For the things which are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of.
Parallel translations
- KJV For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
- BSB For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
- NKJV For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
- NASB for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
- NLT It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The secret deeds of the disobedient are too shameful even to mention. Some sins are so vile that merely speaking of them is degrading.
Overview
Paul notes that the hidden works of darkness are 'a shame even to speak of,' underscoring their gravity. This is not a call to ignorance but a recognition that dwelling on such sins is itself defiling. The verse heightens the contrast between the shameful secrecy of darkness and the openness of light.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eph 5:3But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
- Rom 2:16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
- Eccl 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
- Jer 23:24Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I can’t see him?” says Yahweh. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says Yahweh.
- 2 Sam 12:12For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”
- Rom 1:24–27Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,
- 1 Pet 4:3For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
- Prov 9:17“Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
- Rev 20:12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Luke 12:1–2Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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