English Standard Version
1 Corinthians 6:13
13"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
1 Corinthians 6:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
- New International Version (NIV)You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
- New Living Translation (NLT)You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.
Context of 1 Corinthians 6:13
11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 12"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
Read all of 1 Corinthians 61 Corinthians 6:13 word by word
τὰ βρώματα τῇ κοιλίᾳ καὶ ἡ κοιλία τοῖς βρώμασιν· ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ ταύτην καὶ ταῦτα καταργήσει. τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐ τῇ πορνείᾳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ κύριος τῷ σώματι·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Meatsβρῶμαbrōma · foodG1033
- for the bellyκοιλίαkoilia · belly/womb/stomachG2836
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- butδέde · thenG1161
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- shall destroyκαταργέωkatargeō · to abateG2673
- itοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- the bodyσῶμαsōma · bodyG4983
- notοὐou · noG3756
- for fornicationπορνείαporneia · sexual sinG4202
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- for the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 6:13
- Matthew 15:17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?
- Mark 7:19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
- Romans 14:17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 10:3and all ate the same spiritual food,
- John 6:27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."
- Colossians 2:22(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?
- 1 Corinthians 6:15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
- 1 Corinthians 3:16Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
- Romans 6:12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
- Romans 7:4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
- Romans 12:1I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
- Romans 14:7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
- 2 Corinthians 5:15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Ephesians 5:23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 6:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Meats for the belly - I suppose that means the animal appetite, or propensity to food, etc., and we may conceive the apostle to reason thus: I acknowledge that God has provided different kinds of aliments for the appetite of man, and among others those which are generally offered to idols; and he has adapted the appetite to these aliments, and the aliments to the appetite: but God shall destroy both it and them; none of these is eternal; all these lower…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Meats for the belly - This has every appearance of being an adage or proverb. Its meaning is plain. “God has made us with appetites for food; and he has made food adapted to such appetites, and it is right, therefore, to indulge in luxurious living.” The word “belly” here ́ koiliadenotes the “stomach;” and the argument is, that as God had created the natural appetite for food, and had created food, it was right to indulge in eating and drinking to any…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-20Verses 12-20 Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an instrument of sin. It is an honour…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14"Food for the stomach and the stomach for food": Some Corinthian Christians used this idea to justify their sexual immorality. They claimed, "The body was made for sex, and sex for the body." This analogy is false because our bodies were made for the Lord, and sexual immorality does not honor him. Given his care for our bodies and the future resurrection, we must use our bodies for holy purposes in God's service.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. The argument drawn from the indifference of meats (1Co 8:8; Ro 14:14, 17; compare Mr 7:18; Col 2:20-22) to that of fornication does not hold good. Meats doubtless are indifferent, since both they and the "belly" for which they are created are to be "destroyed" in the future state. But "the body is not (created) for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body" (as its Redeemer, who hath Himself assumed the body): "And God hath raised up…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 6:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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