Response to questions about head coverings
1 Imitate me the way I also imitate Christ. 2 Now I commend you for remembering me and keeping the traditions I handed to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the “head” of every man is Christ, the “head” of the woman is the man, and the “head” of Christ is God.3
4 You write,“It is disgraceful for any man to pray or prophesy with something on his head, 5 but it is disgraceful for a woman to do so with her head uncovered, because it would be like having her head shaved. 6 Because if she doesn’t cover then she must be shaved too. But if being shaved is shameful then she must wear a covering.”
7 Certainly man, made in God’s image, shouldn’t cover his head in shame since he is a tribute to what came from God, but the same applies to the woman who came from man. 7 8 After all, man didn’t come from woman, woman came from man; 9 the man wasn’t made because the woman need help, the woman was because the man needed help. 10 So the reason the woman is the one with authority to decide what to put on her own head is for the benefit of the angels. 11 With the Master, however, woman and man are not independent of each other. 12 For just as woman came from man, so also all men have come from women ever since— but we all come from God.
13 You all must judge as to whether it’s proper for a woman to pray to God without a head covering. 14 After all, nature does not tell us that fancy hair is a disgrace for men 15 or an honor for women, since hair has been given as a natural article of clothing. 16 But if anybody wants to argue about it, consider that neither we nor any of God’s Congregations has any such custom.
Making a mockery of the fellowship meal
17 Now in this instruction I do not commend you, because your meetings are doing more harm than good. 18 First of all, I’m hearing that when you meet together there are factions among you, and I believe at least part of it. 19 I suppose you need those divisions in order for the qualified ones to show off!
20 Secondly, when you eat together it is not the Master’s meal at all. 21 One gobbles their meal before the rest, another goes hungry, and still another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you people have homes to eat and drink in? What?! You are scorning God’s Congregation and humiliating those who have nothing! What do you expect me to say to you? Do you think I’ll pat you on the back? Not a chance!
23 This is what I accepted from the Master and passed on to you: On the night he was arrested, the Master Jesus broke some bread, 24 gave thanks for it, and said, “This is my body, broken on your account; do this to remember me.” 25 Likewise also with the cup; after dinner he said, “This is the cup of the new covenant, signed in my blood; as often as you drink this, do it to remember me.” 26 So as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you announce the death of the Master until he returns.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master in a disrespectful manner is held liable for the body and blood of the Master. 28 So each of you must test yourselves before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29 Any who don’t acknowledge his body are eating and drinking condemnation upon themselves. 30 That is the reason there are many among you who are weak and always sick, and a fair number have even died. 31 But if we examine ourselves we will not fall under judgment. 32 Yet when we come under judgment it is the Master’s discipline, so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then sisters and brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry they can eat at home so they do not come into judgement when they meet. And I will give you more instructions when I come to see you.
- 3 The literal meaning is “head,” but the word is put in quotes to indicate its metaphorical use, which will be followed by its literal use. The quoted passage is presumed from the context to be another question from the Corinthians, because otherwise it contradicts what Paul writes in the following paragraphs.
- 7 This section makes it very clear that there is no hierarchy by reason of who was made first.