1 Corinthians 10–11

WARNINGS FROM ISRAEL’S PAST

10Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors^g were all under the cloud,^h all passed through the sea,^{i 2}and all were baptized^j into Moses^k in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food,^{l 4}and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock^m that followed them, and that rock was Christ.^{n 5}Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.^o

⁶Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire^p evil things as they did.^{Aq 7}Don’t become idolaters^r as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.^{BCs 8}Let us not commit sexual immorality^t as some of them did,^D and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died.^{u 9}Let us not test Christ as some of them did^E and were destroyed by snakes.^{v 10}And don’t grumble^w as some of them did,^Fx and were killed by the destroyer.^{Gy 11}These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction,^z on whom the ends of the ages^Haa have come.^{ab 12}So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.^{ac 13}No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful;^ad he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out^ae so that you may be able to bear it.

WARNING AGAINST IDOLATRY

¹⁴So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. ¹⁶The cup^af of blessing^ag that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread^ah that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Because there is one bread, we who are many are one^ai body, since all of us share the one bread. ¹⁸Consider the people of Israel.^I Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?^{aj 19}What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰No, but I do say that what they^J sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons! ²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. ²²Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?^ak

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

²³“Everything is permissible,”^A but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,”^A but not everything builds up. ²⁴No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.^al

²⁵Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, ²⁶since the earth is the Lord’s,^am and all that is in it.^{Ban 27}If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience. ²⁸But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it,^ao out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience.^{C 29}I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged^ap by another person’s conscience? ³⁰If I partake with thanksgiving,^aq why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?

³¹So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.^{ar 32}Give no offense^as to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, ³³just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many,^a so that they may be saved. 11Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.^b

INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT HEAD COVERINGS

²Now I praise you^D because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions^c just as I delivered^d them to you. ³But I want you to know that Christ is the head^e of every man, and the man is the head of the woman,^Ef and God is the head of Christ.^{g 4}Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors^h his head. ⁵Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.^{i 6}For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.

⁷A man should not cover his head, because he is the image^j and glory of God.^k So too, woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.^{l 9}Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. ¹⁰This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. ¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.^m

¹³Judgeⁿ for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not even nature itself teach^o you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace^p to him, ¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?^q For her hair is given to her^A as a covering. ¹⁶If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other^B custom, nor do the churches of God.

THE LORD’S SUPPER

¹⁷Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ¹⁹Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions^r among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. ²⁰When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.^{s 21}For at the meal, each one eats his own supper.^C So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! ²²Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:^t On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said,^D “This is my body, which is^E for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”^u

²⁵In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant^v in my blood.^w Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death^x until he comes.^y

SELF-EXAMINATION

²⁷So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body^F and blood of the Lord. ²⁸Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body,^G eats and drinks judgment^z on himself. ³⁰This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.^{aa 31}If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, ³²but when we are judged^ab by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned^ac with the world.

³³Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.^{H 34}If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.^ad