FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER ELEVEN
1 Follow my lead, just as I follow Christ.
2 I am so glad that you’ve remembered me
In everything and kept my teachings, just
The way that I delivered them to you,
3 But I want you to understand the head
Of every man is Christ; the woman’s head,
It is the man, and Christ’s head is the Lord.
4 Now every man who prays or prophesies
With covered head dishonors Christ, his head,
5 And if a woman prays or prophesies
With her head bare, she brings dishonor to
Her head−it is as though her head were shaved.
6 And if a woman does not cover up
Her head, she should cut her hair, and if
It’s shameful for a woman’s head to be
Shaved or cut, she should wear a covering.
7 A man should wear no covering upon
His head, since he’s the image and the glory
Of God; and yet the woman is the man’s
Glory, 8 because the first man did not come
From woman, but the woman from the man;
9 Nor was the man formed for the woman, but
The woman for the man. 10 Due to this and
Due to the angels, women ought to have
Signs of authority upon their heads.
11 However, in the Lord, the woman is
Not independent of the man, nor is
The man free of the woman, 12 for as woman
Came from a man, so also man is born
Of woman. But all things are born of God.
13 And what do you yourselves conclude? Is it
Becoming for a woman to be praying
With head uncovered? 14 Nature teaches you
That long hair is disgraceful to a man,
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is
Her glory? For long hair is given her
To cover her. 16 If anyone desires
To argue over this, all I can say
Is that we have no other practice–and
All of God’s churches feel the same on it.
17 Next on my list of items I must write
You on is something where I have no praise
For you, because your meetings do more harm
Than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when
You gather as a church, there are divisions
Among you, and that I believe in part.
19 No doubt the factions must arise to show
Who in your group has God’s approval. 20 When
You come together, it is not the Lord’s
Supper you eat, 21 for as you eat, each one
Of you starts gobbling all the food he can
Without awaiting anybody else
So that while one goes hungry, yet another
Gets drunk. 22 Can you not eat and drink at home?
Or do you despise the church of God so much
That you will shame the poor who can’t bring food?
What shall I say to you? Do you expect
That I will praise you? Certainly not! 23 For
I have received from God what I passed on
To you: Lord Jesus, on the night he was
Betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he’d given thanks,
Broke it and said, “This is my body, which
Is broken for you; take and eat it; do
This to remember me.” 25 In the same way,
After the supper he picked up the cup
And said, “This cup is the new covenant
Made in my blood; do this, and each time you
Drink it, remember me,” 26 because as often
As you may eat this bread and drink this cup,
You tell about the Lord’s death ‘til he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks
The Lord’s cup in an inappropriate
Way will be guilty of a sin against
The body and the blood of Christ the Lord.
28 A man should probe himself before he eats
The bread and drinks out of the cup, 29 for he
Who eats and drinks in an unworthy way
Without regard to the Lord’s body, eats
And drinks a judgment on himself. 30 That’s why
Many of you are weak and sick, and some
Have even died, 31 but if we judge ourselves,
We won’t be judged, 32 but when we’re judged by God,
He disciplines us so that we won’t be
Judged guilty with the world, 33 so then, my brothers,
When you convene to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat
At home, so that when you convene it won’t
Result in judgment. And when I come meet
With you, I will make my oversight complete.
(Rendered in blank verse by Day Williams.)
Source:
http://ift.tt/OCqRjy