Ephesians 4:1–16

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.