1CHILDREN, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

2Honour thy father and mother, (which is the first commandement with promise,)

3That it may bee well with thee, and thou maiest liue long on the earth.

4And yee fathers, prouoke not your children to wrath: but bring them vp in the nourture and admonition of the Lord.

5Seruants, bee obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with feare and trembling, in singlenesse of your heart, as vnto Christ:

6Not with eye seruice as men pleasers, but as the seruants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart:

7With good will doing seruice, as to the Lord, and not to men,

8Knowing that whatsoeuer good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receiue of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

9And ye masters, do the same things vnto them, forbearing threatning: knowing that your master also is in heauen, neither is there respect of persons with him.

10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, & in the power of his might.

11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the deuill.

12For wee wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darknes of this world, against spirituall wickednes in high places.

13Wherfore take vnto you the whole armour of God, that yee may be able to withstand in the euill day, and hauing done all, to stand.

14Stand therefore, hauing your loynes girt about with trueth, and hauing on the breast-plate of righteousnesse:

15And your feete shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.

16Aboue all, taking the shielde of Faith, wherewith yee shall bee able to quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked.

17And take the helmet of saluation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18Praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseuerance, and supplication for all Saints,

19And for mee, that vtterance may be giuen vnto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make knowen the mysterie of the Gospel:

20For which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speake boldly, as I ought to speake.

21But that yee also may know my affaires, and how I doe, Tychicus a beloued brother, and faithfull minister in the Lord, shall make knowen to you all things.

22Whom I haue sent vnto you for the same purpose, that yee might know our affaires, and that he might comfort your hearts.

23Peace be to the brethren, and loue, with faith from God the Father, and the Lord Iesus Christ.

24Grace be with all them that loue our Lord Iesus Christ in sinceritie. Written from Rome vnto the Ephesians by Tychicus.

 

1 Children, obey your parents (in the Lord), for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother." This is the first commandment with a promise, 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth." 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord. 5 Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ, 6 not only when being watched, as currying favor, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 willingly serving the Lord and not human beings, 8 knowing that each will be requited from the Lord for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 Masters, act in the same way toward them, and stop bullying, knowing that both they and you have a Master in heaven and that with him there is no partiality. 10 Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. 11 Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. 13 Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. 14 So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, 15 and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones 19 and also for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may have the courage to speak as I must. 21 So that you also may have news of me and of what I am doing, Tychicus, my beloved brother and trustworthy minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us and that he may encourage your hearts. 23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in immortality.  

v 1. This does not imply to obey only if they are believers, but in things not contrary to God’s Word. (stealing etc.) Obeying in all things, Col. 3:20, has the limitation of  “...pleasing unto the Lord” Children who become saved and want to go to church may have to patiently live a life of faithful obedience before parents until they permit them to do so.
v 2,3. Actually Ex. 20:6 contrasts promise to penalty in a general way, but this stands alone in a primary commandment. This doesn’t guarantee old age, but life of disobedient often leads to death or short life.
v 4. Head of home use proper discipline, not unreasonable demands.
v 5-8. Two thirds of the people in the Roman empire were slaves. Here we have Christian slaves and Christian masters. We think in terms of employee - employer relationship. Employees are to give quality service even if the employer is not ideal.
v 9. Employers and supervisors are warned of their responsibility of fairness and reasonable working conditions. God is fair to them.
Verses 10-16 involve standing.
v 10. Having dealt with the various categories, believers are all to call upon the strength in them that comes only from the Lord.
v 11,12. Paul, chained to a Roman soldier, states our need of spiritual armor. This is not a physical struggle, but spiritual, with Satan and his cohorts attacking with cunning, deceit and great power.
v 13. Satan is the accuser and the one on the attack. Believers are the defenders of the faith and must resist and stand firm.
v 14. The Roman soldier first girded on a belt to which other things were attached, but a believers belt is integrity and faithfulness. Our breast plate is the sanctifying righteousness of Christ, which guards against evil.
v 15. We can stand in the assurance of the gospel, and be at peace.
v 16. The Roman shield, about 2 1/2 x 4 feet stopped burning darts and protected the rest of the armor. Our faith in the Lord is our protection.
v 17. Last the Roman took up his helmet and sword. We have present protection and hope of future deliverance by our salvation. The sword is the only offensive weapon. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and by it, we can stand defensively, as Christ did after His forty days temptation. Emphasis to this point has been to stand, but as the Roman sword had two edged  we can go on the attack, Rom. 10:17 faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
v 18. Having put on his armor the soldier must be alert. We are to be watchful and in prayer for every situation and in behalf of other believers.
v 19,20. Paul asks special prayer for his own needs. In his defense before the Roman court, they would consider his religion a sect of the Jews, which was not welcome, and the Jewish accusers would consider him a heretic. He needed to be bold in explaining the mystery of the gospel, as neither of those. 
v 21,22. Paul sends this letter by his faithful fellow laborer, Tychicus, who he mentions in several other letters. This letter would not only inform them of his situation, but would also comfort their hearts.
v 23,24, The letter closes with a benediction of peace, love and grace through Christ.