1 Corinthians 8:10

Plain English Version

It’s like this. Some of you Christians know it’s all right to eat food in that place where people show respect to those statues. But if you go and eat that food, another Christian might see you there. If that other Christian doesn’t know what to think about that food, they might think that you are showing respect to that statue when you eat that food, so that Christian will think it’s all right to show respect to that statue. And then that Christian will show respect to that statue, and that is wrong.

Cross References

Acts 15:20

We have to write them a letter, to tell them not to worry about getting that young man operation. But we’ll tell them to follow just these rules, – If somebody reckons that a statue is a god, and if they give food to that statue to show respect to it, don’t eat any of that food. – And don’t sleep with somebody that you are not married to, as if they are your wife or husband. – And if somebody holds an animal’s neck really tight to kill it, don’t eat its meat. – And don’t eat the blood of animals.

Romans 14:14

I know for sure that our leader, Jesus, said that it’s all right to eat any sort of food. But somebody might believe that it is wrong to eat some sort of food. Then it is wrong for that person to eat it, but not for anybody else.

Romans 14:23

But if anyone is not sure if it is right or wrong for them to eat something, then they can’t eat it. If they don’t believe that it is all right to eat, and if they eat it anyway, then God will say that they do wrong. If we don’t believe that something is all right, then it is wrong for us to do it.

1 Corinthians 10:32

Don’t do anything that might give other people problems. Don’t make problems for Jewish people, or for people that are not Jewish. And don’t make problems for God’s people.

1 Corinthians 8:4

All right, now I will answer your question about the food that people give to those statues that they think are gods. We Christians know that a statue is not really a god at all. We know that there is only the one God.

1 Corinthians 8:7

But some Christians don’t understand all that. They showed respect to those statues for a long time before they became Christians, and then they believed in Jesus, but they still think those statues have power. They can’t work out what is true and what is not true. They know that it is wrong to respect those statues, so they don’t eat any of the food that people give to those statues. They think that if they do eat that food, then they are doing something wrong, and it makes them feel bad, like they are not clean.

1 Corinthians 8:9

But you have to be very careful. Even though you are free to eat anything, you have to think about those Christians that can’t work out what is true and what is not true. You don’t want to make them go wrong.