Williams(i)
1 For I would not have you, brothers, to be ignorant of the fact that though our forefathers were all made safe by the cloud, and all went securely through the sea, and in the cloud and the sea
2 they all allowed themselves to be baptized as followers of Moses,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink -- for they continued to drink the water from the spiritual Rock which accompanied them, and that Rock was the Christ --
5 still with the most of them God was not at all satisfied, for He allowed them to be laid low in the desert.
6 Now all these things occurred as warnings to us, to keep us from hankering after what is evil, in the ways they did.
7 Now stop being idolaters, as some of them were, for the Scripture says, "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to dance."
8 Let us stop practicing immorality, as some of them did, and on one day twenty-three thousand fell dead.
9 Let us stop trying the Lord's patience, as some of them did, and for it were destroyed by the snakes.
10 You must stop grumbling, as some of them did, and for it were destroyed by the destroying angel.
11 Those things continued to befall them as warnings to others, and they were written down for the purpose of instructing us, in whose lives the climax of the ages has been reached.
12 So the man who thinks he stands securely must be on the lookout not to fall.
13 No temptation has taken hold of you but what is common to human nature. And God is to be trusted not to let you be tempted beyond your strength, but when temptation comes, to make a way out of it, so that you can bear up under it.
14 So then, my dearly beloved, keep on running from idolatry.
15 I am speaking to sensible men; decide for yourselves about what I say.
16 Is not the consecrated cup which we consecrate a sign of our sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf which we break a sign of our sharing in the body of Christ?
17 Because there is only one loaf, so we, though many, are only one body, for we all partake of one loaf.
18 Look at the Israelites in their practices. Are not those who eat the sacrifices in spiritual fellowship with the altar?
19 Then what do I mean? That the sacrifice to an idol is a reality, or that an idol itself is a reality? Of course not!
20 I mean that what the heathen sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be in fellowship with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot eat at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons.
22 Or, are we trying to incite the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
23 Everything is permissible for people, but not everything is good for them. Everything is permissible for people, but not everything builds up their personality.
24 No one should always be looking after his own welfare, but also that of his neighbor.
25 As a rule eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it for conscience' sake,
26 for the earth and everything that it contains belong to the Lord.
27 If some unbelieving heathen invites you to his house, and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question for conscience' sake.
28 But if someone says to you, "This meat has been offered as a heathen sacrifice," make it your rule not to eat it, for the sake of the man who warned you and for conscience' sake;
29 I mean his conscience, not yours. Why then should my personal freedom be limited by another's conscience?
30 If I give thanks and thus partake of food, why am I to be blamed for that for which I give thanks?
31 So if you eat or drink or do anything else, do everything to honor God.
32 Stop being stumbling blocks to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I myself am in the habit of pleasing everybody in everything, not aiming at my own welfare but at that of as many people as possible, in order that they may be saved.