Ephesians for the ALT Bible

Third Edition

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

Sample Passage

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Ephesians 4

¹Therefore, I, the prisoner in [the] Lord, call on [or, plead with] you* to walk about [fig., conduct yourselves] in a manner worthy of the calling with which you* were called, ²with all humility and gentleness [or, considerateness], with patience, yourselves putting up with one another in love, ³being eager [or, diligent] to be keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: ⁴one body and one Spirit, just as also you* were called in one hope [or, confident expectation] of your* calling; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism [or, immersion], [cp. 1Cor 12:13] ⁶one God and Father of all, who [is] over all and through all and in us all.

⁷But to each one of us was given grace according to the measure of the free gift of Christ. ⁸For this reason, He [or, it] says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a group of captives and gave gifts to people.” [Psalm 68:18] ⁹Now this, “He ascended,” what is it [fig., what does it mean] except that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰The One having descended, He is also the One having ascended far above all the heavens, so that He should fill all [things].

¹¹And He gave some [to be] apostles, and some [to be] prophets, and some [to be] evangelists, and some [to be] shepherds [or, pastors] and teachers, [i.e., “shepherds and pastors” is one office, so four offices are mentioned; cp. 1Cor 12:28] ¹²for the purpose of the equipping of the holy ones for [the] work of service, for [the] building up [fig., edifying] of the body of Christ, ¹³until we all arrive [fig., attain] to the unity of the faith and of the full [or, true] knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect [or, mature] man, to [the] measure [fig., extent] of [the] maturity of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we shall no longer be young children, being tossed about by waves and being carried about from place to place by every wind of teaching [or, doctrine], by the cunning of people, in craftiness, for the purpose of the trickery of deception. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we shall increase to Him [in] all [things], who is the head, Christ, ¹⁶from whom the entire body being joined together and united by means of the supply of every joint [or, by what every joint supplies], according to the working of the measure of each individual part, causing the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

¹⁷So this I say, and I insist in the Lord: you* are no longer to be walking about [fig., conducting yourselves] just as also the rest of [the] Gentiles are walking about [fig. conducting themselves] in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸having been darkened in the understanding, being [in the state of] having been separated from [or, a foreigner to] the life of God, because of the ignorance, the one being in them, because of the hardness of their heart [fig., stubbornness of their inner self], ¹⁹who, having become callous, they gave themselves over to flagrant sexual immorality for the pursuit of all impurity, with covetous desire [or, greed]. ²⁰But you* did not so learn Christ.

²¹Since indeed you* heard Him and in Him were taught, just as truth is in Jesus, ²²you* [are] to put off [or, be done with], with respect to your former manner of life, the old [or, former] person, the one being corrupt according to the desires [or, lusts] of deception, ²³but [you* are] to be continually renewed in the spirit of your* mind ²⁴and to put on the new person, the one having been created according to God in righteousness and holiness of [or, dedication to] the truth. [cp. Rom 12:2]

²⁵For this reason, you* yourselves having put off falsehood, “Be speaking truth each one with his neighbor” [Zech 8:16]--because we are members one of another. ²⁶“Continue being enraged, and stop sinning.” [Psalm 4:4] Stop letting the sun go down on your* angry mood, [i.e., don’t suppress or ignore anger but deal with it in an appropriate manner] ²⁷and stop giving place [fig., an opportunity] to the Devil. ²⁸The one stealing let him no longer be stealing, but rather let him be laboring, working the good [thing] with his hands, so that he shall be having [something] to be sharing with the one having need.

²⁹Stop letting any rotten [fig., harmful] word come out of your* mouth, but if anything [fig., what] [is] useful for building up [fig., edifying] of the need [fig., as needed], so that it shall give grace to the ones hearing. ³⁰And stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, in which [or, by whom] you* were sealed [or, secured] for [the] day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness and rage and anger and clamor [or, angry shouts of dissatisfaction] and slander be removed from you*, [along] with all malice. ³²But continue becoming kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in Christ forgave us.

Scripture taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible: Third Edition.
Copyright © 2007 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry (www.zeolla.org/christian).
Previously copyrighted © 1999, 2001, 2005 by Gary F. Zeolla.

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The above sample passage was posted on this Web site September 19, 2007.

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