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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ephesians 5 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ephesians/5.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ephesians/5-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Ephesians 5</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ephesians/4.htm" title="Ephesians 4">◄</a> Ephesians 5 <a href="../ephesians/6.htm" title="Ephesians 6">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_1"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.1" class="v49_5_1">1</span>Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. </span><span class="v49_5_2"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.2" class="v49_5_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Let love be your guide. Christ loved us<a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.2!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_3"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.3" class="v49_5_3">3</span>You are God's people, so don't let it be said that any of you are immoral or indecent or greedy. </span><span class="v49_5_4"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.4" class="v49_5_4">4</span>Don't use dirty or foolish or filthy words. Instead, say how thankful you are. </span><span class="v49_5_5"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.5" class="v49_5_5">5</span>Being greedy, indecent, or immoral is just another way of worshiping idols. You can be sure people who behave in this way will never be part of the kingdom that belongs to Christ and to God.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Living as People of Light</h3><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_6"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.6" class="v49_5_6">6</span>Don't let anyone trick you with foolish talk. God punishes everyone who disobeys him and says<a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.6!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> foolish things. </span><span class="v49_5_7"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.7" class="v49_5_7">7</span>So don't have anything to do with anyone like that.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_8"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.8" class="v49_5_8">8</span>You used to be like people living in the dark, but now you are people of the light because you belong to the Lord. So act like people of the light </span><span class="v49_5_9"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.9" class="v49_5_9">9</span>and make your light shine. Be good and honest and truthful, </span><span class="v49_5_10"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.10" class="v49_5_10">10</span>as you try to please the Lord. </span><span class="v49_5_11"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.11" class="v49_5_11">11</span>Don't take part in doing those worthless things that are done in the dark. Instead, show how wrong they are. </span><span class="v49_5_12"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.12" class="v49_5_12">12</span>It is disgusting even to talk about what is done in the dark. </span><span class="v49_5_13"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.13" class="v49_5_13">13</span>But the light will show what these things are really like. </span><span class="v49_5_14"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.14" class="v49_5_14">14</span>Light shows up everything,<a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.14!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> just as the Scriptures say,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v49_5_14">“Wake up from your sleep</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v49_5_14">and rise from death.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v49_5_14">Then Christ will shine on you.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_15"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.15" class="v49_5_15">15</span>Act like people with good sense and not like fools. </span><span class="v49_5_16"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.16" class="v49_5_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> These are evil times, so make every minute count. </span><span class="v49_5_17"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.17" class="v49_5_17">17</span>Don't be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. </span><span class="v49_5_18"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.18" class="v49_5_18">18</span>Don't destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life. </span><span class="v49_5_19"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.19" class="v49_5_19">19</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.19!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. </span><span class="v49_5_20"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.20" class="v49_5_20">20</span>Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Wives and Husbands</h3><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_21"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.21" class="v49_5_21">21</span>Honor Christ and put others first. </span><span class="v49_5_22"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.22" class="v49_5_22">22</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.22!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> A wife should put her husband first, as she does the Lord. </span><span class="v49_5_23"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.23" class="v49_5_23">23</span>A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body. </span><span class="v49_5_24"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.24" class="v49_5_24">24</span>Wives should always put their husbands first, as the church puts Christ first.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_25"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.25" class="v49_5_25">25</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. </span><span class="v49_5_26"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.26" class="v49_5_26">26</span>He made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water. </span><span class="v49_5_27"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.27" class="v49_5_27">27</span>Christ did this, so he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v49_5_28"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.28" class="v49_5_28">28</span>In the same way, a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself. A husband who loves his wife shows he loves himself. </span><span class="v49_5_29"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.29" class="v49_5_29">29</span>None of us hate our own bodies. We provide for them and take good care of them, just as Christ does for the church, </span><span class="v49_5_30"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.30" class="v49_5_30">30</span>because we are each part of his body. </span><span class="v49_5_31"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.31" class="v49_5_31">31</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eph.5.31!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife.” </span><span class="v49_5_32"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.32" class="v49_5_32">32</span>This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and his church. </span><span class="v49_5_33"><span class="reftext" id="Eph.5.33" class="v49_5_33">33</span>So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">us: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some manuscripts have “you.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.6 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">says: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “does.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.14 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Light shows up everything: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Everything that is seen in the light becomes light itself.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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