Unity of the Spirit

1 Therefore I, athe prisoner of the Lord, bimplore you to cwalk in a manner worthy of the dcalling with which you have been ecalled,

2 with all ahumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another bin love,

3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the abond of peace.

4 There is aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one bhope of your calling;

5 aone Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all awho is over all and through all and in all.

7 But ato each one of us bgrace was given caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

8 Therefore 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 2had descended into bthe lower parts of the earth?

10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended afar above all the heavens, so that He might bfill all things.)

11 And He agave bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as cevangelists, and some as pastors and dteachers,

12 afor the equipping of the 1saints for the work of service, to the building up of bthe body of Christ;

13 until we all attain to athe unity of the faith, and of the 1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a cmature man, to the measure of the stature 2which belongs to the dfullness of Christ.

14 1As a result, 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 2in ddeceitful scheming;

15 but 1speaking the truth ain love, 2we are to bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the chead, even Christ,

16 from whom athe whole body, being fitted and held together 1by what every joint supplies, according to the 2proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself bin love.