Ephesians 4
1 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;
I, then, the prisoner for the Master's sake, entreat you to live and act as becomes those who have received the call that you have received--
2 always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another,
with all lowliness of mind and unselfishness, and with patience, bearing with one another lovingly, and earnestly striving to maintain,
3 and striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit.
in the uniting bond of peace, the unity given by the Spirit.
4 There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your call.
There is but one body and but one Spirit, as also when you were called you had one and the same hope held out to you.
5 There is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
There is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 There is but one God and Father of all – the God who is over all, pervades all, and is in all.
and one God and Father of all, who rules over all, acts through all, and dwells in all.
7 Everyone of us, however, has been entrusted with some charge, each in accordance with the extent of the gift of the Christ.
Yet to each of us individually grace was given, measured out with the munificence of Christ.
8 That is why it is said – ‘When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. And gave gifts to humanity.’
For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men."
9 Now surely this ‘going up’ must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath.
(Now this "re-ascended" --what does it mean but that He had first descended into the lower regions of the earth?
10 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.
He who descended is the same as He who ascended again far above all the Heavens in order to fill the universe.)
11 And he it is who gave to the church apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers,
And He Himself appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to fit his people for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of the Christ.
in order fully to equip His people for the work of serving--for the building up of Christ's body--
13 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.
till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ.
14 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;
So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men's cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead.
15 but holding the truth in a spirit of love, we will grow into complete union with him who is our head – Christ himself.
But we shall lovingly hold to the truth, and shall in all respects grow up into union with Him who is our Head, even Christ.
16 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.
Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.
17 This, then, as one in union with the Lord, I implore: Do not continue to live such purposeless lives as the Gentiles live,
Therefore I warn you, and I implore you in the name of the Master, no longer to live as the Gentiles in their perverseness live,
18 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.
with darkened understandings, having by reason of the ignorance which is deep-seated in them and the insensibility of their moral nature, no share in the Life which God gives.
19 Lost to all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, in order to practice every kind of impurity without restraint.
Such men being past feeling have abandoned themselves to impurity, greedily indulging in every kind of profligacy.
20 But far different is the lesson you learned from the Christ – if, that is, you really listened to him,
But these are not the lessons which you have learned from Christ;
21 and through union with him were taught the truth, as it is to be found in Jesus.
if at least you have heard His voice and in Him have been taught--and this is true Christian teaching--
22 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;
to put away, in regard to your former mode of life, your original evil nature which is doomed to perish as befits its misleading impulses,
23 that the spirit of your minds must be constantly renewed;
and to get yourselves renewed in the temper of your minds and clothe yourselves
24 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.
with that new and better self which has been created to resemble God in the righteousness and holiness which come from the truth.
25 Since, therefore, you have cast off what is false, you must every one of you speak the truth to your neighbors. For we are united to one another like the parts of a body.
For this reason, laying aside falsehood, every one of you should speak the truth to his fellow man; for we are, as it were, parts of one another.
26 Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger;
If angry, beware of sinning. Let not your irritation last until the sun goes down;
27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
and do not leave room for the Devil.
28 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.
He who has been a thief must steal no more, but, instead of that, should work with his own hands in honest industry, so that he may have something of which he can give the needy a share.
29 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.
Let no unwholesome words ever pass your lips, but let all your words be good for benefiting others according to the need of the moment, so that they may be a means of blessing to the hearers.
30 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.
And beware of grieving the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you have been sealed in preparation for the day of Redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, passion, anger, brawling, and abusive language be banished from among you, as well as all malice.
Let all bitterness and all passionate feeling, all anger and loud insulting language, be unknown among you--and also every kind of malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ready to forgive one another, just as God, in Christ, forgave you.
On the contrary learn to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.
