Romans 14
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 14
The Weak and the Strong in the Community.[a] 1 Welcome anyone whose faith is weak, but do not get into arguments about doubts. 2 One person may have the faith to eat any kind of food, whereas a weak person may eat only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not look contemptuously on the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed both. 4 What right do you have to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? The master will determine whether that servant will stand or fall. But the servant will be upheld, for the Lord has the power to enable him to stand.
5 One person may consider one day to be more sacred than another, while another may judge all days to be alike. Let everyone be convinced in his own beliefs. 6 Whoever observes the day observes it for the Lord. Also, the one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and thereby also gives thanks to God.
7 None of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 It was for this reason that Christ died and came to life again: so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why then do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? All of us will have to stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 Consideration for the Weak Conscience. So, then, each one of us will have to give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore, let us cease passing judgment on one another, but rather judge never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know, and am convinced in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. However, it is unclean for someone who believes it to be unclean.
15 If your brother is seriously offended by what you eat, then you are no longer being guided by love. Do not allow the food that you eat to destroy anyone for whom Christ died. 16 Do not let what you think is good to become what others say is evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who serves Christ in such things is pleasing to God and respected by others.
19 Let us[b] then pursue the ways that lead to peace and mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to cause others to fall by what you eat. 21 It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes your brother to stumble.
22 Whatever faith you have, keep it between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith. Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
Footnotes
- Romans 14:1 Two groups or tendencies are already manifested in the early Christian communities. Some cling, though not without some scruples, to the religious practices in which they have been reared: refusal of sacrificed meats or abstentions from foods on certain days—and these may be termed “the weak.” Others, in the same freedom of the Gospel, criticize the former—and these may be termed “the strong.” The text evokes a situation like that in Corinth (1 Cor 8:4-13).
Paul has always been categorically opposed to confusing grace with the Law; he has refused to impose either Jewish or Gentile practices on new converts and has declared that all ancient religious practices are excluded as a way to gain justification. He is undoubtedly also aware of the teaching of Jesus concerning what is clean and unclean (Mk 7:1-23). Moreover, he has never refused to allow Christians of Jewish origin to esteem attachment to their religious tradition. He has put clamps on the new freedom only when such freedom turns into provocative pretense and an attitude of superiority.
Freedom is not given to enable someone to criticize others; it does not consist in remonstrating with others about theory or comportment. No principle of freedom can lead to an attitude of scorn or incomprehension. Christians maintain a desire for the salvation of all, and regard everyone as a brother or sister for whom Christ died. They are open to safeguard the relations and exchanges of a varied and pluralist community. Profound respect for the conscience of each person is required, as is the refusal to judge one another. Most important, all must have the freedom to act according to their consciences before God (see Acts 15). - Romans 14:19 Let us: some manuscripts and Fathers of the Church have: “We.”
Romans 14
Lexham English Bible
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
14 Now receive the one who is weak in faith, but not for quarrels about opinions. 2 One believes he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats must not despise the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not judge the one who eats, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you, who passes judgment on the domestic slave belonging to someone else? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person[a] prefers one day over another day, and another person regards every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who is intent on the day is intent on it for the Lord, and the one who eats eats for the Lord, because he is thankful to God, and the one who does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and he is thankful to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For Christ died and became alive again for this reason, in order that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or also, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will praise God.”[b]
12 So[c] each one of us will give an account concerning himself.[d]
13 Therefore, let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather decide this: not to place a cause for stumbling or a temptation before a brother. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself, except to the one who considers something to be unclean; to that person it is unclean. 15 For if because of food, your brother is grieved, you are no longer living according to love. Do not destroy by your food that person for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let your good be slandered. 17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is well-pleasing to God and approved by people.
19 So then, let us pursue what promotes peace[e] and what edifies one another[f]. 20 Do not destroy the work of God on account of food. All things are clean, but it is wrong for the person who eats and stumbles in the process[g]. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is weakened.[h] 22 The faith that you have, have with respect to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not pass judgment on himself by what he approves. 23 But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.
Footnotes
- Romans 14:5 Some manuscripts have “For one person”
- Romans 14:11 A quotation from Isa 45:23
- Romans 14:12 Some manuscripts have “So then,”
- Romans 14:12 Some manuscripts have “an account concerning himself to God”
- Romans 14:19 Literally “the things of peace”
- Romans 14:19 Literally “the things of edification toward one another”
- Romans 14:20 Literally “who eats with stumbling”
- Romans 14:21 Some manuscripts omit “or is offended or is weakened”
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