1 Corinthians 8 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Food Sacrificed to Idols

1Co 8:1Now 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.

1Co 8:2

1Co 8:2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.

1Co 8:3

1Co 8:3But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.[fn]

1Co 8:4

1Co 8:4So, 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.

1Co 8:5

1Co 8:5There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords.

1Co 8:6

1Co 8:6But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.

1Co 8:7

1Co 8:7However, 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.

1Co 8:8

1Co 8:8It’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.

1Co 8:9

1Co 8:9But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.

1Co 8:10

1Co 8:10For 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?

1Co 8:11

1Co 8:11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer[fn] for whom Christ died will be destroyed.

1Co 8:12

1Co 8:12And when you sin against other believers[fn] by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ.

1Co 8:13

1Co 8:13So 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.

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

NLT Footnotes

(8:3)

Some manuscripts read the person who loves has full knowledge.

(8:11)

Greek brother; also in 8:13.

(8:12)

Greek brothers.

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1 Corinthians Chapter 8 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

1 Corinthians 8 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

1 Corinthians Chapter 8 — Additional Translations:

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