22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands(A) as you do to the Lord.(B) 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,(C) his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands(D) in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives,(E) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her(F) 26 to make her holy,(G) cleansing[a] her by the washing(H) with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself(I) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.(J) 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives(K) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.(L) 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b](M) 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife(N) as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed
  2. Ephesians 5:31 Gen. 2:24

Wives and Husbands

22 Wives, submit yourselves[a] to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah[b] is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body. 24 Indeed, just as the church is submissive to the Messiah,[c] so wives must be submissive[d] to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives as the Messiah[e] loved the church and gave himself for it, 26 so that he might make it holy by cleansing it, washing it with water and the word, 27 and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love[f] their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah[g] does[h] the church.

30 For we are parts of his body—of his flesh and of his bones.[i] 31 “That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[j] 32 This is a great secret, but I am talking about the Messiah[k] and the church. 33 But each individual man among you must love his wife as he loves[l] himself; and may the wife fear her husband.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 5:22 Other mss. lack submit yourselves
  2. Ephesians 5:23 Or Christ
  3. Ephesians 5:24 Or Christ
  4. Ephesians 5:24 The Gk. lacks must be submissive
  5. Ephesians 5:25 Or Christ
  6. Ephesians 5:28 The Gk. lacks they love
  7. Ephesians 5:29 Or Christ
  8. Ephesians 5:29 The Gk. lacks does
  9. Ephesians 5:30 Other mss. lack of his flesh and of his bones
  10. Ephesians 5:31 Gen 2:24
  11. Ephesians 5:32 Or Christ
  12. Ephesians 5:33 The Gk. lacks he loves