25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

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25 Husbands, love your wives,(A) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her(B) 26 to make her holy,(C) cleansing[a] her by the washing(D) with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself(E) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.(F) 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives(G) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed