1 Corinthians 8
1 To speake of thinges dedicate vnto ydols we are sure that we all have knowledge. knowledge maketh a man swell: bnt love edifieth.
With reference to food that has been offered in sacrifice to idols — We are aware that all of us have knowledge! Knowledge breeds conceit, while love builds up character.
2 If eny man thinke that he knoweth eny thinge he knoweth nothynge yet as he ought to knowe.
If a man thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet reached that knowledge which he ought to have reached.
3 But yf eny man love god the same is knowen of him.
On the other hand, if a man loves God, he is known by God.
4 To speake of meate dedicat vnto ydols we are sure that ther is none ydoll in the worlde and that ther is none other god but one.
With reference, then, to eating food that has been offered to idols — we are aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one.
5 And though ther be yt are called goddes whether in heven other in erth (as ther be goddes many and lordes many)
Even supposing that there are so-called ‘gods’ either in Heaven or on earth — and there are many such ‘gods’ and ‘lords’ —
6 yet vnto vs is there but one god which is the father of whom are all thinges and we in him: and one lorde Iesus Christ by whom are all thinges and we by him.
Yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom all things come (and for him we live), and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come (and through him we live).
7 But every man hath not knowledge. For some suppose that ther is an ydoll vntyll this houre and eate as of a thinge offered vnto ye ydole and so their consciences beynge yet weake are defyled.
Still, it is not every one that has this knowledge. Some people, because of their association with idols, continued down to the present time, eat the food as food offered to an idol; and their consciences, while still weak, are dulled.
8 Meate maketh vs not acceptable to god. Nether yf we eate are we ye better. Nether yf we eate not are we the worsse.
What we eat, however, will not bring us nearer to God. We lose nothing by not eating this food, and we gain nothing by eating it.
9 But take hede that youre libertie cause not ye weake to faule.
But take care that this right of yours does not become in any way a stumbling-block to the weak.
10 For yf some man se ye which hast knowledge sit at meate in the ydoles teple shall not the conscience of hym which is weake be boldened to eate those thinges which are offered vnto ye ydole?
For if some one should see you who possess this knowledge, feasting in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is a weak man, become so hardened that he, too, will eat food offered to idols?
11 And so thorow thy knowledge shall ye weake brother perisshe for whom christ dyed.
And so, through this knowledge of yours, the weak man is ruined — your Brother for whose sake Christ died!
12 Whe ye synne so agaynst the brethren and wounde their weake consciences ye synne agaynst Christ.
In this way, by sinning against your Brothers and injuring their consciences, while still weak, you sin against Christ.
