New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible

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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Unity of the Spirit

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

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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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with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

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

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being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

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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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There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

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There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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

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

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

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

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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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Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”

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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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(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?

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

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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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And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

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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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for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body 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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until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

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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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As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

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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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but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

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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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from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

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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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The Christian’s Walk

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

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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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being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

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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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and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

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But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.

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But you did not learn Christ in this way,

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

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if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

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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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that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

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Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

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and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

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

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and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

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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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Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

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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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BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

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for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

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and do not give the devil an opportunity.

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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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He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

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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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Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

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

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

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

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Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4