Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 I urge you, then - I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.
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I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
2 Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another.
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with all lowliness and humility, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love;
3 Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.
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being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.
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There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
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one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.
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one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
7 Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given.
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But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 As the scripture says, "When he went up to the very heights, he took many captives with him; he gave gifts to people."
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Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
9 Now, what does "he went up" mean? It means that first he came down to the lowest depths of the earth.
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Now this, "He ascended," what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.
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He who descended is the same also who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
11 It was he who "gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers.
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He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
12 He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.
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for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.
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until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent.
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that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
15 Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head.
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but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;
16 Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.
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from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
17 In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless
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This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn.
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being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;
19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.
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who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 That was not what you learned about Christ!
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But you did not learn Christ that way;
21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus.
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if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
22 So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to - the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.
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that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new,
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and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.
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and put on the new man, that like God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
25 No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ.
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Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members one of another.
26 If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.
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"Be angry, and don't sin." Don't let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 Don't give the Devil a chance.
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neither give place to the devil.
28 If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor.
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Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
29 Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.
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Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for building up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free.
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Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed to the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.
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Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.
32 Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.
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And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.