Ephesians 5:1
New International Version
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

New Living Translation
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

English Standard Version
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Berean Standard Bible
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

Berean Literal Bible
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

King James Bible
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

New King James Version
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

NASB 1995
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

NASB 1977
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,

Amplified Bible
Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.

American Standard Version
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children,

Contemporary English Version
Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children;

English Revised Version
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Imitate God, since you are the children he loves.

Good News Translation
Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him.

International Standard Version
So be imitators of God, as his dear children.

Literal Standard Version
Become, then, followers of God, as beloved children,

Majority Standard Bible
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

New American Bible
So be imitators of God, as beloved children,

NET Bible
Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

New Heart English Bible
Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

Webster's Bible Translation
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

Weymouth New Testament
Therefore be imitators of God, as His dear children.

World English Bible
Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

Young's Literal Translation
Become, then, followers of God, as children beloved,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Imitators of God
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, 2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.…

Cross References
Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Luke 6:36
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Philippians 2:15
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world


Treasury of Scripture

Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children;

followers.

Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Leviticus 11:45
For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Matthew 5:45,48
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust…

as.

Jeremiah 31:20
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.

Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

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Ephesians 5
1. After general exhortations to love;
3. to flee sexual immorality;
4. and all uncleanness;
7. not to converse with the wicked;
15. to walk carefully;
18. and to be filled with the Spirit;
22. he descends to the particular duties, how wives ought to obey their husbands;
25. and husbands ought to love their wives,
32. even as Christ does his church.














V.

(1, 2) These verses are an expansion and enforcement of the last verse of Ephesians 4. There the forgiveness of "God in Christ" is set forth in one pregnant phrase. Here the two parts of this idea are divided; and there is put before us, first, the free universal love of God as our Father, and next, the self-sacrificing love of Christ, as the Son of God and man.

(1) Followers of God.--The phrase is unique and very striking; literally, imitators of God: and the word "therefore" implies that this imitation of God must be chiefly in His essential attribute of love. It is instructive to observe that our Lord's startling command, "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), is explained both by the context and the parallel passage in St. Luke (Luke 6:36) to mean, "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father in heaven is merciful." See in Hooker's Ecc. Pol., i. 5, a striking passage on the imitation of God as the law of all moral progress in man. In this idea, indeed, lies the essential and distinctive principle of a religious morality as such.

As dear children.--Literally, as children beloved of Him. The knowledge of the love of God to us is the first source, as of our love to Him (1John 4:19), so also of our love to men as brethren under His fatherhood (1John 4:11). As being His "children," and therefore partakers of the divine nature (2Peter 1:4), we can imitate Him; as His "beloved children" we imitate Him most naturally in love, and especially in that form of love which we call "mercy," and which, as being ourselves sinners, we especially crave and receive from Him. . . .

Verse 1. - Be ye therefore imitators of God, as children beloved. These words are closely connected with the preceding. In Ephesians 4:32 he had urged the example of God in one very momentous matter; he now urges it in a more general sense and on another ground. We ought to forgive men because God has forgiven us - all admit that; but moreover, we ought to imitate our Father in his forgiveness and in his loving spirit, be-because beloved children should always imitate, and will always strive to imitate, what is good in a beloved father. Forgiving love is one of the great glories of our Father; it has been made peculiarly attractive in our eyes, because it has been exercised by him towards us; every consideration, therefore, ought to induce us to show the same spirit.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Be
Γίνεσθε (Ginesthe)
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1096: A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be, i.e. to become, used with great latitude.

imitators
μιμηταὶ (mimētai)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3402: An imitator, follower. From mimeomai; an imitator.

of God,
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

therefore,
οὖν (oun)
Conjunction
Strong's 3767: Therefore, then. Apparently a primary word; certainly, or accordingly.

as
ὡς (hōs)
Adverb
Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

beloved
ἀγαπητά (agapēta)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 27: From agapao; beloved.

children,
τέκνα (tekna)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 5043: A child, descendent, inhabitant. From the base of timoria; a child.


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NT Letters: Ephesians 5:1 Be therefore imitators of God as beloved (Ephes. Eph. Ep)
Ephesians 4:32
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