Romans 14:1-23
14 And take in the one who is sickly in faith, not for decisions on problems:
2 one man has the faith to eat everything, but the sickly one eats vegetables—
3 let the eater not scorn the non-eater nor the non-eater pass judgment on the eater, for God has taken him in.
4 Who are you that are passing judgment on somebody else’s servant? it is to his own master he stands or falls. And he will be kept standing, for God is powerful to keep him standing.
5 ** The one rates day above day, the other rates every day—let each have his own conviction.
6 He who recognizes the day is recognizing it for the Lord; and he who eats is eating for the Lord, for he thanks God; and he who does not eat does his not eating for the Lord, and thanks God.
7 For no one of us lives for himself and no one dies for himself;
8 for if we live we live for the Lord and if we die we die for the Lord. So, live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9 For it was for this that Christ died and came to life, that he might be lord over both dead and living.
10 But why do you pass judgment on your brother? or you, why do you scorn your brother? for we shall all be brought up before God’s bench.
11 For it is written “As I live, says the Lord, to me every knee shall bend and every tongue shall make acknowledgment to God”;
12 *** each of us, then, will give account for himself.
13 * So let us no longer pass judgment on each other; but do come to this decision rather, not to set anything to trip one’s brother up.
14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unholy of itself, only that for the one who thinks something unholy, for him it is unholy.
15 For if because of an article of food your brother is pained, you are no longer going in the way of love.
16 Do not by your food bring him to destruction, one for whom Christ died. So do not have your good point made a butt for vilification.
17 For the Reign of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit;
18 for he who lives in this servitude to the Christ is acceptable to God and estimable to men.
19 * So then we will aim at what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding;
20 do not tear God’s work down on account of an article of food. Everything is clean, but it is a bad thing for the man who runs himself against a snag by his eating.
21 ** It is a good thing not to eat meat nor drink wine nor one thing that your brother snags himself on.
22 Have faith yourself, such as you have, on your own account before God; happy he who does not pass judgment on himself in regard to what he holds to be right.
23 But he who is in suspense, if he eats, is under condemnation because it is not on the basis of faith, but everything that is not on the basis of faith is a sin.
Footnotes
^ 14:5 Var. For the one rates
^ 14:5 Lit. let each be convinced in his own mind
^ 14:12 Var. so then each of us will
^ 14:12 Var. will render account
^ 14:12 Var. of himself to God
^ 14:13 Var. to stub one’s brother’s toe or trip him up
^ 14:19 Lit. we are aiming at Var. let us aim at
^ 14:21 Or nor whatever your brother
^ 14:21 Var. snags himself on or trips up or grows sickly by
