1 I t is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

Someone has told me about a sex sin among you. It is so bad that even the people who do not know God would not do it. I have been told that one of the men is living with his father’s wife as if she were his wife.

2 A nd ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Instead of being sorry, you are proud of yourselves. The man who is living like that should be sent away from you.

3 F or I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

I am far from you. Even if I am not there, my spirit is with you. I have already said that the man is guilty of this sin. I am saying this as if I were there with you.

4 i n the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Call a meeting of the church. I will be with you in spirit. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by His power,

5 t o deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

hand this person over to the devil. His body is to be destroyed so his spirit may be saved on the day the Lord comes again.

6 Y our glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

It is not good for you to be proud of the way things are going in your church. You know a little yeast makes the whole loaf of bread rise.

7 P urge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Clean out the old yeast. Then you will be new bread with none of the old yeast in you. The Jews killed lambs when they left Egypt. Christ is our lamb. He has already been killed as a gift on the altar to God for us.

8 t herefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Bread with yeast in it is like being full of sin and hate. Let us eat this supper together with bread that has no yeast in it. This bread is pure and true.

9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

I told you in my letter not to keep on being with people who do any kind of sex sins.

10 y et not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

I was not talking about people doing sex sins who are bad people of this world. I was not talking about people of this world who always want to get more or those who get things in a wrong way or those who worship false gods. To get away from people like that you would have to leave this world!

11 B ut now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

What I wrote was that you should not keep on being with a person who calls himself a Christian if he does any kind of sex sins. You should not even eat with a person who says he is a Christian but always wants to get more of everything or uses bad language or who gets drunk or gets things in a wrong way.

12 F or what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

It is not for me to judge those outside the church. You are to judge those who belong to the church.

13 B ut them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

God will judge those outside the church. So you must put that sinful person out of your church.