For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Parallel translations
- WEB For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,
- BSB For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
- NKJV For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
- NASB For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
- NLT When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul, a prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles' sake, begins to pray for his readers. It shows his suffering on behalf of the Gentile mission.
Overview
Paul resumes ('For this cause') intending to pray, calling himself 'the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.' His imprisonment is not a defeat but service to Christ and to the Gentile believers. He breaks off to explain his ministry of the gospel mystery before returning to the prayer in verse 14.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Col 1:24Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
- Eph 6:20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- Eph 4:1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
- 2 Tim 1:8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
- Phil 1:13–16So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
- Luke 21:12But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.
- Phlm 1:9Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
- Phil 1:7Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
- Acts 23:18So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.
- Phlm 1:1Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
- Acts 21:33Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
- Acts 28:17–20And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
- Acts 26:29And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
- Phlm 1:23There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus;
- 2 Cor 10:1Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
- 2 Tim 1:16The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
- Col 4:3Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
- 1 Th 2:15–16Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
- Col 4:18The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
- 2 Tim 2:9–10Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
- Rev 2:10Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
- Gal 5:11And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
- Eph 3:13Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
- Gal 5:2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 3:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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