Book of Common Prayer

¹⁵ I talk to you as people with good sense. Decide for yourselves about what I say.

¹⁶ We ask God to bless the cup at the Lord's supper. When we drink from this cup it means that the blood of Christ is for us all. We break the bread. When we eat this bread, it means that the body of Christ is for us all.

¹⁷ The bread is all one loaf. In the same way, we are many people but we are one body. We all eat from the same loaf.

¹⁸ See what the Jews do. Those who eat the sacrifices all eat things that are sacrificed.

¹⁹ What do I mean by saying this? Is the food that has been given to idols really something holy? Or is an idol really something like God?

²⁰ No. What I mean is this. Those people give the food to bad spirits and not to God. I do not want you to have anything to do with bad spirits.

²¹ You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of bad spirits. You cannot eat food at the table of the Lord and at the table of bad spirits.

²² Do we want to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than he is? No!

²³ We are free to do anything we want to do. Yes, but some things do not make people better. It is better if we do not do such things.

²⁴ A person must not think only of himself. But he should think of the other person as well.

¹⁵ `If your brother does something wrong to you, go to him. Talk alone to him and tell him what he has done. If he listens to you, you have kept your brother as a friend.

¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two others with you to talk to him. Then two or three people will hear every word and can prove what was said.

¹⁷ If he does not listen to them, tell the church. If he does not listen to the church, treat him as one who does not believe in God and as bad as a tax collector.'

¹⁸ `I tell you the truth. What you tie on earth will be tied in heaven. What you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.

¹⁹ I tell you another thing. If two of you on earth agree together to ask for something, my Father in heaven will do it for them.

²⁰ Where two or three people meet together in my name, I am there with them.'