16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."[1]

Other Translations of 1 Corinthians 6:16

King James Version

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

English Standard Version

16 Or do you not know that he who is joinedOr who holds fast (compare Genesis 2:24 and Deuteronomy 10:20); also verse 17 to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh."

The Message

16 There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one."

New King James Version

16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."

New Living Translation

16 And don't you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:16

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

(Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an instrument of sin. It is an honour to the body, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; and it will be an honour to our bodies, that they will be raised. The hope of a resurrection to glory, should keep Christians from dishonouring their bodies by fleshly lusts. And if the soul be united to Christ by faith, the whole man is become a member of his spiritual body. Other vices may be conquered in fight; that here cautioned against, only by flight. And vast multitudes are cut off by this vice in its various forms and consequences. Its effects fall not only directly upon the body, but often upon the mind. Our bodies have been redeemed from deserved condemnation and hopeless slavery by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We are to be clean, as vessels fitted for our Master's use. Being united to Christ as one spirit, and bought with a price of unspeakable value, the believer should consider himself as wholly the Lord's, by the strongest ties. May we make it our business, to the latest day and hour of our lives, to glorify God with our bodies, and with our spirits which are his.