Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, December 6 [Press play below]

11.1 Become imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.
11.2 I commend you because in all things you remember me and you are holding fast the traditions just as I handed them on to you.
11.3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn, the head of a woman is the man; in turn, the head of the Christ is God.
11.4 Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head shames his head;
11.5 but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered shames her head, for it is one and the same as if she were a woman with a shaved head.
11.6 For if a woman does not cover herself, she should have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, she should be covered.
11.7 For a man should not have his head covered, as he is God’s image and glory, but the woman is man’s glory.
11.8 For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.
11.9 And what is more, man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man.
11.10 That is why the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11.11 Besides, in connection with the Lord, neither is woman separate from man nor is man separate from woman.
11.12 For just as the woman is from the man, so also the man is through the woman; but all things are from God.
11.13 Judge for yourselves: Is it fitting for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
11.14 Does not nature itself teach you that long hair is a dishonor to a man,
11.15 but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her instead of a covering.
11.16 However, if anyone wants to argue in favor of some other custom, we have no other, nor do the congregations of God.
11.17 But while giving these instructions, I do not commend you, because it is, not for the better, but for the worse that you meet together.
11.18 For first of all, I hear that when you come together in a congregation, divisions exist among you; and to an extent I believe it.
11.19 For there will certainly also be sects among you, so that those of you who are approved may also become evident.
11.20 When you come together in one place, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Evening Meal.
11.21 For when you eat it, each one takes his own evening meal beforehand, so that one is hungry but another is intoxicated.
11.22 Do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the congregation of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Should I commend you? In this I do not commend you.
11.23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was going to be betrayed took a loaf,
11.24 and after giving thanks, he broke it and said: “This means my body, which is in your behalf. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”
11.25 He did the same with the cup also, after they had the evening meal, saying: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood. Keep doing this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
11.26 For whenever you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he comes.
11.27 Therefore, whoever eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty respecting the body and the blood of the Lord.
11.28 First let a man approve himself after scrutiny, and only then let him eat of the loaf and drink of the cup.
11.29 For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.
11.30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few are sleeping in death.
11.31 But if we would discern what we ourselves are, we would not be judged.
11.32 However, when we are judged, we are disciplined by Jehovah, so that we may not become condemned with the world.
11.33 Consequently, my brothers, when you come together to eat it, wait for one another.
11.34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together it is not for judgment. But as for the remaining matters, I will put them in order when I get there.
12.1 Now concerning the spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
12.2 You know that when you were people of the nations, you were influenced and led astray to those voiceless idols, following wherever they might lead you.
12.3 Now I would have you know that nobody when speaking by God’s spirit says: “Jesus is accursed!” and nobody can say: “Jesus is Lord!” except by holy spirit.
12.4 Now there are different gifts, but there is the same spirit;
12.5 and there are different ministries, and yet there is the same Lord;
12.6 and there are different activities, and yet it is the same God who performs them all in everyone.
12.7 But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for a beneficial purpose.
12.8 For to one is given speech of wisdom through the spirit, to another speech of knowledge according to the same spirit,
12.9 to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one spirit,
12.10 to yet another operations of powerful works, to another prophesying, to another discernment of inspired expressions, to another different tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.
12.11 But all these operations are performed by the very same spirit, distributing to each one respectively just as it wills.
12.12 For just as the body is one but has many members, and all the members of that body, although many, are one body, so too is the Christ.
12.13 For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink one spirit.
12.14 For, indeed, the body is made up not of one member but of many.
12.15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am no part of the body,” that does not make it no part of the body.
12.16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am no part of the body,” that does not make it no part of the body.
12.17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If it were all hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
12.18 But now God has arranged each of the body members just as he pleased.
12.19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be?
12.20 But now they are many members, yet one body.
12.21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” or again, the head cannot say to the feet, “I do not need you.”
12.22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary,
12.23 and the parts of the body that we think to be less honorable we surround with greater honor, so our unseemly parts are treated with greater modesty,
12.24 whereas our attractive parts do not need anything. Nevertheless, God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that had a lack,
12.25 so that there should be no division in the body, but its members should have mutual concern for one another.
12.26 If one member suffers, all the other members suffer with it; or if a member is glorified, all the other members rejoice with it.
12.27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you individually is a member.
