he made us, dead as we were through our offenses, live again with the Christ. It is by his mercy that you have been saved.

You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written.

As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ

(which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets)

So I ask that what I am having to suffer for your sake may not make me lose heart, for it does you honor.

To him who by the exertion of his power within us can do unutterably more than all we ask or imagine,

There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope that belongs to the summons you received.

And he has given us some men as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as pastors and teachers,

at least if you have really become acquainted with him and been instructed in him, and in union with him have been taught the truth as it is found in Jesus.

The man who stole must not steal any more; he must work with his hands at honest toil instead, so as to have something to share with those who are in need.

You must be kind to one another, you must be tender-hearted, and forgive one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

and lead loving lives, just as Christ loved you and gave himself for you, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But immorality or any form of vice or greed must not be so much as mentioned among you; that would not be becoming in God's people.

For once you were sheer darkness, but now, as Christians, you are light itself. You must live like children of light,

always give thanks for everything to God our Father, as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You married women must subordinate yourselves to your husbands, as you do to the Lord,

for a husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, which is his body, and is saved by him.

Just as the church is in subjection to Christ, so married women must be, in everything, to their husbands.

You who are husbands must love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself for her,

for no one ever hates his own person, but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ does with the church,

But each one of you must love his wife just as he loves himself, and the wife, too, must respect her husband.

Children, as Christians obey your parents, for that is right.

You who are slaves, obey your earthly masters, in reverence and awe, with sincerity of heart, as you would the Christ,

not with mere external service, as though you had only men to please, but like slaves of Christ, carrying out the will of God.

Do your duties heartily and willingly, as though it were for the Lord, not for men,

You must put on God's armor, so as to be able to stand up against the devil's stratagems.

Stand your ground, then, with the belt of truth around your waist, and put on uprightness as your coat of mail,

for the sake of which I am an envoy, and in prison. Pray that, when I tell it, I may have the courage to speak as I ought.