Ephesians 4 (New American Standard)

Unity of the Spirit

1 Therefore I, ¹the prisoner of the Lord, ²implore you to ³walk in a manner worthy of the ⁴calling with which you have been ⁵called, 2 with all ⁶humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ⁷in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ⁸bond of peace. 4 There is ⁹one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ¹⁰hope of your calling ; 5 ¹¹one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all ¹²who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But ¹³to each one of us ¹⁴grace was given ¹⁵according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore ^ait says, "¹⁶WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE ¹⁷LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." 9 (Now this expression, "He ¹⁸ascended," what ^bdoes it mean except that He also ^chad descended into ¹⁹the lower parts of the earth ? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ²⁰far above all the heavens, so that He might ²¹fill all things.) 11 And He ²²gave ²³some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ²⁴evangelists, and some as pastors and ²⁵teachers, 12 ²⁶for the equipping of the ^dsaints for the work of service, to the building up of ²⁷the body of Christ ; 13 until we all attain to ²⁸the unity of the faith, and of the ^e29knowledge of the Son of God, to a ³⁰mature man, to the measure of the stature ^fwhich belongs to the ³¹fullness of Christ. 14 ^gAs a result, we are ³²no longer to be children, ³³tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ³⁴craftiness ^hin ³⁵deceitful scheming ; 15 but ⁱspeaking the truth ³⁶in love, ^jwe are to ³⁷grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ³⁸head, even Christ, 16 from whom ³⁹the whole body, being fitted and held together ^kby what every joint supplies, according to the ^lproper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ⁴⁰in love.

The Christian's Walk

17 ⁴¹So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ⁴²that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ⁴³futility of their mind, 18 being ⁴⁴darkened in their understanding, ^m45excluded from the life of God because of the ⁴⁶ignorance that is in them, because of the ⁴⁷hardness of their heart ; 19 and they, having ⁴⁸become callous, ⁴⁹have given themselves over to ⁵⁰sensuality ⁿfor the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not ⁵¹learn ^oChrist in this way, 21 if indeed you ⁵²have heard Him and have ⁵³been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ⁵⁴lay aside the ⁵⁵old ^pself, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ⁵⁶lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be ⁵⁷renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and ⁵⁸put on the ⁵⁹new ^qself, which ^r60in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, ⁶¹laying aside falsehood, ⁶²SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are ⁶³members of one another. 26 ⁶⁴BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN ; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not ⁶⁵give the devil ^san opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer ; but rather ⁶⁶he must labor, ⁶⁷performing with his own hands what is good, ⁶⁸so that he will have something to share with ^tone who has need. 29 Let no ^u69unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ⁷⁰edification ^vaccording to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 ⁷¹Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^wby whom you were ⁷²sealed for the day of redemption. 31 ⁷³Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ⁷⁴put away from you, along with all ⁷⁵malice. 32 ⁷⁶Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ⁷⁷just as God in Christ also has forgiven ^xyou.