But this knowledge is not in all; and some, through being accustomed hitherto to idols, eat food as if it were idol offerings, and their conscience, being weak, is soiled. But food will not bring us to God; nor, if we do not eat, do we have less; nor, if we do eat, do we have more. But see to it that your freedom does not become a cause of trouble to the weak. For if one sees you, the possessor of understanding, dining in an idol temple, will not his conscience, being weak, be encouraged to eat idol offerings? Then the weak man is undone by your understanding; your brother, for whom Christ died. Thus by s^ming against your brothers and battering their weak conscience you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if my eating drives my brother astray, I will never eat meat any more, so as not to drive my brother astray.
11 ^m I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? Are you not my handiwork in the Lord? Even if to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, since you are the proof of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my answer to those who call me to account. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take one of our number with us as wife, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter? Do only B^abas and I not have the right not to be laborers? Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who herds a flock and does not drink milk from the flock? Do I speak as an individual or does the law also say this? For in the law of Moses it is written: You shall not muzzle the ox who threshes the grain. Can God be concerned with the oxen, or is he really speaking about us? For it is for us that it is written that the plower must plow in hope, and the thresher must be in hope, of getting his share. If we sowed the things of the spirit among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? If others have this right from you, should we not even more?
But we have not used that right, but we suffer everything so as not to offer any obstruction to the gospel of the Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacrifices eat some of what has been sacrificed, and those who serve at the altar have their share from the altar? Even so has the Lord instructed those who bring the gospel to live from the gospel. But I have not made use of any of these privileges. I did not write this so that it should be thus for me; for it is better for me to die than that anyone should make my pride an empty thing. For if I preach the gospel, that is no source of pride for me, since the necessity has been laid upon me; woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have my reward; but if I do it not of my own will, I have been entrusted with a duty. What then is my reward? That, as I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel be free of charge, so as not to use up the privilege which the gospel gives me.
For, being free from all, I have enslaved myself to all, so that I may win over the more people. And I have made myself like a Jew to the Jews so as to win over Jews; to those subject to the law like one subject to the law, though I ^ not myself subject to the law, so as to win over those subject to the law; to those outside the law like one outside the law, though I am not outside the law of God but within the law of Christ, so as to win over those outside the law. To the weak I have made myself weak, to win over the weak. I have made myself all things to all people, so that by some means or other I may save some. And I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may have my share in the gospel.
Do you not know that when they run in the stadium they all run, but only one wins the prize? Run to win. And everyone who competes keeps in training in every way; but they, to win a perishable wreath; we, for an imperishable one. I myself do not race without a goal; I do not box to punish the air; but I batter my own body and enslave it; so that, while calling others to action, I may not myself be disqualified.
11 Now I do not wish you to be unmindful of the fact, brothers, that our fathers all went under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized into Moses under the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock which went with them, and the rock was the Christ. But God was not pleased with most of them; for they died in the desert. These things took place as examples for us, to keep us from desiring evil things as they desired them. Do not become idolaters like some of them; as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and they stood up to play. And let us not be lecherous as some of them were lecherous, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. And let us not make trial of the Lord as some of them made trial of him, and they were killed by the snakes. And do not grumble as some of them grumbled, and they were killed by the angel of death. These things made an example of them, and were written of for our instruction, for us with whom the end of the world coincides.
So let him who thinks he is standing see to it that he does not fall. No trial has come upon you which is not human; and God is to be trusted, who will not let you be tried beyond your powers, but with the trial will give you a way out by your being able to endure.
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I am saying. The cup of blessing which we bless, is that not participation in the blood of the Christ? The loaf which we break, is that not participation in the body of the Christ? Because we many are one loaf, one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. Consider Israel in the matter of the flesh. Do not those who eat the sacrifices share in the altar of sacrifice? What then am I saying? That what is sacrificed to idols amounts to something, or that the idol amounts to something? Rather, that what they sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I would not have you be partners of demons. You cannot dr^^ the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we challenging the Lord? Surely we are not stronger than he?
All things are lawful; but not all things are advantageous. All things are lawful; but not all are helpful. Let no one look for his o^ good, but for that of the other man.
Eat anything that is sold in the butcher shop without discriminating because of conscience, for the earth with all that fills it belongs to the Lord. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you wish to go, eat everything that is set before you without discriminating because of conscience. But if someone says to you: This is sacrificial meat, do not eat it, for the sake of him who told you, and for conscience; the conscience, I mean, not of oneself but of the other man. For why is my freedom judged by the conscience of another? And if I partake in thankfulness, why ^ I insulted because of that for which I ^ thankful?
Then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Be inoffensive toward Jews and
Greeks and the church of God, as I also try to please all in all ways, looking not for my own advantage but for that of the many, so that they may be saved.
Copy me, as I copy Christ.
I have praise for you because you remember everything I say and maintain traditions as I have handed them on to you. But I wish you to know that the head of every man is the Christ, and the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of the Christ is God. Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head; and any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head; for it is one and the same thing as having a shaven head. If a woman unveils her head, let it be shorn also; but if it is shameful for a woman to have a shorn or shaven head, let her cover it. A man does not need to cover his head, since he is the image and semblance of God; but a woman is the semblance of a man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man; since indeed man was not created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. Therefore a woman should take care of her head, because of the angels. But, in the Lord, woman does not exist apart from man, nor man apart from woman. For as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; and all is from God.