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Warnings from Israel’s Past
10Verse 1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.Verse 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.Verse 3They all ate the same spiritual foodVerse 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.Verse 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.Verse 6These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.Verse 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”+Verse 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.Verse 9We should not test Christ,+as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.Verse 10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.+Verse 11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.Verse 12So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.Verse 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
Flee from Idolatry
Verse 14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.Verse 15I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.Verse 16Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?Verse 17Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.Verse 18Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?Verse 19Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?Verse 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.Verse 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.Verse 22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
All to God’s Glory
Verse 23“Everything is permissible,”+but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.Verse 24No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.Verse 25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,Verse 26for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”+Verse 27If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.Verse 28But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—+Verse 29the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?Verse 30If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?Verse 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.Verse 32Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—Verse 33as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.