¹ I want you to bear in mind, friends, that all our ancestors were beneath the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

² that in the cloud and in the sea they all underwent baptism as followers of Moses;

³ and that they all ate the same supernatural food,

⁴ and all drank the same supernatural water, for they used to drink from a supernatural rock which followed them, and that rock was the Christ.

⁵ Yet with most of them God was displeased; for they were ‘struck down in the desert.’

⁶ Now these things happened as warnings to us, to teach us not to long for evil things as our forefathers longed.

⁷ Do not become idolaters, as some of them became. Scripture says — ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to dance.’

⁸ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them acted, with the result that twenty-three thousand of them fell dead in a single day.

⁹ Nor let us try the patience of the Lord too far, as some of them tried it, with the result that they ‘were, one after another, destroyed by the snakes.’

¹⁰ And do not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so ‘were destroyed by the angel of death.’

¹¹ These things happened to them by way of warning, and were recorded to serve as a caution to us, in whose days the close of the ages has come.

¹² Therefore let the person who thinks that they stand take care that they do not fall.

¹³ No temptation has come upon you that is not common to all humanity. God will not fail you, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength; but, when he sends the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, so that you may have strength to endure.

¹⁴ Therefore, my dear friends, shun the worship of idols.

¹⁵ I speak to you as man of discernment; form your own judgment about what I am saying.

¹⁶ In the cup of blessing which we bless, is not there a sharing in the blood of the Christ? And in the bread which we break, is not there a sharing in the body of the Christ?

¹⁷ The bread is one, and we, though many, are one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

¹⁸ Look at the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices share with the altar?

¹⁹ What do I mean? That an offering made to an idol, or the idol itself, is anything?

²⁰ No; what I say is that the sacrifices offered by the Gentiles ‘are offered to demons and to a being who is no God,’ and I do not want you to share with demons.

²¹ You cannot drink both the Cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake at the Table of the Lord and at the table of demons.

²² Or ‘are we to rouse the jealousy of the Lord’? Are we stronger than he?

²³ Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything does not build up character.

²⁴ A person must not study their own interests, but the interests of others.

²⁵ Eat anything that is sold in the market, without making inquiries to satisfy your scruples;

²⁶ for ‘the earth, with all that is in it, belongs to the Lord.’

²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to his house and you consent to go, eat anything that is put before you, without making inquiries to satisfy your scruples.

²⁸ But, if anyone should say to you ‘This has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,’ then, for the sake of the speaker and his scruples, do not eat it.

²⁹ I do not say ‘your’ scruples, but ‘his.’ For why should the freedom that I claim be condemned by the scruples of another?

³⁰ If, for my part, I take the food thankfully, why should I be abused for eating that for which I give thanks?

³¹ Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the honor of God.

³² Do not cause offense either to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God;

³³ for I, also, try to please everybody in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but do what is best for others, so that they may be saved.