1 ¶ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation with which ye are called,

I am being held in prison because of working for the Lord. I ask you from my heart to live and work the way the Lord expected you to live and work.

2 ¶ with all humility and meekness, with tolerance, forbearing one another in love,

Live and work without pride. Be gentle and kind. Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that.

3 b eing diligent to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace.

4 T here is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling,

There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called.

5 o ne Lord, one faith, one baptism,

There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism.

6 o ne God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.

There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

7 B ut unto each one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ.

Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ.

8 T herefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

The Holy Writings say, “When Christ went up to heaven, He took those who were held with Him. He gave gifts to men.”

9 ( Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

When they say, “He went up,” what does it mean but that He had first gone down to the deep parts of the earth?

10 H e that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all the heavens, that he might fulfill all things.)

Christ Who went down into the deep also went up far above the heavens. He did this to fill all the world with Himself.

11 A nd he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers,

Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers.

12 f or the perfecting of the saints in the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the body of the Christ

These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong.

13 u ntil we all come forth in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the coming of age of the Christ:

All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself.

14 T hat we no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive,

Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie,

15 b ut following the truth in charity, let us grow up into him in all things, who is the head, the Christ:

but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church.

16 F rom whom the whole body fitly joined together and well tied together among itself by the nourishment that every connecting bond supplies, by the operation of each member according to measure they have received, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity.

Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love. The Old and the New Life

17 ¶ This I say, therefore, and require in the Lord that from now on ye not walk as the other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their own senses,

I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish.

18 h aving the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart,

Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him.

19 w ho, after losing all sense of feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness.

They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.

20 B ut ye have not so learned of the Christ,

But you did not learn anything like this from Christ.

21 i f so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,

If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him,

22 t hat ye put off everything concerning the old way of life, that is, the old man who corrupts himself according to deceitful desires,

put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires.

23 a nd be renewed in the spirit of your understanding

Let your minds and hearts be made new.

24 a nd that ye put on the new man, which is created in conformity to God in righteousness and in the holiness of the truth.

You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.

25 T herefore, leaving the lie, speak every man truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another.

So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body.

26 B e ye angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath,

If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished.

27 n either give place to the devil.

Do not let the devil start working in your life.

28 L et him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him that is in need.

Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help.

29 L et no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for edification, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians.

30 A nd do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which ye are sealed for the day of redemption.

Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free.

31 L et all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be taken away from you, with all malice,

Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people.

32 a nd be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God has forgiven you in Christ.

You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.