14:1 AS FOR the man who is a weak believer, welcome him [into your fellowship], but not to criticize his opinions {or} pass judgment on his scruples {or} perplex him with discussions. |
14:2 One [man's faith permits him to] believe he may eat anything, while a weaker one [limits his] eating to vegetables. |
14:3 Let not him who eats look down on {or} despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains criticize {and} pass judgment on him who eats; for God has accepted {and} welcomed him. |
14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on {and} censure another's household servant? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he shall stand {and} be upheld, for the Master (the Lord) is mighty to support him {and} make him stand. |
14:5 One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike [sacred]. Let everyone be fully convinced (satisfied) in his own mind. |
14:6 He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. |
14:7 None of us lives to himself [but to the Lord], and none of us dies to himself [but to the Lord, for] |
14:8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord. |
14:9 For Christ died and lived again for this very purpose, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. |
14:10 Why do you criticize {and} pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon {or} despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. |
14:11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God [acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise]. |
14:12 And so each of us shall give an account of himself [give an answer in reference to judgment] to God. |
14:13 Then let us no more criticize {and} blame {and} pass judgment on one another, but rather decide {and} endeavor never to put a stumbling block {or} an obstacle or a hindrance in the way of a brother. |
14:14 I know and am convinced (persuaded) as one in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is [forbidden as] essentially unclean (defiled and unholy in itself). But [none the less] it is unclean (defiled and unholy) to anyone who thinks it is unclean. |
14:15 But if your brother is being pained {or} his feelings hurt {or} if he is being injured by what you eat, [then] you are no longer walking in love. [You have ceased to be living and conducting yourself by the standard of love toward him.] Do not let what you eat hurt {or} cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died! |
14:16 Do not therefore let what seems good to you be considered an evil thing [by someone else]. [In other words, do not give occasion for others to criticize that which is justifiable for you.] |
14:17 [After all] the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. |
14:18 He who serves Christ in this way is acceptable {and} pleasing to God and is approved by men. |
14:19 So let us then definitely aim for {and} eagerly pursue what makes for harmony and for mutual upbuilding (edification and development) of one another. |
14:20 You must not, for the sake of food, undo {and} break down and destroy the work of God! Everything is indeed [ceremonially] clean {and} pure, but it is wrong for anyone to hurt the conscience of others {or} to make them fall by what he eats. |
14:21 The right thing is to eat no meat or drink no wine [at all], or [do anything else] if it makes your brother stumble {or} hurts his conscience {or} offends or weakens him. |
14:22 Your personal convictions [on such matters]--exercise [them] as in God's presence, keeping them to yourself [striving only to know the truth and obey His will]. Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do]. |
14:23 But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions {and} he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate {and} proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. |