Bible verses about "excommunication" | JMNT

⁶ Now we are once again passing along this advice to you, brothers (= fellow believers; = family), in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to continuously place yourselves away from (or: avoid) every brother (= believer) [who is] continuously walking about disorderly (without order; or: behaving with irregular conduct), and not according to the transmission (thing given over and delivered alongside; the tradition) which you folks [other MSS: they] received (took to your side) from us.

¹⁷ "Now if he should put his hearing aside from (= disregard and refuse to hear) them, speak to the called-out community. Yet, if he should also put his hearing aside from (or: disregard) the called-out community, let him continue being with you (or: among you folks), just as (in the same manner as) the person of the ethnic multitudes (or: nations; pagans) and the tax collector [continue with you]. [comment: consider the behavior of Jesus with "sinners" and tax collectors; recall that these get into the kingdom before the religious; consider the place of the ethnic multitudes in relation to the good news]

¹⁰ After one, and then a second, putting-into-the-mind (= impartation; admonition) of a person who chooses or promotes a sect or party (or: of a factious person), progressively decline yourself (or: repeatedly excuse yourself),

¹⁰ If a certain person is continually coming toward you and yet is not normally carrying (or: habitually bearing; continually bringing) this teaching, do not repeatedly take him into a house, and do not continuously say to him, "Rejoice!" (= giving him a greeting).

¹⁷ So I am calling you folks alongside to encourage and exhort [you], brothers (= fellow believers), to constantly view attentively and mark those continually causing the divisions, or standings-apart, and the snares (those occasions for stumbling and becoming entrapped) to the side of (= which are a counterfeit of and a distraction to) the teaching which you yourselves learned by instruction, and thus you folks must slope forth (or: deflect) away from them (= avoid them),

⁵ [you are] to hand over such a man, with the adversarial [spirit] (or: in the adversary; by the opponent; or: to satan), into a loss of the flesh (or: an undoing and destruction of this [estranged human nature]; a loss of [his “dominated existence” – Walter Wink]) – to the end that the spirit may be saved (rescued; delivered; restored to health, wholeness and its original state and condition): within the midst of and in union with the Day of the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh; other MSS add: Jesus; others read: our Lord, Jesus Christ].

¹⁴ But if a certain person continuously does not obey (or: listen under and humbly pay attention to) our word (or: message; logos; thought and idea) through this letter, you folks be regularly noting this person (or: let it be a sign to you regarding this one) and do not constantly mix yourselves together with him or her, to the end that he or she can (or: would) be turned about (or: be turned back upon himself [= to consider his situation and behavior]).

¹⁵ "Now if your brother should make a mistake (or: = your fellow believer may fail to hit the target for which he is aiming; or: your group member should be erring or sinning) [later MSS add: unto you; (= do you wrong)], humbly go [to him and] test it (or: bring convincing proof about it, laying the matter bare) between you and him alone. If he can listen and should be hearing you, you made gain and profit for your brother. ¹⁶ "Yet should he not listen [to you], take still one or two [others] along with you, so that 'upon [the] mouth of two or three witnesses (folks providing evidence) every thing that is said (every gush-effect; each result of the flow [of conversation or outbreak]) can be established and made to stand.' [Deut. 19:15] ¹⁷ "Now if he should put his hearing aside from (= disregard and refuse to hear) them, speak to the called-out community. Yet, if he should also put his hearing aside from (or: disregard) the called-out community, let him continue being with you (or: among you folks), just as (in the same manner as) the person of the ethnic multitudes (or: nations; pagans) and the tax collector [continue with you]. [comment: consider the behavior of Jesus with "sinners" and tax collectors; recall that these get into the kingdom before the religious; consider the place of the ethnic multitudes in relation to the good news] ¹⁸ "It is true (or: Truly; or: Make it so; or: Now listen), I now say to you folks, Whatsoever things you can at some point bind or should tie upon the earth will continue being things having already been tied or bound within heaven (or: in [your] atmosphere). Also, as many things [as] you would loose or untie upon the earth will continue being things having already been loosed and untied within heaven (or: in [your] atmosphere). ¹⁹ "Again, truly, I continue saying to you men that, if ever two from your group can utter sounds together that are harmonious and in symphony (or: should voice together in agreement) upon the earth concerning every effect of what is practiced (or: every transaction of business; every result of the execution of operations or other matters) – regarding which they may be requesting – it will progressively come to be (be birthed into existence; happen) for them (in them; to them) at the side (or: from the side [= presence]) of My Father – the One within [the] heavens and in [the] atmospheres. ²⁰ "You see, where there are two or three people that have been led and gathered together into My Name, I am there (in that place) within the midst of and among them."

