Israel stayed there for a short time. While he was there, Reuben slept with Israel’s woman servant [214] Bilhah. Israel heard about this and was very angry.
1 Corinthians 5:1 - Easy To Read Version People are really saying that there is sexual sin among you. And it is such a bad kind of sexual sin that it does not happen even among those people that don’t know God. People say that a man there has his father’s wife. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition IT IS actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, impurity of a sort that is condemned and does not occur even among the heathen; for a man has [his own] father's wife. [Deut. 22:30; 27:20.] American Standard Version (1901) It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one of you hath his father’s wife. Common English Bible Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn’t even heard of among the Gentiles—a man is having sex with his father’s wife! Catholic Public Domain Version Above all else, it is being said that there is fornication among you, even fornication of a such kind that is not among the Gentiles, so that someone would have the wife of his father. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version IT is absolutely heard, that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as the like is not among the heathens; that one should have his father's wife. |
Israel stayed there for a short time. While he was there, Reuben slept with Israel’s woman servant [214] Bilhah. Israel heard about this and was very angry.
But your passion was like a flood you couldn’t control. So you will not remain my most honored son. You climbed into your father’s bed {and slept with one of his wives}. You brought shame to my bed, to the bed you lay on.”
Then they put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the house. [97] And Absalom had sexual relations with his father’s wives. [98] All the Israelites saw it.
David went back to his house in Jerusalem. David had left ten of his wives [114] to take care of the house. David had put these women in a special house. [115] He put guards around this house. The women stayed in this house until they died. David took care of the women and gave them food, but he did not have sexual relations with them. They lived like widows until they died.
“Judah, you really know how\par to chase after lovers (false gods).\par You have really learned to do evil things.\par
You did all the terrible things they did. But you also did things that were even worse!
In Jerusalem, people do sexual sins with their father’s wife. In Jerusalem, men rape women—even during their monthly time of bleeding.
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife {even if she is not your mother}. Why? Because that is like having sexual relations with your father. [314]
If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, then both the man and the woman must be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. [353] It is as if that man had had sexual relations with his father! [354]
They pushed those poor peoples’ faces into the ground and walked on them. They stopped listening to suffering people. Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman. They have ruined my holy name.
Instead, we should write a letter to them. We should tell them these things:
Don’t eat food that has been given to idols. {\cf2\super [320]} \par Don’t eat meat from animals that have been\par strangled (choked) or\par any meat that still has the blood in it.\par Don’t do any kind of sexual sin.\par
My brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe’s family told me about you. I heard that there are arguments among you.
I am writing to tell you that the person you must not associate with is this: any person that calls himself a brother in Christ but sins sexually, or is greedy, or worships idols, or talks bad to people, or gets drunk, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with a person like that.
“Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” Yes. And God will destroy them both. But the body is not for sexual sin. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
So run away from sexual sin. Every other sin that a person does is outside his body. But the person that sins sexually sins against his own body.
I am afraid that when I come to you again, my God will make me humble before you. I may be saddened by many of you who have sinned. I may be saddened because those people have not changed their hearts to be sorry for their evil lives, for their sexual sins, and for the shameful things they have done.
A person \{in your group\} has caused sadness. He caused this sadness not to me, but to all of you—I mean he caused sadness to all in some way. (I don’t want to make it sound worse than it really is.)
I wrote that letter, but not because of the one who did the wrong. And it was not written because of the person who was hurt. But I wrote that letter so that you could see, before God, the great care that you have for us.
The wrong things our sinful self does are clear: doing sexual sins, not being pure, doing morally bad things,
But there must be no sexual sin among you. There must not be any kind of evil or selfishly wanting more and more. Why? Because those things are not right for God’s holy people. {\cf2\super [38]}
“A man must not bring shame to his father by having sexual relations with his father’s wife.”
“{The Levites will say,} ‘Cursed is the person that has sexual relations with his father’s wife. [179] Why? Because he brings shame to his father [180] !’
So put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and selfishly wanting more and more. This wanting really means to live serving a false god.
I have given her time to change her heart and turn away from her sin. But she does not want to change.
But the people who are cowards, people who refuse to believe, people who do terrible things, people who kill, people who sin sexually, people who do evil magic, people who worship idols, {\cf2\super [159]} and people who tell lies—all those people will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Sons, don’t do these bad things. The Lord’s people are saying bad things about you.