10:1 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
10:2 and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
10:3 All ate the same spiritual food,
10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ.
10:5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.
10:6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
10:7 And do not become idolaters, as some of them did, as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel."
10:8 Let us not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell within a single day.
10:9 Let us not test Christ as some of them did, and suffered death by serpents.
10:10 Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer.
10:11 These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come.
10:12 Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.
10:13 No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.
10:14 Therefore, my beloved, avoid idolatry.
10:15 I am speaking as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I am saying.
10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
10:17 Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
10:18 Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
10:19 So what am I saying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything?
10:20 No, I mean that what they sacrifice, (they sacrifice) to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become participants with demons.
10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
10:22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger? Are we stronger than he?
10:23 "Everything is lawful," but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is lawful," but not everything builds up.
10:24 No one should seek his own advantage, but that of his neighbor.
10:25 Eat anything sold in the market, without raising questions on grounds of conscience,
10:26 for "the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s."
10:27 If an unbeliever invites you and you want to go, eat whatever is placed before you, without raising questions on grounds of conscience.
10:28 But if someone says to you, "This was offered in sacrifice," do not eat it on account of the one who called attention to it and on account of conscience;
10:29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other’s. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?
10:30 If I partake thankfully, why am I reviled for that over which I give thanks?
10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
10:32 Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God,
10:33 just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved.