1 Corinthians Chapter 11
Showing all 34 verses for 1 Corinthians Chapter 11.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. "
"Copy me, in the same way that I try to copy Christ."
I want you to find people whose example is worth following - and to become that kind of example for someone else. Chase the pattern, not the personality.
"Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. "
"I'm pleased with you because you remember me and hold on to the teachings I passed down to you."
When I need to challenge someone, I start by noticing what they're already getting right. Correction lands better when it's not the whole story.
"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. "
"But I want you to understand this: Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ."
Every relationship has some shape to it - who looks out for whom, who answers to whom. I'm not asking you to grab power over others; I'm asking you to take responsibility for the people connected to you.
"Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. "
"Any man who prays or speaks God's message in public with his head covered brings shame on his head."
I care about you not needlessly causing a scene or embarrassment in front of the people you're trying to reach. Read the room; don't make your freedom into someone else's stumbling block.
"But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. "
"But any woman who prays or speaks God's message with her head uncovered brings shame on her head - it's as if her head were shaved."
I don't want your genuine gifts undercut by circumstances people around you will misread. Use good judgement about how you present something true, so the truth actually gets heard.
"For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. "
"If a woman won't cover her head, she may as well cut her hair short - but since it's disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved, she should cover it."
I care about the message people take away from how you carry yourself, not because you should be ruled by others' opinions, but because love thinks about the effect it has on others.
"For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. "
"A man shouldn't cover his head, because he reflects the image and glory of God; but woman reflects the glory of man."
Every person carries real worth and dignity - don't let anyone tell you otherwise, and don't build your own sense of importance by putting someone else down.
"For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. "
"For man didn't come from woman, but woman came from man."
Where you came from doesn't determine your value - what matters is how you treat the people your life is bound up with.
"Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. "
"And man wasn't created for woman's sake, but woman for man's sake."
Being needed by someone, or created to help someone, is not a small or lesser role - real love shows up as service, and that's true whichever direction it flows.
"For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. "
"This is why a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head - because of the angels."
I see more of what you do than you realise, and so does the wider world watching how you live. Let your life hold together even in the details other people might not notice.
"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. "
"Even so, in the Lord's community, woman is not independent of man, nor man independent of woman."
You were never meant to go it alone, and you were never meant to think you don't need the people different from you. Real strength is admitting how much you depend on each other.
"For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. "
"Because just as woman came from man, so now man is born through woman - and everything ultimately comes from God."
Don't get so caught up in who's "above" whom that you forget you both come from the same source and owe your existence to something bigger than either of you.
"Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? "
"Decide this for yourselves: is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God with nothing on her head?"
I'd rather you understand why something matters than just follow a rule because you're told to. Think it through with me.
"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? "
"Doesn't even nature itself teach you that long hair on a man is a disgrace to him?"
I want you to notice the unwritten expectations around you and think honestly about which ones are worth keeping and which ones are just habit dressed up as truth.
"But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. "
"But long hair on a woman is her glory - it's given to her as a covering."
I don't see what you were naturally given as second-best or as something to hide - I see it as something to be worn well, with dignity, exactly as it is.
"But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. "
"But if anyone wants to argue the point, we don't have that custom, and neither do the other churches of God."
Not every disagreement needs to become a war. Sometimes the wisest thing is to make your case once, clearly, and then let it rest.
"Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. "
"But in giving you these instructions, I can't praise you - because when you meet together, it does more harm than good."
I won't pretend something is fine when it isn't. If the way you're gathering with others is hurting people instead of building them up, I'll tell you plainly - because I love you too much to stay quiet.
"For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. "
"First of all, I hear that when you meet as a church there are divisions among you, and I believe there's some truth to that."
I notice when the places meant to bring people together are quietly pulling them apart. Pay attention to whether your gatherings actually unite people or just let old divisions play out in a new setting.
"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. "
"There must be differences of opinion among you, so that it becomes clear who among you has real, tested character."
Difficult situations reveal who you really are. I'm not the one causing your trials, but I can use even conflict to show you - and everyone else - what's genuinely inside you.
"When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. "
"So when you come together in one place, what you're doing isn't actually eating the Lord's Supper."
I care about what's actually happening in your heart when you gather, not just whether you technically showed up and followed the form. Substance matters more than ritual.
"For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. "
"Because when you eat, each of you rushes to eat your own meal first, so that one person stays hungry while another gets drunk."
I notice the difference between a shared table and people just eating in the same room while ignoring each other's needs. Real community means nobody goes hungry while someone else overindulges nearby.
"What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. "
"Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on God's church and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Should I praise you for this? I will not."
How you treat the person with less than you, especially in front of others, tells me everything about what's really in your heart. Never let someone else's lack become your moment to feel superior.
"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: "
"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread."
What matters most in life is worth passing on carefully and accurately, especially the things that cost someone everything to give you. Handle what's been entrusted to you with care.
"And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. "
"And after giving thanks, he broke it and said, "Take, eat - this is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.""
I gave everything for you, not so you'd feel guilty, but so you'd remember, every time you share a meal with others, what real love looks like: giving yourself away for someone else's good.
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. "
"In the same way, after the meal he took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant, sealed by my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, to remember me.""
I made a promise to you that cost me everything to keep. Every time you remember it, let it remind you that real commitment isn't cheap talk - it's followed through, whatever the price.
"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. "
"So every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you're proclaiming the Lord's death, until he comes again."
The way you remember someone's sacrifice, together with others, keeps hope alive - not just as nostalgia, but as a promise that the story isn't finished yet.
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. "
"So whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord."
What you do while claiming to remember me matters. Don't let selfishness sit at the same table as the story of someone who gave everything for others.
"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. "
"So each person should examine themselves, and only then eat the bread and drink from the cup."
Before you act, take a moment to look honestly at yourself - not to punish yourself, but to make sure your heart matches what you're about to do.
"For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. "
"Because anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body brings judgement on themselves."
When you stop seeing the people around you as fully real - as worth your attention and care - you lose something in yourself too. Pay attention to who's in the room with you.
"For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. "
"That's why many of you are weak and sick, and a number of you have died."
How you treat other people isn't a private matter with no consequences - it ripples out into real harm or real healing, for you and for them. Take that seriously.
"For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. "
"But if we honestly judged ourselves, we wouldn't come under judgement."
I'd rather you catch your own mistakes early, with honesty and without excuses, than let them build until life itself has to correct you the hard way.
"But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. "
"But when we are judged by the Lord, we're being disciplined, so that we won't be condemned along with the world."
When life corrects you, it isn't proof that you've been rejected - it can be proof that you're loved enough to be pulled back before you go too far off course. I discipline out of love, never out of contempt.
"Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. "
"So, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another."
Sometimes love just looks like waiting - holding off on your own comfort for a few minutes so someone else isn't left out. Small patience like that can fix what big arguments never will.
"And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come. "
"If anyone is really hungry, they should eat at home, so that your gatherings don't bring judgement on you. I'll deal with the rest when I come."
Know the difference between meeting your own needs and turning a shared moment into something only about you. And it's fine not to have every answer right now - some things get worked out over time, together.