Ephesians 4 — Berean Standard Bible

¹ [As a] prisoner in [the] Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ [and] with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ [There is] one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope [when] you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who [is] over all and through all and in all. ⁷ Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ⁸ This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” ⁹ What [does] “He ascended” [mean], except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very [One] who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ And [it was] He who gave some [to be] apostles, some [to be] prophets, some [to be] evangelists, and some [to be] pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry [and] to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [as we] mature to the full measure of [the] stature of Christ. ¹⁴ Then {we will} no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching [and] by the clever cunning of men in [their] deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, {we will} in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. ¹⁶ From [Him] the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows [and] builds itself up in love through [the] work of each individual part. ¹⁷ So I tell [you] this, and insist [on it] in [the] Lord, [that] you {must} no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in [the] futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in [their] understanding [and] alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sense of shame, [they] have given themselves over to sensuality for [the] practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more. ²⁰ But this is not the way you came to know Christ. ²¹ Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him— in keeping with [the] truth that is in Jesus— ²² to put off your former way of life, [your] old self, which is being corrupted by [its] deceitful desires; ²³ to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ²⁵ Therefore each [of you] must put off falsehood [and] speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. ²⁶ “Be angry, yet {do} not sin.” {Do} not {let} the sun set upon your anger, ²⁷ [and] {do} not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with [his] own hands, that he may have [something] to share with the [one] [in] need. ²⁹ {Let} no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the [one] in need [and] bringing grace to those who listen. ³⁰ And {do} not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for [the] day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind [and] tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.