Ephesians 5

Walk in love

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,a ²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.b ³But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.c

⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.d ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.e ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.f

⁷Therefore do not be partakers with them.g

Children of light

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,h ⁹for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.i ¹⁰Test and prove what pleases the Lord.j

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.k ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.l ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself.m

¹⁴So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”n ¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,o ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil.p

¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.q ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.r ¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,s ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.t

Wives and husbands

²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.u ²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.v ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.w

²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for herx ²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,y ²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.z

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.aa ²⁹Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. ³⁰For we are members of His body.ab

³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”ac ³²This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.ad ³³Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.ae