Instructions about how wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves and masters should behave toward each other.

Ephesians 5:22—6:9

22-23 22-23Because husbands have authority over [MET] their wives, just as all of us believers form one group under the authority of Christ, you women should submit yourselves to the authority of your husbands just as you submit yourselves to the Lord Jesus. He is the one who saves all his people from the guilt of their sins. 24 Just like all believers submit themselves to the authority of Christ, the women must submit themselves completely to the authority of their husbands.

25 Each of you husbands, love your wife as Christ loved all of us who would become believers, with the result that he willingly died for our sake, 26 in order that he might ◄set us apart for himself/cause us to belong to him►. That is, by revealing his message to us, he wanted to remove the guilt of our sin, just like people remove dirt from something by washing it [MET]. 27 Christ did that in order that he might cause all of us believers to be a glorious group of people that belong to him, people that do not have any moral flaws/imperfections, but instead might be completely pure [DOU] when he gathers us ◄to his presence/to himself►. 28 In the same way, each man should love his wife as he loves his own body. Men who love their wives, it is as though they love themselves. 29-30 29-30This is shown by the fact that no one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds his own body and cares for it, just like Christ also cares for all us believers. We have become one group of believers that belongs to him [MET]. 31 What someone has written in the Scriptures about people who marry is this,

When a man and a woman marry, they should ◄permanently leave/no longer live with► their fathers and mothers. They should be joined as husband and wife, and the two of them shall become as though they were one [MET] person.

32 It is very difficult to understand the meaning of these things that God has now revealed to me, but I am telling you that those words also refer to the relationship between Christ and all those who belong to him. 33 However, as for you(pl), each man must love his wife just as he loves himself, and each woman must respect her husband.

6 You children, because you ◄belong to/have a close relationship with► the Lord Jesus, obey your parents, because it is right for you to do that. 2 God commanded in the Scriptures,

Greatly respect your father and mother.

That is the first law that God commanded in which he also promised something. He promised,

3 If you do that, you will prosper, and you will live a long time.

4 You parents (OR, You fathers), do not treat your children so severely that they become angry. Instead, bring them up well by instructing them and by disciplining them in the manner that the Lord Jesus wants you to do.

5 You slaves, obey those who are your masters. Obey them very respectfully and sincerely [DOU], just like you obey Christ. 6 Obey them, not only when they are watching [MTY] you, and not only to cause them to think highly/well of you. Instead, obey them as though you were [MET] slaves of Christ, not slaves of your masters. Do enthusiastically what God wants you to do. 7 Serve your masters zealously/wholeheartedly, as you would serve the Lord Jesus, not as you would serve ordinary people. 8 Do this because you know that some day the Lord Jesus will reward each person for whatever good deeds that person has done. He will reward people who are slaves and people who are not slaves.

9 You masters, just like your slaves should serve you well, you similarly must treat them well. Stop threatening to beat them if they do not do their work well. Do not forget you and they have the same Lord who is in heaven. So he is the one who will say to you and your slaves whether he approves of what you and they have done, and when he judges people, he does not act more favorably toward some than he acts toward others.