Chapter 10

1My brothers and sisters, I do not want you to overlook what happened to our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud, and all of them passed through the sea.

2All of them passed through a kind of baptism in the cloud and the sea, joining them to Moses as their leader.

3All of them ate the same supernatural food,

4and all of them drank the same supernatural drink. They drank from a supernatural rock that went with them, and that rock was the Messiah, God’s Anointed King.

5Even so, God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered across the wilderness.

6These events became examples for us, warning us not to crave evil things as they did.

7Do not become idol worshipers, as some of them did. Scripture says, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up for a wild celebration.”

8We must not engage in immoral sex, as some of them did. Twenty-three thousand of them fell dead in a single day.

9We must not put the Messiah to the test, as some of them did. Snakes destroyed them.

10Do not complain as some of them did. The destroyer killed them.

11These things happened to them as warning examples. They were written to instruct us, who are living when the ages have reached their goal.

12So anyone who thinks they are standing securely should be careful not to fall.

13No temptation has seized you except the kind people normally face. God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. Along with the temptation, he will also provide a way through it so that you can endure it.

14Therefore, my dear friends, run away from idol worship.

15I am speaking to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying.

16The cup over which we give thanks—isn’t it a sharing in the Messiah’s blood? The bread we break—isn’t it a sharing in the Messiah’s body?

17Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for all of us share that one loaf.

18Consider the Jewish people, Israel by physical descent. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share in what happens at the altar?

19What am I saying, then? That food sacrificed to an idol is anything in itself, or that an idol is anything?

20No. I am saying that the sacrifices people offer are offered to demons, not to God. I do not want you to become partners with demons.

21You cannot drink from the Lord’s cup and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and in the table of demons.

22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Surely we are not stronger than he is.

23“Everything is permitted”—but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permitted”—but not everything helps other people grow stronger.

24No one should seek only their own good, but the good of someone else.

25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions because of conscience,

26for “the earth belongs to the Lord, along with everything in it.”

27If someone who does not share your faith invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is served without raising questions because of conscience.

28But if someone tells you, “This meat was offered in a temple ritual,” do not eat it. Refuse for the sake of the person who told you and for the sake of conscience.

29I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. After all, why should my freedom be judged by someone else’s conscience?

30If I take part in the meal with gratitude, why am I criticized for something I thank God for?

31So whether you eat, drink, or do anything else, do everything in a way that honors God.

32Do not put an obstacle in the way of Jews, non-Jews, or God’s community.

33I, too, try to accommodate everyone in every situation. I do not seek my own advantage, but the good of many people, so that God may save them.