Laws of Sexual Morality

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(A)‘I am the Lord your God. ^3 (B)According to ^[a]the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and ^(C)according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ^[b]ordinances. ^4 (D)You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷ The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸ The nakedness of your ^(E)father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (F)The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰ The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (G)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. ^14 (H)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her ^(I)daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. ¹⁸ Nor shall you take a woman ^(J)as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

¹⁹ ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as ^(K)long as she is in her ^(L)customary impurity. ^20 (M)Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your ^(N)neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. ²¹ And you shall not let any of your descendants ^(O)pass through ^(P)the fire to ^(Q)Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²² You shall not lie with ^(R)a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³ Nor shall you mate with any ^(S)animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

^24 (T)‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ^(U)for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵ For ^(V)the land is defiled; therefore I ^(W)visit^[c] the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land ^(X)vomits out its inhabitants. ^26 (Y)You shall therefore ^[d]keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷ (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸ lest ^(Z)the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be ^[e]cut off from among their people.

³⁰ ‘Therefore you shall keep My ^[f]ordinance, so ^(AA)that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: ^(AB)I am the Lord your God.’ ”

¹⁸ But ^(A)those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ^19 (B)For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

^4 (A)Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; ^(B)but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ ^(B)through the will of God, and ^(C)Sosthenes our brother,

² To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who ^(D)are ^[a]sanctified in Christ Jesus, ^(E)called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ ^(F)our Lord, ^(G)both theirs and ours:

^3 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Gifts at Corinth

^4 (I)I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, ⁵ that you were enriched in everything by Him ^(J)in all ^[b]utterance and all knowledge, ⁶ even as ^(K)the testimony of Christ was confirmed ^[c]in you, ⁷ so that you come short in no gift, eagerly ^(L)waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^8 (M)who will also confirm you to the end, ^(N)that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9 (O)God is faithful, by whom you were called into ^(P)the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sectarianism Is Sin

¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(Q)that you all ^[d]speak the same thing, and that there be no ^[e]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are ^[f]contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that ^(R)each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of ^(S)Apollos,” or “I am of ^(T)Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ^13 (U)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized ^(V)none of you except ^(W)Crispus and ^(X)Gaius, ¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of ^(Y)Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^(Z)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God^(AA)

¹⁸ For the ^[g]message of the cross is ^(AB)foolishness to ^(AC)those who are perishing, but to us ^(AD)who are being saved it is the ^(AE)power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

^20 (AG)Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ^[h]disputer of this age? ^(AH)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the ^(AI)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For ^(AJ)Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, ^(AK)to the Jews a ^[i]stumbling block and to the ^[j]Greeks ^(AL)foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(AM)the power of God and ^(AN)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Glory Only in the Lord

²⁶ For ^[k]you see your calling, brethren, ^(AO)that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many ^[l]noble, are called. ²⁷ But ^(AP)God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the ^[m]base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and ^(AQ)righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, ^(AR)“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

^18 (A)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^(B)unrighteousness of men, who ^[a]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(C)what may be known of God is ^[b]manifest ^[c]in them, for ^(D)God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^(E)His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ^[d]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^(F)became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (G)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^(H)incorruptible ^(I)God into an image made like ^[e]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^24 (J)Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^(K)to dishonor their bodies ^(L)among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^(M)the truth of God ^(N)for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^(O)vile passions. For even their ^[f]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ^[g]men, leaving the natural use of the ^[h]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^(P)which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ^[i]sexual immorality, wickedness, ^[j]covetousness, ^[k]maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^31 [l]undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ^[m]unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^(Q)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^(R)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^(S)approve of those who practice them.

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[a]made them at the beginning ^(A)‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ^(B)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(C)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁴ Do all things ^(A)without ^[a]complaining and ^(B)disputing,^{[b] 15} that you may become blameless and ^[c]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as ^(C)lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that ^(D)I may rejoice in the day of Christ that ^(E)I have not run in vain or labored in ^(F)vain.

²² Abstain from every form of evil.