Parallel Bible results for "ephesians 4"

Ephesians 4

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 I, a prisoner in the Lord, encourage you to live the kind of life which proves that God has called you.

2 Be humble and gentle in every way. Be patient with each other and lovingly accept each other.

3 Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives.

4 There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope.

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

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

7 God's favor has been given to each of us. It was measured out to us by Christ who gave it.

8 That's why the Scriptures say: "When he went to the highest place, he took captive those who had captured us and gave gifts to people."

9 Now what does it mean that he went up except that he also had gone down to the lowest parts of the earth?

10 The one who had gone down also went up above all the heavens so that he fills everything.

11 He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts [to his church].

12 Their purpose is to prepare God's people, to serve, and to build up the body of Christ.

13 This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God's Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard.

14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray.

15 Instead, as we lovingly speak the truth, we will grow up completely in our relationship to Christ, who is the head.

16 He makes the whole body fit together and unites it through the support of every joint. As each and every part does its job, he makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

17 So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord's name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things.

18 They can't understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness.

19 Since they no longer have any sense of shame, they have become promiscuous. They practice every kind of sexual perversion with a constant desire for more.

20 But that is not what you learned from Christ's teachings.

21 You have certainly heard his message and have been taught his ways. The truth is in Jesus.

22 You were taught to change the way you were living. The person you used to be will ruin you through desires that deceive you.

23 However, you were taught to have a new attitude.

24 You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.

25 So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body.

26 Be angry without sinning. Don't go to bed angry.

27 Don't give the devil any opportunity [to work].

28 Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they'll have something to share with those in need.

29 Don't say anything that would hurt [another person]. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you.

30 Don't give God's Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free [from the world of sin].

31 Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred.

32 Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.

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.

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned

21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

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

26 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

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

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