New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ephesians 5
1
You are the children that God dearly loves. So be just like him.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 5:48
Matthew 5:45
Jeremiah 31:20
References God
1 John 4:11
Ephesians 4:32
Colossians 3:12
Leviticus 11:45
John 1:12
Hosea 1:10
2
Lead a life of love, just as Christ did. He loved us. He gave himself up for us. He was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
Reference
Love
John 13:34
Galatians 2:20
Colossians 3:14
1 Corinthians 16:14
1 Peter 4:8
Parallel theme
Matthew 20:28
Titus 2:14
Genesis 8:21
References Christ
2 Corinthians 2:15
2 Corinthians 8:9
3
There should not be even a hint of sexual sin among you. Don't do anything unclean. And do not always want more and more. Things like that are not what God's holy people should do.
Reference
4
There must not be any unclean speech or foolish talk or dirty jokes. All of them are out of place. Instead, you should give thanks.
Reference
5
Here is what you can be sure of. Those who give themselves over to sexual sins are lost. So are people whose lives are not pure. The same is true of those who always want more and more. People who do those things might as well worship statues of gods. No one who does them will receive a share in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Reference
Kingdom
Galatians 5:21
Parallel theme
Colossians 3:5
Revelation 22:15
Ephesians 5:3
Revelation 21:8
Galatians 5:19
1 Timothy 6:10
References God
Hebrews 13:4
6
Don't let anyone fool you with words that don't mean anything. Because of things like that, God is angry with those who don't obey.
Reference
Judgment
Romans 1:18
Colossians 3:6
Parallel theme
Matthew 24:4
Colossians 2:8
Mark 13:5
Matthew 24:24
2 Thessalonians 2:3
References God
1 John 4:1
Word
1 Peter 2:8
Colossians 2:4
8
At one time you were in the dark. But now you are in the light because of what the Lord has done. Live like children of the light.
Reference
Darkness
Colossians 1:13
Ephesians 4:18
Light
John 8:12
1 John 1:7
Acts 26:18
John 12:46
John 12:36
Isaiah 9:2
Jeremiah 13:16
Parallel theme
Ephesians 2:2
9
The light produces what is completely good, right and true.
Reference
Good
3 John 1:11
Romans 15:14
Romans 2:4
Righteousness
Ephesians 6:14
1 Timothy 6:11
Philippians 1:11
Hebrews 11:33
10
Find out what pleases the Lord.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 12:28
1 Peter 2:5
1 Thessalonians 5:21
1 Peter 2:20
Romans 14:18
1 Timothy 2:3
Philippians 1:10
Jeremiah 6:20
References Lord
Psalm 19:14
Proverbs 21:3
11
Have nothing to do with the acts of darkness. They don't produce anything good. Show what they are really like.
Reference
14
Light makes everything clear. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead. Then Christ will shine on you."
Reference
Light
2 Corinthians 4:6
John 9:5
John 8:12
Parallel theme
1 Thessalonians 5:6
Isaiah 52:1
Isaiah 51:17
Romans 6:13
Resurrection
Isaiah 60:1
Isaiah 26:19
Colossians 3:1
15
So be very careful how you live. Do not live like people who aren't wise. Live like people who are wise.
Reference
16
Make the most of every opportunity. The days are evil.
Reference
Evil
Amos 5:13
Ephesians 6:13
Ecclesiastes 12:1
Psalm 37:19
Parallel theme
John 12:35
Galatians 6:10
Romans 13:11
Ecclesiastes 9:10
1 Corinthians 7:26
Redemption
Colossians 4:5
17
So don't be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord wants.
Reference
Parallel theme
Romans 12:2
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Colossians 1:9
Ephesians 5:15
Jeremiah 4:22
1 Peter 4:2
Colossians 4:5
John 7:17
References Lord
Psalm 111:10
Job 28:28
18
Don't fill yourself up with wine. Getting drunk will lead to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Reference
19
Speak to each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 14:26
Psalm 95:2
Acts 16:25
Psalm 62:8
Matthew 26:30
References Lord
Psalm 86:12
Sin
Psalm 147:7
James 5:13
Spirit
Colossians 3:16
Isaiah 65:14
20
Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ephesians 5:4
References God
Hebrews 13:15
Philippians 4:6
2 Thessalonians 1:3
2 Thessalonians 2:13
References Jesus
Colossians 3:17
1 Thessalonians 5:18
1 Peter 2:5
References Lord
Psalm 34:1
Isaiah 63:7
21
Follow the lead of one another because of your respect for Christ.
Reference
Parallel theme
Philippians 2:3
Ephesians 5:24
Ephesians 5:22
Hebrews 13:17
1 Timothy 3:4
Galatians 5:13
1 Timothy 2:11
1 Corinthians 16:16
References God
1 Peter 5:5
1 Peter 2:17
23
The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ's body. He is its Savior.
Reference
24
The church follows the lead of Christ. In the same way, wives should follow the lead of their husbands in everything.
Reference
25
Husbands, love your wives. Love them just as Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her.
Reference
27
He did it to bring her to himself as a brightly shining church. He wants a church that has no stain or wrinkle or any other flaw. He wants a church that is holy and without blame.
