Ephesians 6:18-20
New Living Translation
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.[a]
19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.[b] 20 I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.
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Ephesians 6:18-20
New English Translation
18 With every prayer and petition, pray[a] at all times in the Spirit, and to this end[b] be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. 19 Pray[c] for me also, that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak[d]—that I may confidently make known[e] the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.
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- Ephesians 6:18 tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
- Ephesians 6:18 tn Grk “and toward it.”
- Ephesians 6:19 tn To avoid a lengthy, convoluted sentence in English, the Greek sentence was broken up at this point and the verb “pray” was inserted in the English translation to pick up the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseuxomenoi, “praying”) in v. 18.
- Ephesians 6:19 tn Grk “that a word may be given to me in the opening of my mouth.” Here “word” (λόγος, logos) is used in the sense of “message,” but more specifically in this context, “the right words.”
- Ephesians 6:19 tn The infinitive γνωρίσαι (gnōrisai, “to make known”) is functioning epexegetically to further explain what the author means by the preceding phrase “that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak.”
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