1 Corinthians 11
Tree of Life Version
11 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Messiah.
Headship and Coverings
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firm the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Messiah, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Messiah is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same as having been shaved. 6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her cut off her hair. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, let her cover her head.
7 For surely a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God.[a] But the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. [b] 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In any case—in the Lord—woman is not independent of man and man is not independent of woman. 12 For just as the woman came from the man, so also the man comes through the woman—but all things are from God.
13 Judge for yourselves—is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Doesn’t the natural order of things[c] teach you—if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him; 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair was given to her as a covering. 16 But if anyone intends to be contentious, we have no such custom—nor do God’s communities.
Unity at the Lord’s Table
17 But in giving you this instruction I do not praise you, for when you meet together it does more harm than good. 18 For first of all, when you come together as Messiah’s community, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it— 19 for there must be factions among you, so that those among you who are tried and true may be evident. 20 Therefore, when you meet together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper— 21 for each one takes his own supper beforehand, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. 22 What! It is certainly not that you do not have houses, is it? Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise God’s community and try to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? I don’t praise you for this!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—that the Lord Yeshua, on the night He was betrayed, took matzah; [d] 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,[e] “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in memory of Me.” 25 In the same way, He also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant[f] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in memory 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 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and then let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died. [g] 31 For if we were judging ourselves thoroughly, we wouldn’t be coming under judgment. 32 But when we are judged, we are being disciplined by the Lord so that we might not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry let him eat at home, so that when you meet it doesn’t lead to judgment. And the rest I will put in order when I come.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 11:7 cf. Gen. 1:26-27.
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 cf. Gen. 2:21-23.
- 1 Corinthians 11:14 Lit. nature itself.
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 Lit. bread (at Passover, unleavened bread).
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 Some mss. begin “Take, eat; this is My body. . .”; cf. Matt. 26:26.
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 Heb. Brit Hadashah; cf. Exod. 24:8, Jer. 31:31.
- 1 Corinthians 11:31 Lit. have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 11
New English Translation
11 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
Women’s Head Coverings
2 I praise you[a] because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman,[b] and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. 6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority[c] on her head, because of the angels.[d] 11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature[e] itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.[f] 16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.
The Lord’s Supper
17 Now in giving the following 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 come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.[g] 20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. 21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!
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 had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A person should examine himself first,[h] and in this way[i] let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard[j] for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.[k] 31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters,[l] when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 11:2 tc The Western and Byzantine texts, as well as one or two Alexandrian mss (D F G Ψ 33 M latt sy), combine in reading ἀδελφοί (adelphoi, “brothers”) here, while the Alexandrian witnesses (P46 א A B C P 81 630 1175 1739 1881 2464 co) largely lack the address. The addition of ἀδελφοί is apparently a motivated reading, however, for scribes would have naturally wanted to add it to ἐπαινῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς (epainō de humas, “now I praise you”), especially as this begins a new section. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain how the shorter reading could have arisen from the longer one. Thus, on both internal and external grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 tn Or “the husband is the head of his wife.” The same Greek words translated “man” and “woman” can mean, as determined by context, “husband” and “wife” respectively. Such an approach is followed by NAB, TEV, NRSV, and NLT (with some variations).
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 sn Paul does not use a word specifying what type of “covering” is meant (veil, hat, etc.). The Greek word he uses here (ἐξουσία exousia; translated symbol of authority) could be (1) a figure of speech that may substitute the result (the right to participate in worship) for the appropriate appearance that makes it possible (the covered head). Or (2) it refers to the outward symbol (having the head covered) as representing the inward attitude the woman is to possess (deference to male leadership in the church).
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 sn Paul does not explain this reference to the angels, and its point is not entirely clear. It seems to reflect an awareness that angels are witnesses to church life (cf. Eph 3:10) and would be particularly sensitive to resistance against God’s created order.
- 1 Corinthians 11:14 sn Paul does not mean nature in the sense of “the natural world” or “Mother Nature.” It denotes “the way things are” because of God’s design.
- 1 Corinthians 11:15 sn No word for veil or head covering occurs in vv. 3-14 (see the note on authority in v. 10). That the hair is regarded by Paul as a covering in v. 15 is not necessarily an argument that the hair is the same as the head covering that he is describing in the earlier verses (esp. v. 10). Throughout this unit of material, Paul points out the similarities of long hair with a head covering. But his doing so seems to suggest that the two are not to be identified with each other. Precisely because they are similar they do not appear to be identical (cf. vv. 5, 6, 7, 10, 13). If head covering = long hair, then what does v. 6 mean (“For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair”)? This suggests that the covering is not the same as the hair itself.
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 tn Grk “those approved may be evident among you.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:28 tn The word “first” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Corinthians 11:28 tn Grk “in this manner.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 tn The word more literally means, “judging between, recognizing, distinguishing.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:30 tn Grk “are asleep.” The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.
- 1 Corinthians 11:33 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
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