1 Corinthians 8

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Now about food which has been dedicated to false gods. We are wel aware that al of us haveknowledge; but while knowledge puffs up, love is what builds up.	1 Now in regard to meat sacrificed to idols: we realize that "all of us have knowledge"; knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.
2 Someone may think that he has ful knowledge of something and yet not know it as wel as he should;	2 If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
3 but someone who loves God is known by God.	3 But if one loves God, one is known by him.
4 On the subject of eating foods dedicated to false gods, we are wel aware that none of the false godsexists in reality and that there is no God other than the One.	4 So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that "there is no idol in the world," and that "there is no God but one."
5 Though there are so-cal ed gods, in the heavens or on earth -- and there are plenty of gods and plentyof lords-	5 Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth (there are, to be sure, many "gods" and many "lords"),
6 yet for us there is only one God, the Father from whom al things come and for whom we exist, and oneLord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we exist.	6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through whom we exist.
7 However, not everybody has this knowledge. There are some in whose consciences false gods stillplay such a part that they take the food as though it had been dedicated to a god; then their conscience, beingvulnerable, is defiled,	7 But not all have this knowledge. There are some who have been so used to idolatry up until now that, when they eat meat sacrificed to idols, their conscience, which is weak, is defiled.
8 But of course food cannot make us acceptable to God; we lose nothing by not eating it, we gain nothingby eating it.	8 Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do.
9 Only be careful that this freedom of yours does not in any way turn into an obstacle to trip those whoare vulnerable.	9 But make sure that this liberty of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.
10 Suppose someone sees you, who have the knowledge, sitting eating in the temple of some false god,do you not think that his conscience, vulnerable as it is, may be encouraged to eat foods dedicated to falsegods?	10 If someone sees you, with your knowledge, reclining at table in the temple of an idol, may not his conscience too, weak as it is, be "built up" to eat the meat sacrificed to idols?
11 And then it would be through your knowledge that this brother for whom Christ died, vulnerable as heis, has been lost.	11 Thus through your knowledge, the weak person is brought to destruction, the brother for whom Christ died.
12 So, sinning against your brothers and wounding their vulnerable consciences, you would be sinningagainst Christ.	12 When you sin in this way against your brothers and wound their consciences, weak as they are, you are sinning against Christ.
13 That is why, if food can be the cause of a brother's downfal , I wil never eat meat any more, ratherthan cause my brother's downfal .	13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause my brother to sin.