Chapter 6

You who are children must shew obedience in the Lord to your parents; it is your duty;

Honour thy father and thy mother—that is the first commandment which has a promise attached to it,

So it shall go well with thee, and thou shalt live long to enjoy the land.

You who are fathers, do not rouse your children to resentment; the training, the discipline in which you bring them up must come from the Lord.

You who are slaves, give your human masters the obedience you owe to Christ, in anxious fear, single-mindedly;

not with that show of service which tries to win human favour, but in the character of Christ’s slaves, who do what is God’s will with all their heart.

Yours must be a slavery of love, not to men, but to the Lord;

you know well that each of us, slave or free, will be repaid by the Lord for every task well done.

And you who are masters, deal with them accordingly; there is no need to threaten them; you know well enough that you and they have a Master in heaven, who makes no distinction between man and man.

I have no more to say, brethren, except this; draw your strength from the Lord, from that mastery which his power supplies.

You must wear all the weapons in God’s armoury, if you would find strength to resist the cunning of the devil.

It is not against flesh and blood that we enter the lists; we have to do with princedoms and powers, with those who have mastery of the world in these dark days, with malign influences in an order higher than ours.

Take up all God’s armour, then; so you will be able to stand your ground when the evil time comes, and be found still on your feet, when all the task is over.

Stand fast, your loins girt with truth, the breastplate of justice fitted on,

and your feet shod in readiness to publish the gospel of peace.

With all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fire-tipped arrows of your wicked enemy;

make the helmet of salvation your own, and the sword of the spirit, God’s word.

Use every kind of prayer and supplication; pray at all times in the spirit;3 keep awake to that end with all perseverance; offer your supplication for all the saints.

Pray for me too, that I may be given words to speak my mind boldly, in making known the gospel revelation,

for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may have boldness to speak as I ought.

If you would know more of my circumstances, my occupations, you may learn all that from Tychicus, my dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord;

that is the reason why I have sent him, to let you have news of me, and to bring courage to your hearts.

Peace to the brethren, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an immortal love. Amen.