2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Good News Translation
Warning against Pagan Influences
14 Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be partners? How can light and darkness live together? 15 How can Christ and the Devil agree? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 (A)How can God's temple come to terms with pagan idols? For we are the temple of the living God! As God himself has said,
“I will make my home with my people
and live among them;
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.”
17 (B)And so the Lord says,
“You must leave them
and separate yourselves from them.
Have nothing to do with what is unclean,
and I will accept you.
18 (C)I will be your father,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Temple of the Living God
14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? Or what partnership is there between light and darkness?(A) 15 What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we[a] are the temple of the living God, as God said,
“I will live in them[b] and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.(B)
17 Therefore come out from them,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch nothing unclean;
then I will welcome you,(C)
18 and I will be your father,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”(D)
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Complete Jewish Bible
14 Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B’liya‘al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God — as God said,
“I will house myself in them, . . .
and I will walk among you.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”[a]
17 Therefore Adonai says,
“‘Go out from their midst;
separate yourselves;
don’t even touch what is unclean.[b]
Then I myself will receive you.[c]
18 In fact, I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters.’
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.”[d]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 Leviticus 26:12; Exodus 6:7; Jeremiah 31:32(33), 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 Ezekiel 20:34, 41
- 2 Corinthians 6:18 2 Samuel 7:14, Isaiah 43:6
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
The Message
14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson