Here’s a two-voice reader’s theatre setting of Ephesians 4:1-16. It is based on The Voice translation of scripture.
Reader’s Theatre
(Ephesians 4:1-16)
One: As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you:
Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you.
Two: Be humble.
One: Be gentle.
Two: Be patient.
One: Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.
Two: Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created,
with peace binding you together.
One: There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were all called to pursue one hope.
Two: There is one Lord Jesus,
one living faith,
one ceremonial washing through baptism,
and one God— the Father over all
who is above all, through all, and in all.
One: This God has given to each of us grace in full measure,
according to the Anointed’s gift as the Scripture says,
Two: When He ascended to the heights, He put captivity in chains;
And in His triumph, He gave gifts to the people.
One: Well, when it says, “He ascended,”
then that must mean that He had descended earlier to the lower levels,
that is, to the earth.
The One who descended is the same One who rose from the dead
to ascend far above all the heavens
so that He could fill all things.
Two: It was the risen One who handed down to us such gifted leaders—
some emissaries,
One: some prophets,
Two: some evangelists,
One: as well as some pastor-teachers—
Two: so that God’s people would be thoroughly equipped to minister
and build up the body of the Anointed One.
One: These ministries will continue until we are unified in faith
and filled with the knowledge of the Son of God,
Two: until we stand mature in His teachings
and fully formed in the likeness of the Anointed, our Liberating King.
One: Then we will no longer be like children,
tossed around here and there upon ocean waves,
picked up by every gust of religious teaching
spoken by liars or swindlers or deceivers.
Two: Instead, by truth spoken in love,
we are to grow in every way into Him—the Anointed One, the head.
One: He joins and holds together the whole body
with its ligaments providing the support needed
so each part works to its proper design
to form a healthy, growing, and mature body
that builds itself up in love.
~ taken from The Voice.™ Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Adapted by Christine Longhurst, re:Worship.
