1 Corinthians 10
10
Chapter 10
Idols
1My Christian friends, remember what happened to our Israelite ancestors. Moses led them out of Egypt long ago. While they followed Moses, they all walked under the same cloud. All of them walked across the Red Sea. #10:1 See Exodus 14:19-22. 2It is like God baptized all of them in the cloud and in the sea. In that way, they became people who followed Moses. 3All our ancestors ate the same spiritual food. #10:3 See Exodus 16:4-30. 4All of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank water from the spiritual rock that went with them. Christ was that rock. #10:4 See Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:2-13. God gave food and drink to the Jews in the wilderness. This was a miracle that God did for them. They could see that God himself was with them. 5They all received the same help from God, but most of them did not please God. God caused most of them to die in the wilderness. #10:5 See Numbers 14:22-23; Hebrews 3:8-11.
6We must learn from those things that happened to our ancestors. We must not want to do very bad things, like they did. 7Do not worship idols, as some of them did. The Bible says: ‘The people sat down to eat and to drink. After that, they got up from their meal and they danced.’ #10:7 The people danced to worship their false gods. See Exodus 32:6.
8Nor must we ever have sex in wrong ways. Some of our ancestors did that, and 23,000 of them died in one day as a result. #10:8 See Numbers 25:1-9.
9Nor must we do bad things to see whether the Lord will punish us. Some of our ancestors did that, and God sent snakes to destroy them. #10:9 See Numbers 21:4-7.
10Do not complain against God. Some of our ancestors spoke like that, and God sent an angel of death to kill them. #10:10 See Numbers 14:1-38; 16:41.
11All these things happened to our ancestors so that we would learn from them. They are written in the Bible to teach us important lessons. We are people who live at a time when all things will become complete.
12If you think that you are standing strongly, be careful! Do not fall down! 13You may often want to do wrong things. The things that are difficult for you are difficult for other people too. Remember that God is always there to help you. He will not let any bad thing be too difficult for you. He will help you to stand against it. When you want to do something wrong, God will make you strong in your spirit. He will show you a way out, so that you do not do anything wrong.
14So, my friends, keep away from idols. Do not worship them. 15You are people who think carefully about things. So think about what I am saying to you. 16When we eat the Lord's Supper together, we remember that Christ died on our behalf. We thank God for the wine that we drink from the cup. In that way, we remember that we all belong to Christ because of his blood. We also break the bread and we eat it together. In that way, we remember that we all belong to Christ because of his body that died on the cross. 17We are many people, but all of us eat part of the same loaf of bread. That shows that we are one group of people. We belong together because Christ died on our behalf.
18Think about Israel's people. They eat part of the animals that the priests offer on the altar as a sacrifice. This shows that they share together in the sacrifice. 19So think about food that people offer to idols as a sacrifice. I am not saying that the idols are real gods. The food that people offer to them is not special food. 20But the people who offer food to idols are worshipping demons. They are not worshipping God when they do that. I do not want you to share in what they do to worship demons. 21If you drink anything from the cup of demons, you can not then drink wine from the Lord's cup. If you share a meal with demons, you can not also share in the Lord's meal.
22If we do things like that, we will cause the Lord to be angry. We should worship only him. You know that we are not stronger than he is!
23Some of you may say, ‘We are free to do anything that we want to do!’ But not everything is good for you to do. You may say, ‘We are free to do anything!’ But not everything helps you to be strong as a believer. 24Do not think about the things that will help you. Instead, each of you should think about what will help other people.
25You can eat any meat that people sell in the market. Do not ask questions about the meat. Do not cause your thoughts to have trouble. 26The Bible says this: ‘The earth, and everything in it, belongs to the Lord.’ #10:26 See Psalms 24:1
27People who do not believe in Christ may ask you to eat a meal with them. Agree to go to his home, if you want to. Then you should eat whatever food they give to you. Do not ask questions about the food. Do not cause your thoughts to have trouble. 28But someone there may say to you, ‘They offered this food to an idol.’ If someone tells you that, do not eat the food. It might cause trouble to the thoughts of the person who told you. 29It may not cause your own thoughts to have trouble. But the other person may not be sure if it is right to eat that kind of food.
Perhaps you will say, ‘Why should another person's thoughts decide what is right for me? I am free to do what I want. 30I thank God for my food before I eat it. If I do that, nobody should say that it is wrong for me to eat it.’
31Whatever you are doing, show that God is great. When you eat anything, or you drink anything, do it all in a way that praises God. 32Do not cause problems for other people. Whether they are Jews or Gentiles, or people who belong to God's church, live in a way that does not cause problems for them. 33Copy my example. Whatever I do, I try to make other people happy. I do not try to do what will help me. Instead, I want to help other people. I live in that way so that God will save many people.
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1 Corinthians 10
10
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
1I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,#10:1 Greek brothers. about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”#10:7 Exod 32:6. 8And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9Nor should we put Christ#10:9 Some manuscripts read the Lord. to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
14So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. 18Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. 21You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. 22What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23You say, “I am allowed to do anything”#10:23 Greek All things are lawful; also in 10:23b.—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. 24Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
25So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”#10:26 Ps 24:1.
27If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. 28(But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
31So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles#10:32 Greek or Greeks. or the church of God. 33I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
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