Ephesians 4–6

CHAPTER 4

Unity of the Spirit

¹Therefore 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 ^1bfull 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 ^1cin 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 ^1aunwholesome 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.

CHAPTER 5

Be Imitators of God

^1aTherefore 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),

^101atrying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

^11aAnd do not participate in the unfruitful ^bworks of ^cdarkness, but instead even ^1dexpose 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 ^1bGod, even the Father;

^211aand being subject to one another in the ^2bfear 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 ^1brespects her husband.

CHAPTER 6

Children and Parents

^1aChildren, 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 ^1bflesh and blood, but ^cagainst the rulers, against the authorities, against the ^dworld forces of this ^edarkness, against the ^fspiritual forces of wickedness in ^gthe 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.

^221aI have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know ²our circumstances, and that he may ^bencourage your hearts.

^23aPeace be to the brothers, and ^blove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ ¹with incorruptible love.