1 Corinthians 5:1-8

1We have heard bad news about what is happening among you. Some of you are having sex in wrong ways. We have heard that one man is even having sex with his own father's wife! Even people who do not know God do not do things as bad as that!

2But, you are still proud of yourselves! Instead, you ought to be very sad and ashamed. You should have sent this man away from your group.

3My body is not there with you, but my spirit is with you. It seems like I am present with you. So I have already decided about this man. This is how you should punish him for what he has done.

4You have the authority of the Lord Jesus to do this. When you meet together as a group, my spirit will be with you. The power of our Lord Jesus will also be with you.

5When you meet, put this man under Satan's authority. Satan will then destroy the man's body. Then God may save the man's spirit on the day when the Lord Jesus returns.

6You should not be so proud of yourselves. Think about what yeast does in bread. A very small amount of yeast changes the whole loaf of bread.

7The yeast in the flour is like one person who does wrong things. You must remove this old yeast from among you. Then you will be like a new loaf of bread. You are really like a loaf which has no yeast in it. You are pure, because Christ died as a sacrifice on our behalf. He is like the lamb that the Israelites killed for their Passover meal.

8As a result, we can have our own Passover festival. We must remove everything that is bad from among us. That is like what the Israelites did when they removed all the old yeast from their homes. Instead we live in a way that is pure and honest. It is like we are eating bread which has no yeast in it.