But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good.
- 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 10:25not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
- Isa 58:1–4“Cry aloud, don’t spare. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- 1 Cor 11:22What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and put them to shame who don’t have? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
- 1 Cor 14:23If therefore the whole assembly is assembled together and all speak with other languages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won’t they say that you are crazy?
- 1 Pet 2:14or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well.
- 1 Cor 11:2Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.
- Lev 19:17“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
- 1 Cor 14:26What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up.
- Jer 7:9–10Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,
- Isa 1:13–14Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t bear with evil assemblies.
- 1 Cor 11:34But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
- 1 Cor 11:20When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
- Prov 27:5Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
- Rom 13:3For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
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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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