¹⁴ For he himself is our peace,^(A) who has made the two groups one^(B) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh^(C) the law with its commands and regulations.^(D) His purpose was to create in himself one^(E) new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,^(F) by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace^(G) to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.^{(H) 18} For through him we both have access^(I) to the Father^(J) by one Spirit.^(K)

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,^(L) but fellow citizens^(M) with God’s people and also members of his household,^{(N) 20} built^(O) on the foundation^(P) of the apostles and prophets,^(Q) with Christ Jesus himself^(R) as the chief cornerstone.^{(S) 21} In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple^(T) in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.^(U)

Unity and Diversity in the Body

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,^(A) so it is with Christ.^{(B) 13} For we were all baptized^(C) by^[a] one Spirit^(D) so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free^(E)—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.^{(F) 14} Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.^(G)

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed^(H) the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.^{(I) 19} If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.^(J)

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,^{(A) 5} so in Christ we, though many, form one body,^(B) and each member belongs to all the others.