The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(A) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(B) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(C) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(D) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(E) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(F) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(G) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(H) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(I) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(J) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(K)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt?^(L) For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.^{(M) 11} It is written:

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.^(P)

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment^(Q) on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.^{(R) 14} I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.^(S) But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.^{(T) 15} If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love.^(U) Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.^{(V) 16} Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil.^{(W) 17} For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,^(X) but of righteousness, peace^(Y) and joy in the Holy Spirit,^{(Z) 18} because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.^(AA)

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace^(AB) and to mutual edification.^{(AC) 20} Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.^(AD) All food is clean,^(AE) but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.^{(AF) 21} It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.^(AG)

²² So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn^(AH) himself by what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts^(AI) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[c]

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

8 Now about food sacrificed to idols:^(A) We know that “We all possess knowledge.”^(B) But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. ² Those who think they know something^(C) do not yet know as they ought to know.^{(D) 3} But whoever loves God is known by God.^[a](E)

⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols:^(F) We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”^(G) and that “There is no God but one.”^{(H) 5} For even if there are so-called gods,^(I) whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God,^(J) the Father,^(K) from whom all things came^(L) and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord,^(M) Jesus Christ, through whom all things came^(N) and through whom we live.

⁷ But not everyone possesses this knowledge.^(O) Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak,^(P) it is defiled. ⁸ But food does not bring us near to God;^(Q) we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

⁹ Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block^(R) to the weak.^{(S) 10} For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?^{(T) 11} So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed^(U) by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against them^(V) in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.^{(W) 13} Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.^(X)