1 W hy 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.

Dare any one of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

2 D id 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?

have ye not known that the saints shall judge the world? and if by you the world is judged, are ye unworthy of the smaller judgments?

3 D id 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.

have ye not known that we shall judge messengers? why not then the things of life?

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

of the things of life, indeed, then, if ye may have judgment, those despised in the assembly -- these cause ye to sit;

5 Y ou 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?

unto your shame I speak: so there is not among you one wise man, not even one, who shall be able to discern in the midst of his brethren!

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

but brother with brother doth go to be judged, and this before unbelievers!

7 T his 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?

Already, indeed, then, there is altogether a fault among you, that ye have judgments with one another; wherefore do ye not rather suffer injustice? wherefore be ye not rather defrauded?

8 I nstead, you rob and do wrong to other Christians. The Body Is to Be Holy

but ye -- ye do injustice, and ye defraud, and these -- brethren!

9 D o 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.

have ye not known that the unrighteous the reign of God shall not inherit? be not led astray; neither whoremongers, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor sodomites,

10 A lso 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.

nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, the reign of God shall inherit.

11 S ome 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.

And certain of you were these! but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were declared righteous, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.

12 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.

All things are lawful to me, but all things are not profitable; all things are lawful to me, but I -- I will not be under authority by any;

13 F ood 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.

the meats for the belly, and the belly for the meats. And God both this and these shall make useless; and the body not for whoredom, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;

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

and God both the Lord did raise, and us will raise up through His power.

15 D o 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!

Have ye not known that your bodies are members of Christ? having taken, then, the members of the Christ, shall I make members of an harlot? let it be not!

16 D o 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.”

have ye not known that he who is joined to the harlot is one body? `for they shall be -- saith He -- the two for one flesh.'

17 B ut if you join yourself to the Lord, you are one with Him in spirit.

And he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit;

18 H ave 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.

flee the whoredom; every sin -- whatever a man may commit -- is without the body, and he who is committing whoredom, against his own body doth sin.

19 D o 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.

Have ye not known that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own,

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

for ye were bought with a price; glorify, then, God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.