1 Corinthians 11

¹Become imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.

²I praise you because you remember me in everything and you hold fast to the traditions exactly as I handed them over to you. ³But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with something hanging down over his head disgraces his head. ⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head—it is exactly the same as if her head were shaved. ⁶For if a woman will not cover herself, she should also have her hair cut off. But if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover herself.

⁷A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; ⁹neither was man created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. ¹⁰For this reason, a woman ought to have a mark of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor is man independent of woman. ¹²For just as woman came from man, so also man is born through woman. But all things come from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? ¹⁴Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a dishonor to him, ¹⁵but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a natural wrap. ¹⁶If anyone intends to be contentious about this, we have no such custom, nor do the assemblies of God.

¹⁷But in giving this next instruction I do not praise you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸For in the first place, I hear that when you come together as an assembly, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹For there must even be factions among you, so that those who are genuine may become evident in your midst. ²⁰So, when you meet together in the same place, it is not the Lord’s Supper you are eating. ²¹For as you eat, each of you goes ahead with your own private dinner. One person goes hungry, while another gets drunk. ²²Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the assembly of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you.

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed over to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was handed over, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

²⁷Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ²⁸A person must examine himself, and in this way eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. ³⁰This is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹But if we correctly discerned ourselves, we would not be judged. ³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. ³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. ³⁴If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that your meeting does not lead to judgment. As for the other matters, I will provide instructions when I come.