BWE - I Corinthians - 11

11:1  Do as I do, for I am doing as Christ did.

11:2  You are doing well. You remember everything I told you. And you are doing what I taught you to do.

11:3  But I want you to know this. Christ is the head of every man. The husband is the head of the wife. And God is the head of Christ.

11:4  Any man who talks to God or speaks words from God with his head covered brings shame on his head.

11:5  But any woman who talks to God or speaks words from God with her head not covered brings shame on her head. She is just the same as a woman who has cut off all her hair.

11:6  If a woman does not cover her head, she might as well cut off her hair. But if it is a shame for a woman to cut off her hair, or to shave her head, then she should have her head covered.

11:7  A man does not need to cover his head because he was made like God is. Man is God’s glory. Woman is man’s glory.

11:8  Man was not made from woman, but woman was made from man.

11:9  And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

11:10  She should show this by having her head covered, because of the angels.

11:11  But the Lord did not make woman without man, and he did not make man without woman.

11:12  As woman comes from man, so man is born by woman. And everything comes from God.

11:13  What do you think? Does it look right for a woman to talk to God in public with her head not covered?

11:14  It would be a shame for a man to have long hair. Everyone knows this.

11:15  But long hair is something for the woman to be proud of. Her hair has been given to her for a covering.

11:16  Does anyone still want to quarrel about this matter? This is what we do. And this is what the churches of God do also.

11:17  In the next thing I have to talk about, I cannot say that you are doing well. Your meeting together is more bad than good.

11:18  First, I hear that in the church meeting you divide yourselves into groups. I think this may be true.

11:19  You also have groups of people who do not think the same way. Because of them you will soon learn which people please God the most.

11:20  When you meet together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.

11:21  People take their own food and eat it without waiting. One gets nothing to eat. Another person drinks too much.

11:22  Do you not have your own homes where you can eat and drink? Do you have no respect for the church of God? Do you want to make poor people ashamed? What shall I say to you? Shall I say you are doing well? No, you are not doing well in this matter!

11:23  The Lord gave me what I taught you. This is what it was. On the night when the Lord Jesus was sold to his enemies, he took bread.

11:24  He thanked God for it. Then he broke it and said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this so that you will remember me.’

11:25  In the same way, after they had eaten, he took the cup. He said, ‘This cup is the new agreement made by my blood. Every time you drink from this cup, do it to remember me.’

11:26  Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you tell about the Lord’s death, until he comes again.

11:27  So then, when anyone eats the bread and drinks from the cup in a way that is not right, he has done wrong to the body and blood of the Lord.

11:28  Each one must look into his own heart carefully. When he has done that, he may eat the bread and drink from the cup.

11:29  The person who eats and drinks in a wrong way will be punished. He does not take it as the Lord’s body.

11:30  That is why many of you are weak and sick. Many have died.

11:31  But if we took time to look into our hearts first, then we would not be punished.

11:32  When we are punished, the Lord is teaching us to do right, so that we will not be punished with the rest of the people of the world.

11:33  So, my Christian brothers, when you come together to eat the Lord’s supper, wait on your turn.

11:34  If a man is hungry, he should eat at home. Then when you meet, you will not be found in the wrong. There are other matters. I will talk about them when I come to see you.