Ephesians 5

Walk in Love

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.²And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.⁴Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.⁵For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.⁷Therefore do not become partners with them;⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,

and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,¹⁹addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.²³For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,²⁷so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.²⁸In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,³⁰because we are members of his body.³¹“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.³³However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.