Ephesians 5:2
New International Version
and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

New Living Translation
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

English Standard Version
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Berean Standard Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

Berean Literal Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God, into an aroma of a sweet smell.

King James Bible
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

New King James Version
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

New American Standard Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

NASB 1995
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

NASB 1977
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Legacy Standard Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Amplified Bible
and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

Christian Standard Bible
and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

American Standard Version
and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.

Contemporary English Version
Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.

English Revised Version
and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God.

Good News Translation
Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.

International Standard Version
Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.

Majority Standard Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

NET Bible
and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

New Heart English Bible
And walk in love, even as Christ also loved us, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.

Webster's Bible Translation
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.

Weymouth New Testament
And live and act lovingly, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God, yielding a fragrant odor.

World English Bible
Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and walk in love, as the Christ also loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a refreshing fragrance,

Berean Literal Bible
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God, into an aroma of a sweet smell.

Young's Literal Translation
and walk in love, as also the Christ did love us, and did give himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell,

Smith's Literal Translation
And walk ye in love, as also Christ loved us, and gave himself for us a gift and sacrifice to God for a smell of sweet odor.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness.

New American Bible
and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

New Revised Standard Version
and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet example.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And walk in love, as also The Messiah has loved us and handed himself over for our persons, the offering and sacrifice to God, for a sweet fragrance.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
and walk in love, as the Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet odor.

Godbey New Testament
and walk about in divine love, as Christ also loved you, and gave himself for you, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweet savor.

Haweis New Testament
and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us, an oblation and sacrifice to God, for an odour of a sweet smell.

Mace New Testament
for Christ loved us, and for us gave himself an offering and a sacrifice acceptable to God.

Weymouth New Testament
And live and act lovingly, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God, yielding a fragrant odor.

Worrell New Testament
and walk in love, as Christ also loved you, and delivered Himself up for you, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweet smell.

Worsley New Testament
even as Christ hath loved us, and given Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweet perfume.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Imitators of God
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, 2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. 3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.…

Cross References
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. / By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

1 John 4:9-11
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. / And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. / Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 3:16
By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died. / And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

John 15:12-13
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. / Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

1 Peter 2:21
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

Romans 14:15
If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. / If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. / If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Philippians 2:5-8
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: / Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, / but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. ...

Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.

Hebrews 10:10-14
And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. / Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. / But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. ...

Leviticus 1:9
The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Exodus 29:18
Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.


Treasury of Scripture

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling smell.

walk.

Ephesians 3:17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 4:2,15
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; …

John 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

as.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Ephesians 3:19
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Matthew 20:28
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

a sacrifice.

Romans 8:3
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

1 Corinthians 5:7
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Hebrews 9:23
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

for a.

Genesis 8:21
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Leviticus 1:9,13,17
But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD…

Leviticus 3:16
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD'S.

Jump to Previous
Act Aroma Behalf Christ Death Fragrance Fragrant Love Lovingly Odour Offering Sacrifice Savor Savour Smell Sweet Sweet-Smelling Walk Yielding
Jump to Next
Act Aroma Behalf Christ Death Fragrance Fragrant Love Lovingly Odour Offering Sacrifice Savor Savour Smell Sweet Sweet-Smelling Walk Yielding
Ephesians 5
1. After general exhortations to love;
3. to flee sexual immorality;
4. and all uncleanness;
7. not to converse with the wicked;
15. to walk carefully;
18. and to be filled with the Spirit;
22. he descends to the particular duties, how wives ought to obey their husbands;
25. and husbands ought to love their wives,
32. even as Christ does his church.














and walk in love
The phrase "and walk in love" calls believers to a continuous, active lifestyle characterized by love. The Greek word for "walk" is "peripateo," which implies a habitual way of living. This is not a passive suggestion but an imperative to embody love in every aspect of life. The concept of "love" here is "agape," a selfless, sacrificial love that seeks the best for others. Historically, this was a radical call in a Greco-Roman world often driven by self-interest and power. Christians are called to be distinct, living out the love that Christ exemplified.

just as Christ loved us
The phrase "just as Christ loved us" sets the standard for Christian love. The Greek word "kathos" means "just as" or "in the same way," indicating that Christ's love is the model for our love. This love is not abstract but demonstrated through Christ's actions. The historical context of Christ's love is His incarnation, ministry, and ultimately His sacrificial death. This love is unconditional and unmerited, emphasizing that believers are to love others in the same manner, reflecting Christ's love in their relationships and communities.

and gave Himself up for us
The phrase "and gave Himself up for us" highlights the voluntary nature of Christ's sacrifice. The Greek word "paradidomi" means "to hand over" or "to deliver up," signifying a deliberate act of self-surrender. This reflects the core of the Gospel message: Christ's willing sacrifice for humanity's redemption. Historically, this act of giving Himself up is central to the Christian faith, as it fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies and established the New Covenant. Believers are called to emulate this selflessness, prioritizing others' needs above their own.

as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God
The phrase "as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God" draws on Old Testament sacrificial imagery. The Greek word "prosphora" means "offering," and "euodia" means "fragrant" or "pleasing aroma." In the Old Testament, sacrifices were a way to atone for sin and express devotion to God. Christ's sacrifice is described as "fragrant," indicating that it was pleasing and acceptable to God, fulfilling the requirements of the Law. This imagery would resonate with early Christians familiar with Jewish sacrificial practices. It underscores the completeness and sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, which believers are to mirror in their own lives by living sacrificially and pleasing to God.

