Глава 14

((Rom. 14:1)) “But the one who is weak in the faith”, who says: this I will eat, but that I will not, “accept.” ((Rom.14:2)) Some people think that they can eat everything, and even if they do not harm themselves, they harm their neighbors; but he who is weak in mind, let him eat vegetables. ((Rom.14:3)) He who eats, let him not prevent him who does not eat from fasting; he who abstains and does not eat does not condemn him who eats, for God accepted him for the sake of his faith. ((Rom.14:4)) And who are you, judging another man’s servant? If it does not stand, that is, if it is not firm, then God is able to set it up. ((Rom.14:5)) Another observes the 6th fast day by day, and another daily; since there are some people who fast on significant days, and some who (fast) on all the days of their lives. Let each one stand (affirm) in his own measure—whether it be small or great, let him always hold on to it. And let him do this for the sake of hope, and not because of empty glory. ((Rom.14:6)) Everyone who reasons about the day reasons for the Lord, and whoever eats, let him eat in the Lord and bless God. ((Rom.14:7-8)) Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s (we are). ((Rom.14:9)) For this is why Christ died and came to life again, so that he could rule over the dead and the living without any difference. ((Rom.14:10)) Why do you judge your brother who eats? or why do you humiliate your fasting brother? ((Rom.14:11–12)) Each of us will give an account to God for our own deeds. ((Rom.14:13)) Do not condemn one another anymore, but be careful in your souls not to cause any stumbling block for your brother. ((Rom.14:14)) I know this and have established it, not from my own mind, but from my Lord who is in me, that nothing in itself is unclean. Anyone who is not firm in his mind, that is, in his own thoughts, (it seems to him that) there is something unclean in everything. What is written here to the Romans is the same as what was written to the Corinthians (1 Cor. ch. 8); since in Rome the believers ate together with the infidels in the house of idols, however, not sacrificial meat and not idol wine, but pure meat and wine not involved in idolatry. Since the apostle saw that people were tempted by looking at them, he presented those who were eating as believers, so as not to oppress them with shame, and he called those who turned their gaze to them unsteady and said the following: ((Rom.14:15)) Do not destroy with your harmless food the one for whom Christ died. ((Rom.14:16)) Let not, he says, 7 the good that you do blaspheme you. ((Rom.14:17)) For the Kingdom, which we long for with great desire, is not obtained through food, but through righteousness and peace, which you create between you and your brother. ((Rom.14:18)) For whoever serves in this way, as I said, is pleasing to God and approved by people, that is, because he does not cause offense to his brother. ((Rom.14:20)) All is pure, as I said, but it is bad for the person who eats through conscience and the temptation of others. ((Rom.14:21)) It is good not to eat meat or anything that causes your brother to stumble. ((Rom.14:22)) And if you say: I eat by faith, then if you have faith, boast of it in yourself before God, and not before those who are offended by you. “Blessed is he who does not condemn himself for what he has chosen”: either because he has chosen well and does not condemn his intention for having chosen poorly; or because he did not condemn himself for the sake of good deeds that were performed by his neighbors, and not by himself. ((Rom.14:23)) But in order to stop the unstable one from going too far in this regard, he said: he who reasons (doubts), if he eats, is condemned, because he does not eat according to faith. And in order to stop the believers themselves, he adds: 8. Greek and others read: distinguishes, judges, reasons (glorified). Greek: let not your goodness be blasphemed (etc.). Obviously, St. Ephraim does not read verses 24–26 here as the translation of the sire. Sch. (which reads at the end of the epistle, and Sir. Whit, reads here; Arm. edd and zoh translations read here and at the end); whether Saint Ephraim read at the end of the epistle remains unclear due to the brevity and fragmentary nature of the interpretation. You might be interested in: