I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
Parallel translations
- WEB I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners;
- KJV I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
- NKJV I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
- NASB I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people;
- NLT When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
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 recalls an earlier letter telling them not to associate with the sexually immoral. It matters because his teaching on separation needs clarifying, as the next verses show.
Overview
Paul references a previous, now-lost letter in which he instructed the Corinthians to avoid keeping company with sexually immoral people. The Corinthians had apparently misunderstood his meaning, prompting the clarification that follows. The verse shows ongoing pastoral correspondence and Paul's concern that the church rightly understand how holiness shapes its relationships.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eph 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
- 2 Th 3:14Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.
- 2 Th 3:6Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.
- 2 Cor 6:14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- 1 Cor 5:7Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
- Prov 9:6Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- 1 Cor 5:2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?
- Ps 1:1–2Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- 2 Cor 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
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.
How 1 Corinthians 5:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.