Chronological

Chapter 9

The Example of Paul’s Apostolate

A Missionary’s Rights. ¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? ² Although others may not regard me as an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ To those who seek to pass judgment on me, my defense is this. ⁴ Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?^{[a] 6} Are Barnabas^[b] and I the only ones who do not have the right to refrain from working? ⁷ What soldier would ever serve in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating its fruit? Or who tends a flock without consuming some of its milk?

⁸ I am not saying this based simply on human authority, for the Law says the very same thing. ⁹ In the Law of Moses it is written, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned, ¹⁰ or does he not rather say this for our sake? Without question it was written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope, both in expectation of a share in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown a spiritual crop for you, is it unreasonable for us to expect from you a material harvest? ¹² If others have this claim on you, do not we?

Despite this, we have never availed ourselves of any such right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than place an obstacle to the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that those who perform the temple service receive their food from the temple, and that those who officiate at the altar share in the offerings? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel.^[c]

¹⁵ I Have Become All Things to All. However, I have never availed myself of any of these rights, and I have not written this to influence you to grant me such treatment; I would rather die first. No one shall deprive me of this boast! ¹⁶ If I proclaim the gospel, that is no reason for me to boast, for the obligation to do so has been given to me, and woe to me if I fail to fulfill it.

¹⁷ If I proclaimed the gospel of my own volition, I would deserve a reward; but if I do not do so voluntarily, I am simply discharging the commission that has been given to me. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? It is simply that in my preaching I may offer the gospel free of charge and not make use of the rights that the gospel affords me.

¹⁹ Although I am free and belong to no man, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews, I became like a Jew in order to win the Jews. To those under the Law, I became like one under the Law—although I myself am not under the Law—in order to win over those under the Law. ²¹ To those outside the Law, I became like one outside the Law—although I am not outside the Law of God but am subject to the Law of Christ—in order to win over those outside the Law. ²² To the weak, I have become weak in order to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, so that by every possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel so that I might share it with you.

Flee from Idolatry^[d]

²⁴ Discipline Yourself So As Not To Be Disqualified. You are well aware that while all the runners in the stadium compete in the race, only one wins the prize. Run in such a way as to win the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who seeks a prize submits himself to rigorous self-discipline in every respect. They do so to win a perishable crown, while we seek an imperishable one. ²⁶ Therefore, I do not run without purpose, nor do I fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ Rather, I discipline my body and bring it under control, for fear that after preaching to others I myself may be disqualified.

Chapter 10

The Lesson of Israel’s Past.^{[e] 1} Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, ² and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ All ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the desert.

⁶ These events occurred to offer examples for us so that we might not desire evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not become idolaters, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to engage in revelry.”

⁸ Let us not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand of them died in a single day. ⁹ Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰ And do not complain, as some of them did, and they were slain by the Destroyer.^{[f] 11} All these things happened to them to serve as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us upon whom the end of the ages has come.

¹² Therefore, if you think you are standing securely, take care that you do not fall ¹³ No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it.

¹⁴ The Eucharist Versus Pagan Sacrifices.^[g] Therefore, my dear friends, avoid idolatry at all costs.^{[h] 15} I am talking to you as sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel.^[i] Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What then am I implying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

²⁰ No, I simply mean that pagan sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Do we truly wish to provoke the Lord to jealous anger?^[j] Are we stronger than he is?

²³ Concerning Idol Offerings.“All things are lawful,” you may say—but not all things are beneficial. All things may be lawful—but not all things are constructive. ²⁴ No one should seek his own advantage in preference to that of his neighbor. ²⁵ You may eat whatever meat is sold in the market without raising questions on grounds of conscience, ²⁶ for “the earth and all it contains belong to the Lord.”

²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to accept, eat whatever is set before you without raising any questions on the grounds of conscience. ²⁸ However, if someone says to you, “This food was offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹ I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. For why should my freedom be governed by someone else’s conscience? ³⁰ If I partake of the meal with thankfulness, why should I be criticized for eating food for which I give thanks?

³¹ Give No Offense. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. ³² Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, ³³ just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own good but that of the many, so that they may be saved.

Chapter 11

¹ Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Liturgical Assemblies and Their Problems^[k]

Propriety in Worship^[l]

The Question of Head Coverings. ² I praise you because you remember me in everything and you maintain the traditions just as I handed them down to you.

³ But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ. ⁴ Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings disgrace on his head. ⁵ And any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings disgrace upon her head, for it is just as though she had her head shaved. ⁶ Indeed, if a woman refuses to wear a veil, then she might as well have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil.

⁷ It is not right for a man to have his head covered, since he is the image of God and the reflection of his glory, whereas woman is the reflection of the glory of man. ⁸ For man was not made from woman, but woman was made from man. ⁹ Nor was man created for the sake of woman, but woman was created for the sake of man.

¹⁰ Therefore, a woman should have on her head a sign^[m] of her dependence, because of the angels. ¹¹ Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹² Although woman came from man, so does every man come from a woman, and all things come from God.

¹³ The Question of Long Hair. Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? ¹⁴ Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, he is disgraced, ¹⁵ whereas if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair was given to her as a covering. ¹⁶ However, if anyone wishes to argue further on this point, we have no such custom to do so, nor do any of the Churches of God.

The Lord’s Supper, Sign of Unity^[n]

¹⁷ Do You Despise the Church of God? Now in giving you this instruction I cannot praise you, because your meetings tend to do more harm than good. ¹⁸ To begin with, when you come together in your assembly, I hear that there are divisions among you, and to some extent I am inclined to believe it. ¹⁹ There must be such factions among you so that it will become clear to you which groups should be trusted.

^20 [o]When you do assemble, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, ²¹ for each of you goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another has too much to drink. ²² Do you not have homes in which you can eat and drink? Or do you have such contempt for the Church of God that you humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? In this matter, I cannot praise you.

²³ You Proclaim the Death of the Lord.^[p]For what I received from the Lord I handed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and after giving thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵ In the same fashion, after the supper,^[q] he also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ And so, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

²⁷ God’s Judgment on the Community.^[r] Therefore, anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of an offense against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Everyone should examine himself about eating the bread and drinking from the cup. ²⁹ For a person who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord is eating and drinking judgment on himself.

³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹ If we were to examine ourselves, we would not be condemned. ³² However, when we are judged by the Lord, he is disciplining us to save us from being condemned together with the world.

³³ Practical Conclusion. Therefore, brethren, when you come together for the meal, wait for one another. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that in assembling you may not incur condemnation. As for the other matters, I will resolve them when I come.