Ephesians 4

¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,

¹²encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.

²For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.

¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.

¹²The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.

¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

¹⁸For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

⁴Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function,

⁵so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.

⁴There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵There are different ministries, but the same Lord.

²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

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

¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

²¹And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

³⁰since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

²⁶You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

³⁶For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

¹⁰Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

²⁶You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

³So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.

⁴But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁸And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

¹⁰As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

²Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

⁶We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;

⁷if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;

²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

¹⁸You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

⁹But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth.

⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

²⁶Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

²⁰which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

²³So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

¹⁵Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

⁵But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

¹⁴How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?

¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

¹¹Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

¹²But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

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.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.

¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

⁴The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.

⁵I wish that all of you could speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be edified.

¹⁹So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

²⁸We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

²¹that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

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

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

³⁸They will be My people, and I will be their God.

³⁹I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.

¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

²⁰Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

¹³For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

⁶But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

¹⁸Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

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

¹⁶These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,

²²Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹⁹He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

⁵I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

²that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

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

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

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

⁴Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

¹Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.

²For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

²in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”

⁵not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹¹Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.

¹²These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.

¹³The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

²⁷And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

⁴⁷and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

¹⁴For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

¹⁵And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

¹³And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,

¹⁰Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.

¹¹And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

⁷rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

¹Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹³But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

⁷When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.

⁸But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,

¹⁶These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,

²²Lying lips are detestable to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

⁵so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.

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

¹⁷He who speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

⁴Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah

⁸Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.

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

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

⁹Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

²⁹A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,

¹¹in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

¹¹and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

¹⁵You shall not steal.

¹¹For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being busybodies.

¹²We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.

⁶Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

¹¹Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools.

⁸But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

¹⁹Do not extinguish the Spirit.

¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

¹³And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

¹⁴who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

⁵¹You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

⁶And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

²³Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

⁸But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

⁹Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

²to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

¹Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

¹⁴For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

²⁵And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,

¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,