1 Corinthians 10
10
1 Corinthians 10
1¶ Moreover, brothers, I would that ye not ignore how our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea
2and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
3and did all eat the same spiritual food
4and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was the Christ.
5But with many of them God was not pleased; therefore, they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6¶ Now these things became types of us, that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted.
7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed and fell dead: in one day, twenty-three thousand.
9Neither let us tempt the Christ, as some of them also tempted and perished by the serpents.
10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and perished by the destroyer.
11Now all these things happened unto them as types, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
12Therefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
13No temptation has taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
15¶ I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of the Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of the Christ?
17For one loaf of bread means that many are one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf.
18Behold Israel after the flesh: are not those who eat of the sacrifices participants of the altar?
19What do I say then? that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?
20But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I would not that ye should be participants of demons.
21Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; ye cannot be participants of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
22Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
23¶ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify.
24Let no one seek his own good, but that of the other.
25Whatever is sold in the market, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake;
26for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.
27If any of those that do not believe bid you to a feast, and ye are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you asking no questions for conscience sake.
28But if anyone says unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, do not eat it for the sake of him that disclosed it and for conscience sake; for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof:
29conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other, for why should my liberty be judged by another man’s conscience?
30For if I by grace am a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatever ye do, do everything for the glory of God.
32Be without offense, neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles nor to the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of God;
33even as I please everyone in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
1 Corinthians 10
10
1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
14So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
15-18I assume I’m addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar.
19-22Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what’s the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don’t want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can’t have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won’t put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?
23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an “idolatry test” on every item. “The earth,” after all, “is God’s, and everything in it.” That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
29-30But, except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.