¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure,^(A) but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.^(B) In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.^(C)

¹⁴ I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.^(A) But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.^(B)

²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.^(A) All food is clean,^(B) but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.^(C)

The Believer’s Freedom

²³ “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.^(A) “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

³ They forbid people to marry^(A) and order them to abstain from certain foods,^(B) which God created^(C) to be received with thanksgiving^(D) by those who believe and who know the truth. ⁴ For everything God created is good,^(E) and nothing is to be rejected^(F) if it is received with thanksgiving,

¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(A) and these defile them.

²³ But whoever has doubts^(A) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[a]

³¹ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.^(A)

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”^(A)

⁷ But not everyone possesses this knowledge.^(A) 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,^(B) it is defiled.