4Verse 1So then, as the prisoner in the Lord I urge you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,Verse 2with all humility and courtesy, with patience, bearing with one another in love,Verse 3taking pains to keep the unity of the Spirit+in the bond of the peace.+Verse 4There is one body and one Spirit (just as you also were called in one hope of your calling),Verse 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,Verse 6one God and Father of all,+who is over all and through all and in us+all.
Building up the body
Verse 7Now to each one of us the grace according to the measure of Christ's gift was given.Verse 8That is why He says, “When He ascended into the heights He captured the concentration camp, and distributed gifts to men.”+Verse 9(What does ‘He ascended’ imply if not that He also first descended into the interior regions of the earth?+Verse 10He who descended is the very one who also ascended far above all the heavens,+that He might fill all things.)Verse 11Yes, He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,+Verse 12for the equipping of the saints into the work of the ministry, so as to build up the body of Christ,Verse 13until we all attain into the unity of the faith and of the real knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, into the resulting full stature of Christ;+Verse 14so that we no longer be ‘infants’, tossed about as by waves and carried off by every doctrinal fad, through the underhanded dealings of the people who collect the fee for the error;+Verse 15rather, speaking the truth in love, let us in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, the Christ;Verse 16from whom the whole body, being fitted and knit together by what every joint supplies, as each individual part does its work, promotes its own growth,+its own edification, in love.
Put away the old, put on the new
Verse 17So then, I affirm and insist on this in the Lord: you must no longer carry on as the rest of the Gentiles do,+in the futility of their mind,Verse 18having been darkened in their understanding, being alienated [as a continuing condition] from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts,+Verse 19who, having become dead to hope, have abandoned themselves to depravity, greedily indulging in every kind of vileness.+Verse 20Now that is not how you ‘learned Christ’—Verse 21if indeed you have heard Him and been taught by Him (as the truth is in Jesus):Verse 22that you put away, concerning your former way of life, the old man+(that keeps on being corrupted by the deceitful desires),Verse 23and that you be renewed+in the spirit of your mind,Verse 24and put on the new man, created in the likeness of God,+in true righteousness and holiness.
Practical instruction
Verse 25Therefore, having put away falsehood, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’+for we are members of one another.Verse 26‘Be angry but do not sin’;+do not let the sun set on your angry mood,Verse 27nor give an opportunity to the devil.+Verse 28The one who steals must steal no longer, but rather let him work, doing something good with his hands, that he may have something to share with someone in need.Verse 29Let no evil word proceed from your mouth, but only what is good for edification, as needed,+that it may impart grace to those who hear.Verse 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,+with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.Verse 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander be removed from you, with all malice.+Verse 32Rather, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you.