Ephesians 5
1 Therefore imitate God, as his dear children,
Therefore be imitators of God, as His dear children.
2 and live a life of love, following the example of the Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you as an offering and a sacrifice to God, that should be fragrant and acceptable.
And live and act lovingly, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God, yielding a fragrant odor.
3 As for sexual immorality and every kind of impurity, or greed, do not let them even be mentioned among you, as befits Christ’s people,
But fornication and every kind of impurity, or covetousness, let them not even be mentioned among you, for they ought not to be named among God's people.
4 nor shameful conduct, nor foolish talk or jesting, for they are wholly out of place among you; but rather thanksgiving.
Avoid shameful and foolish talk and low jesting--they are all alike discreditable--and in place of these give thanks.
5 For of this you may be sure – that no one who is unchaste or impure or greedy of gain (for to be greedy of gain is idolatry) has any place awaiting him in the kingdom of the Christ and God.
For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber--or in other words idol-worshipper--has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Do not let anyone deceive you with specious arguments. Those are the sins that bring down the wrath of God on the disobedient.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is on account of these very sins that God's anger is coming upon the disobedient.
7 Therefore have nothing to do with such people.
Therefore do not become sharers with them.
8 For, although you were once in darkness, now, by your union with the Lord, you are in the light. Live as children of light –
There was a time when you were nothing but darkness. Now, as Christians, you are Light itself.
9 for the outcome of life in the light may be seen in every form of goodness, righteousness, and sincerity –
Live and act as sons of Light--for the effect of the Light is seen in every kind of goodness, uprightness and truth--
10 always trying to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.
and learn in your own experiences what is fully pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in deeds of darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them.
Have nothing to do with the barren unprofitable deeds of darkness, but, instead of that, set your faces against them;
12 It is degrading even to speak of the things continually done by them in secret.
for the things which are done by these people in secret it is disgraceful even to speak of.
13 All such actions, when exposed, have their true character made manifest by the light.
But everything can be tested by the light and thus be shown in its true colors; for whatever shines of itself is light.
14 For everything that has its true character made manifest is clear as light. And that is why it is said – ‘Sleeper, awake! Arise from the dead, and the Christ will give you light!’
For this reason it is said, "Rise, sleeper; rise from among the dead, and Christ will shed light upon you."
15 Take great care, then, how you live – not unwisely but wisely,
Therefore be very careful how you live and act. Let it not be as unwise men, but as wise.
16 making the most of every opportunity; for these are evil days.
Buy up your opportunities, for these are evil times.
17 Therefore do not grow thoughtless, but try to understand what the Lord’s will is.
On this account do not prove yourselves wanting in sense, but try to understand what the Lord's will is.
18 Do not drink wine to excess, for that leads to profligacy; but seek to be filled with the Spirit of God, and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and sacred songs.
Do not over-indulge in wine--a thing in which excess is so easy--
19 Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.
but drink deeply of God's Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and offer praise in your hearts to the Lord.
20 Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Always and for everything let your thanks to God the Father be presented in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submit to one another because you honor and respect Christ.
and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives should submit to their husbands as submitting to the Lord.
Married women, submit to your own husbands as if to the Lord;
23 For a man is the head of his wife, as the Christ is the head of the church – being indeed himself the Savior of his body.
because a husband is the Head of his wife as Christ also is the Head of the Church, being indeed the Saviour of this His Body.
24 But as the church submits to the Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything.
And just as the Church submits to Christ, so also married women should be entirely submissive to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her,
Married men, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up to death for her;
26 to make her holy, after purifying her by the washing with the water, according to his promise;
in order to make her holy, cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word,
27 so that he might himself bring the church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless.
that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished.
28 That is how husbands ought to love their wives – as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself;
So too married men ought to love their wives as much as they love themselves. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 for no one ever yet hated his own body. But everyone feeds his body and cares for it, just as the Christ for the church;
For never yet has a man hated his own body. On the contrary he feeds and cherishes it, just as Christ feeds and cherishes the Church;
30 for we are members of his body.
because we are, as it were, parts of His Body.
31 For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife; and the man and his wife will become one.
"For this reason a man is to leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall be as one."
32 In this there is a profound truth – I am speaking of Christ and his church.
That is a great truth hitherto kept secret: I mean the truth concerning Christ and the Church.
33 However, for you individually, let each love his wife as if she were himself; and the wife be careful to respect her husband.
Yet I insist that among you also, each man is to love his own wife as much as he loves himself, and let a married woman see to it that she treats her husband with respect.