12.28 And God has assigned the respective ones in the congregation: first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then powerful works; then gifts of healings; helpful services; abilities to direct; different tongues.
12.29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform powerful works, do they?
12.30 Not all have gifts of healings, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all are interpreters, are they?
12.31 But keep striving for the greater gifts. And yet I will show you a surpassing way.
13.1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal.
13.2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
13.3 And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.
13.4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does not brag, does not get puffed up,
13.5 does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury.
13.6 It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
13.7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
13.8 Love never fails. But if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
13.9 For we have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially,
13.10 but when what is complete comes, what is partial will be done away with.
13.11 When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, to think as a child, to reason as a child; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a child.
13.12 For now we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face-to-face. At present I know partially, but then I will know accurately, just as I am accurately known.
13.13 Now, however, these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.
14.1 Pursue love, yet keep striving for the spiritual gifts, but preferably that you may prophesy.
14.2 For the one who speaks in a tongue speaks, not to men, but to God, for no one listens, but he speaks sacred secrets by the spirit.
14.3 However, the one who prophesies builds up and encourages and consoles men by his speech.
14.4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up a congregation.
14.5 Now I would like for all of you to speak in tongues, but I prefer that you prophesy. Indeed, the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the congregation may be built up.
14.6 But at this time, brothers, if I should come speaking to you in tongues, what good would I do you unless I spoke to you either with a revelation or with knowledge or with a prophecy or with a teaching?
14.7 It is the same with the inanimate things that produce sound, whether a flute or a harp. Unless there is an interval to the tones, how can what is being played on the flute or on the harp be recognized?
14.8 For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle?
14.9 In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood, how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air.
14.10 It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning.
14.11 For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.
14.12 So also with you, since you eagerly desire the gifts of the spirit, seek to abound in gifts that will build up the congregation.
14.13 Therefore, let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
14.14 For if I am praying in a tongue, it is my gift of the spirit that is praying, but my mind is unproductive.
14.15 What is to be done, then? I will pray with the gift of the spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praise with the gift of the spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind.
14.16 Otherwise, if you offer praise with a gift of the spirit, how will the ordinary person in your midst say “Amen” to your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?
14.17 True, you are giving thanks in a fine way, but the other man is not being built up.
14.18 I thank God that I speak in more tongues than all of you do.
14.19 Nevertheless, in a congregation I would rather speak five words with my mind, that I might also instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
14.20 Brothers, do not become young children in your understanding, but be young children as to badness; and become full-grown in your understanding.
14.21 In the Law it is written: “‘With the tongues of foreigners and with the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even then they will refuse to listen to me,’ says Jehovah.”
14.22 Therefore, tongues are not a sign for the believers but for the unbelievers, whereas prophecy is not for the unbelievers but for the believers.
14.23 So if the whole congregation comes together to one place and they all speak in tongues, but ordinary people or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you have lost your minds?
14.24 But if you are all prophesying and an unbeliever or an ordinary person comes in, he will be reproved and closely examined by them all.
14.25 The secrets of his heart then become evident, so that he will fall facedown and worship God, declaring: “God is really among you.”
14.26 What is to be done, then, brothers? When you come together, one has a psalm, another has a teaching, another has a revelation, another has a tongue, and another has an interpretation. Let all things take place for building up.
14.27 And if someone speaks in a tongue, let it be limited to two or three at the most, and in turns, and someone must interpret.
14.28 But if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the congregation and speak to himself and to God.
14.29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others discern the meaning.
14.30 But if another one receives a revelation while sitting there, let the first speaker keep silent.
14.31 For you can all prophesy one at a time, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
14.32 And gifts of the spirit of the prophets are to be controlled by the prophets.
14.33 For God is a God not of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the holy ones,
14.34 let the women keep silent in the congregations, for it is not permitted for them to speak. Rather, let them be in subjection, as the Law also says.
14.35 If they want to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the congregation.
14.36 Was it from you that the word of God originated, or did it reach only as far as you?
14.37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or is gifted with the spirit, he must acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are the Lord’s commandment.
14.38 But if anyone disregards this, he will be disregarded.
14.39 So, my brothers, keep striving to prophesy, and yet do not forbid the speaking in tongues.
14.40 But let all things take place decently and by arrangement.