Ephesians:5

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Therefore be imitators of God , as His dear children . * And live and act lovingly , as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God , yielding a fragrant odor . * But fornication and every kind of impurity , or covetousness , let them not even be mentioned among you , for they ought not to be named among God 's people . * Avoid shameful and foolish talk and low jesting –they are all alike discreditable – and in place of these give thanks . * For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber –or in other words idol-worshipper – has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God . * Let no one deceive you with empty words , for it is on account of these very sins that God 's anger is coming upon the disobedient . * Therefore do not become sharers with them . * There was a time when you were nothing but darkness . Now , as Christians , you are Light itself . * Live and act as sons of Light –for the effect of the Light is seen in every kind of goodness , uprightness and truth – * and learn in your own experiences what is fully pleasing to the Lord . * Have nothing to do with the barren unprofitable deeds of darkness , but , instead of that , set your faces against them ; * for the things which are done by these people in secret it is disgraceful even to speak of . * But everything can be tested by the light and thus be shown in its true colors ; for whatever shines of itself is light . * For this reason it is said , »Rise , sleeper ; rise from among the dead , and Christ will shed light upon you .« * Therefore be very careful how you live and act . Let it not be as unwise men , but as wise . * Buy up your opportunities , for these are evil times . * On this account do not prove yourselves wanting in sense , but try to understand what the Lord 's will is . * Do not over-indulge in wine –a thing in which excess is so easy – * but drink deeply of God 's Spirit . Speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs . Sing and offer praise in your hearts to the Lord . * Always and for everything let your thanks to God the Father be presented in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; * and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ . * Married women , submit to your own husbands as if to the Lord ; * because a husband is the Head of his wife as Christ also is the Head of the Church , being indeed the Saviour of this His Body . * And just as the Church submits to Christ , so also married women should be entirely submissive to their husbands . * Married men , love your wives , as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up to death for her ; * in order to make her holy , cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word , * that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride , without spot or wrinkle or any other defect , but to be holy and unblemished . * So too married men ought to love their wives as much as they love themselves . He who loves his wife loves himself . * For never yet has a man hated his own body . On the contrary he feeds and cherishes it , just as Christ feeds and cherishes the Church ; * because we are , as it were , parts of His Body . wmth @Ephesians:5:31 " /> * That is a great truth hitherto kept secret : I mean the truth concerning Christ and the Church . * Yet I insist that among you also , each man is to love his own wife as much as he loves himself , and let a married woman see to it that she treats her husband with respect .

---