| 1 | Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him
and
follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. |
| 2 | And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a
[a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. |
| 3 | But immorality (sexual vice) and all impurity [
[b]of lustful, rich, wasteful living] or greediness must not even be named among you, as is fitting
and
proper among saints (God’s consecrated people). |
| 4 | Let there be no filthiness (obscenity, indecency) nor foolish
and
sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting
or
becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness [to God]. |
| 5 | For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for gain]—for he [in effect] is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. |
| 6 | Let no one delude
and
deceive you with empty excuses
and
groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion
and
disobedience. |
| 7 | So do not associate
or
be sharers with them. |
| 8 | For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead the lives of those native-born to the Light]. |
| 9 | For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light
or
[c]
the Spirit
[consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life. |
| 10 | And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]. |
| 11 | Take no part in
and
have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds
and
enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to]
[d]expose
and
reprove
and
convict them. |
| 12 | For it is a shame even to speak of
or
mention the things that [such people] practice in secret. |
| 13 | But when anything is exposed
and
reproved by the light, it is made visible
and
clear; and where everything is visible
and
clear there is light. |
| 14 | Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you
and
give you light. |
| 15 | Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully
and
worthily
and
accurately, not as the unwise
and
witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), |
| 16 | Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. |
| 17 | Therefore do not be vague
and
thoughtless
and
foolish, but understanding
and
firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is. |
| 18 | And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled
and
stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. |
| 19 | Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [
[e]and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord, |
| 20 | At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. |
| 21 | Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). |
| 22 | Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord. |
| 23 | For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body. |
| 24 | As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. |
| 25 | Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, |
| 26 | So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, |
| 27 | That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless]. |
| 28 | Even so husbands should love their wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. |
| 29 | For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and
carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, |
| 30 | Because we are members (parts) of His body. |
| 31 | For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. |
| 32 | This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning [the relation of] Christ and the church. |
| 33 | However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects
and
reverences her husband [
[f]that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and
[g]that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly]. |
Cross references:
-
Ephesians 5:2 : Ezek. 20:41.
-
Ephesians 5:14 : Isa. 26:19; 60:1, 2.
-
Ephesians 5:18 : Prov. 23:20.
-
Ephesians 5:31 : Gen. 2:24.
-
Ephesians 5:33 : I Pet. 3:2.
|