Unity

1So then, as the prisoner in the Lord I urge you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

2with all humility and courtesy, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

3taking pains to keep the unity of the Spirit ⁵⁸in the bond of the peace. ⁵⁹

4There is one body and one Spirit (just as you also were called in one hope of your calling),

5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6one God and Father of all, ⁶⁰who is over all and through all and in us ⁶¹all.

Building up the body

7Now to each one of us the grace according to the measure of Christ's gift was given.

8That is why He says, “When He ascended into the heights He captured the concentration camp, and distributed gifts to men.” ⁶²

9(What does ‘He ascended’ imply if not that He also first descended into the interior regions of the earth? ⁶³

10He who descended is the very one who also ascended far above all the heavens, ⁶⁴that He might fill all things.)

11Yes, He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ⁶⁵

12for the equipping of the saints into the work of the ministry, so as to build up the body of Christ,

13until we all attain into the unity of the faith and of the real knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, into the resulting full stature of Christ; ⁶⁶

14so that we no longer be ‘infants’, tossed about as by waves and carried off by every doctrinal fad, through the underhanded dealings of the people who collect the fee for the error; ⁶⁷

15rather, speaking the truth in love, let us in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, the Christ;

16from whom the whole body, being fitted and knit together by what every joint supplies, as each individual part does its work, promotes its own growth, ⁶⁸its own edification, in love.

Put away the old, put on the new

17So then, I affirm and insist on this in the Lord: you must no longer carry on as the rest of the Gentiles do, ⁶⁹in the futility of their mind,

18having been darkened in their understanding, being alienated [as a continuing condition] from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts, ⁷⁰

19who, having become dead to hope, have abandoned themselves to depravity, greedily indulging in every kind of vileness. ⁷¹

20Now that is not how you ‘learned Christ’—

21if indeed you have heard Him and been taught by Him (as the truth is in Jesus):

22that you put away, concerning your former way of life, the old man ⁷²(that keeps on being corrupted by the deceitful desires),

23and that you be renewed ⁷³in the spirit of your mind,

24and put on the new man, created in the likeness of God, ⁷⁴in true righteousness and holiness.

Practical instruction

25Therefore, having put away falsehood, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ ⁷⁵for we are members of one another.

26‘Be angry but do not sin’; ⁷⁶do not let the sun set on your angry mood,

27nor give an opportunity to the devil. ⁷⁷

28The one who steals must steal no longer, but rather let him work, doing something good with his hands, that he may have something to share with someone in need.

29Let no evil word proceed from your mouth, but only what is good for edification, as needed, ⁷⁸that it may impart grace to those who hear.

30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ⁷⁹with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander be removed from you, with all malice. ⁸⁰

32Rather, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you.