| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, | 1I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called, |
| 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, | 2demonstrating all expressions of humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another in love. |
| 3making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. | 3Do your best to maintain the unity of the Spirit by means of the bond of peace. |
| 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, | 4There is one body and one Spirit. Likewise, you were called to the one hope of your calling. |
| 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, | 5There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, |
| 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. | 6one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all. |
| 7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. | 7Now to each one of us grace has been given proportionate to the measure of the Messiah's gift. |
| 8Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men." | 8That is why God says, "When he went up to the highest place, he led captives into captivity and gave gifts to people." |
| 9Now what is the meaning of "he ascended," except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth? | 9Now what does this "he went up" mean except that he also had gone down into the lower parts of the earth? |
| 10He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. | 10The one who went down is the same one who went up above all the heavens so that all things would be fulfilled. |
| 11It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, | 11And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers, |
| 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, | 12to equip the saints, to do the work of ministry, and to build up the body of the Messiah |
| 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God--a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature. | 13until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God's Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah. |
| 14So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. | 14Then we will no longer be little children, tossed like waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, or by clever strategies that would lead us astray. |
| 15But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. | 15Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely and become one with the head, that is, one with the Messiah, |
| 16From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love. | 16in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love. |
| 17So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. | 17Therefore, I tell you and insist on in the Lord not to live any longer like the gentiles live, thinking worthless thoughts. |
| 18They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. | 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. |
| 19Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. | 19Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint. |
| 20But you did not learn about Christ like this, | 20However, that is not the way you came to know the Messiah. |
| 21if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. | 21Surely you have listened to him and have been taught by him, since truth is in Jesus. |
| 22You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, | 22Regarding your former way of life, you were taught to strip off your old nature, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires, |
| 23to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, | 23to be renewed in your mental attitude, |
| 24and to put on the new man who has been created in God's image--in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. | 24and to clothe yourselves with the new nature, which was created according to God's image in righteousness and true holiness. |
| 25Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. | 25Therefore, stripping off falsehood, "let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor," for we belong to one another. |
| 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. | 26"Be angry, yet do not sin." Do not let the sun set while you are still angry, |
| 27Do not give the devil an opportunity. | 27and do not give the devil an opportunity to work. |
| 28The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. | 28The thief must no longer steal but must work hard and do what is good with his own hands, so that he might earn something to give to the needy. |
| 29You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear. | 29Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you. |
| 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. | 30Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. |
| 31You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. | 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. |
| 32Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. | 32And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah. |
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