Passage

1 Corinthians 5.12-13

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. not at all meaning with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world: 11. but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.

12. For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? 13. But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves. (1 Corinthians 5:10-13, ASV)

WEB

10. yet 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. 11. But 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.

12. For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? 13. But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5:10-13, WEB)

KJV

10. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

12. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13. But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. (1 Corinthians 5:10-13, KJV)

YLT

10. and not certainly with the whoremongers of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, seeing ye ought then to go forth out of the world 11. and now, I did write to you not to keep company with [him], if any one, being named a brother, may be a whoremonger, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one not even to eat together;

12. for what have I also those without to judge? those within do ye not judge? 13. and those without God doth judge; and put ye away the evil from among yourselves. (1 Corinthians 5:10-13, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender
Audience: the church at Corinth, a divided congregation in a wealthy Roman colony
Location: written from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
Time period: c. AD 53-55

Theological reading

What have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.

The sharpest statement in the New Testament on the limits of church discipline, and it runs the opposite way to the direction usually assumed.

Paul says he has clarified an earlier letter: he did not mean to avoid immoral people of this world, since to do that one would need to leave the world. He means not to associate with someone who bears the name of brother and lives that way.

So the community's disciplinary attention is directed inward and explicitly withheld from outsiders, whose judgment is God's. That reverses the common pattern in which a religious community is severe toward the surrounding culture and lenient with its own.

The closing quotation is from Deuteronomy, applied to the congregation. See Engaging the Conclusion-Fixed Skeptic for the pastoral posture toward those outside.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.