| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. | 1As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: |
| 2Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. | 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, |
| 3Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. | 3and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. |
| 4For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. | 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; |
| 5There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, | 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; |
| 6one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. | 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. |
| 7However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. | 7Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. |
| 8That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” | 8This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” |
| 9Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. | 9What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? |
| 10And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. | 10He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. |
| 11Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. | 11And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, |
| 12Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. | 12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, |
| 13This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. | 13until 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. |
| 14Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. | 14Then 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. |
| 15Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. | 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. |
| 16He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Living as Children of Light | 16From 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. |
| 17With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. | 17So 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. |
| 18Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. | 18They 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. |
| 19They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. | 19Having 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. |
| 20But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. | 20But this is not the way you came to know Christ. |
| 21Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, | 21Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus— |
| 22throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. | 22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; |
| 23Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. | 23to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; |
| 24Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. | 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. |
| 25So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. | 25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. |
| 26And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, | 26“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, |
| 27for anger gives a foothold to the devil. | 27and do not give the devil a foothold. |
| 28If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. | 28He 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. |
| 29Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. | 29Let 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. |
| 30And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. | 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. |
| 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. | 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. |
| 32Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. | 32Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. |
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