1 Corinthians 11:17-26

The community meal

¹⁷ Now I don’t praise you as I give the following instruction because when you meet together, it does more harm than good. ¹⁸ First of all, when you meet together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. ¹⁹ It’s necessary that there are groups among you, to make it clear who is genuine. ²⁰ So when you get together in one place, it isn’t to eat the Lord’s meal. ²¹ Each of you goes ahead and eats a private meal. One person goes hungry while another is drunk. ²² Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on God’s churches and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Will I praise you? No, I don’t praise you in this.

²³ I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. ²⁴ After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” ²⁵ He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” ²⁶ Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.