Ephesians 4–6

UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

4Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord,^au urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ²with all humility^av and gentleness, with patience,^aw bearing^ax with one another in love,^{ay 3}making every effort to keep the unity^az of the Spirit^ba through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit^bb—just as you were called to one hope^Da at your calling—⁵one Lord,^b one faith,^c one baptism, ⁶one God^d and Father^e of all, who is above all and through all and in all.^f

⁷Now grace was given to each one of us^g according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸For it says:

When he ascended^h on high,

he took the captives captive;

he gave gifts to people.^Ei

⁹But what does “he ascended” mean except that he^A also descended to the lower parts of the earth?^{Bj 10}The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens,^k to fill all things.^{l 11}And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,^{m 13}until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son,ⁿ growing into maturity with a stature^o measured by Christ’s fullness. ¹⁴Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching,^p by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head^q—Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, fitted and knit together^r by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth^s of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

LIVING THE NEW LIFE

¹⁷Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because^C of the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity^t with a desire for more and more.^D

²⁰But that is not how you came to know Christ, ²¹assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth^u is in Jesus, ²²to take off^Ev your former way of life,^w the old self^x that is corrupted by deceitful desires, ²³to be renewed^F in the spirit^y of your minds, ²⁴and to put on^Gz the new self, the one created^aa according to God’s likeness^ab in righteousness and purity of the truth.

²⁵Therefore, putting away^ac lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,^Had because we are members of one another. ²⁶Be angry and do not sin.^Iae Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and don’t give the devil an opportunity. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share^af with anyone in need. ²⁹No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need,^J so that it gives grace to those who hear. ³⁰And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit.^ag You were sealed by him^K for the day of redemption.^{ah 31}Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. ³²And be kind^ai and compassionate^aj to one another, forgiving^ak one another, just as God also forgave you^L in Christ.

5Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, ²and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us,^al a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. ³But sexual immorality^am and any impurity^an or greed^ao should not even be heard of^A among you, as is proper for saints. ⁴Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. ⁵For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral^ap or impure^aq or greedy^ar person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom^as of Christ and of God.

LIGHT VERSUS DARKNESS

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath^at is coming on the disobedient^B because of these things. ⁷Therefore, do not become their partners. ⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light^au in the Lord. Walk as children of light^av—⁹for the fruit of the light^C consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth^aw—¹⁰testing^ax what is pleasing^ay to the Lord. ¹¹Don’t participate in the fruitless^az works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. ¹³Everything exposed by the light is made visible,^{a 14}for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said:

Get up, sleeper,^b and rise up from the dead,^c

and Christ will shine on you.^d

CONSISTENCY IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—¹⁶making the most of the time,^De because the days are evil. ¹⁷So don’t be foolish, but understand^f what the Lord’s will^g is. ¹⁸And don’t get drunk^h with wine,ⁱ which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:^{j 19}speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, ²⁰giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.^k

WIVES AND HUSBANDS

²²Wives,^l submit^Em to your husbandsⁿ as to the Lord, ²³because the husband is the head of the wife^o as Christ is the head^p of the church. He is the Savior of the body.^{q 24}Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives,^r just as Christ loved^s the church and gave himself^t for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing^F her with the washing of water by the word. ²⁷He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.^{u 28}In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰since we are members of his body.^{G 31}For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,^v and the two will become one flesh.^{Hw 32}This mystery^x is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

CHILDREN AND PARENTS

6Children, obey^y your parents in the Lord, because this is right. ²Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, ³so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.^{ABz 4}Fathers, don’t stir up anger^aa in your children, but bring them up in the training^ab and instruction of the Lord.

SLAVES AND MASTERS

⁵Slaves, obey your human^C masters^ac with fear and trembling,^ad in the sincerity^ae of your heart, as you would Christ. ⁶Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will^af from your heart. ⁷Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,^{ag 8}knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. ⁹And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening^ah them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism^ai with him.^aj

CHRISTIAN WARFARE

¹⁰Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.^{ak 11}Put on^al the full armor^am of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh^an and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,^ao against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil,^ap spiritual forces in the heavens.^{aq 13}For this reason take up the full armor^ar of God, so that you may be able to resist^as in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. ¹⁴Stand,^at therefore, with truth^au like a belt around your waist, righteousness^av like armor on your chest,^{aw 15}and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In every situation take up the shield^ax of faith^ay with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.^{az 17}Take the helmet^ba of salvation and the sword^bb of the Spirit^bc—which is the word of God. ¹⁸Pray^bd at all times in the Spirit^be with every prayer and request, and stay alert^bf with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness^bg the mystery of the gospel. ²⁰For this I am an ambassador^a in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

PAUL’S FAREWELL

²¹Tychicus,^b our dearly loved brother and faithful servant^D in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed. ²²I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage^c your hearts.^d

²³Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father^e and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.^EF