For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the things which are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of.
- KJV For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them 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 among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- Rom 2:16on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- Eccl 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Jer 23:24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- 2 Sam 12:12You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
- Rom 1:24–27Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- 1 Pet 4:3For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Prov 9:17“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Luke 12:1–2In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven 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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