The Holy Bible

[8:1] Now, concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols. It is true, of course, that “all of us have knowledge,” as they say. Such knowledge, however, puffs a person up with pride; but love builds up.

[8:2] Those who think they know something really don't know as they ought to know.

[8:3] But the person who loves God is known by him.

[8:4] So then, about eating the food offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God.

[8:5] Even if there are so-called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these “gods” and “lords,”

[8:6] yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.

[8:7] But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food.

[8:8] Food, however, will not improve our relation with God; we shall not lose anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain anything if we do eat.

[8:9] Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin.

[8:10] Suppose a person whose conscience is weak in this matter sees you, who have so-called “knowledge,” eating in the temple of an idol; will not this encourage him to eat food offered to idols?

[8:11] And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your “knowledge”!

[8:12] And in this way you will be sinning against Christ by sinning against other Christians and wounding their weak conscience.

[8:13] So then, if food makes a believer sin, I will never eat meat again, so as not to make a believer fall into sin.

[9:1] Am I not a free man? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? And aren't you the result of my work for the Lord?

[9:2] Even if others do not accept me as an apostle, surely you do! Because of your life in union with the Lord you yourselves are proof of the fact that I am an apostle.

[9:3] When people criticize me, this is how I defend myself:

[9:4] Don't I have the right to be given food and drink for my work?

[9:5] Don't I have the right to follow the example of the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter, by taking a Christian wife with me on my trips?

[9:6] Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to work for our living?

[9:7] What soldiers ever have to pay their own expenses in the army? What farmers do not eat the grapes from their own vineyard? What shepherds do not use the milk from their own sheep?

[9:8] I don't have to limit myself to these everyday examples, because the Law says the same thing.

[9:9] We read in the Law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain.” Now, is God concerned about oxen?

[9:10] Didn't he really mean us when he said that? Of course that was written for us. Anyone who plows and anyone who reaps should do their work in the hope of getting a share of the crop.

[9:11] We have sown spiritual seed among you. Is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?

[9:12] If others have the right to expect this from you, don't we have an even greater right? But we haven't made use of this right. Instead, we have endured everything in order not to put any obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ.

[9:13] Surely you know that the men who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who offer the sacrifices on the altar get a share of the sacrifices.

[9:14] In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who preach the gospel should get their living from it.

[9:15] But I haven't made use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this now in order to claim such rights for myself. I would rather die first! Nobody is going to turn my rightful boast into empty words!

[9:16] I have no right to boast just because I preach the gospel. After all, I am under orders to do so. And how terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!

[9:17] If I did my work as a matter of free choice, then I could expect to be paid; but I do it as a matter of duty, because God has entrusted me with this task.

[9:18] What pay do I get, then? It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel.

[9:19] I am a free man, nobody's slave; but I make myself everybody's slave in order to win as many people as possible.

[9:20] While working with the Jews, I live like a Jew in order to win them; and even though I myself am not subject to the Law of Moses, I live as though I were when working with those who are, in order to win them.

[9:21] In the same way, when working with Gentiles, I live like a Gentile, outside the Jewish Law, in order to win Gentiles. This does not mean that I don't obey God's law; I am really under Christ's law.

[9:22] Among the weak in faith I become weak like one of them, in order to win them. So I become all things to all people, that I may save some of them by whatever means are possible.

[9:23] All this I do for the gospel's sake, in order to share in its blessings.

[9:24] Surely you know that many runners take part in a race, but only one of them wins the prize. Run, then, in such a way as to win the prize.

[9:25] Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever.

[9:26] That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches.

[9:27] I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control, to keep myself from being disqualified after having called others to the contest.

[11:2] I praise you because you always remember me and follow the teachings that I have handed on to you.

[11:3] But I want you to understand that Christ is supreme over every man, the husband is supreme over his wife, and God is supreme over Christ.

[11:4] So a man who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with his head covered disgraces Christ.

