1 Corinthians 8 :: New International Version (NIV)

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

1Co 8:1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.

1Co 8:2

1Co 8:2Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.

1Co 8:3

1Co 8:3But whoever loves God is known by God.[fn]

1Co 8:4

1Co 8:4So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”

1Co 8:5

1Co 8:5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”),

1Co 8:6

1Co 8:6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

1Co 8:7

1Co 8:7But not everyone possesses this knowledge. 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, it is defiled.

1Co 8:8

1Co 8:8But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

1Co 8:9

1Co 8:9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

1Co 8:10

1Co 8:10For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?

1Co 8:11

1Co 8:11So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

1Co 8:12

1Co 8:12When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

1Co 8:13

1Co 8:13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(8:2)

An early manuscript and another ancient witness think they have knowledge do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves truly knows.

(8:3)

An early manuscript and another ancient witness think they have knowledge do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves truly knows.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.