1 Corinthians 11:1–34

¹Become imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.

²Now I commend ​YOU​ because in all things ​YOU​ have me in mind and ​YOU​ are holding fast the traditions just as I handed [them] on to ​YOU.³But I want ​YOU​ to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.⁴Every man that prays or prophesies having something on his head shames his head;⁵but every woman that prays or prophesies with her head uncovered shames her head, for it is one and the same as if she were a [woman] with a shaved head.⁶For if a woman does not cover herself, let her also be shorn; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.

⁷For a man ought not to have his head covered, as he is God’s image and glory; but the woman is man’s glory.⁸For man is not out of woman, but woman out of man;⁹and, what is more, man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man.¹⁰That is why the woman ought to have a sign of authority upon her head because of the angels.

¹¹Besides, in connection with [the] Lord neither is woman without man nor man without woman.¹²For just as the woman is out of the man, so also the man is through the woman; but all things are out of God.¹³Judge for ​YOUR​ own selves: Is it fitting for a woman to pray uncovered to God?¹⁴Does not nature itself teach ​YOU​ that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him;¹⁵but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? Because her hair is given her instead of a headdress.¹⁶However, if any man seems to dispute for some other custom, we have no other, neither do the congregations of God.

¹⁷But, while giving these instructions, I do not commend ​YOU​ because it is, not for the better, but for the worse that ​YOU​ meet together.¹⁸For first of all, when ​YOU​ come together in a congregation, I hear divisions exist among ​YOU; and in some measure I believe it.¹⁹For there must also be sects among ​YOU, that the persons approved may also become manifest among ​YOU.

²⁰Therefore, when ​YOU​ come together to one place, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s evening meal.²¹For, when ​YOU​ eat [it], each one takes his own evening meal beforehand, so that one is hungry but another is intoxicated.²²Certainly ​YOU​ do have houses for eating and drinking, do ​YOU​ not? Or do ​YOU​ despise the congregation of God and make those who have nothing ashamed? What shall I say to ​YOU? Shall I commend ​YOU? In this I do not commend ​YOU.

²³For I received from the Lord that which I also handed on to ​YOU, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was going to be handed over took a loaf²⁴and, after giving thanks, he broke it and said: “This means my body which is in ​YOUR​ behalf. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”²⁵He did likewise respecting the cup also, after he had the evening meal, saying: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood. Keep doing this, as often as ​YOU​ drink it, in remembrance of me.”²⁶For as often as ​YOU​ eat this loaf and drink this cup, ​YOU​ keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.

²⁷Consequently whoever eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty respecting the body and the blood of the Lord.²⁸First let a man approve himself after scrutiny, and thus let him eat of the loaf and drink of the cup.²⁹For he that eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment against himself if he does not discern the body.³⁰That is why many among ​YOU​ are weak and sickly, and quite a few are sleeping [in death].³¹But if we would discern what we ourselves are, we would not be judged.³²However, when we are judged, we are disciplined by Jehovah, that we may not become condemned with the world.³³Consequently, my brothers, when ​YOU​ come together to eat [it], wait for one another.³⁴If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, that ​YOU​ may not come together for judgment. But the remaining matters I will set in order when I get there.