English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Unity in the Body of Christ

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

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Unity in the Body

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

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with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

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Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

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eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

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Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

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There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call —

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For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

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one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

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one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.

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But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

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However, he has given each one of us a special gifta through the generosity of Christ.

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Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”a

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That is why the Scriptures say,
“When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people.”b

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(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?b

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Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.c

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He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

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And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

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And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsc and teachers,d

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Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

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to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

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Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

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until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

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This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

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so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

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Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

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Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

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Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

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from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

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He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

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The New Life

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

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Living as Children of Light

With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.

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They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

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Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

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They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

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They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

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But that is not the way you learned Christ! —

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But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.

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assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

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Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,

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to put off your old self,f which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

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throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

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and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

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Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

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and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

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Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.

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Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

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So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

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Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

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And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”d Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

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and give no opportunity to the devil.

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for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

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Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

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If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

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Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

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And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,e guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

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Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

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Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

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Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Parallel

English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4