1 I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service,

I, the prisoner in Lord, exhort you therefore to walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye have been called,

2 L iving as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.

with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love;

3 B e eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of the Spirit in the binding power of peace.

using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

4 o ne body and one Spirit—just as there is also one hope to the calling you received—

one body and one Spirit, as ye have been also called in one hope of your calling;

5 o ne Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 O ne God and Father of all, Who is above all, pervading all and in all.

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

7 Y et grace (God’s unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually in proportion to the measure of Christ’s gift.

But to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ.

8 T herefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive '> vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men.

Wherefore he says, Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men.

9 N ow what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously descended from heaven into, the lower parts of the earth?

But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

10 H e Who descended is the same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).

He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things;

11 A nd His gifts were some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.

and he has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers,

12 H is intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to work of ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;

13 u ntil we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the '> full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at full-grown man, at measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ;

14 S o then, we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.

in order that we may be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of that teaching in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error;

15 R ather, let our lives lovingly express truth. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

but, holding the truth in love, we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ:

16 F or because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.

from whom the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to working in measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love.

17 S o this I say and solemnly testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness of their minds.

This I say therefore, and testify in Lord, that ye should no longer walk as the nations walk in vanity of their mind,

18 T heir moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart.

being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts,

19 I n their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity.

who having cast off all feeling, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greedy unsatisfied lust.

20 B ut you did not so learn Christ!

But ye have not thus learnt the Christ,

21 A ssuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as Truth is in Jesus,

if ye have heard him and been instructed in him according as truth is in Jesus;

22 S trip yourselves of your former nature which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;

your having put off according to the former conversation the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts;

23 A nd be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind,

and being renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 A nd put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, in true righteousness and holiness.

and having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness.

25 T herefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.

Wherefore, having put off falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbour, because we are members one of another.

26 W hen angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

Be angry, and do not sin; let not the sun set upon your wrath,

27 L eave no room or foothold for the devil.

neither give room for the devil.

28 L et the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him toil, working what is honest with hands, that he may have to distribute to him that has need.

29 L et no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

Let no corrupt word go out of your mouth, but if any good one for needful edification, that it may give grace to those that hear.

30 A nd do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which ye have been sealed for day of redemption.

31 L et all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

Let all bitterness, and heat of passion, and wrath, and clamour, and injurious language, be removed from you, with all malice;

32 A nd become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

and be to one another kind, compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God also in Christ has forgiven you.