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Pauline Letters · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

1 Corinthians 5

Paul addresses division, holiness, worship, gifts, love, and resurrection in a troubled church.

New Testament

1 Corinthians 5

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.

2You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you.

3For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing.

4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5you are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

7Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

8Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;

10yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.

11But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.

12For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within?

13But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Paul addresses division, holiness, worship, gifts, love, and resurrection in a troubled church. Read 1 Corinthians 5 within the complete 1 Corinthians overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in 1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 5 contains 13 verses and about 309 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 13 closes: “But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include sexual, yeast, such, spirit, christ, don’t. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About 1 Corinthians 5

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, 1 Corinthians 5:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer