1 Corinthians 4:14–5:13

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

14 I am writing this not to shame youv but to warn you as my dear children.w 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your fatherx through the gospel.y 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.z 17 For this reason I have sent to youa Timothy,b my sonc whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.d

18 Some of you have become arrogant,e as if I were not coming to you.f 19 But I will come to you very soon,g if the Lord is willing,h and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter ofi talk but of power.j 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline,k or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

Dealing With a Case of Incest

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.l 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourningm and have put out of your fellowshipn the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit.o As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesusp on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man overq to Satanr for the destruction of the flesh,a, b so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.s

6 Your boasting is not good.t Don’t you know that a little yeastu leavens the whole batch of dough?v 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.w 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened breadx of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associatey with sexually immoral people—10 not at all meaning the people of this worldz who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sisterc a but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolaterb or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.c

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outsided the church? Are you not to judge those inside?e 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”d f