I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith,
{Psalm 68:18.}When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive,
And gave gifts unto men.
(Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended {Some ancient authorities insert first.}into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
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:
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;
but {Or, dealing, truly}speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ;
from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together {Greek: through every joint of the supply.}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.
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,
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;
who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {Or, to make a trade of}to work all uncleanness with {Or, covetousness Compare chapter 5:3; Colossians 3:5.}greediness.
But ye did not so learn Christ;
if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and put on the new man, {Or, that is after God, created & c.}that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Wherefore, putting away falsehood, {Zechariah 8:16.}speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
{Psalm 4:4.}Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your {Greek: provocation.}wrath:
neither give place to the devil.
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.
Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for {Greek: the building up of the need.}edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave {Many ancient authorities read us.}you.
Querverweise zu Epheser 4,13 Eph 4,13
giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
{Or, He shall see and be satisfied with the travil &c.}He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: {Or, by his knowledge}by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant {Or, make many righteous}justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace;
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be {Greek: of full age. Compare chapter 2:6.}men.
and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee; and these knew that thou didst send me;
and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them.
For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure {Hebrew: lip.}language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one {Hebrew: shoulder.}consent.
Seeing it is God, that said, {Genesis 1:3.}Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the {Greek: illumination.}light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be one, and his name one.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,
that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me.
that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the {Or, fulness}full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, {The ancient authorities vary much in the text of this passage.}even Christ,
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
{Many ancient authorities read Symeon. See Acts 15:14.}Simon Peter, a {Greek: bondservant.}servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained {Greek: an equally precious.}a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of {Or, our God and Saviour Compare verse 11; 2:20; 3:18; Titus 2:13}our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us {Some ancient authorities read through glory and virtue.}by his own glory and virtue;
Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no {Greek: schisms.}divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and {Greek: unto the day of eternity. Ecclus. 18:10}for ever. Amen.
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any {Or, persuasion}consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions,
make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, {Some ancient authorities read of the same mind.}of one mind;
doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.