Ephesians 4

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you werecal ed.	1 I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
2 With al humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love.	2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,
3 Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.	3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
4 There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God.	4 one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,	5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 and one God and Father of al , over al , through al and within al .	6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 On each one of us God's favour has been bestowed in whatever way Christ al otted it.	7 But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
8 That is why it says: He went up to the heights, took captives, he gave gifts to humanity.	8 Therefore, it says: "He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men."
9 When it says, 'he went up', it must mean that he had gone down to the deepest levels of the earth.	9 What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended into the lower (regions) of the earth?
10 The one who went down is none other than the one who went up above al the heavens to fil allthings.	10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
11 And to some, his 'gift' was that they should be apostles; to some prophets; to some, evangelists; tosome, pastors and teachers;	11 And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
12 to knit God's holy people together for the work of service to build up the Body of Christ,	12 to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we al reach unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God and form the perfect Man, fullymature with the ful ness of Christ himself.	13 until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
14 Then we shal no longer be children, or tossed one way and another, and carried hither and thither byevery new gust of teaching, at the mercy of all the tricks people play and their unscrupulousness in deliberatedeception.	14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
15 If we live by the truth and in love, we shal grow completely into Christ, who is the head	15 Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
16 by whom the whole Body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for eachindividual part to work according to its function. So the body grows until it has built itself up in love.	16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love.
17 So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that thegentiles live.	17 So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;
18 Intel ectual y they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of theignorance which is the consequence of closed minds.	18 darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart,
19 Their sense of right and wrong once dul ed, they have abandoned all self-control and pursue to excessevery kind of uncleanness.	19 they have become callous and have handed themselves over to licentiousness for the practice of every kind of impurity to excess.
20 Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ,	20 That is not how you learned Christ,
21 unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus.	21 assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus,
22 You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by followingil usory desires.	22 that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,
23 Your mind was to be renewed in spirit	23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God's principles, in the uprightnessand holiness of the truth.	24 and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
25 So from now on, there must be no more lies. Speak the truth to one another, since we are al parts ofone another.	25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
26 Even if you are angry, do not sin: never let the sun set on your anger	26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,
27 or else you wil give the devil a foothold.	27 and do not leave room for the devil.
28 Anyone who was a thief must stop stealing; instead he should exert himself at some honest job withhis own hands so that he may have something to share with those in need.	28 The thief must no longer steal, but rather labor, doing honest work with his (own) hands, so that he may have something to share with one in need.
29 No foul word should ever cross your lips; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasionoffers, and do good to your listeners;	29 No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.
30 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal, ready for the day when weshall be set free.	30 And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse must be far removed from you -- as mustevery kind of malice.	31 All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.
32 Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you inChrist.	32 (And) be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.