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1 Corinthians 6
New International Version
1 Corinthians 6
New International Version
Lawsuits Among Believers
6 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?(A) 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world?(B) And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you.(C) Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?(D) 6 But instead, one brother(E) takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!(F)
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?(G) 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.(H) 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?(I) Do not be deceived:(J) Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers(K) nor men who have sex with men[a](L) 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers(M) will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were.(N) But you were washed,(O) you were sanctified,(P) you were justified(Q) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Sexual Immorality
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.(R) “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.”(S) The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord,(T) and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead,(U) and he will raise us also.(V) 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?(W) Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b](X) 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[c](Y)
18 Flee from sexual immorality.(Z) All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.(AA) 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples(AB) of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;(AC) 20 you were bought at a price.(AD) Therefore honor God with your bodies.(AE)
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.
- 1 Corinthians 6:16 Gen. 2:24
- 1 Corinthians 6:17 Or in the Spirit
1 Corinthians 6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
1 Corinthians 6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Lawsuits among Believers
6 If any of you has a legal dispute against another, do you dare go to court(A) before the unrighteous,[a] and not before the saints? 2 Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest cases? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—not to mention ordinary matters? 4 So if you have cases pertaining to this life, do you select those[b] who have no standing(B) in the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame!(C) Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between his brothers?(D) 6 Instead, believer[c] goes to court against believer, and that before unbelievers!(E)
7 Therefore, to have legal disputes against one another is already a moral failure for you.(F) Why not rather put up with injustice?(G) Why not rather be cheated?(H) 8 Instead, you act unjustly and cheat—and you do this to believers! 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous(I) will not inherit God’s kingdom?(J) Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters,(K) adulterers,(L) or anyone practicing homosexuality,[d](M) 10 no thieves,(N) greedy(O) people, drunkards, verbally abusive people,(P) or swindlers(Q) will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this.(R) But you were washed, you were sanctified,(S) you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Glorifying God in Body and Spirit
12 “Everything is permissible(T) for me,”[e] but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything. 13 “Food(U) for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them.[f] The body is not for sexual immorality(V) but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.(W) 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body?(X) So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.(Y)[g] 17 But anyone joined(Z) to the Lord is one spirit(AA) with Him.
18 Run(AB) from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.”[h] On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral(AC) sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary(AD) of the Holy Spirit(AE) who is in you,(AF) whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought(AG) at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.[i]
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 6:1 Unbelievers; v. 6
- 1 Corinthians 6:4 Or life, appoint those (as a command)
- 1 Corinthians 6:6 Lit brothers
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Lit adulterers, passive homosexual partners, active homosexual partners
- 1 Corinthians 6:12 The words in quotation marks are most likely slogans used by some Corinthian Christians and corrected by Paul.
- 1 Corinthians 6:13 Lit both it and them
- 1 Corinthians 6:16 Gn 2:24
- 1 Corinthians 6:18 See note at 1Co 6:12-13.
- 1 Corinthians 6:20 Other mss add and in your spirit, which belong to God.
1 Corinthians 6
King James Version
1 Corinthians 6
King James Version
6 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6
The Message
1 Corinthians 6
The Message
6 1-4 And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way?
5-6 I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?
7-8 These court cases are a black eye on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you’re doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family.
9-11 Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit.
12 Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.
13 You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!
14-15 God honored the Master’s body by raising it from the grave. He’ll treat yours with the same resurrection power. Until that time, remember that your bodies are created with the same dignity as the Master’s body. You wouldn’t take the Master’s body off to a whorehouse, would you? I should hope not.
16-20 There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
1 Corinthians 6
Living Bible
1 Corinthians 6
Living Bible
6 How is it that when you have something against another Christian, you “go to law” and ask a heathen court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other Christians to decide which of you is right? 2 Don’t you know that someday we Christians are going to judge and govern the world? So why can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? 3 Don’t you realize that we Christians will judge and reward the very angels in heaven? So you should be able to decide your problems down here on earth easily enough. 4 Why then go to outside judges who are not even Christians?[a] 5 I am trying to make you ashamed. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these arguments? 6 But, instead, one Christian sues another and accuses his Christian brother in front of unbelievers.
7 To have such lawsuits at all is a real defeat for you as Christians. Why not just accept mistreatment and leave it at that? It would be far more honoring to the Lord to let yourselves be cheated. 8 But, instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong, cheating others, even your own brothers.
9-10 Don’t you know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals—will have no share in his Kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers. 11 There was a time when some of you were just like that but now your sins are washed away, and you are set apart for God; and he has accepted you because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
12 I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no,[b] but some of these things aren’t good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I’ll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can’t easily stop when I want to. 13 For instance, take the matter of eating. God has given us an appetite for food and stomachs to digest it. But that doesn’t mean we should eat more than we need. Don’t think of eating as important because someday God will do away with both stomachs and food.
But sexual sin is never right: our bodies were not made for that but for the Lord, and the Lord wants to fill our bodies with himself. 14 And God is going to raise our bodies from the dead by his power just as he raised up the Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts and members of Christ? So should I take part of Christ and join him to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute she becomes a part of him and he becomes a part of her? For God tells us in the Scripture that in his sight the two become one person. 17 But if you give yourself to the Lord, you and Christ are joined together as one person.
18 That is why I say to run from sex sin. No other sin affects the body as this one does. When you sin this sin it is against your own body. 19 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. 20 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 6:4 Why then go to outside judges who are not even Christians? or “Even the least capable people in the church should be able to decide these things for you.” Both interpretations are possible.
- 1 Corinthians 6:12 I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, literally, “All things are lawful for me.” Obviously, Paul is not here permitting sins such as just have been expressly prohibited in vv. 9-10. He is apparently quoting some in the church of lustful Corinth who were excusing their sins.
New International Version (NIV) 
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Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
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The Message (MSG)
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Living Bible (TLB)
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