| New Living Translation (NLT) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
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1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
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2 Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.
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2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
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3 Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.
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3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
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4 We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.
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4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
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5 There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
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5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
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6 and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all.
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6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
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7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ.
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7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
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8 That is why the Scriptures say, "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people."
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8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."
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9 Notice that it says "he ascended." This means that Christ first came down to the lowly world in which we live.
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9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ?
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10 The same one who came down is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that his rule might fill the entire universe.
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10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
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11 He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
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11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
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12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ,
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12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
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13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
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13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
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14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.
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14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
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15 Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
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15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
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16 Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
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16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
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| Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. (New Living Translation - The Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
