| New Living Translation | NET 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. | 1I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, |
| 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. | 3making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in 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 too were called to the one hope of your calling, |
| 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. | 7But to each one of us grace was 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.” | 8Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men." |
| 9Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. | 9Now what is the meaning of "he ascended," except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, 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, the very one who descended, is also the 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. | 11It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as 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 the work of ministry, that is, 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 attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God--a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature. |
| 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. | 14So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. |
| 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. | 15But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, 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 grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love. |
| 17With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. | 17So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live 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, being 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. | 19Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. |
| 20But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. | 20But you did not learn about Christ like this, |
| 21Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, | 21if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. |
| 22throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. | 22You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, |
| 23Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. | 23to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, |
| 24Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. | 24and to put on the new man who has been created in God's image--in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. |
| 25So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. | 25Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are 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, | 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. |
| 27for anger gives a foothold to the devil. | 27Do not give the devil an opportunity. |
| 28If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. | 28The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has 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. | 29You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear. |
| 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, by 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. | 31You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. |
| 32Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. | 32Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. |
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