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14 So, my ·dear friends [beloved], ·run away from [flee; stay away from] the worship of idols. 15 I am speaking to you as to ·reasonable [sensible; discerning] people; ·judge [consider] for yourselves what I say. 16 We give thanks for the cup of blessing [C used in the Lord’s Supper], ·which is [L is this not…?] a ·sharing [participation; fellowship] in the blood of Christ. And the bread that we break ·is [L is it not…?] a ·sharing [participation; fellowship] in the body of Christ. 17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share that one loaf.

18 Think about ·the Israelites [L Israel according to the flesh]: Do not those who eat the sacrifices ·share [participate] in the altar [C by eating the sacrificial food, priests in the Jerusalem temple participate in the worship of God]? 19 ·I do not mean [L What, then, am I saying…?] that the food sacrificed to an idol is important or that an idol is anything at all. 20 But I say that what is sacrificed to idols is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to ·share anything [be participants; share fellowship] with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons also. You cannot ·share in [partake of] the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? We are not stronger than he is, are we?

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14 Therefore, my beloved, run [keep far, far away] from [any sort of] idolatry [and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin and enslaves the soul]. 15 I am speaking as to wise and sensible people; judge [carefully and thoughtfully consider] for yourselves what I say. 16 Is the cup of blessing which we bless [at the Lord’s Supper] not a sharing in the blood of Christ? [Indeed it is.] Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? [Indeed it is.] 17 Since there is one bread, we [believers] who are many are [united into] one body; for we all partake of the one bread [which represents the body of Christ]. 18 Consider the people of Israel; are those who eat the sacrifices not partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]? [Indeed they are.](A) 19 What do I mean then? That a thing offered to idols is anything [special or changed simply because it is offered], or that an idol is anything? 20 On the contrary, the things which the Gentiles (pagans) sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [in effect], and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons [by eating at feasts in pagan temples].(B) 21 You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them]. 22 Do we [really] provoke the Lord to jealousy [when we eat food sacrificed to handmade “gods” at pagan feasts]? Are we [spiritually] stronger than He? [Certainly not! He knows that the idols are nothing. But we deeply [a]offend Him.](C)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 10:22 The offense consists of becoming “partners with demons” (v 20) merely to enjoy the pagan meal as an exercise of the believer’s liberty.