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Ephesians 5:21-6:9
New Living Translation
Ephesians 5:21-6:9
New Living Translation
Spirit-Guided Relationships: Wives and Husbands
21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.[a] 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.
31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”[b] 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord,[c] for this is the right thing to do. 2 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”[d]
4 Fathers,[e] do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.
9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.
Ephesians 5:21-6:9
New International Version
Ephesians 5:21-6:9
New International Version
Instructions for Christian Households(A)
21 Submit to one another(B) out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands(C) as you do to the Lord.(D) 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,(E) his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands(F) in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives,(G) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her(H) 26 to make her holy,(I) cleansing[a] her by the washing(J) with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself(K) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.(L) 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives(M) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.(N) 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b](O) 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife(P) as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.(Q) 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”[c](R)
4 Fathers,[d] do not exasperate your children;(S) instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.(T)
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect(U) and fear, and with sincerity of heart,(V) just as you would obey Christ.(W) 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ,(X) doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,(Y) 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do,(Z) whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours(AA) is in heaven, and there is no favoritism(AB) with him.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed
- Ephesians 5:31 Gen. 2:24
- Ephesians 6:3 Deut. 5:16
- Ephesians 6:4 Or Parents
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.