Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Parallel translations
- KJV What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
- BSB Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- NKJV Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
- NASB Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
- NLT Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
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
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, given by God, so you are not your own. It matters because the indwelling Spirit makes the body sacred and accountable to God.
Overview
Paul gives the climactic reason for purity: the believer's body is a sanctuary where God's Spirit dwells. As a temple housing God's presence, it is holy and not ours to misuse. The truth 'you are not your own' overturns the autonomy the Corinthians claimed and roots Christian ethics in belonging wholly to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Cor 3:16Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
- 2 Cor 6:16What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- 1 Pet 2:5You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Eph 2:21–22in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
- Ps 100:3Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
- 1 Cor 6:15–16Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
- Titus 2:14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Rom 14:7–9For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.
- John 2:21But he spoke of the temple of his body.
- 2 Cor 5:15He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
- 1 Kgs 20:4The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.”
- Ps 12:4who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
- 1 Chr 29:14But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 6:19 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.