Romans 14

Modern

Literal

The Law of Liberty

¹Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.^a

¹And receive the one being weak in the faith, not for passing judgment on reasonings.

²For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.

²Indeed, one believes to eat all things, but the one being weak eats vegetables.

³The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.

³The one eating, let him not despise the one not eating; and the one not eating, let him not judge the one eating, for God received him.

⁴Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁴Who are you, judging another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will be made to stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

⁵For indeed, one judges a day above a day, but one judges every day alike. Let each be fully assured in his own mind.

⁶He who observes a special day does so to the Lord;^a he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

⁶The one regarding the day regards it to the Lord; the one eating eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one not eating does not eat to the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

⁷For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.

⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.

⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

⁸For both if we should live, we live to the Lord, and if we should die, we die to the Lord. Therefore both if we should live and if we should die, we are the Lord’s.

⁹For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

⁹For unto this Christ died and lived again, so that He might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

¹⁰Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

¹⁰But why do you judge your brother? Or why also do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

¹¹It is written:

“As surely as I live,

says the Lord,

every knee will bow before Me;

every tongue will confess to God.”^a

¹¹For it has been written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will confess to God.”

¹²So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹²So then, each of us will give account concerning himself to God.

The Law of Love

¹³Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

¹³May we no longer, therefore, judge one another; but rather you decide this, not to put a stumbling block or obstacle before a brother.

¹⁴I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

¹⁴I know and I am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself, except to him reckoning anything to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.

¹⁵If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

¹⁵For if because of food your brother is grieved, no longer do you walk according to love. Do not destroy with your food that one for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.

¹⁶Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

¹⁸For the one serving Christ in in this is well-pleasing to God and approved by men.

¹⁹So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

¹⁹So then, may we pursue the things of peace, and the things of building up one another.

²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.

²⁰Do not demolish the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but it is evil to the man eating through a stumbling block.

²¹It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.^a

²¹It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine nor anything in which your brother stumbles.

²²Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God.^a Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

²²The faith that you have, have it to yourself before God. Blessed is the one not judging himself in what he approves.

²³But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.^a

²³But the one doubting has been condemned if he eats, because it is not of faith; and everything that is not of faith is sin.