Ephesians 6:7

Easy-to-Read Version

Do your work, and be happy to do it. Work as though it is the Lord you are serving, not just an earthly master.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,

King James Version (1611)
With good will doing seruice, as to the Lord, and not to men,

King James Version
With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

English Standard Version
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

New American Standard Bible
With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people,

New Century Version
Do your work with enthusiasm. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were serving only men and women.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

Legacy Standard Bible
serving with good will as to the Lord, and not to men,

Berean Standard Bible
Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men,

Contemporary English Version
Gladly serve your masters, as though they were the Lord himself, and not simply people.

Complete Jewish Bible
Work willingly as slaves, as people do who are serving not merely human beings but the Lord.

Darby Translation
serving with good will as to the Lord, and not to men;

Geneva Bible (1587)
With good will, seruing the Lord, and not men.

George Lamsa Translation
And serve well with your whole soul, with love, as to our LORD, and not to men:

Good News Translation
Do your work as slaves cheerfully, as though you served the Lord, and not merely human beings.

Lexham English Bible
serving with goodwill as to the Lord and not to people,

Literal Translation
serving as slaves with good will to the Lord, and not as to men,

Amplified Bible
rendering service with goodwill, as to the Lord, and not [only] to men,

American Standard Version
with good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men:

Bible in Basic English
Doing your work readily, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Hebrew Names Version
with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men;

International Standard Version
Serve willingly, as if you were serving the Lord and not merely people.as to the Lord and not people">[fn]

Etheridge Translation
And serve them from all your soul, in love, as unto our Lord, and not as unto men;

Murdock Translation
And serve them with your whole heart, in love, as if serving our Lord and not men;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Doyng the wyll of God fro the heart, with good wyll seruyng the Lorde, and not men:

English Revised Version
with good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men:

World English Bible
with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
With good will doing service as unto the Lord, and not to men:

Weymouth's New Testament
With right good will, be faithful to your duty as service rendered to the Lord and not to man.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
with good wille seruynge as to the Lord, and not as to men;

Update Bible Version
with good will serving as slaves, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Webster's Bible Translation
With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

New English Translation
Obey with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord and not people,

New King James Version
with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

New Living Translation
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

New Life Bible
Be happy as you work. Do your work as for the Lord, not for men.

New Revised Standard
Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
with good will, rendering service - as unto the Lord, and not unto men;

Douay-Rheims Bible
With a good will serving, as to the Lord, and not to men.

Revised Standard Version
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
with good will servinge ye Lorde and not men.

Young's Literal Translation
with good-will serving, as to the Lord, and not to men,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
with good wyll. Thynke that ye serue the LORDE and not me:

Mace New Testament (1729)
serve them with affection, as if it was to the Lord,

Simplified Cowboy Version
Work hard, just as if it were Jesus standing there telling you what to do.

Contextual Overview

¹ Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do. ² The command says, "You must respect your father and mother." This is the first command that has a promise with it. ³ And this is the promise: "Then all will go well with you, and you will have a long life on the earth." ⁴ Fathers, don't make your children angry, but raise them with the kind of teaching and training you learn from the Lord. ⁵ Slaves, obey your masters here on earth with fear and respect. And do this with a heart that is true, just as you obey Christ. ⁶ You must do this not just to please your masters while they are watching, but all the time. Since you are really slaves of Christ, you must do with all your heart what God wants. ⁷ Do your work, and be happy to do it. Work as though it is the Lord you are serving, not just an earthly master. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will give everyone a reward for doing good. Everyone, slave or free, will get a reward for the good things they do. ⁹ Masters, in the same way, be good to your slaves. Don't say things to scare them. You know that the one who is your Master and their Master is in heaven, and he treats everyone the same.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

good: Genesis 31:6, Genesis 31:38-40, 2 Kings 5:2, 2 Kings 5:3, 2 Kings 5:13

as: Ephesians 6:5, Ephesians 6:6, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Reciprocal: Acts 20:19 - Serving Colossians 3:23 - as 1 Peter 2:15 - so

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children. Then the Lord said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.

Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird, animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive.

Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything God commanded him.

Psalms 37:20
But evil people are the Lord 's enemies, and they will be destroyed. Their valleys will dry up and burn. They will be destroyed completely.

Proverbs 10:27
Respect for the Lord will add years to your life, but the wicked will have their lives cut short.

Proverbs 16:4
The Lord has a plan for everything. In his plan, the wicked will be destroyed.

Hosea 4:3
So the country is like someone crying for the dead, and all of its people are weak. Even the animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the fish in the sea are dying.

Zephaniah 1:3
I will destroy all the people and all the animals. I will destroy the birds in the air and the fish in the sea. I will destroy the evil people and everything that makes them sin. I will remove all people from the earth." This is what the Lord said.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

With good will doing service,.... To their masters; not grudgingly, with an ill will; no otherwise, nor longer than when they are forced to it; but of a ready mind, and with a cheerful spirit, taking delight in their work, and reckoning it a pleasure to serve their masters; as an Israelite that is not sold, who does his work ברצונו, "with his good will", and according to his own mind b; doing what they do

as to the Lord, and not to men; not merely because it is the will of men, and they are commanded by them, and in order to please them, but because it is the will of the Lord, and is wellpleasing in his sight.

b Maimon. Hilchot Abadim, c. 1. sect. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As to the Lord, and not to men - That is, he should regard his lot in life as having been ordered by Divine Providence for some wise and good purpose; and until he may be permitted to enjoy his liberty in a quiet and peaceable manner (notes, 1 Corinthians 7:21), he should perform his duties with fidelity, and feel that he was rendering acceptable service to God. This would reconcile him to much of the hardships of his lot. The feeling that “God” has ordered the circumstances of our lives, and that he has some wise and good ends to answer by it, makes us contented there; though we may feel that our fellowman may be doing us injustice. It was this principle that made the martyrs so patient under the wrongs done them by people; and this may make even a slave patient and submissive under the wrongs of a master. But let not a master think, because a pious slave shows this spirit, that, therefore, the slave feels that the master is right in withholding his freedom; nor let him suppose, because religion requires the slave to be submissive and obedient, that, therefore, it approves of what the master does. It does this no more than it sanctioned the conduct of Nero and Mary, because religion required the martyrs to be unresisting, and to allow themselves to be led to the stake. A conscientious slave may find happiness in submitting to God, and doing his will, just as a conscientious martyr may. But this does not sanction the wrong, either of the slave-owner or of the persecutor.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 7. With good will — μετ ευνοιας. With cheerfulness; do not take up your service as a cross, or bear it as a burden; but take it as coming in the order of God's providence, and a thing that is pleasing to him.