1Verse 1. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
2Verse 2. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
3Verse 3. They all ate the same spiritual food
4Verse 4. and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
5Verse 5. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
6Verse 6. These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
7Verse 7. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.”
8Verse 8. We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
9Verse 9. We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
10Verse 10. And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
11Verse 11. Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
12Verse 12. So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.
13Verse 13. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
14Verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15Verse 15. I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.
16Verse 16. Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
17Verse 17. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
18Verse 18. Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?
19Verse 19. Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20Verse 20. No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
21Verse 21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
22Verse 22. Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
23Verse 23. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
24Verse 24. No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25Verse 25. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
26Verse 26. for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
27Verse 27. If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.
28Verse 28. But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
29Verse 29. the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?
30Verse 30. If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31Verse 31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
32Verse 32. Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—
33Verse 33. as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.