1 But welcome the one who is weak {asthenounta: lacking confidence} in the faith, not for disputes over opinions {dialogismon: debates}.
2 One person believes {pisteuei: is convinced} he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables {lachana: garden plants}.
3 The one who eats must not despise {exoutheneitō: treat with contempt} the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not judge the one who eats, for God {Theos, Reconciling Judge} has accepted him.
4 Who are you, the one who judges another’s servant? To his own master he stands or he falls; and he will be made to stand, for the Lord {Kyrios, Supreme Authority} is able to make him stand {stēsai: establish securely}.
5 One person considers one day {hemera: special observance} above another, but another considers every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind {nous: faculty of understanding}.
6 The one who considers the day, considers it for the Lord {Kyrios, Focus of Devotion}; and the one who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God {Theos, Receiver of Thanks}; and the one who does not eat, for the Lord he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God.
7 For none of us lives {ze: ongoing earthly existence} to himself, and none of us dies {apothneskei: ends physical life} to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord {Kyrios, Sovereign Master}; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live {zao: earthly existence} or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this purpose Christ {Christos, Sovereign Redeemer} died and came to life, so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living {zonton: all who are alive}.
10 But you, why do you judge your brother {adelphos: fellow believer}? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God {Theos, Righteous Judge}.
11 For it has been written, “As I live,” says the Lord {Kyrios, Righteous Oath-Giver}, “every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will confess to God {Theos, Universal Judge}.”
12 So then, each of us will give an account {logos: formal testimony} concerning himself to God {Theos, Righteous Judge}.
13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another, but rather decide this: not to put a stumbling block {proskomma: hindrance to faith} or a snare {skandalon: trap causing offense} before a brother.
14 I know and am fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus {Kyrios Iesous, Moral Authority} that nothing is unclean {koinon: ritually defiled} by its own nature; yet if a person regards anything as unclean, it becomes unclean for that person.
15 For if your brother is grieved because of food, you are no longer walking according to love {agapen: self-giving devotion}. Do not, by your food, bring to ruin the one for whom Christ {Christos, Sacrificial Redeemer} died.
16 Therefore, do not let your good {agathon: virtuous deed} be slandered {blasphemeistho: spoken against}.
17 For the kingdom of God {basileia tou Theou, Divine Reign} is not defined by eating and drinking, but by righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit {pneuma hagion, Sanctifying Presence}.
18 For the one who serves Christ {Christos, Rightful Lord} in these things is pleasing to God {Theos, Gracious Approver} and approved among people.
19 Therefore then, let us pursue the things that make for peace {eirene: relational wholeness} and the things of edification {oikodome: spiritual strengthening} for one another.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work {ergon: what God is building} of God {Theos, Sanctifying Worker}; all things are indeed pure, but it is evil for the person who eats in a way that causes another to stumble.
21 It is good not to eat meat nor to drink wine nor to do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended {skandalizetai: led into sin} or is made weak {asthenei: spiritually weakened}.
22 You, the faith that you have, keep to yourself before God {Theos, Final Evaluator}. Blessed is the one who does not judge {krino: render judgment} himself in what he approves.
23 Yet the one who doubts stands condemned if he eats, for it is not of faith {pistis: God-given trust}, and whatever is not of faith is sin {hamartia: missing the mark}.