Ephesians 5:15-33

New International Reader's Version

¹⁵ So be very careful how you live. Do not live like people who aren’t wise. Live like people who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity. The days are evil. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord wants. ¹⁸ Don’t fill yourself up with wine. Getting drunk will lead to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. ²⁰ Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Teachings for Christian Families

²¹ Follow the lead of one another because of your respect for Christ.

²² Wives, follow the lead of your own husbands as you follow the Lord. ²³ The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ’s body. He is its Savior. ²⁴ The church follows the lead of Christ. In the same way, wives should follow the lead of their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives. Love them just as Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her. ²⁶ He did it to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her with water and the word. ²⁷ He did it to bring her to himself as a brightly shining church. He wants a church that has no stain or wrinkle or any other flaw. He wants a church that is holy and without blame. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands should love their wives. They should love them as they love their own bodies. Any man who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body. Instead, they feed and care for their body. And this is what Christ does for the church. ³⁰ We are parts of his body. ³¹ Scripture says, “That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two will become one.” (Genesis 2:24) ³² That is a deep mystery. But I’m talking about Christ and the church. ³³ A husband also must love his wife. He must love her just as he loves himself. And a wife must respect her husband.