[11:5] And any woman who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with nothing on her head disgraces her husband; there is no difference between her and a woman whose head has been shaved.

[11:6] If the woman does not cover her head, she might as well cut her hair. And since it is a shameful thing for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair, she should cover her head.

[11:7] A man has no need to cover his head, because he reflects the image and glory of God. But woman reflects the glory of man;

[11:8] for man was not created from woman, but woman from man.

[11:9] Nor was man created for woman's sake, but woman was created for man's sake.

[11:10] On account of the angels, then, a woman should have a covering over her head to show that she is under her husband's authority.

[11:11] In our life in the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

[11:12] For as woman was made from man, in the same way man is born of woman; and it is God who brings everything into existence.

[11:13] Judge for yourselves whether it is proper for a woman to pray to God in public worship with nothing on her head.

[11:14] Why, nature itself teaches you that long hair on a man is a disgrace,

[11:15] but on a woman it is a thing of beauty. Her long hair has been given her to serve as a covering.

[11:16] But if anyone wants to argue about it, all I have to say is that neither we nor the churches of God have any other custom in worship.

[11:17] In the following instructions, however, I do not praise you, because your meetings for worship actually do more harm than good.

[11:18] In the first place, I have been told that there are opposing groups in your meetings; and this I believe is partly true. (

[11:19] No doubt there must be divisions among you so that the ones who are in the right may be clearly seen.)

[11:20] When you meet together as a group, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat.

[11:21] For as you eat, you each go ahead with your own meal, so that some are hungry while others get drunk.

[11:22] Don't you have 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!

[11:23] For 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,

[11:24] gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.”

[11:25] 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.”

[11:26] This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

[11:27] It follows that if one of you eats the Lord's bread or drinks from his cup in a way that dishonors him, you are guilty of sin against the Lord's body and blood.

[11:28] So then, you should each examine yourself first, and then eat the bread and drink from the cup.

[11:29] For if you do not recognize the meaning of the Lord's body when you eat the bread and drink from the cup, you bring judgment on yourself as you eat and drink.

[11:30] That is why many of you are sick and weak, and several have died.

[11:31] If we would examine ourselves first, we would not come under God's judgment.

[11:32] But we are judged and punished by the Lord, so that we shall not be condemned together with the world.

[11:33] So then, my friends, when you gather together to eat the Lord's Supper, wait for one another.

[11:34] And if any of you are hungry, you should eat at home, so that you will not come under God's judgment as you meet together. As for the other matters, I will settle them when I come.

[12:1] Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my friends.

[12:2] You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.

[12:3] I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.

[12:4] There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.

[12:5] There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.

[12:6] There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.

[12:7] The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.

[12:8] The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge.

[12:9] One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal.

[12:10] The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said.

[12:11] But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.

[12:12] Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.

[12:13] In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.

[12:14] For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.

[12:15] If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.

[12:16] And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.

[12:17] If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell?

[12:18] As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.

[12:19] There would not be a body if it were all only one part!

[12:20] As it is, there are many parts but one body.

[12:21] So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Nor can the head say to the feet, “Well, I don't need you!”

[12:22] On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;

[12:23] and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty,

[12:24] which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.

[12:25] And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another.

[12:26] If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.

[12:27] All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it.

[12:28] In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.

[12:29] They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles

[12:30] or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.

[12:31] Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way.

[13:1] I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.

[13:2] I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains—but if I have no love, I am nothing.

[13:3] I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned —but if I have no love, this does me no good.

[13:4] Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud;

[13:5] love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs;

[13:6] love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth.

[13:7] Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.

[13:8] Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.

[13:9] For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial;

[13:10] but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.

[13:11] When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.

[13:12] What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete—as complete as God's knowledge of me.

[13:13] Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.

[14:1] It is love, then, that you should strive for. Set your hearts on spiritual gifts, especially the gift of proclaiming God's message.

