In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good.
Parallel translations
- WEB But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
- KJV Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
- NKJV Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
- NASB Now in giving this next instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse.
- NLT But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul cannot praise the Corinthians because their gatherings do more harm than good. Their conduct at the Lord's Supper had become destructive.
Overview
Turning to the Lord's Supper, Paul withholds the commendation he gave earlier (v. 2), because their assemblies were making things worse. The problem was not the meal itself but the divisive, selfish way they observed it. This introduces his serious correction of how the church gathers, calling them back to worship that builds up rather than harms.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Heb 10:25Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- Isa 58:1–4“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- 1 Cor 11:22Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!
- 1 Cor 14:23So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
- 1 Pet 2:14or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
- 1 Cor 11:2Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.
- Lev 19:17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
- 1 Cor 14:26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
- Jer 7:9–10Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
- Isa 1:13–14Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
- 1 Cor 11:34If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you come together it will not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters.
- 1 Cor 11:20Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat.
- Prov 27:5Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
- Rom 13:3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 11:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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