◀ All Reading Plans / Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks / 1 Corinthians 11:1–12:31 (New English Translation)

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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

1 Corinthians 11-12

11 ¹Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Women’s Head Coverings

²I praise you^[a] because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. ³But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman,^[b] and God is the head of Christ. ⁴Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. ⁵But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. ⁶For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. ⁷For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. ⁹Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. ¹⁰For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority^[c] on her head, because of the angels.^[d] ¹¹In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. ¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not nature^[e] itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, ¹⁵but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.^[f] ¹⁶If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.

The Lord’s Supper

¹⁷Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ¹⁹For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.^[g] ²⁰Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. ²¹For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. ²²Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A person should examine himself first,^[h] and in this way^[i] let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard^[j] for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.^[k] ³¹But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. ³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. ³³So then, my brothers and sisters,^[l] when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

Spiritual Gifts

12 With regard to spiritual gifts,^[m] brothers and sisters,^[n] I do not want you to be uninformed.^[o] ²You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led. ³So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. ⁷To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all. ⁸For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.

Different Members in One Body

¹²For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body—though many—are one body, so too is Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves^[p] or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. ¹⁴For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. ¹⁶And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. ¹⁹If they were all the same member, where would the body be? ²⁰So now there are many members, but one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” ²²On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, ²³and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,^[q] ²⁴but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, ²⁵so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a^[r] member is honored, all rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it. ²⁸And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. ²⁹Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? ³⁰Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?^[s] ³¹But you should be eager for the greater gifts.

And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison.^[t]

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 11:2 tc The Western and Byzantine texts, as well as one or two Alexandrian mss (D F G Ψ 33 M latt sy), combine in reading ἀδελφοί (adelphoi, “brothers”) here, while the Alexandrian witnesses (P⁴⁶ א A B C P 81 630 1175 1739 1881 2464 co) largely lack the address. The addition of ἀδελφοί is apparently a motivated reading, however, for scribes would have naturally wanted to add it to ἐπαινῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς (epainō de humas, “now I praise you”), especially as this begins a new section. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain how the shorter reading could have arisen from the longer one. Thus, on both internal and external grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.
1 Corinthians 11:3 tn Or “the husband is the head of his wife.” The same Greek words translated “man” and “woman” can mean, as determined by context, “husband” and “wife” respectively. Such an approach is followed by NAB, TEV, NRSV, and NLT (with some variations).
1 Corinthians 11:10 sn Paul does not use a word specifying what type of “covering” is meant (veil, hat, etc.). The Greek word he uses here (ἐξουσία exousia; translated symbol of authority) could be (1) a figure of speech that may substitute the result (the right to participate in worship) for the appropriate appearance that makes it possible (the covered head). Or (2) it refers to the outward symbol (having the head covered) as representing the inward attitude the woman is to possess (deference to male leadership in the church).
1 Corinthians 11:10 sn Paul does not explain this reference to the angels, and its point is not entirely clear. It seems to reflect an awareness that angels are witnesses to church life (cf. Eph 3:10) and would be particularly sensitive to resistance against God’s created order.
1 Corinthians 11:14 sn Paul does not mean nature in the sense of “the natural world” or “Mother Nature.” It denotes “the way things are” because of God’s design.
1 Corinthians 11:15 sn No word for veil or head covering occurs in vv. 3-14 (see the note on authority in v. 10). That the hair is regarded by Paul as a covering in v. 15 is not necessarily an argument that the hair is the same as the head covering that he is describing in the earlier verses (esp. v. 10). Throughout this unit of material, Paul points out the similarities of long hair with a head covering. But his doing so seems to suggest that the two are not to be identified with each other. Precisely because they are similar they do not appear to be identical (cf. vv. 5, 6, 7, 10, 13). If head covering = long hair, then what does v. 6 mean (“For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair”)? This suggests that the covering is not the same as the hair itself.
1 Corinthians 11:19 tn Grk “those approved may be evident among you.”
1 Corinthians 11:28 tn The word “first” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
1 Corinthians 11:28 tn Grk “in this manner.”
1 Corinthians 11:29 tn The word more literally means, “judging between, recognizing, distinguishing.”
1 Corinthians 11:30 tn Grk “are asleep.” The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.
1 Corinthians 11:33 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
1 Corinthians 12:1 tn Grk “spiritual things.”
1 Corinthians 12:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
1 Corinthians 12:1 tn Grk “ignorant.”
1 Corinthians 12:13 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:21.
1 Corinthians 12:23 tn Grk “have greater propriety (or decorum, presentability).”
1 Corinthians 12:26 tc ‡ Before μέλος (melos, “member”) the great majority of witnesses read ἕν (hen, “one”; א² C D F G Ψ 0285 33 1881 M latt sy), while the most significant of the Alexandrian mss omit it (P⁴⁶ א* A B 1739). The addition of ἕν appears to be motivated by its presence earlier in the verse with μέλος and the parallel structure of the two conditional clauses in this verse, while little reason can be given for its absence (although accidental oversight is of course possible, it is not likely that all these witnesses should have overlooked it). NA²⁸ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.
1 Corinthians 12:30 sn The questions in vv. 29-30 all expect a negative response.
1 Corinthians 12:31 tn Grk “a still more excellent way.” In this context the phrase has an elative rather than a comparative sense, however.

New English Translation (NET)