Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t cause my brother to stumble.
- KJV Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
- NKJV Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
- NASB Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.
- NLT So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.
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
Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, Paul says he will gladly never eat meat again rather than trip him up. Personal liberty is worth surrendering for a brother's spiritual safety.
Overview
Paul closes the chapter with his own resolve as a model: he will forgo even a lawful pleasure permanently if it endangers a fellow believer. This embodies the self-denying love he has commended, foreshadowing his fuller example in chapter 9. It reflects the mind of Christ, who laid down far more for our sake, and shows that mature Christian freedom expresses itself most fully in voluntary, loving restraint.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rom 14:21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
- 2 Cor 6:3We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry.
- 2 Cor 11:29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
- 1 Cor 6:12“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.
- 1 Cor 13:5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- 1 Cor 10:33as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.
- 1 Cor 9:12If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
- 2 Tim 3:8–9Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:13 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.