Ephesians 4

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

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

3making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

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, who is over all and through all and in all.

7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Messiah’s gift.

8Therefore it says, “Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.”

9What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

10The one who descended is himself also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.

11And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers,

12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Messiah,

13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah,

14so that we may no longer be children, tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by human trickery, by craftiness in the scheming of error,

15but speaking truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head, Messiah,

16from whom the whole body, being joined together and held together through every supporting joint, according to the working in measure of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for building itself up in love.

17Therefore I say this and testify in the Lord: you must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds,

18being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts,

19who, having become callous, gave themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

20But you did not learn Messiah in this way,

21if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus,

22to put off, with respect to your former way of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to deceitful desires,

23and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24and to put on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

26Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27and do not give place to the devil.

28The one who steals must steal no longer, but rather must labor, doing good work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

29Let no rotten word come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up according to the need, so that it may give grace to those who hear.

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

31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be taken away from you, along with all malice.

32And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Messiah forgave you.