And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell.
- KJV Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
- BSB We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
- NKJV Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;
- NASB Nor are we to commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul cites Israel's sexual immorality at Peor, where thousands died, as a warning against the same sin. Idolatry and immorality go together, and both bring God's judgment.
Overview
Referring to Numbers 25, where Israel joined in the worship and immorality of Baal of Peor, Paul links sexual sin to idolatry as the Corinthians knew it in pagan temple culture. The high death toll underscores the seriousness with which God regards such sin. The passage urges self-control and holiness, pointing toward the purity Christ secures and calls for in his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Num 25:1–9Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
- 1 Cor 6:18Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
- Ps 106:29Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.
- 1 Cor 6:9Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
- Rev 2:14But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
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Original language
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