Ephesians 4 - 6
Unity of the Spirit
4Therefore I, athe prisoner in the Lord, bexhort you to cwalk worthy of the dcalling with which you have been ecalled, 2with all ahumility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another bin love, 3being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the abond of peace. 4There is aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one bhope of your calling; 5aone Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all awho is over all and through all and in all.
7But ato each one of us bgrace was given caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore 1it says, “aWhen He ascended on high,He bled captive a host of captives,And He gave gifts to men.”
9(Now this expression, “He aascended,” what 1does it mean except that He also 2descended into bthe lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is Himself also He who ascended afar above all the heavens, so that He might bfill all things.) 11And He Himself agave bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as cevangelists, and some as pastors and dteachers, 12afor the equipping of the 1saints for the work of service, to the building up of bthe body of Christ, 13until we all attain to athe unity of the faith, and of the 1,bfull knowledge of the Son of God, to a cmature man, to the measure of the stature 2which belongs to the dfullness of Christ, 14so that we are ano longer to be children, btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ccraftiness 1in ddeceitful scheming, 15but 1speaking the truth ain love, 2we are to bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the chead, that is Christ, 16from whom athe whole body, being joined and held together 1by what every joint supplies, according to the properly bmeasured working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself cin love.
Put On the New Man
17aTherefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the cfutility of their mind, 18being adarkened in their mind, balienated from the life of God because of the cignorance that is in them, because of the dhardness of their heart. 19And they, having abecome callous, bhave given themselves over to csensuality 1for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20But you did not alearn 1Christ in this way— 21if indeed you aheard Him and were btaught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 221to alay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the bold man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the clusts of deceit, 23and to be arenewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and to aput on the bnew man, which 1,cin the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
25Therefore, alaying aside falsehood, bspeak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are cmembers of one another. 26aBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not agive the devil 1an opportunity. 28He who steals must steal no longer, but rather ahe must labor, bperforming with his own hands what is good, cso that he will have something to share with 1one who has need. 29Let no 1,aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for bbuilding up 2what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30aAnd do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 1by whom you were bsealed for the day of redemption. 31aLet all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be bput away from you, along with all cmalice. 32aInstead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, bjust as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven 1you.
Be Imitators of God
5aTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and awalk in love, just as Christ also bloved 1us and cgave Himself up for us, an doffering and a sacrifice to God 2as a efragrant aroma.
3But asexual immorality 1or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among 2saints; 4nor afilthiness and foolish talk, or coarse jesting, which bare not fitting, but rather cgiving of thanks. 5For this you know with certainty, that ano one sexually immoral or impure or greedy, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom bof Christ and God.
6aLet no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things bthe wrath of God comes upon cthe sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be apartakers with them, 8for ayou were formerly bdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as cchildren of light 9(for athe fruit of that light consists in all bgoodness and righteousness and truth), 101,atrying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11aAnd do not participate in the unfruitful bworks of cdarkness, but instead even 1,dexpose them. 12For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things become visible awhen they are 1exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14For this reason 1it says, “aAwake, sleeper,And arise from bthe dead,And Christ cwill shine on you.”
15Therefore look carefully how you awalk, not bas unwise but as wise, 16aredeeming the time, because bthe days are evil. 17On account of this, do not be foolish, but aunderstand what the will of the Lord is. 18And ado not get drunk with wine, 1for that is bdissipation, but be cfilled with the Spirit, 19aspeaking to 1one another in bpsalms and chymns and spiritual dsongs, esinging and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20aalways giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to 1,bGod, even the Father; 211,aand being subject to one another in the 2,bfear of Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22aWives, bbe subject to your own husbands, cas to the Lord. 23For athe husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the bhead of the church, He Himself cbeing the Savior of the body. 24But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25aHusbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and bgave Himself up for her, 26aso that He might sanctify her, having bcleansed her by the cwashing of water with dthe word, 27that He might apresent to Himself the church 1in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be bholy and blameless. 28So husbands ought also to alove their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30because we are amembers of His bbody. 31aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to alove his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she 1,brespects her husband.
Children and Parents
6aChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2aHonor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land.
4aFathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bbring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5aSlaves, be obedient to those who are your 1masters according to the flesh, with bfear and trembling, in the 2integrity of your heart, cas to Christ; 6anot 1by way of eyeservice, as bmen-pleasers, but as cslaves of Christ, ddoing the will of God from the 2heart, 7serving with good will aas to the Lord, and not to men, 8aknowing that bwhatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, cwhether slave or free.
9And masters, do the same things to them, agiving up threatening, knowing that bboth their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is cno partiality with Him.
The Armor of God
10Finally, abe strong in the Lord and in bthe might of His strength. 11aPut on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the bschemes of the devil. 12For our astruggle is not against 1,bflesh and blood, but cagainst the rulers, against the authorities, against the dworld forces of this edarkness, against the fspiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up athe full armor of God, so that you will be able to bresist in cthe evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, ahaving girded your loins with truth, and having bput on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having ashod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 161In addition to all, having taken up the ashield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the bflaming arrows of cthe evil one, 17also receive athe helmet of salvation, and the bsword of the Spirit, which is cthe word of God,
18apraying at all times 1with all bprayer and petition cin the Spirit, and to this end, dbeing on the alert with all eperseverance and fpetition for all the saints, 19as well as aon my behalf, that 1words may be given to me bin the opening of my mouth, to make known with cboldness dthe mystery of the gospel— 20for which I am an aambassador bin 1chains—so that 2in proclaiming it I may speak cboldly, das I ought to speak.
21aBut that you also may know about all my affairs, 1how I am doing, bTychicus, cthe beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 221,aI have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know 2our circumstances, and that he may bencourage your hearts.