8. We must not be guilty of sexual immorality, as some of them were — and in one day 23,000 of them fell dead.
9. We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did — and they were killed by snakes.
10. We must not complain, as some of them did — and they were destroyed by the Angel of Death.
11. All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come.
12. Those who think they are standing firm had better be careful that they do not fall.
13. Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.
14. So then, my dear friends, keep away from the worship of idols.
15. I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
16. The cup we use in the Lord's Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ.
17. Because there is the one loaf of bread, all of us, though many, are one body, for we all share the same loaf.
18. Consider the people of Israel; those who eat what is offered in sacrifice share in the altar's service to God.
19. Do I imply, then, that an idol or the food offered to it really amounts to anything?