1 Cô-rinh-tô 10

Warnings from Israel’s history

¹For I want you to grasp this, brothers and sisters: every one of our ancestors was under the cloud, and every one of them went through the sea. ²All of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³All of them ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from a spiritual rock that went along with them, and that rock was Christ.^{a 5}Yet God took no pleasure in most of them, for the wilderness was strewn with their bodies.

⁶These events became examples for us, warning us not to crave what is evil, as they craved it. ⁷Do not become idolaters, as some of them did. Scripture says, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to make merry.” ⁸Nor should we give ourselves to sexual immorality, which some of them practiced, and 23,000 fell dead in a single day. ⁹Nor should we try the patience of Christ, as some of them tried it; they were killed off by the snakes, one after another.^{b 10}Do not grumble against God, the way some of them grumbled, only to perish at the hand of the Destroyer. ¹¹What happened to them was meant as an example, and it was written down to warn us, who live at the time when the ages reach their end. ¹²So anyone who feels sure of standing should watch out, or they may fall. ¹³The testing that has gripped you is only what all people face. But God is faithful, and he will not allow the testing to go past your strength. Along with the testing he will also make the way out, so that you are able to hold up under it.^c

The Lord’s table and the table of demons

¹⁴So then, my dear friends, run from idolatry. ¹⁵I am talking to you as people with good sense. Weigh for yourselves what I am saying. ¹⁶When we bless the cup of blessing, are we not given a share in the blood of Christ? When we break the bread, are we not given a share in the body of Christ? ¹⁷There is one loaf, and so we, though many, are one body, because we all share in that one loaf. ¹⁸Look at Israel, the nation by human descent. Do not the people who eat from the sacrifices share in the altar? ¹⁹What am I saying, then? That food offered to idols amounts to anything? Or that an idol is anything at all? ²⁰No. I mean that what people sacrifice to idols, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become partners with demons. ²¹It is impossible for you to drink from the Lord’s cup and from a cup of demons as well, or to eat at the Lord’s table and at a demons’ table. ²²Or do we mean to stir up the Lord’s jealousy? Do we think we are stronger than he is? ²³“Everything is permitted.” Yes, but not everything is for the good.^d “Everything is permitted.” Yes, but not everything builds others up.^{e 24}No one should look for their own advantage, but for the other person’s. ²⁵You may eat whatever is on sale in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake, ²⁶because “the earth belongs to the Lord, and everything that fills it.” ²⁷Suppose an unbeliever asks you to dinner and you decide to go. Then eat whatever is served, and do not ask questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁸But if anyone points out to you, “This came from a temple sacrifice,” leave it uneaten. Do so out of regard for the person who pointed it out, and because of conscience. ²⁹By conscience I mean the other person’s, not yours. For why should another person’s conscience pass judgment on my freedom?^{f 30}If I eat my share with gratitude, why should anyone speak evil of me over food for which I thank God? ³¹So then, when you eat, when you drink, whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory. ³²Do not trip anyone up, not Jews, not Greeks, not the church of God. ³³I do the same: in all I do I seek to please all people, looking not for what helps me but for what helps the many, so that they may be saved.