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1 Corinthians 8
New Life Version
1 Corinthians 8
New Life Version
Food Given to False Gods
8 I want to write about food that has been given as a gift in worship to a false god. We all know something about it. Knowing about it makes one feel important. But love makes one strong. 2 The person who thinks he knows all the answers still has a lot to learn. 3 But if he loves God, he is known by God also.
4 What about food that has been given as a gift to a false god in worship? Is it right? We know that a false god is not a god at all. There is only one God! There is no other. 5 Men have thought there are many such gods and lords in the sky and on the earth. 6 But we know there is only one God. He is the Father. All things are from Him. He made us for Himself. There is one Lord. He is Jesus Christ. He made all things. He keeps us alive.
7 Not all men know this. They have given food as a gift in worship to a god as if the god were alive. Some men have done this all their lives. If they eat such food, their hearts tell them it is wrong. 8 Food will not bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat it, or we are no better if we eat it. 9 Since you are free to do as you please, be careful that this does not hurt a weak Christian. 10 A Christian who is weak may see you eat food in a place where it has been given as a gift to false gods in worship. Since he sees you eat it, he will eat it also. 11 You may make the weak Christian fall into sin by what you have done. Remember, he is a Christian brother for whom Christ died. 12 When you sin against a weak Christian by making him do what is wrong, you sin against Christ. 13 So then, if eating meat makes my Christian brother trip and fall, I will never eat it again. I do not want to make my Christian brother sin.
1 Corinthians 8
New International Version
1 Corinthians 8
New International Version
Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols
8 Now about food sacrificed to idols:(A) We know that “We all possess knowledge.”(B) But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something(C) do not yet know as they ought to know.(D) 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.[a](E)
4 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) 5 For even if there are so-called gods,(I) whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 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.
7 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. 8 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.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block(R) to the weak.(S) 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?(T) 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed(U) by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them(V) in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.(W) 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.(X)
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 8:3 An early manuscript and another ancient witness think they have knowledge do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves truly knows.
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