Ephesians 4

1 Call upon you, then, do I — the prisoner of the Lord — to walk worthily of the calling with which ye were called,

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

with all lowliness of mind and unselfishness, and with patience, bearing with one another lovingly, and earnestly striving to maintain,

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

in the uniting bond of peace, the unity given by the Spirit.

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

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 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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,

and one God and Father of all, who rules over all, acts through all, and dwells in all.

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

Yet to each of us individually grace was given, measured out with the munificence of Christ.

8 wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' —

For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men."

9 and that, he went up, what is it except that he also went down first to the lower parts of the earth?

(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 also who went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things —

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 gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] proclaimers of good news, and some [as] shepherds 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 unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a 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 till we may all come to the unity of the faith and of the recognition of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of stature of the fulness 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 that we may no more be babes, tossed and borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray,

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

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 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 doth make for the building up of itself in 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, I say, and I testify in the Lord; ye are no more to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of their mind,

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 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 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 who, having ceased to feel, themselves did give up to the lasciviousness, for the working of all uncleanness in greediness;

Such men being past feeling have abandoned themselves to impurity, greedily indulging in every kind of profligacy.

20 and ye did not so learn the Christ,

But these are not the lessons which you have learned from Christ;

21 if so be ye did hear him, and in him were taught, as truth is in Jesus;

if at least you have heard His voice and in Him have been taught--and this is true Christian teaching--

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

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 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

and to get yourselves renewed in the temper of your minds and clothe yourselves

24 and to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of 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 Wherefore, putting away the lying, speak truth each with his neighbour, because we are members one of another;

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 and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your wrath,

If angry, beware of sinning. Let not your irritation last until the sun goes down;

27 neither give place to the devil;

and do not leave room for the Devil.

28 whoso is stealing let him no more steal, but rather let him labour, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having 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 Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to the hearers;

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 make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a 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, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with 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 and become one to another kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive 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.