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 4,15 Eph 4,15
Wherefore, putting away falsehood, {Zechariah 8:16.}speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
in whom {Greek: every building.}each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy {Or, sanctuary}temple in the Lord;
and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,
These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; {Hebrew: judge truth and the judgment of peace.}execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates;
Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,And in whose spirit there is no guile.
I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine: {Or, his memorial}the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.
but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its {Or, beams}wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; {Or, that among all he might have &c.}that in all things he might have the preeminence.
I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
as newborn babes, long for the {Greek: belonging to the reason. Compare Romans 12:1.}spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation;
{Or, For the whole fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him}For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell;
If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food,
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.
and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another {Many ancient authorities read from a clean heart. Compare 1 Timothy 1:5.}from the heart fervently:
My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.