Ephesians 4:31 (ASV)

Passage

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:

Nearby Context

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:

Ephesians 4:32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "bitterness", "wrath", "anger", "clamor", "railing", "away", and "malice". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "bitterness" and "wrath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of..." into verse 32's "and be ye kind one to another...", so "bitterness" and "wrath" belong inside that flow. In Ephesians context, the local focus is grace, union with Christ, the church, and new creation.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "bitterness" and "wrath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.