Rules for Christian Households

^18 (A)Wives, submit to your husbands, as ^(B)is fitting in the Lord.

Wives and Husbands

^22 (A)Wives, ^(B)submit to your own husbands, ^(C)as to the Lord. ²³ For ^(D)the husband is the head of the wife even as ^(E)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is ^(F)himself its Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^(G)in everything to their husbands.

^25 (H)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^(I)gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ^(J)the washing of water ^(K)with the word, ²⁷ so ^(L)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^(M)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.^{[a] 28} In the same way ^(N)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because ^(O)we are members of his body. ^31 (P)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(Q)the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, ^(R)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^(S)respects her husband.

Children and Parents

6 ^(T)Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ^2 (U)“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³ “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” ⁴ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ^(V)but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

^5 (W)Bondservants,^[b] obey your earthly masters^[c] with fear and trembling, ^(X)with a sincere heart, ^(Y)as you would Christ, ⁶ not by the way of eye-service, as ^(Z)people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ^8 (AA)knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^(AB)whether he is a bondservant or is free. ⁹ Masters, do the same to them, ^(AC)and stop your threatening, knowing that ^(AD)he who is both their Master^[d] and yours is in heaven, and that ^(AE)there is no partiality with him.

Wives and Husbands

3 Likewise, wives, ^(A)be subject to your own husbands, so that ^(B)even if some do not obey the word, ^(C)they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, ² when they see your ^(D)respectful and pure conduct. ^3 (E)Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be ^(F)the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, ^(G)calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and ^(H)do not fear anything that is frightening.

⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(A)pure, ^(B)working at home, kind, and ^(C)submissive to their own husbands, ^(D)that the word of God may not be reviled.

³ But I want you to understand that ^(A)the head of every man is Christ, ^(B)the head of a wife^[a] is her husband,^[b] and ^(C)the head of Christ is God.