Ephesians 4:8–16

⁸Therefore He says:

^j“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

^9k(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also ⁴first descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is also the One ^lwho ascended far above all the heavens, ^mthat He might fill all things.)

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ⁿfor the ⁵edifying of ^othe body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith ^pand of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^qa perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be ^rchildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^sdeceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ^thead—Christ—^16ufrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.