Head Coverings in Worship
Study note
Paul establishes a principle of order: Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ. He argues that men should pray and prophesy with uncovered heads while women should have their heads covered, as a sign of the created order and out of respect for the angels. However, Paul balances this by affirming the interdependence of men and women in the Lord: woman came from man, but man is born through woman, and all things come from God. He concludes by noting that this is the accepted practice across all the churches.
1 Pattern your life after mine, the same way I pattern my life after Christ. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2 I am proud of you, friends, because you keep me in mind and hold on to the teachings I handed down to you. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
3 I want you to understand this: Christ is the head of every man. The man is the head of the woman. And God is the head of Christ. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
4 Any man who covers his head when he prays or speaks God's message brings dishonor to his head. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5 But any woman who prays or speaks God's message without covering her head brings dishonor to her head. She might as well shave her head completely. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
6 If a woman will not cover her head, she might as well cut her hair short. But since cutting off a woman's hair or shaving it is considered shameful, she should cover her head. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
7 A man should not cover his head, because he reflects God's image and glory. The woman reflects the glory of the man. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 After all, man was not made from woman. Woman was made from man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9 And man was not created to exist for the woman. Woman was created to exist alongside the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
10 For this reason, and because of the angels, a woman should wear a sign of authority on her head. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
11 But in the Lord, woman cannot exist without man, and man cannot exist without woman. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
12 Woman originally came from man, but every man since then has been born from a woman. And everything ultimately comes from God. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
13 Think about it yourselves: does it seem right for a woman to pray to God without her head covered? Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14 Does not nature itself show you that long hair on a man is considered a disgrace? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But long hair on a woman is seen as beautiful. Her hair was given to her as a natural covering. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
16 If anyone wants to argue about this, know that this is how we do it. It is how all the churches of God do it. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
Abuses at the Lord's Supper
Study note
Paul cannot praise the Corinthians for their assemblies because their gatherings do more harm than good. When they come together for what should be the Lord's Supper, divisions are on full display. The wealthy eat and drink to excess while the poor go hungry. Paul asks with exasperation whether they despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing. Their meals have become private indulgences rather than communal celebrations of Christ's sacrifice.
17 For what I am about to say, I cannot praise you. Your meetings are doing more harm than good. Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
18 First off, I am hearing that when you gather as a church, you split into competing groups. And I believe at least part of it is true. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
19 I suppose there have to be disagreements among you. That is how the true believers become easy to spot. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
20 When you all get together in one place, you are not truly eating the Lord's Supper. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
21 This is what happens: everyone rushes to eat their own food first. Some people go hungry while others drink too much. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 Seriously? Do you not have your own homes to eat and drink in? Or are you trying to insult God's church and embarrass the people who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I give you a pat on the back for this? Certainly not. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
The Institution of the Lord's Supper
Study note
Paul delivers the earliest written account of the Lord's Supper, received directly from the Lord. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said it was his body broken for them, to be done in remembrance of him. After supper, he took the cup and declared it the new covenant in his blood, to be done in remembrance whenever they drank it. Each time believers eat this bread and drink this cup, they proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
23 This is what the Lord himself taught me, and what I passed along to you: On the night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, he picked up bread. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 After thanking God, he tore it apart and said, "Take this and eat it. This is my body, which is given up for you. Do this to remember me." And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the meal, he picked up the cup and said, "This cup stands for the new agreement sealed with my blood. Every time you drink it, do it to remember me." After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death to the world until he comes back. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Examining Oneself Before Communion
Study note
Paul warns that eating the bread or drinking the cup in an unworthy manner makes a person guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Believers must examine themselves before partaking. Those who eat and drink without recognizing the Lord's body bring judgment upon themselves, which Paul says has already manifested in weakness, sickness, and even death among the Corinthians. If they would judge themselves, they would not face such discipline. He instructs them to wait for one another when they gather, eating at home if they are hungry.
27 So anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a careless way is guilty. They are showing disrespect for the body and blood of the Lord. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Each person should take a serious look at themselves before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 Some eat and drink without thinking about what the Lord's body means. They bring judgment on themselves. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 That is the reason many of you are weak and sick, and some have even died. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 If we honestly examined ourselves first, we would not come under this kind of judgment. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when the Lord does judge us, he is correcting us so that we will not be condemned along with the rest of the world. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
33 So, my friends, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
34 If someone is starving, they should eat something at home first. That way your gatherings will not bring judgment on you. I will sort out the rest of the details when I arrive. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.