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See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Ephesians 5:15 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise;
  • BSB Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
  • NKJV See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
  • NASB So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise,
  • NLT So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

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

Believers should watch carefully how they live, walking wisely rather than foolishly. The Christian life calls for deliberate, careful conduct.

Overview

Paul urges attentiveness to one's manner of life, walking 'not as unwise, but as wise.' Wisdom here is practical godliness, living in light of God's truth amid an evil age. Such carefulness guards the believer against the folly and pitfalls of the surrounding culture.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Col 4:5Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
  • Jas 3:13Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
  • Phil 1:27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
  • 1 Cor 14:20Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
  • Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.
  • 1 Tim 6:9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
  • 1 Pet 1:22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
  • Matt 10:16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
  • Luke 24:25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
  • 1 Th 5:15See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
  • Gal 3:3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
  • Job 2:10But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
  • Matt 27:24When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
  • Heb 12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
  • Matt 8:4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
  • Eph 5:33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
  • Rev 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
  • 2 Sam 24:10And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
  • Ps 73:22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
  • Exod 23:13And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
  • Matt 25:2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
  • Col 1:9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
  • Matt 27:4Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
  • Gal 3:1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ephesians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ephesians 5:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EphesiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 5:15 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.