Passage

Ephesians 4

Book: Ephesians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2. with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3. giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6. one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. 7. But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. 9. (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11. And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12. for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: 13. till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14. that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15. but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ; 16. from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18. being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; 19. who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20. But ye did not so learn Christ; 21. if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 22. that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23. and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24. and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 25. Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. 26. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27. neither give place to the devil. 28. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need. 29. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: 32. and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:1-32, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2. with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; 3. being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; 5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6. one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. 7. But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” 9. Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 11. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12. for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14. that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15. but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 16. from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love. 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18. being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; 19. who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20. But you did not learn Christ that way; 21. if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 22. that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23. and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24. and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 25. Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another. 26. “Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, 27. and don’t give place to the devil. 28. Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. 29. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. 32. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:1-32, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, ^{of the Lord: or, in the Lord} 2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. ^{captivity: or, a multitude of captives} 9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) ^{fill: or, fulfil} 11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: ^{in: or, into} ^{stature: or, age} 14. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: ^{speaking: or, being sincere} 16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: ^{blindness: or, hardness} 19. Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20. But ye have not so learned Christ; 21. If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. ^{true: or, holiness of truth} 25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27. Neither give place to the devil. 28. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. ^{to give: or, to distribute} 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ^{to: or, to edify profitably} 30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:1-32, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Call upon you, then, do I, the prisoner of the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which ye were called, 2. with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, 3. being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace; 4. one body and one Spirit, according as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6. one God and Father of all, who [is] over all, and through all, and in you all, 7. and to each one of you was given the grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ, 8. wherefore, he saith, 'Having gone up on high he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,', 9. and that, he went up, what is it except that he also went down first to the lower parts of the earth? 10. he who went down is the same also who went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things, 11. and He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] proclaimers of good news, and some [as] shepherds and teachers, 12. unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ, 13. till we may all come to the unity of the faith and of the recognition of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of stature of the fulness of the Christ, 14. that we may no more be babes, tossed and borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray, 15. and, being true in love, we may increase to Him [in] all things, who is the head, the Christ; 16. from whom the whole body, being fitly joined together and united, through the supply of every joint, according to the working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body doth make for the building up of itself in love. 17. This, then, I say, and I testify in the Lord; ye are no more to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18. being darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, 19. who, having ceased to feel, themselves did give up to the lasciviousness, for the working of all uncleanness in greediness; 20. and ye did not so learn the Christ, 21. if so be ye did hear him, and in him were taught, as truth is in Jesus; 22. ye are to put off concerning the former behaviour the old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the deceit, 23. and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24. and to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of the truth. 25. Wherefore, putting away the lying, speak truth each with his neighbour, because we are members one of another; 26. be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your wrath, 27. neither give place to the devil; 28. whoso is stealing let him no more steal, but rather let him labour, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having need. 29. Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to the hearers; 30. and make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, 32. and become one to another kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive you." (Ephesians 4:1-32, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.