Ephesians 5:21-6:9

Good News Translation

Wives and Husbands

²¹ Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ.

^22 (A)Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³ For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. ²⁴ And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.

^25 (B)Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. ²⁶ He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, ²⁷ in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty—pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection. ²⁸ Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. (²⁹ None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church; ³⁰ for we are members of his body.) ^31 (C)As the scripture says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.” ³² There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church. ³³ But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

Children and Parents

6 ^(D)Children, it is your Christian duty to^[a] obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. ^2 (E)“Respect your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise added: ³ “so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land.”

^4 (F)Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.

Slaves and Masters

^5 (G)Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling; and do it with a sincere heart, as though you were serving Christ. ⁶ Do this not only when they are watching you, because you want to gain their approval; but with all your heart do what God wants, as slaves of Christ. ⁷ Do your work as slaves cheerfully, as though you served the Lord, and not merely human beings. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will reward each of us, whether slave or free, for the good work we do.

^9 (H)Masters, behave in the same way toward your slaves and stop using threats. Remember that you and your slaves belong to the same Master in heaven, who judges everyone by the same standard.