1 Corinthians 11:17-34

New Testament for Everyone

Rich and poor at the table of the Lord

¹⁷ What I have to talk about now isn’t a matter for praise. When you meet together, you make things worse, not better! ¹⁸ What I mean is this: to begin with, I hear that when you come together in the assembly there are divisions among you. Well, I believe it—at least partly. ¹⁹ There are bound to be groupings among you; that’s how the genuine ones among you will stand out, I suppose! ²⁰ So when you gather together into one meeting, it isn’t the Lord’s Supper that you eat. ²¹ Everyone brings their own food to eat, and one person goes hungry while another gets drunk. ²² Haven’t you got houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? No, in this matter I shan’t!

Recognizing the body

²³ This, you see, is what I received from the Lord, and handed on to you. On the night when the Lord Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, ²⁴ gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body; it’s for you! Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷ It follows from this that anyone who 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 Everyone should test themselves; that’s how you should eat the bread and drink the cup. ²⁹ You see, if you eat and drink without recognizing the body, you eat and drink judgment on yourself. ³⁰ That’s why several of you are weak and sick, and some have died. ³¹ But if we learned how to judge ourselves, we would not incur judgment. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are punished, so that we won’t be condemned along with the world.

³³ So, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, treat one another as honored guests by waiting for each other. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, they should eat at home, so that you don’t come together and find yourselves facing judgment. I will put the other matters in order when I come.