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Bible / Ephesians

Ephesians 5

Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children: CCC

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness. CCC

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: CCC

4 Or obscenity or foolish talking or scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. CCC

5 For know you this and understand: That no fornicator or unclean or covetous person (which is a serving of idols) hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. CCC

6 Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Fathers

7 Be ye not therefore partakers with them. Fathers

8 For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light. CCC

9 For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice and truth: CCC

10 Proving what is well pleasing to God.

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness: but rather reprove them.

12 For the things that are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of.

13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for all that is made manifest is light.

14 Wherefore he saith: Rise, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten thee. CCC

15 See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise,

16 But as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. CCC

17 Wherefore, become not unwise: but understanding what is the will of God. CCC

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury: but be ye filled with the Holy Spirit,

19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord: CCC

20 Giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father: CCC

21 Being subject one to another, in the fear of Christ. CCC

22 Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord:

23 Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ: so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it: CCC

26 That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: CCC

27 That he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. CCC

28 So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church: CCC

30 Because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. Fathers

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother: and shall cleave to his wife. And they shall be two in one flesh. CCC

32 This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church. CCC

33 Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular love his wife as himself: And let the wife fear her husband.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Verse 1CCC 1694
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1694 “Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" and so participate in the…”
  2. Verse 2CCC 616 CCC 1694
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 616 “It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He…”
    • CCC 1694 “Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" and so participate in the…”
  3. Verse 3CCC 1852
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”
  4. Verse 4CCC 1852
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”
  5. Verse 5CCC 1852 CCC 2113
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1852 “There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. the Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works…”
    • CCC 2113 “Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not…”
  6. Verse 6
    Read the Fathers

    • “Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  7. Verse 7
    Read the Fathers

    • “Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  8. Verse 8CCC 1216 CCC 1695
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1216 “This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding . . . ." Having…”
    • CCC 1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God," "sanctified . . . (and) called…”
  9. Verse 9CCC 1695
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1695 “Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God," "sanctified . . . (and) called…”
  10. Verse 14CCC 2641
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2641 “[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." Like…”
  11. Verse 16CCC 672
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 672 “Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by…”
  12. Verse 17CCC 2826
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2826 “By prayer we can discern "what is the will of God" and obtain the endurance to do it. Jesus teaches us that…”
  13. Verse 19CCC 1156 CCC 2641
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1156 “The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. the…”
    • CCC 2641 “[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." Like…”
  14. Verse 20CCC 2633 CCC 2742
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2633 “When we share in God's saving love, we understand that every need can become the object of petition. Christ, who assumed all…”
    • CCC 2742 “Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the…”
  15. Verse 21CCC 1269 CCC 1642 CCC 2204
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1269 “Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose…”
    • CCC 1642 “Christ is the source of this grace. "Just as of old God encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity,…”
    • CCC 2204 “The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called…”
  16. Verse 25CCC 616 CCC 757 CCC 772 CCC 796 CCC 1616
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 616 “It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He…”
    • CCC 757 “The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the…”
    • CCC 772 “It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all…”
    • CCC 796 “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a…”
    • CCC 1616 “This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave…”
  17. Verse 26CCC 628 CCC 757 CCC 772 CCC 796 CCC 829 CCC 1228 CCC 1616 CCC 1617
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 628 “Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies…”
    • CCC 757 “The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the…”
    • CCC 772 “It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all…”
    • CCC 796 “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a…”
    • CCC 829 “But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the…”
    • CCC 1228 “Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect. St.…”
  18. Verse 27CCC 772 CCC 773 CCC 829 CCC 1426 CCC 1617
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 772 “It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all…”
    • CCC 773 “In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in…”
    • CCC 829 “But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the…”
    • CCC 1426 “Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received…”
    • CCC 1617 “The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the…”
  19. Verse 29CCC 757 CCC 796
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 757 “The Church, further, which is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the…”
    • CCC 796 “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a…”
  20. Verse 30
    Read the Fathers

    • “… life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him? – even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that "we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter II. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  21. Verse 31CCC 796 CCC 1602 CCC 1616 CCC 1627
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 796 “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a…”
    • CCC 1602 “Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision…”
    • CCC 1616 “This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave…”
    • CCC 1627 “The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other": "I take you to be…”
  22. Verse 32CCC 772 CCC 796 CCC 1602 CCC 1616 CCC 1624
    Read the Catechism
    • CCC 772 “It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan: "to unite all…”
    • CCC 796 “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a…”
    • CCC 1602 “Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision…”
    • CCC 1616 “This is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave…”
    • CCC 1624 “The various liturgies abound in prayers of blessing and epiclesis asking God's grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride.…”
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