1 D oes any of you dare, when he has a matter of complaint against another, to go to law before unrighteous men instead of before the saints (the people of God)?

Why do you go to court when you have something against another Christian? You are asking people who are not Christians to judge who is guilty. You should go to those who belong to Christ and ask them.

2 D o you not know that the saints (the believers) will judge and govern the world? And if the world is to be judged and ruled by you, are you unworthy and incompetent to try of the smallest courts of justice?

Did you not know that those who belong to Christ will someday judge this world? If you judge the people of the world as guilty, are you not able to do this in small things?

3 D o you not know also that we are to judge the angels and pronounce opinion between right and wrong ? How much more then matters pertaining to this world and of this life only!

Did you not know that we are to judge angels? So you should be able to take care of your problem here in this world without any trouble.

4 I f then you do have such cases of everyday life to decide, why do you appoint those who of the church count for least and are without standing?

When you have things to decide about this life, why do you go to men in courts who are not even Christians?

5 I say this to move you to shame. Can it be that there really is not one man among you who is wise and competent enough to decide between members of the brotherhood,

You should be ashamed! Is it true that there is not one person wise enough in your church to decide who is right when people argue?

6 B ut brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers ?

Instead, one Christian takes another Christian to court. And that court is made up of people who are not Christians!

7 W hy, the very fact of your having lawsuits with one another at all is a defect (a defeat, an evidence of positive moral loss for you). Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)?

This shows you are wrong when you have to go to court against each other. Would it not be better to let someone do something against you that is wrong? Would it not be better to let them rob you?

8 B ut yourselves who wrong and defraud, and that even your own brethren!

Instead, you rob and do wrong to other Christians. The Body Is to Be Holy

9 D o you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,

Do you not know that sinful men will have no place in the holy nation of God? Do not be fooled. A person who does sex sins, or who worships false gods, or who is not faithful in marriage, or men who act like women, or people who do sex sins with their own sex, will have no place in the holy nation of God.

10 N or cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.

Also those who steal, or those who always want to get more of everything, or who get drunk, or who say bad things about others, or take things that are not theirs, will have no place in the holy nation of God.

11 A nd such some of you were. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Some of you were like that. But now your sins are washed away. You were set apart for God-like living to do His work. You were made right with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.

12 E verything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.

I am allowed to do all things, but not everything is good for me to do! Even if I am free to do all things, I will not do them if I think it would be hard for me to stop when I know I should.

13 F ood for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will finally end both and bring them to nothing. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body '> to save, sanctify, and raise it again].

Food was meant for the stomach. The stomach needs food, but God will bring to an end both food and the stomach. The body was not meant for sex sins. It was meant to work for the Lord. The Lord is for our body.

14 A nd God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power.

God raised the Lord from death. He will raise us from death by His power also. The Body Belongs to the Lord

15 D o you not see and know that your bodies are members (bodily parts) of Christ (the Messiah)? Am I therefore to take the parts of Christ and make parts of a prostitute? Never! Never!

Do you not know that your bodies are a part of Christ Himself? Am I to take a part of Christ and make it a part of a woman who sells the use of her body? No! Never!

16 O r do you not know and realize that when a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? The two, it is written, shall become one flesh.

Do you not know that a man who joins himself to a woman who sells the use of her body becomes a part of her? The Holy Writings say, “The two will become one.”

17 B ut the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

But if you join yourself to the Lord, you are one with Him in spirit.

18 S hun immorality and all sexual looseness. Any other sin which a man commits is one outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Have nothing to do with sex sins! Any other sin that a man does, does not hurt his own body. But the man who does a sex sin sins against his own body.

19 D o you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own,

Do you not know that your body is a house of God where the Holy Spirit lives? God gave you His Holy Spirit. Now you belong to God. You do not belong to yourselves.

20 Y ou were bought with a price '> preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

God bought you with a great price. So honor God with your body. You belong to Him.