Ephesians 4:7–16

⁷But ^cgrace was given ^dto each one of us ^eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it says,

^f“When he ascended on high ^ghe led a host of captives,

and he gave gifts to men.”¹

⁹(^hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ⁱthe lower regions, the earth?^{2 10}He who descended is the one who also ^jascended ^kfar above all the heavens, that he might ^lfill all things.) ¹¹And ^mhe gave the ⁿapostles, the prophets, the ^oevangelists, the ^pshepherds³ and teachers,^{4 12q}to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^rbuilding up ^sthe body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to ^tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^uto mature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of ^vthe fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, ^wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^xdeceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather, ^yspeaking the truth in love, we are to ^zgrow up in every way into him who is ^athe head, into Christ, ^16bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.