Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

11 ^(A)Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ.

Covering the Head in Worship

² I praise you because you always remember me and follow the teachings that I have handed on to you. ³ But I want you to understand that Christ is supreme over every man, the husband is supreme over his wife, and God is supreme over Christ. ⁴ So a man who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with his head covered disgraces Christ. ⁵ And any woman who prays or proclaims God's message in public worship with nothing on her head disgraces her husband; there is no difference between her and a woman whose head has been shaved. ⁶ If the woman does not cover her head, she might as well cut her hair. And since it is a shameful thing for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair, she should cover her head. ^7 (B)A man has no need to cover his head, because he reflects the image and glory of God. But woman reflects the glory of man; ^8 (C)for man was not created from woman, but woman from man. ⁹ Nor was man created for woman's sake, but woman was created for man's sake. ¹⁰ On account of the angels, then, a woman should have a covering over her head to show that she is under her husband's authority. ¹¹ In our life in the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹² For as woman was made from man, in the same way man is born of woman; and it is God who brings everything into existence.

¹³ Judge for yourselves whether it is proper for a woman to pray to God in public worship with nothing on her head. ¹⁴ Why, nature itself teaches you that long hair on a man is a disgrace, ¹⁵ but on a woman it is a thing of beauty. Her long hair has been given her to serve as a covering. ¹⁶ But if anyone wants to argue about it, all I have to say is that neither we nor the churches of God have any other custom in worship.

The Lord's Supper^(D)

¹⁷ In the following instructions, however, I do not praise you, because your meetings for worship actually do more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I have been told that there are opposing groups in your meetings; and this I believe is partly true. (¹⁹ No doubt there must be divisions among you so that the ones who are in the right may be clearly seen.) ²⁰ When you meet together as a group, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat. ²¹ For as you eat, you each go ahead with your own meal, so that some are hungry while others get drunk. ²² Don't you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or would you rather despise the church of God and put to shame the people who are in need? What do you expect me to say to you about this? Shall I praise you? Of course I don't!

²³ For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, ²⁴ gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” ^25 (E)In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”

²⁶ This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷ It follows that if one of you eats the Lord's bread or drinks from his cup in a way that dishonors him, you are guilty of sin against the Lord's body and blood. ²⁸ So then, you should each examine yourself first, and then eat the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹ For if you do not recognize the meaning of the Lord's body when you eat the bread and drink from the cup, you bring judgment on yourself as you eat and drink. ³⁰ That is why many of you are sick and weak, and several have died. ³¹ If we would examine ourselves first, we would not come under God's judgment. ³² But we are judged and punished by the Lord, so that we shall not be condemned together with the world.

³³ So then, my friends, when you gather together to eat the Lord's Supper, wait for one another. ³⁴ And if any of you are hungry, you should eat at home, so that you will not come under God's judgment as you meet together. As for the other matters, I will settle them when I come.

Gifts from the Holy Spirit

12 Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit.

I want you to know the truth about them, my friends. ² You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols. ³ I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.

^4 (F)There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. ⁵ There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. ⁶ There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. ⁷ The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. ⁸ The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. ⁹ One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. ¹⁰ The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. ¹¹ But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.

One Body with Many Parts

^12 (G)Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. ¹³ In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴ For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. ¹⁵ If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? ¹⁸ As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. ¹⁹ There would not be a body if it were all only one part! ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts but one body.

²¹ So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Nor can the head say to the feet, “Well, I don't need you!” ²² On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker; ²³ and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it. ²⁵ And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another. ²⁶ If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.

²⁷ All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it. ^28 (H)In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues. ²⁹ They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles ³⁰ or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said. ³¹ Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts.

Best of all, however, is the following way.