Ephesians 4

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Unity in the Body

¹As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

¹Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthily of the calling to which you were called,

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

²with all humility and gentleness; with patience, bearing with one another in love;

³and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

³being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

⁴one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

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

⁷Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

⁷Now to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

⁸This is why it says:^a

“When He ascended on high,

He led captives away,

and gave gifts to men.”^b

⁸Therefore it says: “Having ascended on high, He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men.”

⁹What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended^a to the lower parts of the earth?

⁹Now what is the saying “He ascended,” except that He also descended into the lower regions of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.

¹⁰The One having descended is also the same One having ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.

¹¹And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹¹And He gave some indeed as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

¹²toward the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ,

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

¹³until we all may come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

¹⁴so that no longer may we be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried around by every wind of teaching in the cunning of men in craftiness to the scheming of deceit.

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we should grow in all things into Him who is the head, Christ,

¹⁶From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

¹⁶from whom all the body, being fit together and being knit together by every joint of its supply, according to the working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

New Life in Christ

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

¹⁷This therefore I say and testify in the Lord: You are no longer to walk as also the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

¹⁸being darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance being in them on account of the hardness of their heart,

¹⁹Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

¹⁹who, having ceased to feel, gave themselves up to sensuality for the working of all impurity with covetousness.

²⁰But this is not the way you came to know Christ.

²⁰But you did not learn Christ this way,

²¹Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus—

²¹if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as the truth is in Jesus,

²²to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

²²you are to put off concerning the former way of life the old man, which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit,

²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;

²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁴and to have put on the new man, having been created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth.

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

²⁵Therefore, having put off falsehood, let each one speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.”^a Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

²⁶“Be angry, and do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

²⁷neither give place to the devil.

²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

²⁸The one stealing, let him steal no longer, but rather let him toil, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to impart to the one having need.

²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

²⁹Do not let any rotten word go forth out of your mouth, but if any is good for edification of the need, so that it may give grace to those hearing.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

³¹Let all bitterness and rage and wrath and outcry and slander be removed from you, with all malice.

³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

³²And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as also God in Christ forgave you.