¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; ^(A)I will make him a helper fit for^[a] him.”

Wives and Husbands

^22 (A)Wives, ^(B)submit to your own husbands, ^(C)as to the Lord. ²³ For ^(D)the husband is the head of the wife even as ^(E)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is ^(F)himself its Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^(G)in everything to their husbands.

^25 (H)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^(I)gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ^(J)the washing of water ^(K)with the word, ²⁷ so ^(L)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^(M)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.^{[a] 28} In the same way ^(N)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because ^(O)we are members of his body. ^31 (P)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(Q)the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, ^(R)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^(S)respects her husband.

^3 (A)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(B)not slanderers ^(C)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(D)pure, ^(E)working at home, kind, and ^(F)submissive to their own husbands, ^(G)that the word of God may not be reviled.

⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^(A)keeping his children submissive, ⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^(B)God's church?