﻿Ephesians.
Chapter 4.
Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called, 
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 
making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling; 
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and gave gifts to people.” 
Now what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower regions of the earth? 
The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. 
He himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 
so that we may no longer be children, tossed by the waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by human trickery and cunning in deceitful schemes. 
Instead, speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, 
from whom the whole body, fitted and joined together through every supporting joint, according to the working of each part in its measure, brings about the body's growth to build itself up in love. 
So I say this and testify in the Lord: you must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind. 
They are darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in them, because of the hardness of their heart. 
Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensual excess, to practice every kind of impurity with greed. 
But that is not how you learned Christ, 
if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus: 
to put off, with regard to your former way of life, the old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires, 
to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 
and to put on the new self, created according to God in the righteousness and holiness of the truth. 
Therefore, putting away falsehood, let each speak the truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 
“Be angry, and do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down on your anger, 
and do not give the devil room. 
Let the one who steals steal no longer. Instead, let him labor, doing good work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one in need. 
Let no rotten speech come out of your mouth, but only what is good for building up as needed, so that it may give grace to those who hear. 
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 
Let all bitterness, rage, anger, shouting, and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. 
