Bible Strands
Ephesians 6:3
“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses children in the Ephesian church, completing the command from verse 2 with its promised outcome.
The words — μακροχρόνιος (makrochronios), "long-lived," is a rare NT compound that pins the promise to a tangible, earthly duration rather than a vague blessing.
The thread — The phrasing echoes Deuteronomy 5:16, the Fifth Commandment's own promise of long days, and the "go well with you" language recurs in Deuteronomy 4:40 and 12:28.
Why it lands — It ties obedience to a parent to a measurable, earthly reward—well-being and years on the ground—rather than deferring the benefit to the afterlife.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Deuteronomy 4:40 Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.
- Deuteronomy 12:28 Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 12:25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
- Deuteronomy 6:18 Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,
- Deuteronomy 22:7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
- Ruth 3:1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek a resting place for you, that it may be well with you?
- Psalms 128:1 A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.