Ephesians 4:7-16
7But agrace was given bto each one of us caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says,d“When he ascended on high ehe led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.” ▼
▼The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
9( gIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into hthe lower regions, the earth? ▼
▼Or the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is the one who also jascended kfar above all the heavens, that he might lfill all things.) 11And mhe gave the napostles, the prophets, the oevangelists, the pshepherds ▼▼Or pastors
and teachers, ▼▼Or the shepherd-teachers
12 sto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for tbuilding up uthe body of Christ, 13until we all attain to vthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, wto mature manhood, ▼▼Greek to a full-grown man
to the measure of the stature of ythe fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, ztossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in aadeceitful schemes. 15Rather, abspeaking the truth in love, we are to acgrow up in every way into him who is adthe head, into Christ, 16 aefrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, afwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Copyright information for
ESV