Romans 14
New Life Version
14 If there is someone whose faith is weak, be kind and receive him. Do not argue about what he thinks. 2 One man believes he may eat everything. Another man with weak faith eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything should not think he is better than the one who eats only vegetables. The man who eats only vegetables should not say the other man is wrong, because God has received him. 4 Who are you to tell another person’s servant if he is right or wrong? It is to his owner that he does good or bad. The Lord is able to help him.
5 One man thinks one day is more important than another. Another man thinks every day is the same. Every man must be sure in his own mind. 6 The man who worships on a special day does it to honor the Lord. The man who eats meat does it to honor the Lord. He gives thanks to God for what he eats. The other man does not eat meat. In this way, he honors the Lord. He gives thanks to God also.
7 No one lives for himself alone. No one dies for himself alone. 8 If we live, it is for the Lord. If we die, it is for the Lord. If we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and lived again. This is why He is the Lord of the living and of the dead. 10 Why do you try to say your Christian brother is right or wrong? Why do you hate your Christian brother? We will all stand before God to be judged by Him. 11 The Holy Writings say, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me. And every tongue will say that I am God.” 12 Everyone of us will give an answer to God about himself.
13 So you should stop saying that you think other people are wrong. Instead, decide to live so that your Christian brother will not have a reason to trip or fall into sin because of you. 14 Christ has made me know that everything in itself is clean. But if a person thinks something is not clean, then to him it is not clean. 15 If your Christian brother is hurt because of some foods you eat, then you are no longer living by love. Do not destroy the man for whom Christ died by the food you eat. 16 Do not let what is good for you be talked about as bad. 17 For the holy nation of God is not food and drink. It is being right with God. It is peace and joy given by the Holy Spirit. 18 If you follow Christ in these things, God will be happy with you. Men will think well of you also.
19 Work for the things that make peace and help each other become stronger Christians. 20 Do not destroy what God has done just because of some food. All food is good to eat. But it is wrong to eat anything that will make someone fall into sin. 21 Do not eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it would make your Christian brother fall into sin. 22 Keep the faith you have between yourself and God. A man is happy if he knows he is doing right. 23 But if he has doubts about the food he eats, God says he is guilty when he eats it. It is because he is eating without faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin.
Romans 14
Modern English Version
Do Not Judge Your Brother
14 Welcome him who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over opinions. 2 For one has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Do not let him who eats despise him who does not eat, and do not let him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One man judges one day above another; another judges every day alike. Let each one be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day observes it for the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, in honor of the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord. And if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, so that He might be Lord of both the dead and living.
10 So why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to Me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”[a]
12 So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.
Do Not Make Your Brother Stumble
13 Therefore let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather determine not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what is good to you be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God does not mean eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which produce peace and the things that build up one another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but it is evil for the man who causes someone to fall by what he eats. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine, nor do anything whereby your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
22 The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not from faith, for whatever is not from faith is sin.
Footnotes
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.