OET-RV EPH Chapter 5

5 So imitate God like valued children would imitate their father 2 [ref]and immerse yourselves in love just as the messiah loves you all and allowed himself to suffer for us as an offering and sacrifice which is like a pleasant fragrance to God.

3 It’s fitting for dedicated believers to not even entertain thoughts of sexual immorality or impurity or greed. 4 Nor is dirty or foolish talk or crude joking fitting, but rather thankfulness. 5 You should realise that anyone who is sexually immoral or impure or is a covetous or idolatrous person won’t have an inheritance in the kingdom of the messiah and of God.

6 Don’t let anyone seduce you with empty talk, because this is exactly what will induce God’s strong anger on those who’re disobedient. 7 So don’t get caught up with them 8 because you yourselves were once in the darkness but now that you are in the master’s light, you should behave like children of light. 9 The results of this light should be goodness and doing what is right and being honest 10 as you aim to please our master. 11 Don’t join in with the works of darkness which don’t lead to positive results, but instead you all should expose them 12 because the things that unbelievers do in secret are disgraceful to even talk about. 13 But everything will eventually have the light shone on it and all these things will then be exposed. 14 That’s why it says:

You who’re asleep get up,

You who’re dead come back to life,

The messiah will shine his light on you.

15 Because of that, take great care in exactly how you’re living. Don’t live like fools, but like wise people, 16 [ref]making good use of your time, because there’s lot of evil these days. 17 So don’t be foolish, but rather strive to discover what the master wants for you.

18 And don’t get drunk on alcohol because that’s excessive. Instead, be filled with God’s spirit, 19 [ref]sharing scriptures with each other and singing hymns and songs to praise our master, 20 always expressing thanks for everything to our father God in the authority and name of our master, Yeshua the messiah. 21 And show your honour of the messiah by placing yourselves under each other’s authority.

22 [ref]Wives should place themselves under their own husbands, just like they’re under the master, 23 because the husband is the leader of the wife just like the messiah is the head and saviour of his body, the church. 24 Wives should place themselves under their husbands in everything just like the church should place itself under the messiah.

25 [ref]You husbands must love your wives, just like the messiah loved the church and gave himself completely for it, 26 so that he could separate the church from the world and wash it clean with the water of the good message 27 in order to present the splendid church to himself—without any stains or wrinkles or anything like that—just pure and unblemished. 28 So husbands should love their wives just like their own bodies—anyone who loves his wife is loving himself. 29 No one hates their own body, but they feed and look after it, just like the messiah does for the church 30 and we are parts of his body. 31 [ref]That’s the reason why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes joined with his wife and the two of them become one unit. 32 This is an amazing mystery but I’m talking about the messiah and the church. 33 But it applies to you all: each one of you should love your wife like yourself and the wife should respect her husband.