1 Corinthians 11:17–34

The Lord’s Supper

¹⁷In the following instructions, however, I do not praise you, because your meetings for worship actually do more harm than good. ¹⁸In the first place, I have been told that there are opposing groups in your meetings; and this I believe is partly true. ¹⁹(No doubt there must be divisions among you so that the ones who are in the right may be clearly seen.) ²⁰When you meet together as a group, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat. ²¹For as you eat, you each go ahead with your own meal, so that some are hungry while others get drunk. ²²Haven’t you got your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or would you rather despise the church of God and put to shame the people who are in need? What do you expect me to say to you about this? Shall I praise you? Of course I don’t!

²³For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, ²⁴gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” ^25*In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”

²⁶This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. ²⁷It follows that if anyone eats the Lord’s bread or drinks from his cup in a way that dishonours him, he or she is guilty of sin against the Lord’s body and blood. ²⁸So then, you should all examine yourselves first, and then eat the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹For if people do not recognize the meaning of the Lord’s body when they eat the bread and drink from the cup, they bring judgement on themselves as they eat and drink. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and ill, and several have died. ³¹If we would examine ourselves first, we would not come under God’s judgement. ³²But we are judged and punished by the Lord, so that we shall not be condemned together with the world.

³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather together to eat the Lord’s Supper, wait for one another. ³⁴Anyone who is hungry should eat at home, so that you will not come under God’s judgement as you meet together. As for the other matters, I will settle them when I come.