WIVES AND HUSBANDS

Passage: Ephesians 5:22-33

Key verse: 5:22,5:26

NIV

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands(A) as you do to the Lord.(B) 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,(C) his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands(D) in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives,(E) just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her(F) 26 to make her holy,(G) cleansing[a] her by the washing(H) with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself(I) as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.(J) 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives(K) as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.(L) 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b](M) 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife(N) as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

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Footnotes
  1. Ephesians 5:26 Or having cleansed
  2. Ephesians 5:31 Gen. 2:24
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Wives and Husbands

22 (A)Wives, (B)submit to your own husbands, (C)as to the Lord. 23 For (D)the husband is the head of the wife even as (E)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is (F)himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit (G)in everything to their husbands.

25 (H)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and (I)gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by (J)the washing of water (K)with the word, 27 so (L)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, (M)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way (N)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because (O)we are members of his body. 31 (P)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and (Q)the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, (R)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she (S)respects her husband.

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Footnotes
  1. Ephesians 5:27 Or holy and blameless
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

First, wives submit to your husbands (22-24). The church submits to Christ in everything, because he is the head, and we are the body. Wives are to follow Jesus' example, practicing submission to her own husbands as to the Lord. This flows from her union and submission to Christ as head. Second, husbands, love your wives (25-33). Christ loved his church, laying down his life for her, to make her holy through the word. Husbands are to follow Jesus' example, loving their wives sacrificially. As Christ cares for each member of his body, so each husband is to care for his own wife as his own body, accepting God's intention for marriage: 'the two will become one flesh (31).' This union looks forward to the profound and eternal union between Christ and the church. Godly families that live this way give a pattern for all to follow.

Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus, our loving Husband. Bless our marriages to display his Lordship and his sacrificial love to the world.

One Word: this is a profound mystery