19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,(A) impurity and debauchery;

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Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?(A) Do not be deceived:(B) Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers(C) nor men who have sex with men[a](D) 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers(E) will inherit the kingdom of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 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.

Put to death,(A) therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:(B) sexual immorality,(C) impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,(D) which is idolatry.(E) Because of these, the wrath of God(F) is coming.[a] You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.(G) But now you must also rid yourselves(H) of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,(I) and filthy language from your lips.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient

18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,(A) and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(B)

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As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires,(A) but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past(B) doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(C) They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.(D)

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But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars(A)—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.(B) This is the second death.”(C)

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But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality,(A) or of any kind of impurity, or of greed,(B) because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk(C) or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.(D) For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater(E)—has any inheritance(F) in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a](G) Let no one deceive you(H) with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath(I) comes on those who are disobedient.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 5:5 Or kingdom of the Messiah and God

Whoever sows to please their flesh,(A) from the flesh will reap destruction;(B) whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.(C)

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At one time(A) we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

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You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling(A) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

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13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die;(A) but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,(B) you will live.(C)

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21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed,(A) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

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Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;(A) but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.(B)

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14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition(A) in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.(B) 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven(C) but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.(D)

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15 Outside(A) are the dogs,(B) those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

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We also know that the law is made not for the righteous(A) but for lawbreakers and rebels,(B) the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine(C)

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18 Flee from sexual immorality.(A) All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.(B)

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20 For I am afraid that when I come(A) I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.(B) I fear that there may be discord,(C) jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,(D) slander,(E) gossip,(F) arrogance(G) and disorder.(H) 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved(I) over many who have sinned earlier(J) and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery(K) in which they have indulged.

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17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.(A) They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 5:17 Or you do not do what

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.(A) 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools(B) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images(C) made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over(D) in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.(E) 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,(F) and worshiped and served created things(G) rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.(H) Amen.(I)

26 Because of this, God gave them over(J) to shameful lusts.(K) Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.(L) 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.(M)

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(N) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,(O) 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;(P) 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,(Q) no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(R) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(S) of those who practice them.

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Life by the Spirit

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.(A) But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a];(B) rather, serve one another(C) humbly in love.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh(A) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.(B) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,(C) they do not belong to Christ.

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For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](A) the sinful passions aroused by the law(B) were at work in us,(C) so that we bore fruit for death.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.

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Instructions for Christian Living

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer(A) live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.(B) 18 They are darkened in their understanding(C) and separated from the life of God(D) because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.(E) 19 Having lost all sensitivity,(F) they have given themselves over(G) to sensuality(H) so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

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