Journey Through God's Word

¹⁸Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

¹⁹So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.

²⁰He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

²¹So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.

²²Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

²³“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”

²⁴This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

²⁵Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

²³For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

²⁴As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her

²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

²⁷He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

²⁹No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

³⁰And we are members of his body.

³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over

²by observing your pure and reverent lives.

³Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.

⁴You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

⁵This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands.

⁶For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.

⁷In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

⁸Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.

⁹Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

¹⁰For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.

¹¹Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

¹²The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil.”