Ephesians 5:22–32

The Christian Household

²²Wives, be subject^t to your husbands as to the Lord,^{* 23}for the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.^{* 24}Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, so that she may be holy and without blemish.^{* 28}In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰because we are members of his body.^{u* 31}“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{* 32}This is a great mystery, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.