¹⁴ “Return,^(A) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(B) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law^(A) through the body of Christ,^(B) that you might belong to another,^(C) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

¹⁷ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.^[a](A)

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. 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.^{(H) 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](I) 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts^(E) of God’s holy people.)