1 Corinthians 5–6

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

5It is actually reported that there is ^wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, ^xfor a man has his father’s wife. ²And ^yyou are arrogant! Ought you ^znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³For though ^aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴When you are assembled ^bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵you are ^cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so ^dthat his spirit may be saved ^ein the day of the Lord.¹

^6fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ^ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^hnot with the old leaven, ⁱthe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter ^jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— ^10knot at all meaning ^lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, ^msince then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ⁿwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹²For what have I to do with judging ^ooutsiders? ^pIs it not those inside the church² whom you are to judge? ¹³God judges³ those outside. ^q“Purge the evil person from among you.”

Lawsuits Against Believers

6When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous ^rinstead of the saints? ²Or do you not know that ^sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ⁴So if you have such cases, ^twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? ^5uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? ⁷To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even ^wyour own brothers!¹

⁹Or do you not know that the unrighteous² will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: ^xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,^{3 10}nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And ^ysuch were some of you. But ^zyou were washed, ^ayou were sanctified, ^byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

^12c“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ^13d“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^eand the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^ffor the Lord, and ^gthe Lord for the body. ¹⁴And ^hGod raised the Lord and ⁱwill also raise us up ^jby his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that ^kyour bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined⁴ to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^l“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord ^mbecomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸ⁿFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin⁵ a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^osins against his own body. ¹⁹Or ^pdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^qYou are not your own, ^20rfor you were bought with a price. ^sSo glorify God in your body.