1 C all upon you, then, do I -- the prisoner of the Lord -- to walk worthily of the calling with which ye were 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 w ith all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, 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 keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace;

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

4 o ne body and one Spirit, according as also ye were 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 over 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 a nd to each one of you was given the grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ,

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

8 w herefore, he saith, `Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to 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 a nd that, he went up, what is it except that he also went down first to 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 who went down is the same also who went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill 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 proclaimers of good news, and some shepherds 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 u nto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up 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 t ill we may all come to the unity of the faith and of the recognition of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of stature of the fulness 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 may no more be babes, tossed and borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray,

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 a nd, being true in love, we may increase to Him 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, being fitly joined together and united, through the supply of every joint, according to the working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body doth make for the building up of itself in love.

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 T his, then, I say, and I testify in the Lord; ye are no more to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of their mind,

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 b eing darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness 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, having ceased to feel, themselves did give up to the lasciviousness, for the working of all uncleanness in 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 a nd ye did not so learn the Christ,

But you did not learn anything like this from Christ.

21 i f so be ye did hear him, and in him were taught, as truth is in Jesus;

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

22 y e are to put off concerning the former behaviour the old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the deceit,

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 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Let your minds and hearts be made new.

24 a nd to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness 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 W herefore, putting away the lying, speak truth each with his neighbour, because 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 angry and do not sin; 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 w hoso is stealing let him no more steal, but rather let him labour, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having 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 out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to 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 make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a 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 put 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 become one to another kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive you.

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.