Romans 14:2–17

²ⁿOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^olet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ^4pWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master¹ that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5qOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^rEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^she gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For ^tnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, ^uwhether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ ^vdied and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^wof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^wwe will all stand before ^xthe judgment seat of God; ¹¹for it is written,

^y“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess² to God.”

¹²So then ^zeach of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

^13aTherefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^bnever to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^cthat nothing is unclean in itself, ^dbut it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^eyou are no longer walking in love. ^fBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ^16gSo do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ^17hFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ⁱof righteousness and ^jpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit.