6
About children
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth.”* 4 And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,† but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of Sovereign.
About slaves and masters
5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;‡ 6 not only when being watched, to please men, but as slaves of the Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 serving with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good each one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is slave or free.§
9 And masters, be the same way towards them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Spiritual warfare
10 Finally, my brothers,* be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so as to be able to stand firm against the stratagems of the devil. 12 Because, our wrestling match† is not against flesh and blood,‡ but against the principalities, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the malignant spirits in the heavenly realms. 13 That is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, to stand firm, with everything in place.
14 So stand firm, having belted your waist with truth,§ having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the readiness of the Gospel of the peace; 16 above all, having taken up the shield of the faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows* of the malignant one; 17 also, grasp the helmet of the salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word spoken;† 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, using every prayer and petition, yes being watchful to this end with all perseverance and petition for all the saints 19 —on my behalf too,‡ that when I open my mouth utterance may be given to me with boldness, to make known the mystery of the Gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly,§ as I ought to do.
Closing greetings
21 Now that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything; 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose: that you may know our circumstances and that he may comfort your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and Sovereign Jesus Christ.
24 The grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.* Amen.
* 6:3 See Exodus 20:12. † 6:4 Unreasonable demands, harsh treatment, lack of clear guidelines—there are various ways to frustrate children and cause them to lose heart, and even give up. In today's world they will probably cop out by going to drugs, or the Internet (both of which leave them wide open to demonic influence). ‡ 6:5 Observe that slavery is not condemned. The owners are not commanded to free their slaves, just to treat them right. The slaves are not told to run away, but to be even better slaves. § 6:8 It pays to do good! * 6:10 Only some 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “my brothers” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.), but since the whole letter is written to Christians, there really is no doubt. Besides, how could an unbeliever put on the full armor of God? Note that Paul writes “our” wrestling match—apostles are also under attack, not to mention pastors, etc. † 6:12 The word here is a noun, not a verb, and means precisely ‘wrestling match’. A wrestling match is based on violent physical contact, and the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is advising us that we are in such a match, and the opponents are malignant spirits of all ranks. The ‘doctrine’ to be found in some circles that Christians can't be attacked by demons is totally and dangerously false. ‡ 6:12 Even though people may indeed act as our enemies, we need to keep in mind that they are only being used by the real enemy. § 6:14 Any lack of truth or righteousness in our lives will leave us vulnerable to attack. * 6:16 If it is faith that quenches these arrows, then they probably come in the form of doubts and fears. † 6:17 ρημα (rather than λογος)—the implication appears to be that we must speak the Word. Well, how else can you use the ‘Sword’? ‡ 6:19 We all need prayer, even apostles. § 6:20 If you are in prison because you spoke out, to keep on doing so does require boldness and courage. * 6:24 Evidently “the grace” is not for everybody.