| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now concerning food offered to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. | 1Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. |
| 2If anyone thinks he really knows something, he has not yet learned it as he ought to know it. | 2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. |
| 3But anyone who loves God is known by him. | 3But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes. |
| 4Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God. | 4So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. |
| 5For even if there are "gods" in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called "gods" and "lords"), | 5There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. |
| 6yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live. | 6But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live. |
| 7But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are so accustomed to idolatry that when they eat food that has been offered to an idol, their conscience becomes contaminated because it is weak. | 7However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. |
| 8However, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat food that has been offered to an idol, and no better off if we do. | 8It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do. |
| 9But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block for those who are weak. | 9But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. |
| 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, who know better, eating in an idol's temple, he will be encouraged to eat what has been offered to idols, won't he? | 10For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? |
| 11In that case, the weak brother for whom the Messiah died is ruined by your knowledge. | 11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. |
| 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak consciences, you are sinning against the Messiah. | 12And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. |
| 13Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling. | 13So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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