1 Corinthians 6

1 [Now another matter]: When any of you [believers] accuses another believer about some matter, he takes that matter to judges who are not believers, [for them to decide the case], instead of asking God’s people [to decide it]. (That is disgusting!/Why do you do that?) [RHQ]

When any of you have a dispute against another, do yoʋ dare to go to court before the unrighteous and not before the saints?

2 [I want] you to know that [we who are] God’s people will [some day] judge those who are unbelievers. [RHQ] So, since you will be judging unbelievers, you certainly are capable of judging between [believers who disagree on] small matters! [RHQ]

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?

3 (You should keep in mind that we will even judge angels!/Do you not know that we will even judge angels?) [RHQ] So we certainly should be able to judge about [matters that relate to how we] conduct our lives here on earth!

Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention matters of this life?

4 Therefore, when you [believers] have a dispute, you should certainly not choose as judges [to decide your case] people whom the congregation cannot respect [because those judges are not believers]! [RHQ]

If then you have disputes about such matters, do you seat as judges those who have no standing in the church?

5 I am saying this to make you ashamed. Surely there is someone among you who is wise enough to judge disputes between believers! [RHQ]

I say this to your shame. Is there not a wise man among you, not even one, who would be able to decide between a man and his brother,

6 But instead, some believers [among you] accuse other believers in a legal court. And what is worse, you let the cases be judged by unbelievers {unbelievers judge the cases}!

but one brother goes to court against another, and they do so before unbelievers?

7 The fact that you have any lawsuits among you [shows that] you have completely failed [as Christians] (OR, [allowed Satan to] defeat you). You should [allow other believers] to wrong you [without taking them to court!]! [RHQ] You should not accuse them when [they] cheat you! [RHQ]

As it is, to have lawsuits with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

8 But [what is happening is that] some of you are cheating others and doing wrong to them. [That is bad]. But you are doing that to fellow believers, [and that is worse]!

But you yourselves wrong, and you yourselves defraud, and you do these things to your own brothers!

9 (You should keep in mind that wicked people will not become [members of] the group over whom God will rule./Do you not know that wicked people will not become [members of] the group over whom God will rule?) [RHQ] Do not be deceived {Do not deceive yourselves} [by thinking wrongly about these matters]. People who are sexually immoral, or who worship idols, or who (commit adultery/have sex with someone to whom they are not married), or who happily allow others to commit homosexual acts with them, or who take the initiative in committing homosexual acts,

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,

10 or who are thieves, or who desire and forcefully seize things that belong to others, or who are drunkards, or who slander others, or who are swindlers, will not enter the place where God rules.

nor the greedy, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 Some of you previously did things like that. But [God] has freed/cleansed you [MET] [from your sinful behavior]. [He] has set you apart for himself. [He] has erased the record of your sins [because you trusted] [MTY] in the Lord Jesus Christ and because of what the Spirit of our God [has done for you].

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

12 [Some of you may say], “God allows us to do anything [that he does not forbid].” But [I would reply], “[That is true], but not everything that God permits us to do helps us.” [Yes, as some of you say], God permits us to do anything [that he does not forbid]. But as for me, I will not let anything make me [its slave; that is, I will not do anything that will gain control over me in such a way that I will not be able to stop doing it].

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

13 [Some of you may also say], “Food is just for [us to put in] the stomach, and the stomach is just for [us to put] food [in]. And since God will do away with food and stomachs [when he gives us our new bodies, what we do with our bodies sexually does not affect us any more than eating food does.” But what you have concluded is wrong, because] the Lord does not [want us to use] our bodies to do sexually immoral things. Instead, the Lord [wants us to use our bodies in ways that please him]. Also, the Lord [wants us to do what is good] for our bodies.

Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with them both. The body is not meant for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

14 God, by his power, caused the Lord [Jesus] to live again after he died, and he will cause us to live again after we die, [which shows that he is very concerned about our bodies].

Now God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

15 You should keep in mind that your bodies belong to Christ. [RHQ] So, should I [or any other believer] [RHQ] take our body, which belongs to Christ, and join it [sexually] to a prostitute? No, certainly not!

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Certainly not!

16 When a man has sexual relations [EUP] with a prostitute, [it is as though] their two bodies become one body. (You should never forget that!/Do you not know that?) [RHQ] What [Moses] wrote [about people who join together sexually is], “The two of them will become [as though they are] one body.”

Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one with her in body? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.”

17 But anyone who is united {who joins himself} to the Lord becomes one with him spiritually.

But he who is joined to the Lord is one with him in spirit.

18 Always (run away from/avoid) committing sexually immoral acts. Other sins that people commit do not affect their bodies, but those who commit sexually immoral acts sin against their own bodies.

Flee fornication. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body.

19 (Keep in mind that your bodies are [like] [MET] temples of the Holy Spirit./Do you not know that your bodies are [like] [MET] temples of the Holy Spirit?) [RHQ] The Spirit, whom God gave you, lives within you. You do not belong to yourselves. You belong to God,

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own,

20 [because when his Son died for you it was as though] [MET] [God] paid a price for you. So honor God by [how you use] your bodies!

for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God with your body and with your spirit, which belong to God.