Ephesians 5:6
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's warning against being deceived by 'empty words' (kenois logois) connects directly to the preceding catalogue of vices (5:3-5) and the claim that immoral people have no inheritance in the kingdom. The 'wrath of God' (orge theou) that comes upon the 'sons of disobedience' is not a future possibility only but a present reality breaking into history, as in Romans 1:18. The verse functions as an ethical boundary marker for a community surrounded by Greco-Roman culture that normalized the behaviors Paul prohibits. By calling such rationalizations 'empty words,' Paul diagnoses their spiritual danger: they sever the moral nerve between behavior and its ultimate accountability before God.
Other Translations
Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.
Let no one deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the sons of the disobedience,
Do not be turned from the right way by foolish words; for because of these things the punishment of God comes on those who do not put themselves under him.
Cross References
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