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1 Corinthians 11:17
ESV But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
NIV In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
NASB Now in giving this next instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better, but for the worse.
CSB Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
NLT But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
KJV Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

What does 1 Corinthians 11:17 mean?

Paul began the previous section praising the Corinthian church for maintaining some of his teachings (1 Corinthians 11:2). Now he writes—pointedly—that he does not praise them for the subject he is about to discuss.

The issue is this: When the Christians in Corinth come together to supposedly practice communion (1 Corinthians 11:20), they make things worse than if they had not met. The reports Paul has received about these events make clear how selfishly the Corinthian Christians could treat each other.

To correct this, Paul will first soundly criticize the believers in Corinth for their mishandling of the Lord's Supper. He will then give a relatively detailed account of Jesus' institution of communion. This is followed by a dire warning: that those who carelessly or maliciously abuse the Lord's Supper are subject to judgment and even death!
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