirm and try to escape, but the Lord will kill him with a cruel, sharp sword.

Matthew 4:3
Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread."

Matthew 4:6
The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: ‘God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.'"

Matthew 4:9
The devil said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me."

Matthew 10:16
I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.

2 Corinthians 11:14
And it is no wonder. Even Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light.

1 Peter 3:7
If you are a husband, you should be thoughtful of your wife. Treat her with honor, because she isn't as strong as you are, and she shares with you in the gift of life. Then nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,.... Not actively, whom Christ had apprehended by his grace, and made a prisoner of hope; but passively, who was made a prisoner for Christ, on account of preaching Christ, and his Gospel: he was not a prisoner for any capital crime, as theft, murder, c. and therefore be was not ashamed of his bonds, but rather glories in them and a prison has often been the portion of the best of men in this world: from hence we learn, that this epistle was written when the apostle was a prisoner at Rome; and the consideration of this his condition serves much to confirm the truths he had before delivered, seeing they were such as he could, and did suffer for; and which must engage the attention of the Ephesians to them, and especially since his sufferings were on their account:

for you Gentiles: because he preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, which the Jews forbid, that they might not be saved; and because he taught them, that circumcision and the rest of the ceremonies of the law were not binding upon them; which gave great offence to the Jews, who were the means of bringing of him into these circumstances, and particularly the Asiatic Jews, the Jews of Ephesus; who having seen and heard him there, knew him again when in the temple at Jerusalem, and raised a mob upon him, having bore a grudge against him for his ministry at Ephesus, by which means he became a prisoner; so that he might truly say, he was a prisoner for the sake of them; see Acts 21:27. One of Stevens's copies adds, "am an ambassador", as in Ephesians 6:20 and another of them, "glory", or "rejoice"; see Philippians 2:16.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For this cause - On account of preaching this doctrine; that is, the doctrine that the gospel was to be proclaimed to the Gentiles.

I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ - A prisoner in the service of the Lord Jesus; or made a prisoner in his cause. Not a prisoner for crime or debt, or as a captive in war, but a captive in the service of the Redeemer. This proves that at the time of writing this, Paul was in bonds, and there can he no question that he was in Rome. This would be more correctly rendered, “For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner,” etc. So Tyndale renders it, “For this cause I, Paul, the servant of Jesus, am in bonds.” So also Locke, Rosenmuller, Doddridge, Whitby, Koppe, and others understand it. By this construction the abruptness now manifest in our common version is avoided.

For you Gentiles - Made a prisoner at Rome on your behalf, because I maintained that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles; see Acts 22:21-23. He was taken first to Cesarea, and then to Rome. The cause of his imprisonment and of all his difficulties was, that he maintained that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles; that when the Jews rejected it God rejected them; and that he was specially called to carry the message of salvation to the pagan world.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III.

Paul, a prisoner for the testimony of Jesus, declares his

knowledge of what had been a mystery from all ages, that the

Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body with the

Jews, 1-6.

Which doctrine he was made a minister, that he might declare the

unsearchable riches of Christ, and make known to principalities

and powers this eternal purpose of God, 7-12.

He desires them not to be discouraged on account of his

tribulations, 13.

His prayer that they might be filled with all the fulness of

God, 14-19.

His doxology, 20, 21.

NOTES ON CHAP. III.

Verse Ephesians 3:1. For this cause — Because he maintained that the Gentiles were admitted to all the privileges of the Jews, and all the blessings of the new covenant, without being obliged to submit to circumcision, the Jews persecuted him, and caused him to be imprisoned, first at Caesarea, where he was obliged to appeal to the Roman emperor, in consequence of which he was sent prisoner to Rome. See Acts 21:21-28, c.

The prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles — For preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, and showing that they were not bound by the law of Moses, and yet were called to be fellow citizens with the saints for this very cause the Jews persecuted him unto bonds, and conspired his death.