1 For I would have you know this, my brothers, that while our fathers all lived under the cloud, all crossed through the sea,
2 all were baptized into Moses by the cloud and by the sea,
3 all ate the same supernatural food,
4 and all drank the same supernatural drink (drinking from the supernatural Rock which accompanied them ??and that Rock was Christ),
5 still with most of them God was not satisfied; they were laid low in the desert.
6 Now this took place as a warning for us, to keep us from craving for evil as they craved.
7 And you must not be idolaters, like some of them; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to make sport.
8 Nor must we commit immorality, as some of them did ??and in a single day twenty-three thousand of them fell.
9 Nor must we presume upon the Lord as some of them did ??only to be destroyed by serpents.
10 And you must not murmur, as some of them did ??only to be destroyed by the destroying angel.
11 It all happened to them by way of warning for others, and it was written down for the purpose of instructing us whose lot has been cast in the closing hours of the world.
12 So let anyone who thinks he stands secure, take care in case he falls.
13 No temptation has waylaid you that is beyond man's power; trust God, he will never let you be tempted beyond what you can stand, but when temptation comes, he will provide the way out of it, so that you can bear up under it.
14 Shun idolatry, then, my beloved.
15 I am speaking to sensible people; weigh my words for yourselves.
16 The cup of blessing, which we bless, is that not participating in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is that not participating in the body of Christ?
17 (for many as we are, we are one Bread, one Body, since we all partake of the one Bread).
18 Look at the rites of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
19 Do I imply, you ask, that 'food offered to an idol has any meaning, or that an idol itself means any thing'?
20 No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons!
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of daemons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and also of the table of daemons.
22 What! do we intend to rouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he is?
23 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying.
24 Each of us must consult his neighbour's interests, not his own.
25 Eat any food that has been sold in the market, instead of letting scruples of conscience oblige you to ask any questions about it;
26 the earth and all its contents belong to the Lord.
27 When an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you agree to go, eat whatever is put before you, instead of letting scruples of conscience induce you to ask any questions about it.
28 But if someone tells you, 'This was sacrificial meat,' then do not eat it; you must consider the man who told you, and also take conscience into account ??29 his conscience, I mean, not your own; for why should one's own freedom be called in question by someone else's conscience?
30 If one partakes of food after saying a blessing over it, why should one be denounced for eating what one has given thanks to God for?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, let it be all done for the glory of God.
32 Put no stumbling-block in the way of Jews or Greeks or the church of God.
33 Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own advantage but at the advantage of the greater number ??at their salvation.