Twenty - Ephesians - 5

5:1  Therefore imitate God, as his dear children,

5:2  And live a life of love, following the example of the Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you as 'an offering and a sacrifice to God, that should be fragrant and acceptable.'

5:3  As for unchastity and every kind of impurity, or greed, do not let them even be mentioned among you, as befits Christ's People,

5:4  Nor shameful conduct, nor foolish talk or jesting, for they are wholly out of place among you; but rather thanksgiving.

5:5  For of this you may be sure--that no one who is unchaste or impure or greedy of gain has any place awaiting him in the kingdom of the Christ and God.

5:6  Do not let any one deceive you with specious arguments. Those are the sins that bring down the Wrath of God upon the disobedient.

5:7  Therefore have nothing to do with such people.

5:8  For, although you were once in Darkness, now, by your union with the Lord, you are in the Light. Live as 'Children of Light'--

5:9  For the outcome of life in the Light may be seen in every form of goodness, righteousness, and sincerity--

5:10  Always trying to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.

5:11  Take no part in deeds of Darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them.

5:12  It is degrading even to speak of the things continually done by them in secret.

5:13  All such actions, when exposed, have their true character made manifest by the Light.

5:14  For everything that has its true character made manifest is clear as light. And that is why it is said--'Sleeper, awake! Arise from the dead, and the Christ shall give thee light!'

5:15  Take great care, then, how you live--not unwisely but wisely,

5:16  Making the most of every opportunity; for these are evil days.

5:17  Therefore do not grow thoughtless, but try to understand what the Lord's will is.

5:18  Do not drink wine to excess, for that leads to profligacy; but seek to be filled with the Spirit of God, and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and sacred songs.

5:19  Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.

5:20  Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

5:21  And submit to one another from reverence for him.

5:22  Wives should submit to their husbands as submitting to the Lord.

5:23  For a man is the Head of his wife, as the Christ is the Head of the Church--being indeed himself the Savior of his Body.

5:24  But as the Church submits to the Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything.

5:25  Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her,

5:26  To make her holy, after purifying her by the Washing with the Water, according to his promise;

5:27  So that he might himself bring the Church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless.

5:28  That is how husbands ought to love their wives--as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself;

5:29  For no one ever yet hated his own body. But every one feeds his body and cares for it, just as the Christ for the Church;

5:30  For we are members of his Body.

5:31  'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife; and the man and his wife shall become one.'

5:32  In this there is a profound truth--I am speaking of Christ and his Church.

5:33  However, for you individually, let each love his wife as if she were himself; and the wife be careful to respect her husband.