Rom 14 | ESV | STEP | As for the one who is weak in faith , welcome him , but not to quarrel over opinions .

1 As for ^athe one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 ^bOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^clet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 ^dWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master ^{▼▼Or lord} that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5 ^fOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^gEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^hhe gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For ⁱnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, ^jwhether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ ^kdied and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^lof the dead and of the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^mwe will all stand before ⁿthe judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

^o“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess ^{▼▼Or shall give praise} to God.”

12 So then ^qeach of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 ^rTherefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^snever to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^tthat nothing is unclean in itself, ^ubut it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^vyou are no longer walking in love. ^wBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 ^xSo do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 ^yFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ^zof righteousness and ^aapeace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is ^abacceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us ^acpursue what makes for peace and for ^admutual upbuilding.

20 ^aeDo not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. ^afEverything is indeed clean, but ^agit is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 ^ahIt is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened} 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. ^ajBlessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts insert here 16:25–27}