The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapters 7 - 11
7 AND NOW for the matters you wrote about.
It is a good thing for a man to have nothing to do with women;
but because there is so much immorality, let each man have his own wife
and each woman her own husband. The husband must give the wife what
is due to her, and the wife equally must give the husband his due. The wife
cannot claim her body as her own; it is her husband's. Equally, the husband
cannot claim his body as his own; it is his wife's. Do not deny yourselves to
one another, except when you agree upon a temporary abstinence in order
to devote yourselves to prayer; afterwards you may come together again;
otherwise, for lack of self-control, you may be tempted by Satan.
All this I say by way of concession, not command. I should like you all to
be as I am myself; but everyone has the gift God granted him, one this
gift and another that.
To the unmarried and to widows I say this: it is a good thing if they stay
as I am myself; but if they cannot control themselves, they should marry.
Better be married than burn with vain desire.
To the married I give this ruling, which is not mine but the Lord's: a
wife must not separate herself from her husband; if she does, she must
either remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband; and the husband
must not divorce his wife.
To the rest I say this, as my own word, not as the Lord's: if a Christian
has a heathen wife, and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce
her; and a woman who has a heathen husband willing to live with her must
not divorce her husband. For the heathen husband now belongs to God
through his Christian wife, and the heathen wife through her Christian
husband. Otherwise your children would not belong to God, whereas in
fact they do. If on the other hand the heathen partner wishes for a separa-
tion, let him have it. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is under
no compulsion; but God's call is a call to live in peace. Think of it: as a wife
you may be your husband's salvation; as a husband you may be your wife's
salvation.
However that may be, each one must order his life according to the gift
the Lord has granted him and his condition when God called him. That is
what I teach in all our congregations. Was a man called with the marks of
circumcision on him? Let him not remove them. Was he uncircumcised
when he was called? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision or un-
circumcision is neither here nor there; what matters is to keep God's com-
mands. Every man should remain in the condition in which he was called.
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you; but if
a chance of liberty should come, take it. For the man who as a slave
received the call to be a Christian is the Lord's freedman, and, equally,
the free man who received the call is a slave in the service of Christ. You
were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Thus each one, my
friends, is to remain before God in the condition in which he received
his call.
On the question of celibacy, I have no instructions from the Lord, but
I give my judgement as one who by God's mercy is fit to be trusted.
It is my opinion, then, that in a time of stress like the present this is the
best way for a man to live — it is best for a man to be as he is. Are you bound
in marriage? Do not seek a dissolution. Has your marriage been resolved?
Do not seek a wife. If, however, you do marry, there is nothing wrong in
it; and if a virgin marries, she has done no wrong. But those who marry
will have pain and grief in this bodily life, and my aim is to spare you.
What I mean, my friends, is this. The time we live in will not last long.
While it lasts, married men should be as if they had no wives; mourners
should be as if they had nothing to grieve them, the joyful as if they did not
rejoice; buyers must not count on keeping what they buy, nor those who
use the world's wealth on using it to the full. For the whole frame of this
world is passing away.
I want you to be free from anxious care. The unmarried man cares for
the Lord's business; his aim is to please the Lord. But the married man
cares for worldly things; his aim is to please his wife; and he has a divided
mind. The unmarried or celibate woman cares for the Lord's business;
her aim s to be dedicated to him in body as in spirit; but the married
woman cares for worldly things; her aim is to please her husband.
In saying this I have no wish to keep you on a tight rein. I am thinking
simply of your own good, of what is seemly, and of your freedom to wait
upon the Lord without distraction.
But if a man has a partner in celibacy and feels that he is not behaving
properly toward her, if, that is, his instincts are too strong for him, and
something must be done, he may do as he pleases; there is nothing wrong
in it; let them marry. But if a man is steadfast in his purpose, being under
no compulsion, and has complete control of his own choice; and if he has
decided in his own mind to preserve his partner in her virginity, he will
do well. Thus, he who marries his partner does well, and he who does not
will do better.
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if he husband die,
she is free to marry whom she will, provided the marriage is within the
Lord's fellowship. But she is better off as she is; that is my opinion, and I
believe that I too have the Spirit of God.
8 NOW ABOUT FOOD consecrated to heathen deities.
Of course we all 'have knowledge', as you say. This 'knowledge' breeds
conceit; it is love that builds. If anyone fancies that he knows, he knows
nothing yet, in the true sense of knowing. But if a man loves, he is acknow-
ledged by God.
Well then, about eating this consecrated food: of course, as you say,
'a false god has no existence in the real world. There is no god but one.'
