² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^(A)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^(B)to which I have called them.”

²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, ^(A)for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, ^(A)called to be an apostle, ^(B)separated to the gospel of God

¹⁵ But when it pleased God, ^(A)who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ^16 (B)to reveal His Son in me, that ^(C)I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with ^(D)flesh and blood,

The Mystery Revealed

3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the ^[a]dispensation of the grace of God ^(A)which was given to me for you, ^3 (B)how that by revelation ^(C)He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: ⁶ that the Gentiles ^(D)should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, ^7 (E)of which I became a minister ^(F)according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by ^(G)the effective working of His power.

^5 (A)For there is one God and ^(B)one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ^6 (C)who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, ^7 (D)for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth ^[a]in Christ and not lying—^(E)a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁷ For ^(A)God has not given us a spirit of fear, ^(B)but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

^8 (C)Therefore do not be ashamed of ^(D)the testimony of our Lord, nor of me ^(E)His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, ^(F)not according to our works, but ^(G)according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus ^(H)before time began, ¹⁰ but ^(I)has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (J)to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher ^[a]of the Gentiles.