Ephesians 4

1 I, the prisoner of the LORD, then call on you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

I beg you, then – I who am a prisoner in the Master’s cause – to live lives worthy of the call that you have received;

2 with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love,

always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another,

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

and striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit.

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

There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your call.

5 one Lord, one faith, one immersion,

There is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

6 one God and Father of all, who [is] over all, and through all, and in you all,

There is but one God and Father of all – the God who is over all, pervades all, and is in all.

7 and to each one of you was given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ,

Everyone of us, however, has been entrusted with some charge, each in accordance with the extent of the gift of the Christ.

8 for this reason, it says, “Having gone up on high He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men.”

That is why it is said – “When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. And gave gifts to humanity.”

9 And that, He went up, what is it except that He also went down first into the lower parts of the earth?

Now surely this “going up” must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath.

10 He who went down is the same who also went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things—

He who went down is the same as he who went up – up beyond the highest heaven, so that he might fill all things with his presence.

11 and He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] proclaimers of good news, and some [as] shepherds and teachers,

And he it is who gave to the church apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers,

12 to the perfecting of the holy ones, for a work of ministry, for a building up of the body of the Christ,

to fit his people for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of the Christ.

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

And this will continue, until we all attain to that unity which is given by faith and by a fuller knowledge of the Son of God; until we reach maturity – the full standard of the perfection of the Christ.

14 that we may no longer be children, being tossed by waves and being carried around by every wind of the teaching, in the cunning of men, in craftiness, to the scheming of leading astray,

Then we will no longer be like infants, tossed backward and forward, blown about by every breath of human teaching and by people’s trickery and craftiness;

15 and [speaking] truth in love, we may increase to Him [in] all things, who is the head—the Christ;

but holding the truth in a spirit of love, we will grow into complete union with him who is our head – Christ himself.

16 from whom the whole body, being fitly joined together and united, through the supply of every joint, 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.

For from him the whole body, closely joined and knit together by the contact of every part with the source of its life, derives its power to grow, in proportion to the vigour of each individual part; and so is being built up in a spirit of love.

17 This, then, I say, and I testify in the LORD: you are no longer to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of their mind,

This, then, as one in union with the Lord, I implore: Do not continue to live such purposeless lives as the Gentiles live,

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

with their powers of discernment darkened, cut off from the life of God, owing to the ignorance that prevails among them and to the hardness of their hearts.

19 who, having ceased to feel, gave themselves up to the licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness in greediness;

Lost to all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, in order to practice every kind of impurity without restraint.

20 and you did not so learn the Christ,

But far different is the lesson you learned from the Christ – if, that is, you really listened to him,

21 if [it] so be [that] you heard Him, and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus;

and through union with him were taught the truth, as it is to be found in Jesus.

22 concerning the former behavior you are to put off the old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the deceit,

For you learned with regard to your former way of living that you must cast off your old nature, which, yielding to deluding passions, grows corrupt;

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

that the spirit of your minds must be constantly renewed;

24 and to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of the truth.

and that you must clothe yourselves in that new nature which was created to resemble God, with the righteousness and holiness springing from the truth.

25 For this reason, putting away the lying, each speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another;

Since, therefore, you have cast off what is false, you must every one of you speak the truth to your neighbours. For we are united to one another like the parts of a body.

26 be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger;

27 neither give place to the Devil;

and give no opportunity to the devil.

28 whoever is stealing let him no longer steal, but rather let him labor, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having need.

Let the person who steals steal no longer, but rather they should toil with their hands at honest work, so that they may have something to share with anyone in need.

29 Let no corrupt word go forth out of your mouth, but what is good to the necessary building up, that it may give grace to the hearers;

Never let any foul word pass your lips, but only such good words as the occasion demands, so that they may be a help to those who hear them.

30 and do not make the Holy Spirit of God sorrowful, in which you were sealed to [the] day of redemption.

And do not grieve God’s Holy Spirit; for it was through that Spirit that God sealed you as his, against the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice,

Let all bitterness, passion, anger, brawling, and abusive language be banished from among you, as well as all malice.

32 and become kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as God also forgave you in Christ.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ready to forgive one another, just as God, in Christ, forgave you.