and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him.

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people,

God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this,

In past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

I was made a servant of the gospel by God's special gift, which he gave me through the working of his power.

and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,

Jesus answered, "The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past.

To the only God, who alone is all-wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever! Amen.

But it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God's purposes.

We have not received this world's spirit; instead, we have received the Spirit sent by God, so that we may know all that God has given us.

I did not receive it from any human being, nor did anyone teach it to me. It was Jesus Christ himself who revealed it to me.

to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the Good News about him to the Gentiles, I did not go to anyone for advice,

which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all human beings but has now revealed to his people.

So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.

No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.

God did this according to his eternal purpose, which he achieved through Christ Jesus our Lord.

He never changes. No one can oppose him or stop him from doing what he wants to do.

He will fulfill what he has planned for me; that plan is just one of the many he has;

But his plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.

The LORD Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done.

This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations."

From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.

I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done.

What is your complaint? Why have you rebelled against me?

The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.

Good and evil alike take place at his command.

In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him.

They gathered to do everything that you by your power and will had already decided would happen.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,