For indeed, if there be so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — as
indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords' — yet for us there is only one God,
the Father, from whom all being comes, toward whom we move; and
there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came to be, and
we through him.
But not everyone knows this. There are some who have been so ac-
customed to idolatry that even now they eat food with a sense of its
heathen consecration, and their conscience, being weak, is polluted by the
eating. Certainly food will not bring us into God's presence: if we do not
eat, we are none the worse, and if we eat, we are none the better. But be
careful that this liberty of yours does not become a pitfall for the weak. If
a weak character sees you sitting down to a meal in heathen temple — you,
who 'have knowledge' — will not his conscience be emboldened to eat food
consecrated to the heathen deity? This 'knowledge' of yours is utter
disaster to the weak, the brother for whom Christ died. In thus sinning
against your brothers and wounding their conscience, you sin against
Christ. And therefore, if food be the downfall of my brother, I will
never eat meat any more, for I will not be the cause of my brother's
downfall.
9 AM I NOT A FREE MAN? Am I not an apostle? Did I not see Jesus our
Lord? Are not you my own handiwork, in the Lord? If others do not
accept me as an apostle, you at least are bound to do so, for you are your-
selves the very seal of my apostolate, in the Lord.
To those who put me in the dock this is my answer: Have I no right to
eat and drink? Have I no right to take a Christian wife about with me, like
the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers, and Cephas? Or are
Barnabas and I alone bound to work for our living? Did you ever hear of a
man serving in the army at his own expense? or planting a vineyard with-
out eating the fruit of it? or tending a flock without using its milk? Do not
suppose I rely on these human analogies, for the law says the same; in the
Law of Moses we read, 'You shall not muzzle a threshing ox.' Do you sup-
pose God's concern is with oxen? Or is the reference clearly to ourselves?
Of course it refers to us, in the sense that the ploughman should plough
and the thresher thresh in the hope of getting some of the produce. If we
have sown a spiritual crop for you, is it too much to expect from you a
material harvest? If you allow others these rights, have not we a stronger
claim?
But I have availed myself of no such right. On the contrary, I put up
with all that comes my way rather than offer any hindrance to the gospel of
Christ. You know (do you not?) that those who perform the temple service
eat the temple offerings, and those who wait upon the altar claim their
share of the sacrifice. In the same way the Lord gave instructions that those
who preach the Gospel should earn their living by the Gospel. But I have
never taken advantage of any such right, nor do I intend to claim it in this
letter. I had rather die! No one shall make my boast an empty boast. Even
if I preach the Gospel, I can claim no credit for it; I cannot help myself; it
would be misery to me not to preach. If I did it of my own choice, I should
be earning my pay; but since I do it apart from my own choice, I am simply
discharging a trust. Then what is my pay? The satisfaction of preaching
the Gospel without expense to anyone; in other words, of waiving the
rights which my preaching gives me.
I am a free man and own no master; but I have made myself every man's
servant, to win over as many as possible. To Jews I became like a Jew, to
win Jews; as they are subject to the Law of Moses, I put myself under that
law to win them, although I am not myself subject to it. To win Gentiles,
who are outside the Law, I made myself like one of them, although I am
not in truth outside God's law, being under the law of Christ. To the weak
I became weak, to win the weak. Indeed, I have become everything in
turn to men of every sort, so that in one way or another I may save some.
All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, to bear my part in proclaiming it.
You know (do you not?) that at the sports all the runners run the race,
though only one wins the prize. Like them, run to win! But every athlete
goes into strict training. They do it to win a fading wreath; we, a wreath
that never fades. For my part, I run with a clear goal before me; I am like
a boxer who does not beat the air; I bruise my own body and make it know
its master, for fear that after preaching to others I should find myself
rejected.
10 You should understand, my brothers, that our ancestors were all under
the pillar of cloud, and all of them passed through the Red Sea; and so they
all received baptism into the fellowship of Moses in cloud and sea. They
all ate the same supernatural food, and all drank the same supernatural
drink; I mean, they all drank from the supernatural rock that accompanied
their travels — and that rock was Christ. And yet, most of them were not
accepted by God, for the desert was strewn with their corpses.
These things happened as symbols to warn us not to set our desires on
evil things, as they did. Do not be idolaters, like some of them; as Scripture
has it, 'the people sat down to feast and rose up to revel', Let us not com-
mit fornication, as some of them did — and twenty-three thousand died in
one day. Let us not put the power of the Lord to the test, as some of them
did — and were destroyed by serpents. Do not grumble against God, as
some of them did — and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
All these things that happened to them were symbolic, and were recorded
for our benefit as a warning. For upon us the fulfilment of the ages has
come. If you feel sure that you are standing firm, beware! You may fall.
