²² Wives, obey your own husbands, as you obey the Lord. ²³ A husband has authority over his wife, in the same way that Christ has authority over the church. The church is like Christ's body. As its head, he saves her. ²⁴ As the church serves Christ as its master, so wives should serve their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. He even agreed to die on its behalf. ²⁶ He did that to make us completely clean, as the people of God. It was like he washed us with water, as he brought God's message to us. ²⁷ Christ himself did this to bring us to himself as a beautiful group of his people. His church would belong to him completely. It would be pure, without anything bad to spoil it.

²⁸ So husbands should love their wives, just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife shows that he loves himself. ²⁹ There is nobody who hates his own body. Everyone feeds his body and he takes care of it. In the same way, the church is like Christ's body that he takes care of. ³⁰ We are like the parts of Christ's body. ³¹ The Bible says this: ‘When a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become like one body.’^{[a] 32} This is God's secret and it is difficult to understand. But I am saying that it teaches us about Christ and the church.

¹⁷ God's Spirit and all God's people answer Jesus. They say, ‘Yes, come!’ God's people are like a bride for Jesus. Everyone who hears this should also say to Jesus, ‘Come!’ Anyone who is thirsty should come to Jesus. Then that person will receive from Jesus the water that gives life. Anyone who wants it may take it. They will not have to pay anything for it.