[14:2] Those who speak in strange tongues do not speak to others but to God, because no one understands them. They are speaking secret truths by the power of the Spirit.

[14:3] But those who proclaim God's message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort.

[14:4] Those who speak in strange tongues help only themselves, but those who proclaim God's message help the whole church.

[14:5] I would like for all of you to speak in strange tongues; but I would rather that you had the gift of proclaiming God's message. For the person who proclaims God's message is of greater value than the one who speaks in strange tongues—unless there is someone present who can explain what is said, so that the whole church may be helped.

[14:6] So when I come to you, my friends, what use will I be to you if I speak in strange tongues? Not a bit, unless I bring you some revelation from God or some knowledge or some inspired message or some teaching.

[14:7] Take such lifeless musical instruments as the flute or the harp—how will anyone know the tune that is being played unless the notes are sounded distinctly?

[14:8] And if the one who plays the bugle does not sound a clear call, who will prepare for battle?

[14:9] In the same way, how will anyone understand what you are talking about if your message given in strange tongues is not clear? Your words will vanish in the air!

[14:10] There are many different languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

[14:11] But if I do not know the language being spoken, those who use it will be foreigners to me and I will be a foreigner to them.

[14:12] Since you are eager to have the gifts of the Spirit, you must try above everything else to make greater use of those which help to build up the church.

[14:13] The person who speaks in strange tongues, then, must pray for the gift to explain what is said.

[14:14] For if I pray in this way, my spirit prays indeed, but my mind has no part in it.

[14:15] What should I do, then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray also with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will sing also with my mind.

[14:16] When you give thanks to God in spirit only, how can ordinary people taking part in the meeting say “Amen” to your prayer of thanksgiving? They have no way of knowing what you are saying.

[14:17] Even if your prayer of thanks to God is quite good, other people are not helped at all.

[14:18] I thank God that I speak in strange tongues much more than any of you.

[14:19] But in church worship I would rather speak five words that can be understood, in order to teach others, than speak thousands of words in strange tongues.

[14:20] Do not be like children in your thinking, my friends; be children so far as evil is concerned, but be grown up in your thinking.

[14:21] In the Scriptures it is written, “By means of people speaking strange languages I will speak to my people, says the Lord. I will speak through lips of foreigners, but even then my people will not listen to me.”

[14:22] So then, the gift of speaking in strange tongues is proof for unbelievers, not for believers, while the gift of proclaiming God's message is proof for believers, not for unbelievers.

[14:23] If, then, the whole church meets together and everyone starts speaking in strange tongues—and if some ordinary people or unbelievers come in, won't they say that you are all crazy?

[14:24] But if everyone is proclaiming God's message when some unbelievers or ordinary people come in, they will be convinced of their sin by what they hear. They will be judged by all they hear,

[14:25] their secret thoughts will be brought into the open, and they will bow down and worship God, confessing, “Truly God is here among you!”

[14:26] This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church.

[14:27] If someone is going to speak in strange tongues, two or three at the most should speak, one after the other, and someone else must explain what is being said.

[14:28] But if no one is there who can explain, then the one who speaks in strange tongues must be quiet and speak only to himself and to God.

[14:29] Two or three who are given God's message should speak, while the others are to judge what they say.

[14:30] But if someone sitting in the meeting receives a message from God, the one who is speaking should stop.

[14:31] All of you may proclaim God's message, one by one, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged.

[14:32] The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control,

[14:33] because God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace. As in all the churches of God's people,

[14:34] the women should keep quiet in the meetings. They are not allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law says, they must not be in charge.

[14:35] If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.

[14:36] Or could it be that the word of God came from you? Or are you the only ones to whom it came?

[14:37] If anyone supposes he is God's messenger or has a spiritual gift, he must realize that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.

[14:38] But if he does not pay attention to this, pay no attention to him.

[14:39] So then, my friends, set your heart on proclaiming God's message, but do not forbid the speaking in strange tongues.

[14:40] Everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.