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Ephesians 4 · a question people ask

"Be angry, and don’t sin." (4:26), and later "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you" (4:31). How do the two go together?

In the text

Here are the verses as the WEB prints them: "“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath" (4:26), "and don’t give place to the devil." (4:27), and "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice." (4:31). The chapter says both, and doesn't say how they go together. These notes don't either, and apply neither verse to anyone's own anger.

The verses

““Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, and don’t give place to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:26-27 · World English Bible
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice.”
Ephesians 4:31 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4: The unity of the Spirit

In Ephesians 4:2 the lowliness is the noun Philippians 2:3 gives as humility, and the humility is the noun Galatians 5:23 gives as gentleness; speaking truth in 4:15 is one Greek verb; and the put away of 4:22 and 4:25 is one verb, while 4:31's is another.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions