Ephesians 4

English Standard Version

Unity in the Body of Christ

4 I therefore, ^(A)a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ^(B)walk in a manner worthy of ^(C)the calling to which you have been called, ²with all ^(D)humility and ^(E)gentleness, with ^(F)patience, ^(G)bearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^(H)the bond of peace. ⁴There is ^(I)one body and ^(J)one Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^(K)hope that belongs to your call— ⁵^(L)one Lord, ^(M)one faith, ^(N)one baptism, ⁶^(O)one God and Father of all, ^(P)who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷But ^(Q)grace was given ^(R)to each one of us ^(S)according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸Therefore it says,

^(T)“When he ascended on high ^(U)he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”^[a]

⁹(^(V)In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ^(W)the lower regions, the earth?^[b] ¹⁰He who descended is the one who also ^(X)ascended ^(Y)far above all the heavens, that he might ^(Z)fill all things.) ¹¹And ^(AA)he gave the ^(AB)apostles, the prophets, the ^(AC)evangelists, the ^(AD)shepherds^[c] and teachers,^[d] ¹²^(AE)to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^(AF)building up ^(AG)the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to ^(AH)the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^(AI)to mature manhood,^[e] to the measure of the stature of ^(AJ)the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, ^(AK)tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^(AL)deceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather, ^(AM)speaking the truth in love, we are to ^(AN)grow up in every way into him who is ^(AO)the head, into Christ, ¹⁶^(AP)from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^(AQ)when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

¹⁷Now this I say and ^(AR)testify in the Lord, ^(AS)that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^(AT)in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸They ^(AU)are darkened in their understanding, ^(AV)alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ^(AW)their hardness of heart. ¹⁹They ^(AX)have become callous and ^(AY)have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰But that is not the way you ^(AZ)learned Christ!— ²¹assuming that ^(BA)you have heard about him and ^(BB)were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to ^(BC)put off ^(BD)your old self,^[f] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^(BE)deceitful desires, ²³and ^(BF)to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on ^(BG)the new self, ^(BH)created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^(BI)speak the truth with his neighbor, for ^(BJ)we are members one of another. ²⁶^(BK)Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and ^(BL)give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^(BM)let him labor, ^(BN)doing honest work with his own hands, so ^(BO)that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹^(BP)Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^(BQ)grace to those who hear. ³⁰And ^(BR)do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^(BS)by whom you were sealed for the day of ^(BT)redemption. ³¹^(BU)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²^(BV)Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ^(BW)forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Footnotes

Ephesians 4:8 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
Ephesians 4:9 Or the lower parts of the earth?
Ephesians 4:11 Or pastors
Ephesians 4:11 Or the shepherd-teachers
Ephesians 4:13 Greek to a full-grown man
Ephesians 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24

Ephesians 4

The Message

To Be Mature

4 ^1-3In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

^4-6You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

^7-13But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the plunder,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

^14-16No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are easy prey for predators. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

The Old Way Has to Go

^17-19And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.

^20-24But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

²⁵What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.

^26-27Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

²⁸Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.

²⁹Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

³⁰Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.

^31-32Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Message (MSG)

Ephesians 4 English Standard Version