Food Offered to Idols

Now about food sacrificed to idols:(A) We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up,(B) but love(C) builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it.(D) But if anyone loves God,(E) he is known(F) by him.

About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,”[a] and that “there is no God but one.”(G) For even if there are so-called gods,(H) whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father.(I) All things are from him,(J) and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.(K)

However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not bring us close to God.[b] We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 8:4 Or an idol has no real existence
  2. 8:8 Or bring us before (the judgment seat of) God

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

Now about food sacrificed to idols:(A) We know that “We all possess knowledge.”(B) But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something(C) do not yet know as they ought to know.(D) But whoever loves God is known by God.[a](E)

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols:(F) We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”(G) and that “There is no God but one.”(H) For even if there are so-called gods,(I) whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God,(J) the Father,(K) from whom all things came(L) and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord,(M) Jesus Christ, through whom all things came(N) and through whom we live.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge.(O) Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak,(P) it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God;(Q) we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 8:3 An early manuscript and another ancient witness think they have knowledge do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves truly knows.