Romans 14:1-19

English Standard Version

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for ^(A)the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ²^(B)One 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 ^(C)let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴^(D)Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵^(E)One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^(F)Each 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 ^(G)he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For ^(H)none 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, ^(I)whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ ^(J)died and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^(K)of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^(L)we will all stand before ^(M)the judgment seat of God; ¹¹for it is written,

^(N)“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess^[b] to God.”

¹²So then ^(O)each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

¹³^(P)Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^(Q)never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^(R)that nothing is unclean in itself, ^(S)but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^(T)you are no longer walking in love. ^(U)By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶^(V)So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷^(W)For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ^(X)of righteousness and ^(Y)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Whoever thus serves Christ is ^(Z)acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹So then let us ^(AA)pursue what makes for peace and for ^(AB)mutual upbuilding.