Parallel Bible results for "ephesians 4:1-16"

Ephesians 4:1-16

New Century Version NCV

1 I am in prison because I belong to the Lord. God chose you to be his people, so I urge you now to live the life to which God called you.

2 Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.

3 You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, and God called you to have one hope.

5 There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

6 There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything.

7 Christ gave each one of us the special gift of grace, showing how generous he is.

8 That is why it says in the Scriptures, "When he went up to the heights, he led a parade of captives, and he gave gifts to people."

9 When it says, "He went up," what does it mean? It means that he first came down to the earth.

10 So Jesus came down, and he is the same One who went up above all the heaven. Christ did that to fill everything with his presence.

11 And Christ gave gifts to people -- he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people.

12 Christ gave those gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger.

13 This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.

14 Then we will no longer be babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us. They make plans and try any kind of trick to fool people into following the wrong path.

15 No! Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head.

16 The whole body depends on Christ, and all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part does its own work to make the whole body grow and be strong with love.

New International Version NIV

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ?

10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

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.

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 people in their deceitful scheming.

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

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.