(2) As Christ also hath loved us.--To this idea of the "imitation of God," essential to all true religion, St. Paul now adds an exhortation to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that especial exhibition of love by suffering and self-sacrifice, which is impossible to the Godhead in itself, but which belongs to the incarnate Son of God, and was the ultimate purpose of His incarnation. There is a similar connection of idea in John 15:12-13, "This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The imitation of God is in free and natural beneficence; the imitation of Christ is in that power of showing mercy, which is bought by suffering and sacrifice. He not only "loved us," but "gave Himself for us."

An offering and a sacrifice to God,--The same words, "sacrifice and offering," are found in close connection in Hebrews 10:5, which is a quotation from Psalm 40:7. Comparing these with the Hebrew words which they represent, and looking also to the etymology of the Greek words themselves, we see that the word "offering" signifies simply a gift offered to God, and is applied especially, though not exclusively, to unbloody sacrifices; while the word "sacrifice" distinctly implies the shedding of blood. Each word, when used alone, has constantly a more general sense. Thus "offering" is used in Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14; Hebrews 10:18, for the sacrifice on the cross; while "sacrifice," in Acts 7:42, is made to translate the word commonly rendered as "offering." But when placed in juxtaposition they must be held distinctive; and hence we may conclude that our Lord made Himself "an offering" in the perfect obedience of His great humility, "coming to do God's will" (according to the prophetic anticipation of Psalm 40:7-8), and gave Himself a "sacrifice," when He completed that offering by shedding His blood on the cross. Both are said to be offered "for us," i.e., on our behalf. We have, therefore, here a complete summary--all the more striking and characteristic because incidental--of the doctrine of the Atonement. . . .

Verse 2. - And walk in love. Taking up anew the exhortation of Ephesians 4:1. Let your ordinary life be spent in an atmosphere of love. Drink it in from heaven, as plants drink in the sunshine; radiate it forth from eyes and face; let hands and feet be active in the service; let looks, words, and acts all be steeped in it. Even as Christ also loved us. The passing from the Father to the Son as our Example is not a new departure; for the Son reveals the Father, the Son's love is the counterpart of the Father's, made visible to us in the way most fitted to impress us. Though Christ's love, like his Father's, is eternal, the aorist is used, to denote that specific act of love which is immediately in view. And gave himself for us. The Pauline phrase (Galatians 1:4; Galatians 2:20; Titus 2:14; 1 Timothy 2:6), simple, but very comprehensive: "himself" - all that he was as God, all that he became as Man, a complete self-surrender, a whole burnt offering. "For us," not merely on our behalf, but in our room (after verbs of giving, dying, etc.); this, indeed, being implied in the idea immediately following of a sacrifice, which, alike to the Jewish and pagan mind, conveyed the idea of a life given in room of another. An offering and a sacrifice to God. Offering and sacrifice are nearly synonymous, but the first probably includes the whole earthly career of Christ incarnate - his holy life, blessed example, gracious teaching, loving companionship, as well as his atoning death, which last is more precisely the θυσία, sacrifice. The offering and sacrifice were presented to God, to satisfy his justice, fulfill the demands of his law, and glorify his holy and righteous government. For a sweet-smelling savor. Allusion to Noah's sacrifice of every clean beast and of every fowl - " the Lord smelled a sweet savor;" that is, the whole transaction, not the offering merely, but the spirit in which it was offered likewise, was grateful to God. The whole work of Christ, and the beautiful spirit in which he offered himself, were grateful to the Father, and procure saving blessings for all who by faith make the offering their own.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

walk
περιπατεῖτε (peripateite)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4043: From peri and pateo; to tread all around, i.e. Walk at large; figuratively, to live, deport oneself, follow.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

love,
ἀγάπῃ (agapē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 26: From agapao; love, i.e. Affection or benevolence; specially a love-feast.

just as
καθὼς (kathōs)
Adverb
Strong's 2531: According to the manner in which, in the degree that, just as, as. From kata and hos; just as, that.

Christ
Χριστὸς (Christos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

loved
ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 25: To love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. Perhaps from agan; to love.

us
ἡμᾶς (hēmas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

gave Himself up
παρέδωκεν (paredōken)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3860: From para and didomi; to surrender, i.e yield up, intrust, transmit.

for
ὑπὲρ (hyper)
Preposition
Strong's 5228: Gen: in behalf of; acc: above.

us
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

as
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

a fragrant
εὐωδίας (euōdias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2175: A sweet smell, fragrance. From a compound of eu and a derivative of ozo; good-scentedness, i.e. Fragrance.

sacrificial
θυσίαν (thysian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2378: Abstr. and concr: sacrifice; a sacrifice, offering. From thuo; sacrifice.

offering
προσφορὰν (prosphoran)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4376: An offering, sacrifice. From prosphero; presentation; concretely, an oblation or sacrifice.

to God.
Θεῷ (Theō)
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.


Links
Ephesians 5:2 NIV
Ephesians 5:2 NLT
Ephesians 5:2 ESV
Ephesians 5:2 NASB
Ephesians 5:2 KJV

Ephesians 5:2 BibleApps.com
Ephesians 5:2 Biblia Paralela
Ephesians 5:2 Chinese Bible
Ephesians 5:2 French Bible
Ephesians 5:2 Catholic Bible

NT Letters: Ephesians 5:2 Walk in love even as Christ also (Ephes. Eph. Ep)
Ephesians 5:1
Top of Page
Top of Page