1 Corinthians 11:23-32

The Voice

²³ I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; ²⁴ and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” ²⁵ After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, “This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” ²⁶ Every time you taste this bread and every time you place the cup to your mouths and drink, you are declaring the Lord’s death, which is the ultimate expression of His faithfulness and love, until He comes again.

²⁷ So if someone takes of this bread and drinks from the Lord’s cup improperly—as you are doing—he is guilty of violating the body and blood of our Lord. ²⁸ Examine yourselves first. Then you can properly approach the table to eat the bread and drink from the cup; ²⁹ because otherwise, if you eat and drink without properly discerning the significance of the Lord’s body, then you eat and drink a mouthful of judgment upon yourself. ³⁰ Because of this violation, many in your community are now sick and weak; some have even died. ³¹ But if we took care to judge ourselves, then we wouldn’t have to worry about being judged by another. ³² In fact, the Lord’s hand of judgment is correcting us so that we don’t suffer the same fate as the rest of the rebellious world: condemnation.