1 Corinthians 11
Lexham English Bible
Concerning Head Coverings in Worship
11 Become imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you that you remember me in all things, and just as I handed over to you the traditions, you hold fast to them. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies while[a] having something[b] on his head dishonors his head, 5 but every woman who prays or prophesies with uncovered head dishonors her head, for she is one and the same with the one whose head is shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover herself, let her hair be shorn off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her head[c] shorn or shaved, let her cover her head.[d] 7 For indeed a man ought not to cover his head, because he[e] is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 For indeed man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. 10 Because of this, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, on account of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, neither is woman anything apart from man, nor is man anything apart from woman in the Lord. 12 For just as the woman is from the man, thus also the man is through the woman. But all things are from God. 13 You judge for yourselves[f]: is it fitting for a woman to pray to God with her head[g] uncovered? 14 And does not nature itself teach you that a man, if he wears long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15 But a woman, if she wears long hair, it is her glory, because her hair is given[h] for a covering. 16 But if anyone is disposed to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
Improper Conduct at the Lord’s Supper
17 But in giving this instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For in the first place, when you[i] come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For indeed it is necessary that there be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore, when[j] you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For when you[k] eat it, each one of you goes ahead to take his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 For do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who do not have anything? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and after he[l] had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 Likewise also the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread and let him drink from the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, if he[m] does not recognize the body, eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 Because of this, many are weak and sick among you, and quite a few have died[n]. 31 But if we were evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But if we[o] are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, in order that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you[p] come together in order to eat the Lord’s supper,[q] wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And I will give directions about the remaining matters whenever I come.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 11:4 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“having”) which is understood as temporal
- 1 Corinthians 11:4 Here the direct object must be supplied from context, but the exact nature of the object is not clear from the context, so “something” is used in the English translation
- 1 Corinthians 11:6 Literally “to be”
- 1 Corinthians 11:6 Literally “herself”
- 1 Corinthians 11:7 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“is”) which is understood as causal
- 1 Corinthians 11:13 Literally “in you yourselves”
- 1 Corinthians 11:13 Here the words “with her head” have been supplied as a necessary clarification
- 1 Corinthians 11:15 Some manuscripts have “is given to her”
- 1 Corinthians 11:18 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“come together”)
- 1 Corinthians 11:20 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“come together”)
- 1 Corinthians 11:21 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal infinitive (“eat”)
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 Here “if” is supplied as a component of the participle (“recognize”) which is understood as conditional
- 1 Corinthians 11:30 Literally “have fallen asleep”
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 Here “if” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are judged”) which is understood as conditional
- 1 Corinthians 11:33 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“come together”) which is understood as temporal
- 1 Corinthians 11:33 *Here the direct object (“the Lord’s supper”) is supplied from context in the English translation
1 Corinthians 11
EasyEnglish Bible
11 Copy my example, in the same way that I copy Christ's example.
Christian meetings
2 I praise you, because you remember me and everything that I taught you. You continue to obey the message that I gave to you. 3 This is something that I want you to know: Christ has authority over every man, as his head. Also, the head of a woman is her husband. And the head of Christ is God.
4 So, when you meet together to worship God, remember this. When a man prays to God, or he speaks a message from God, he should not cover his head. If he does that, he does not respect the one who is his head. 5 But when a woman prays or she speaks a message from God, she should cover her head. If she does not cover her head, she does not respect the one who is her head. It would be as bad as if she cut off all her hair. 6 If a woman refuses to cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But, if a woman has no hair, or she has very short hair, she becomes very ashamed. So it is better that she should cover her head in your meetings.
7 Men show what God is like and they show how great God is. So a man should not cover his head in your meetings. But a woman shows how great men are. 8 When God made people, he did not use part of the woman to make a man. God made the man first. Then he made the woman from part of the man.[a] 9 Neither did God make the man to help the woman. No, God made the woman to help the man. 10 That is why a woman should cover her head. It shows that she has authority on her head. That makes the angels happy.
11 But remember this: we all belong to the Lord. Men and women need to help one another. They can not remain separate. 12 It is true that God used part of the man to make the first woman. But it is also true that women give birth to men. Remember that all things come from God himself.
13 Think about this: If a woman prays to God but she has not covered her head, is that proper? 14 If a man has long hair, that should make him ashamed. That is clear. 15 But if a woman has long hair, she can be proud of it. God gave beautiful hair to women to cover their heads. 16 Some people may want to argue about this. But I have told you what we do. And all of God's people in the different churches do the same thing.
The Lord's Supper
17 Now I must teach you about something else about your meetings. I will not praise you, because more bad things than good things happen when you meet together. 18 First, I hear that there are separate groups when you meet together as God's people.[b] I believe that some of what I have heard about you is true. 19 Perhaps there must be separate groups among you. Then everyone can see clearly which group God accepts as right!
20 When you meet together, the meal that you eat is not really the Lord's Supper. 21 When you are ready to eat, each of you eats your own meal. You do not wait for anyone else. As a result, one of you may be hungry, while another person becomes drunk. 22 If you want to eat like that, you have your own homes where you can eat and drink! Instead, you insult the people of God's church. You make people who have nothing feel ashamed. I cannot praise you for what you do. Whatever I might say to you about this, I certainly cannot praise you.
23 This is the message that I received from the Lord. I then told it to you.
This is what happened on the night that Jesus' enemies took hold of him. The Lord Jesus picked up some bread to eat with his disciples. 24 He thanked God for the bread and then he broke it into pieces. He said: ‘This is my body that I give to save you. Eat this bread, so that you remember me.’
25 After they had eaten supper, Jesus took a cup of wine. He spoke to his disciples again. He said, ‘This cup shows my blood that will pour out when I die. God now makes a new agreement to save people because of my death. Whenever you drink from the cup in this way, do it to remember me.’
26 Every time that you eat bread and you drink from the cup like this, you are showing something. You are showing people what the Lord's death means. You should continue to do this until he returns.
27 Since that is true, you must be careful. Eat the bread and drink from the cup in a way that is right. Anyone who does not do that will be guilty. They are showing that they do not respect the Lord's body and his blood that he offered as a sacrifice. 28 So everyone must think carefully about how they eat the bread and they drink from the cup. 29 They must understand how important the Lord's body is. If anyone does not recognize this, God will punish them. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick. Some of you have even died because of this. 31 But if we think carefully about ourselves, then God will not need to punish us.
32 But the Lord does need to punish us sometimes. When he does that, he is teaching us not to do wrong things. Then we will not be guilty, like other people who do not know God.
33 So, my Christian friends, be patient when you meet together to eat the Lord's Supper. Do not start to eat before everyone is ready. 34 If you are hungry, you should eat at home before you come. Then, when you meet together, God will not have any reason to punish you.
I will talk about the other things when I come to visit you.
Footnotes
- 11:8 See Genesis 2:21-23.
- 11:18 They met in separate groups because they did not agree with one another. They argued and they quarrelled.
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