¹⁷ Therefore I say this — indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans live, with their sterile ways of thinking. ¹⁸ Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will. ¹⁹ They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more. ²⁰ But this is not the lesson you learned from the Messiah! ²¹ If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Yeshua is truth, ²² then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires; ²³ and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed, ²⁴ and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,^[a] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. ²⁶ Be angry, but don’t sin^[b] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; ²⁷ otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.

²⁸ The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.

²⁹ Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. ³⁰ Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.