Ephesians 5

1So imitate God, since you are children he dearly loves. 2Let love guide the way you live, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for our sake, an offering and sacrifice to God, a fragrance that pleased him.

3Sexual immorality, impurity of every kind, and greed must not even be spoken of as present among you; that is what suits God’s holy people. 4The same goes for shameful conduct, foolish talk and crude jokes. They do not belong. Let there be thanksgiving instead. 5Be sure of this, and take it to heart: no one who is sexually immoral or impure, and no one who is greedy (for the greedy person is an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6Do not let anyone mislead you with words that have nothing in them. These are the very things that bring the wrath of God on those who disobey him. 7So do not become their partners in what they do. 8Once you were darkness itself; now, in the Lord, you are light. So conduct your lives as children of light. 9What light produces is goodness, righteousness and truth of every kind. 10Put things to the test, and learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Do not share in the deeds of darkness, which produce nothing good. Show them up for what they are instead. 12The things those people do in secret are shameful even to speak of. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it is seen for what it is, 14for whatever is brought into view becomes light. So it says: “Sleeper, wake up! Get up from among the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

15So take great care how you live, not as people without wisdom but as people who have it. 16Make good use of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17For this reason, do not be senseless. Come to understand what the Lord wants. 18Do not get drunk on wine, for that is reckless, wasteful living. Instead, let the Spirit fill you. 19Then you will speak to one another in psalms, hymns and Spirit-given songs, and sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts. 20You will give thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21And you will submit to one another in the reverent fear of Christ.

22Wives should submit to their own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is head of the wife, just as Christ is head of the church; and he is the Savior of that body. 24But in the same way that the church submits to Christ, wives are also to submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives the way Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her. 26He did this to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might bring the church to himself in glory, with no spot or wrinkle or any flaw like that, but holy and without blame. 28So husbands are bound to love their wives as their own bodies. To love one’s wife is to love oneself. 29Nobody has ever hated his own flesh; instead, he feeds it and looks after it, as Christ does for the church, 30because we are parts of his body. 31This is why a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. 32There is a great mystery here, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. 33But to return to you: each husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.