¹ It is actually (or: generally; everywhere) being repeatedly heard [that there is] sexual immorality (in this case: incest) among you folks – and such a sort of sexual misconduct which is not even being mentioned (or: named) among the ethnic multitudes (nations; non-Jewish groups): so as someone continues to hold (or: have) [his] father's woman (or: wife; or, thus: [his] stepmother)! ² And now you folks, yourselves, have been puffed up and remain inflated with pride! And still you do not rather mourn and grieve (or: lament and express sorrow), so that the man performing this act would (or: that the man practicing this deed should) at once be caused to depart (or: be lifted or picked up; be taken away) from out of your midst. ³ For I myself, indeed, continuing being absent – in the body – yet continuously being present alongside – in (or: by; with) the spirit (or: Breath-effect; or: attitude) – have, as being present, already sifted, evaluated and decided about the man thus working down to this effect: ⁴ [upon] your being gathered together within (or: centered in) the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and together with my spirit (or: attitude) in the power and ability of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ [you are] to hand over such a man, with the adversarial [spirit] (or: in the adversary; by the opponent; or: to satan), into a loss of the flesh (or: an undoing and destruction of this [estranged human nature]; a loss of [his “dominated existence” – Walter Wink]) – to the end that the spirit may be saved (rescued; delivered; restored to health, wholeness and its original state and condition): within the midst of and in union with the Day of the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh; other MSS add: Jesus; others read: our Lord, Jesus Christ]. ⁶ The effect of your boast is not beautiful, fine, ideal or good form. Have you not seen so as to know that a little leaven (or: yeast) progressively leavens (permeates) [the] whole lump of dough (the result of that which has been uniformly mixed and kneaded together)? ⁷ At once completely clean out the old leaven, so that you folks would progressively be a fresh, new lump of dough with uniform mix-effect, just as you are free from ferment (or: in that you have continued being an aggregation which has been freshly mixed and kneaded together – correspondingly as you are continuing being unleavened ones). For also Christ, our Passover [= Passover lamb], was slaughtered in sacrifice. ⁸ Consequently, we can (or: should) be continuously keeping and celebrating the Feast (Festival) – not in union with old leaven (or: leftover yeast), neither in union with or in the midst of a leaven of bad quality (worthlessness; ugliness; what ought not to be; malice) and painful misery (hard labor; evil disposition; mischief; wickedness) – but in contrast, in union with and in the midst of unleavened cakes (matzah) of genuineness (or: integrity and sincerity; that which has been tested by sunlight and found to be genuine or pure and unadulterated) as well as truth and unhidden reality. ⁹ I wrote to you folks, in the letter: not to keep on mixing yourselves together again with men who make a practice of whoring, or who are male prostitutes (or: not to be repeatedly intermingled again with male paramours who sell themselves) – ¹⁰ and [I am] not wholly or altogether [referring] to this world's (or: secular society's) fornicators or male paramours (or: the male prostitutes of this cultural, religious and political system [note: the concept of sexual misconduct also has a figurative aspect in Scripture, denoting unfaithfulness to God]); or to those who are greedy and want to have more than, and to take advantage of, others and/or [are] folks who snatch things away, as extortionists; or [who are] idolaters (or: hirelings of the idols). Otherwise, in that case, you folks continue under obligation to consequently exit the System (go forth from out of the midst of the world of religion, culture and society) – ¹¹ yet at this time (or: so now) I write for you folks not to continue mixing yourselves back together with anyone being regularly recognized as (usually designated; habitually named or called) a "brother," if he should continue being a paramour (a sexually licentious man, or one who deals with prostitutes or who sells himself for sex), or a covetous and greedy person, or an idolater, or a verbally abusive one, or a drunkard, or a snatching one (or: an extortioner) – to not even be habitually eating with such a person. ¹² For what [right is it] for me to be making decisions about or judging those [who are] "outside"? Are you yourselves not repeatedly sifting and critiquing (or: separating and judging) those "inside"? Now those "outside" God habitually sifts and makes decisions about (judges). ¹³ "Lift up out and carry forth (Expel; Remove) the degenerate person (the worthless, base or evil one who brings pain and misery) out of the midst of yourselves." [Deut. 13:6; 17:7; etc.]