1 ¶ It 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 has 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, him that has 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 l et such a one be delivered 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 leavens 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 ¶ Purge 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 celebrate the feast, not in the old leaven, neither in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in 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 associate 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 ye would need to 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 associate with anyone calling himself a brother if he is a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner; with such a one do not even 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 why shall I judge those that are without? do ye not judge those 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 those that are without, God shall judge. 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.