1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort 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 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace:
4 one body and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all of you.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, 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 the same one who also ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)
11 And it was he who gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, and others as shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for a work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ,
13 until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in the scheming of error;
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, fitted and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the working in the measure of each single part, makes the body grow for the building up of itself in love.
17 This, then, I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the emptiness of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, 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 sensuality, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But that is not how you learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former way of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, let each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and do not 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, so that he may have something to give to him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building up as the need may be, so that it may impart grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.