Bible / 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 11

World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations

1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.

2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.

3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. Fathers

5 But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. Fathers

6 For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered.

7 For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.

8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man;

9 for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man.

10 For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord.

12 For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God.

13 Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled?

14 Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?

15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.

16 But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.

17 But in giving you this command I don’t praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. CCC

18 For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. CCC

19 For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. Fathers

20 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. CCC

21 For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.

23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. CCC

24 When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” CCC

25 In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” CCC

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. CCC

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. CCC

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. CCC

29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. CCC

30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. CCC

31 For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Read the Fathers
    • “For, in his Epistle to the Corinthians,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  2. Read the Fathers
    • “For, in his Epistle to the Corinthians,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  3. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1329 “The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his…”
    • CCC 2178 “This practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful…”
  4. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 752 “In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community 142 or the whole universal community of…”
  5. Read the Fathers
    • “For he said, Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.' " And, There shall be schisms and heresies.”

      Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter XXXV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  6. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1329 “The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his…”
  7. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1339 “Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:…”
    • CCC 1366 “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and…”
  8. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1328 “The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it.…”
    • CCC 1329 “The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his…”
    • CCC 1339 “Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:…”
    • CCC 1356 “If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity…”
    • CCC 1376 “The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that…”
  9. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 781 “At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He…”
    • CCC 1339 “Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:…”
    • CCC 1356 “If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity…”
  10. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1076 “The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift…”
    • CCC 1130 “The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord "until he comes," when God will be "everything to everyone." Since the apostolic age…”
    • CCC 1339 “Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:…”
    • CCC 1344 “Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances,…”
    • CCC 1393 “Holy Communion separates us from sin. the body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the…”
    • CCC 1566 “It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree…”
  11. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1385 “To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to…”
  12. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1385 “To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to…”
  13. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1385 “To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to…”
  14. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1509 “Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of…”