So far you have faced no trial beyond what man can bear. God keeps faith,
and he will not allow you to be tested above your powers, but when the
test comes he will at the same time provide a way out, by enabling you to
sustain it.
SO THEN, DEAR FRIENDS, shun idolatry. I speak to you as men of sense.
Form your own judgement on what I say. When we bless 'the cup of bless-
ing', is it not a means of sharing in the body of Christ? Because there
is one loaf, we, many as we are, are one body; for it is one loaf of which we
all partake.
Look at the Jewish people. Are not those who partake in the sacrificial
meal sharers at the altar? What do I imply in this? that an idol is anything
but an idol? or food offered to it anything more than food? No; but the
sacrifices the heathen offer are offered (in the words of Scripture) 'to
demons and to that which is not God'; and I will not have you become
partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup
of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons.
Can we defy the Lord? Are we stronger than he?
'We are free to do anything', you say. Yes, but is everything good for us?
'We are free to do anything', but does everything help the building of the
community? Each of you must regard, not his own interests, but the other
man's.
You may eat anything sold in the meat-market without raising questions
of conscience; for the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
If an unbeliever invites you to a meal an you care to go, eat whatever is
put before you, without raising questions of conscience. But if somebody
says to you, 'This food has been offered in sacrifice', then, out of con-
sideration for him, and for conscience' sake, do not eat it — not your con-
science, I mean, but the other man's.
'What?' you say, 'is my freedom to be called into question by another
man's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for
eating food over which I have said grace?' Well, whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you are doing, do all for the honour of God: give no offence
to Jews, or Greeks, or to the church of God. For my part I always try
to meet everyone half-way, regarding not my own good but the good
11 of the many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example as I follow
Christ's.
I COMMEND YOU for always keeping me in mind, and maintaining the
tradition I handed on to you. But II wish you to understand that, while
every man has Christ for his Head, woman's head is man, as Christ's
Head is God. A man who keeps his head covered when he prays or pro-
phesies brings shame on his head; a woman, on the contrary, brings shame
on her head if she prays or prophesies bare-headed; it is as bad as if her head
were shaved. If a woman is not to wear a veil she might as well have her
hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for her to be cropped and shaved, then
she should wear a veil. A man has no need to cover his head, because man
is the image of God, and the mirror of his glory, whereas woman reflects
the glory of man. For man did not originally spring from woman, but
woman was made out of man; and man was not created for woman's sake,
but woman for the sake of man; and therefore it is woman's duty to have a
sign of authority on her head, out of regard for the angels. And yet, in
Christ's fellowship woman is as essential to man as man to woman. If
woman was made out of man, it is through woman that man now comes to
be; and God is the source of all.
Judge for yourselves: is it fitting for a woman to pray to God bare-
headed? Does not Nature herself teach you that while flowing locks dis-
grace a man, they are woman's glory? For her locks were given for
covering.
However, if you insist on arguing, let me tell you, there is no such
custom among us, or in any of the congregations of God's people.
In giving you these injunctions I must mention a practice which I can-
not commend: your meetings tend to do more harm than good. To begin
with, I am told that when yo meet as a congregation you fall into sharply
divided groups; and I believe there is some truth in it (for dissensions are
necessary if only to show which of your members are sound). The result
is that when you meet as a congregation, it is impossible for you to eat the
Lord's Supper, because each of you is in such a hurry to eat his own, and
while one goes hungry another has too much to drink. Have you no homes
of your own to eat and drink in? Or are you so contemptuous of the church
of God that you shame its poorer members? What am I to say? Can I
commend you? On this point, certainly not!
For the tradition which I handed on to you came to me from the Lord
himself: that the Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread and,
after giving thanks to God, broke it and said: 'This is my body, which is
for you; do this as a memorial of me.' In the same way, he took the cup
after super, and said: 'This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood.
Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.' For every time you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until
he comes.
It follows that anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
unworthily will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord.
A man must test himself before eating his share of the bread and drinking
from the cup. For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgement on
himself if he does not discern the Body. That is why many of you are feeble
and sick, and a number have died. But if we examine ourselves, we should
not thus fall under judgement. When, however, we do fall under the
Lord's judgement, he is disciplining us, to save us from being condemned
with the rest of the world.
Therefore, my brothers, when you meet for a meal, wait for one another.
If you are hungry, eat at home, so that in meeting together you may not
fall under judgement. The other matters I will arrange when I come.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Dec 26, 2018, 3:35 AM UTC
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