Reference
28
In the same way, husbands should love their wives. They should love them as they love their own bodies. Any man who loves his wife loves himself.
Reference
29
After all, people have never hated their own bodies. Instead, they feed and care for their bodies. And that is what Christ does for the church.
Reference
31
Scripture says, "That's why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two will become one."--(Genesis 2:24)
Reference
32
That is a deep mystery. But I'm talking about Christ and the church.
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 21:2
Isaiah 54:5
John 3:29
1 Timothy 3:16
References Christ
2 Corinthians 11:2
Colossians 2:2
Summary of Ephesians 5
Ephesians 5 teaches that Christians should imitate God's love, reject immoral and destructive lifestyles, live wisely as people transformed by Christ, remain continually filled with the Holy Spirit, express gratitude through worship, and allow Christ's sacrificial love to shape marriage through responsible love, respect, unity, and mutual devotion.
Paul begins by calling believers to imitate God as beloved children, explaining that the most visible expression of this imitation is a life shaped by love, especially the self-giving love demonstrated by Christ when He gave Himself for His people.
He then warns Christians to reject sexual immorality, impurity, greed, shameful speech, foolish behavior, and crude joking, because believers have received a new identity that should produce holiness rather than continued participation in the patterns of their former lives.
Paul particularly identifies greed as idolatry, showing that sinful behavior is not merely about individual actions but can reveal misplaced devotion when people allow desires for possessions, pleasure, status, or personal satisfaction to take God's rightful place.
Christians are therefore called to live as children of light, producing goodness, righteousness, and truth while carefully discerning what pleases the Lord and refusing to participate in the unproductive works of darkness.
Paul urges believers to make the most of their opportunities because their time is limited and the surrounding world contains many influences that can pull them away from God's purposes, making wisdom and deliberate decision-making essential parts of Christian maturity.
Instead of being controlled by wine and its destructive effects, believers should be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing God's Spirit to influence their thoughts, relationships, worship, speech, gratitude, and everyday conduct.
Spirit-filled life is expressed through worship with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, continual thanksgiving to God through Christ, and a willingness to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Paul then applies this principle to marriage, beginning with the relationship between wives and husbands and ultimately focusing much more extensively on the husband's responsibility to love sacrificially, using Christ's love for the church as the highest standard.
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, and Paul uses this sacrifice as the model for husbands, meaning that marital leadership cannot properly be understood as selfish control because its Christian pattern is self-giving responsibility.
Paul explains that Christ's purpose is to sanctify and cleanse the church so that He may present it as holy and glorious, making the relationship between Christ and His church the central theological model behind his teaching on marriage.
Marriage therefore becomes more than a social arrangement because it points toward the profound relationship between Christ and the church, while the husband and wife are called to express this relationship through love, respect, unity, care, and faithful commitment.
The central message of Ephesians 5 is that believers who have received new life in Christ should walk in love and holiness, reject the darkness of their former lives, use their time wisely, live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, worship with gratitude, and allow Christ's sacrificial relationship with the church to transform the way husbands and wives understand love, responsibility, respect, and unity.
Paul begins by calling believers to imitate God as beloved children, explaining that the most visible expression of this imitation is a life shaped by love, especially the self-giving love demonstrated by Christ when He gave Himself for His people.
He then warns Christians to reject sexual immorality, impurity, greed, shameful speech, foolish behavior, and crude joking, because believers have received a new identity that should produce holiness rather than continued participation in the patterns of their former lives.
Paul particularly identifies greed as idolatry, showing that sinful behavior is not merely about individual actions but can reveal misplaced devotion when people allow desires for possessions, pleasure, status, or personal satisfaction to take God's rightful place.
Christians are therefore called to live as children of light, producing goodness, righteousness, and truth while carefully discerning what pleases the Lord and refusing to participate in the unproductive works of darkness.
Paul urges believers to make the most of their opportunities because their time is limited and the surrounding world contains many influences that can pull them away from God's purposes, making wisdom and deliberate decision-making essential parts of Christian maturity.
Instead of being controlled by wine and its destructive effects, believers should be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing God's Spirit to influence their thoughts, relationships, worship, speech, gratitude, and everyday conduct.
Spirit-filled life is expressed through worship with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, continual thanksgiving to God through Christ, and a willingness to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Paul then applies this principle to marriage, beginning with the relationship between wives and husbands and ultimately focusing much more extensively on the husband's responsibility to love sacrificially, using Christ's love for the church as the highest standard.
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, and Paul uses this sacrifice as the model for husbands, meaning that marital leadership cannot properly be understood as selfish control because its Christian pattern is self-giving responsibility.
Paul explains that Christ's purpose is to sanctify and cleanse the church so that He may present it as holy and glorious, making the relationship between Christ and His church the central theological model behind his teaching on marriage.
Marriage therefore becomes more than a social arrangement because it points toward the profound relationship between Christ and the church, while the husband and wife are called to express this relationship through love, respect, unity, care, and faithful commitment.
The central message of Ephesians 5 is that believers who have received new life in Christ should walk in love and holiness, reject the darkness of their former lives, use their time wisely, live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, worship with gratitude, and allow Christ's sacrificial relationship with the church to transform the way husbands and wives understand love, responsibility, respect, and unity.