Get rid of the old leaven of sin so that you may be a new batch of dough — as you really are.

This line is a modern-English rendering of Paul’s instruction to the Corinthian church in the New Testament, written in the context of addressing moral disorder within the community. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul urges the believers to remove corrupting influence and to live consistently with their identity as a people made “new” in Christ. He draws on Passover imagery: during the Jewish festival, households removed leaven (yeast) before eating unleavened bread. Paul adapts that ritual symbolism to communal ethics, calling the church to purge “old leaven” (sin) so the community may be a “new batch,” aligned with its professed holiness.

The metaphor of leaven suggests that sin is not merely private but permeating: a small amount can spread through an entire community. The exhortation to “get rid of the old leaven” is therefore both personal and corporate—an appeal to repentance, discipline, and moral clarity. The striking clause “as you really are” underscores Paul’s theological logic: ethical transformation flows from an already-given identity. The community is called to become in practice what it is declared to be in status—renewed and set apart. The image of a “new batch of dough” emphasizes freshness, re-creation, and the possibility of a clean start.

1) “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.”
2) “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.”
3) “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.”