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Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Ephesians 5:24 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
  • BSB Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
  • NKJV Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
  • NASB But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
  • NLT As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

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

As the church submits to Christ, wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. The church's devotion to Christ is the model.

Overview

Paul completes the analogy begun in verse 23: just as the church yields to Christ, so wives are to honor their husbands. 'In everything' is understood within the bounds of obedience to Christ, who is the ultimate Lord. The verse holds out the church's loving submission to Christ as the pattern for the marriage relationship.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • 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.
  • Col 3:20Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
  • Titus 2:7In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
  • Titus 2:9Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
  • Col 3:22Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
  • Exod 29:35And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.
  • 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.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 5:24YouTube · 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 5:24 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.