If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 ^m“If your brother sins against you, ⁿgo and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^ogained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^pby the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, ^qtell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^rlet him be to you as ^sa Gentile and ^sa tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, ^twhatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed¹ in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you ^uagree on earth about anything they ask, ^vit will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are ^wgathered in my name, ^xthere am I among them.”

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

1 It is actually reported that there is ^wsexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, ^xfor a man has his father’s wife. 2 And ^yyou are arrogant! Ought you ^znot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3 For though ^aabsent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled ^bin the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are ^cto deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so ^dthat his spirit may be saved ^ein the day of the Lord.¹

6 ^fYour boasting is not good. Do you not know that ^ga little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^hnot with the old leaven, ⁱthe leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in my letter ^jnot to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 ^knot at all meaning ^lthe sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, ^msince then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ⁿwho bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging ^ooutsiders? ^pIs it not those inside the church² whom you are to judge? 13 God judges³ those outside. ^q“Purge the evil person from among you.”

Forgive the Sinner

5 Now ^yif anyone has caused pain, ^zhe has caused it not to me, but ^ain some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, ^bthis punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so ^cyou should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

Bear One Another’s Burdens

1 Brothers,^{1 o}if anyone is caught in any transgression, ^pyou who are spiritual should restore him in ^qa spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 ^rBear one another’s burdens, and ^sso fulfill ^tthe law of Christ. 3 For ^uif anyone thinks he is something, ^vwhen he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one ^wtest his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For ^xeach will have to bear his own load.

20 As for those who persist in sin, ^erebuke them in the presence of all, ^fso that the rest may stand in fear.

22 So ^mflee ⁿyouthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^othose who call on the Lord ^pfrom a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^qcontroversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And ^rthe Lord’s servant¹ must not be quarrelsome but ^skind to everyone, ^table to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents ^uwith gentleness. God ^vmay perhaps grant them repentance ^wleading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from ^xthe snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

9 He must ^whold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^xsound¹ doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 As for a person who stirs up division, ^safter warning him once and then twice, ^thave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. ⁱGod is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, ^jin which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^kthe Father of spirits ^land live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^mthat we may share his holiness. 11 ⁿFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^othe peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.