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Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Ephesians 5:33 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
  • BSB Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
  • NKJV Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
  • NASB Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
  • NLT So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

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

In summary, each husband must love his wife as himself, and each wife must respect her husband. Love and respect together sustain a godly marriage.

Overview

Paul concludes the marriage instructions by restating the core duties: sacrificial love for husbands and respect for wives. These complementary callings, rooted throughout in the Christ-church relationship, summarize the section. Together they form a picture of mutual honor that reflects the gospel.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • 1 Pet 3:2–7While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
  • Esth 1:20And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
  • Eph 5:25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
  • Eph 5:22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
  • Col 3:19Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
  • Eph 5:28–29So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
  • Heb 12:9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
  • 1 Kgs 1:31Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

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 5:33YouTube · 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 5:33 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.