Ephesians 5:11

Plain English Version

People that belong to the darkness do wrong things. Don’t ever join in with them. Don’t do those things that are wrong and useless, but instead, tell everybody that those things are wrong.

Cross References

Genesis 20:16

Then Abimelek said to Sarah, “I’m giving Abraham, your brother, a lot of money, to pay for the trouble I gave you. I’m giving him 1,000 pieces of silver money to show your mob, and everyone else, that you did nothing wrong.”

Matthew 18:15

Jesus told his followers, “If another one of my followers does something wrong to you, then you have to go to them and talk about it. Just the 2 of you can talk about it together, while you are alone. If they listen to you, and if they agree with you, then you can call them your friend again.

Acts 26:18

and you will tell them the true message about me. It will be like you will open their eyes so that they can see things properly. They will come to God. Then Satan, the boss over the bad spirits, he will not control them with his power any more. It is like they are always in the dark now, but they will come into the light. They will believe in me, and they will stop believing lies. And then God will say they are not guilty of the bad things they did, and they will be God’s people.’ Jesus said that to me.”

Romans 16:17

Listen, my Christian friends, I’m telling you straight, you’ve got to be really careful about people that make you split up and argue with each other. Remember that you heard the true message about Jesus Christ, and you learned to follow his way, but there are some people that want you to leave that way and go another way. They tell you a different story, and they get you to argue with each other. So don’t listen to them. Keep away from them.

Romans 6:21

And what did you get after you did bad things? You got shame, that’s all. And you know that people that do those bad things have to die.

Galatians 6:8

Well, it is like that with us people. Some people do good things, like a gardener that plants the seeds of good plants. And some people do bad things, like a gardener that plants rubbish seeds. Some people only think about what will make them feel good, so they do bad things. Later God will pay them with something bad. They will die. But other people listen to God’s spirit and do good things. Later God will do something good for them. God’s spirit will let them live with him for ever.

Ephesians 4:22

You learned that we all have a bad part inside us that gets us to only think about what we want for ourselves, and it gets us to go wrong, and it gets us to do bad things. And you learned that now we have to turn around and stop doing those things. So don’t take any notice of that old bad part inside you. Don’t think about those bad things any more,

Ephesians 5:12

Those people do bad things when nobody can see them. Those things are so bad that if we talk about them, we feel shame.

Ephesians 5:7

So don’t join in with people that tell you to do bad things. Don’t do what those people do.

Colossians 1:12

And we want you to always say thank you to God, our father. He brought you into his family so that you will get the good things that he promised to give to his people. Then you will live with him in his good place.

1 Thessalonians 5:7

You know, night time is the time when people go to sleep, or maybe they get drunk, so they can’t think properly.

2 Thessalonians 3:14

We are writing this letter to tell you the right way to live. If some people will not do what we say in this letter, tell everyone about them, and don’t be their close friends. Then they will feel shame.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

Listen, Christian friends, Jesus Christ, our leader, wants us to tell you this. If anyone says they are a Christian, but they sit down and never want to do any work, you have to keep away from that person. Remember when we were with you. Think about what we were like. We didn’t sit around doing nothing. And we told you, “Don’t be lazy.” We want you to live the way we lived when we were with you.

1 Timothy 5:20

If that leader really did do something bad, then you have to shame him. You have to talk to him to try to straighten him out, and do it in front of everybody in the church. Then everyone will take notice and be too frightened to do bad things themselves.

1 Timothy 5:22

If ever you need to pick somebody to be a church leader, pick somebody that has been a Christian for a long time, not somebody that is a new Christian. It is like this. If the person you pick starts to go wrong, everyone will blame you as well as blaming that person. So pick somebody that you know is really good, so that you don’t get yourself mixed up with something that is wrong.

1 Timothy 6:5

Then they keep on arguing with each other. You see, they listened to those wrong teachers and those teachers tricked them. Those wrong teachers made them think the wrong way, so they don’t really know the true message. They think that if they follow God’s way they will get a lot of money, but they are wrong.

2 Timothy 3:5

They will reckon they respect God, but they will reckon that he hasn’t got any power. So I’m telling you, keep right away from those people.

2 Timothy 4:2

You’ve got to tell people God’s word. You have to be ready to tell it at any time, no matter if it seems to be the right time or not. Teach it carefully to people, and be ready to wait for them to understand it. If they are going wrong, show them the right way to live, and help them to live that way. If they are going the right way, say good words to them to help them to keep going strong.

Titus 2:15

So you have to teach these things to all the Christians there, and teach them in a strong way. Tell the Christians to keep going strong for Jesus. And if they do anything wrong, tell them to stop it. Make sure they take notice of you.