Ephesians 5
English Standard Version
Walk in Love
5 (A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And (B)walk in love, (C)as Christ loved us and (D)gave himself up for us, a (E)fragrant (F)offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But (G)sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness (H)must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be (I)no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, (J)which are out of place, but instead (K)let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that (L)everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ((M)that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 (N)Let no one (O)deceive you with empty words, for because of these things (P)the wrath of God comes upon (Q)the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore (R)do not become partners with them; 8 for (S)at one time you were (T)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. (U)Walk as children of light 9 (for (V)the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and (W)try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 (X)Take no part in the (Y)unfruitful (Z)works of darkness, but instead (AA)expose them. 12 For (AB)it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when (AC)anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
15 (AG)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 (AH)making the best use of the time, because (AI)the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what (AJ)the will of the Lord is. 18 And (AK)do not get drunk with wine, for that is (AL)debauchery, but (AM)be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in (AN)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 (AO)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father (AP)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 (AQ)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22 (AR)Wives, (AS)submit to your own husbands, (AT)as to the Lord. 23 For (AU)the husband is the head of the wife even as (AV)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is (AW)himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit (AX)in everything to their husbands.
25 (AY)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and (AZ)gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by (BA)the washing of water (BB)with the word, 27 so (BC)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, (BD)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way (BE)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because (BF)we are members of his body. 31 (BG)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and (BH)the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, (BI)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she (BJ)respects her husband.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 5:27 Or holy and blameless
Proverbs 2
English Standard Version
The Value of Wisdom
2 (A)My son, (B)if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice (C)for understanding,
4 if you seek it like (D)silver
and search for it as for (E)hidden treasures,
5 then (F)you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For (G)the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is (H)a shield to those who (I)walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and (J)watching over the way of his (K)saints.
9 (L)Then you will understand (M)righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 (N)discretion will (O)watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to (P)walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who (Q)rejoice in doing evil
and (R)delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose (S)paths are crooked,
(T)and who are (U)devious in their ways.
16 So (V)you will be delivered from the forbidden[a] woman,
from (W)the adulteress[b] with (X)her smooth words,
17 who forsakes (Y)the companion of her youth
and forgets (Z)the covenant of her God;
18 (AA)for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;[c]
19 none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright (AB)will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be (AC)cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be (AD)rooted out of it.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew strange
- Proverbs 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman
- Proverbs 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim
Job 39-40
English Standard Version
39 “Do you know when (A)the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe (B)the calving of the does?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they (C)crouch, bring forth their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go out and (D)do not return to them.
5 “Who has let the wild donkey go free?
Who has (E)loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 to whom I have given (F)the arid plain for his home
and (G)the salt land for his dwelling place?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city;
he hears not the shouts of the driver.
8 He ranges the mountains as his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.
9 “Is (H)the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will he spend the night at your (I)manger?
10 Can you bind (J)him in the furrow with ropes,
or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on him because his strength is great,
and will you leave to him your labor?
12 Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?[a]
14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
and that the wild beast may trample them.
16 She (K)deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
though her (L)labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
17 because God has made her forget wisdom
and (M)given her no share in understanding.
18 When she rouses herself to flee,[b]
she laughs at the horse and his rider.
19 “Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
20 Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic (N)snorting is terrifying.
21 He paws[c] in the valley and exults in his strength;
he (O)goes out to meet the weapons.
22 He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon him rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;
he cannot stand still at (P)the sound of the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’
He smells the battle from afar,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars
and spreads his wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his (Q)nest on high?
28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
on (R)the rocky crag and stronghold.
29 From there he spies out the prey;
his eyes behold it from far away.
30 His young ones suck up blood,
and (S)where the slain are, there is he.”
40 And the Lord (T)said to Job:
2 “Shall a faultfinder (U)contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4 “Behold, I am (V)of small account; what shall I answer you?
(W)I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken (X)once, and I will not answer;
(Y)twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord (Z)answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 (AA)“Dress for action[d] like a man;
(AB)I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that (AC)you may be in the right?
9 Have you (AD)an arm like God,
and can you thunder with (AE)a voice like his?
10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
(AF)clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is (AG)proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and (AH)tread down the wicked (AI)where they stand.
13 (AJ)Hide them all in (AK)the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.[e]
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own (AL)right hand can save you.
15 “Behold, Behemoth,[f]
which I made as I made you;
he eats (AM)grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is (AN)the first of (AO)the works[g] of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of (AP)the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,[h]
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Footnotes
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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