1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one immersion;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christs gift.
8 Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captive the captives, and gave gifts to men.
9 (Now this, He ascended; what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the full true knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every individual does its part, causes growth of the body for 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 walk, in the emptiness of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which is corrupted according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
26 Be angry, but do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for the business of building up, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all wickedness.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.