Romans 14:10

THE MESSAGE

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: "As I live and breathe," God says, "every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God." So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

King James Version (1611)
But why doest thou iudge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? Wee shall all stand before the Iudgement seat of Christ.

King James Version
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

English Standard Version
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

New American Standard Bible
But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God.

New Century Version
So why do you judge your brothers or sisters in Christ? And why do you think you are better than they are? We will all stand before God to be judged,

Amplified Bible
But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you again, why do you look down on your [believing] brother or regard him with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge].

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Legacy Standard Bible
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Berean Standard Bible
Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

Contemporary English Version
Why do you criticize other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us.

Complete Jewish Bible
You then, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before God's judgment seat;

Darby Translation
But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother? for we shall all be placed before the judgment-seat of God.

Easy-to-Read Version
So why do you judge your brother or sister in Christ? Or why do you think that you are better than they are? We will all stand before God, and he will judge us all.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But why doest thou condemne thy brother? or why doest thou despise thy brother? for we shal all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ.

George Lamsa Translation
Why, then, do you judge your brother? or why do you despise your brother? for we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Good News Translation
You then, who eat only vegetables—why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything—why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.

Lexham English Bible
But why do you judge your brother? Or also, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Literal Translation
But why do you judge your brother? Or why also do you despise your brother? For all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

American Standard Version
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.

Bible in Basic English
But you, why do you make yourself your brother's judge? or again, why have you no respect for your brother? because we will all have to take our place before God as our judge.

Hebrew Names Version
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah.

International Standard Version
Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.of Christ">[fn]Matthew 25:31-32; Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Jude 1:14-15;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
Or thou, also, why despisest thou thy brother ? For we shall all stand before the tribunal of the Meshiha:

Murdock Translation
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or, why dost thou despise thy brother? For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But why doest thou then iudge thy brother? Either, why doest thou despise thy brother? We shalbe all brought before the iudgement seate of Christe.

English Revised Version
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.

World English Bible
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou despise thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Weymouth's New Testament
But you, why do you find fault with your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon your brother? We shall all stand before God to be judged;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But what demest thou thi brothir? or whi dispisist thou thi brothir? for alle we schulen stonde bifore the trone of Crist.

Update Bible Version
But you, why do you judge your brother? or you again, why do you set at nothing your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.

Webster's Bible Translation
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

New English Translation
But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

New King James Version
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. [fn]

New Living Translation
So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

New Life Bible
Why do you try to say your Christian brother is right or wrong? Why do you hate your Christian brother? We will all stand before God to be judged by Him.

New Revised Standard
Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? Aye! and thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For, all of us, shall present ourselves unto the judgment seat of God;

Douay-Rheims Bible
But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? Or thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Revised Standard Version
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
But why doest thou then iudge thy brother? Other why doest thou despyse thy brother? We shall all be brought before the iudgement seate of Christ.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand at the tribunal of the Christ;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But why iudgest thou yi brother? Or thou other, why despysest thou yi brother? We shal all be broughte before ye iudgmet seate of Christ.

Mace New Testament (1729)
why then dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou think contemptibly of thy brother? since we shall all of us be brought before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Simplified Cowboy Version
So why do you keep quarreling with others who ride for God? What gives you the right to look down your nose at them? We will all stand in front of the Boss one day to be judged.

Contextual Overview

¹ Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. ²For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. ⁵ Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience. ⁶What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other. ¹⁰So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: "As I live and breathe," God says, "every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God." So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. ¹³Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I'm convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it. ¹⁵If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don't eat, you're no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don't you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning! ¹⁷God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you. ¹⁹So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love. ²²Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

set: Romans 14:3, Romans 14:4, Luke 23:11, Acts 4:11

for: Romans 2:16, Ecclesiastes 12:14, Matthew 25:31, Matthew 25:32, John 5:22, Acts 10:42, Acts 17:31, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Jude 1:14, Jude 1:15, Revelation 20:11-15

Reciprocal: Judges 11:27 - the Judge 1 Samuel 2:10 - judge 1 Kings 19:18 - the knees Psalms 7:8 - The Lord Psalms 22:29 - bow Ecclesiastes 11:9 - know Isaiah 45:23 - That unto Zechariah 14:17 - that Matthew 7:1 - General Matthew 18:10 - heed Matthew 23:8 - one Matthew 26:64 - Hereafter Mark 15:19 - and bowing Luke 6:37 - Judge Luke 18:9 - and despised Luke 19:15 - that he John 16:11 - judgment Acts 17:18 - Jesus Romans 14:13 - judge one 1 Corinthians 8:1 - Knowledge Galatians 6:5 - General Philippians 2:10 - every Colossians 2:16 - judge James 4:11 - and judgeth 1 Peter 4:5 - that Revelation 5:8 - the four Revelation 20:12 - stand

Cross-References

Genesis 11:3
They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.

Genesis 19:30
Lot left Zoar and went into the mountains to live with his two daughters; he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his daughters.

Joshua 8:24
When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation. The death toll that day came to twelve thousand men and women—everyone in Ai.

Isaiah 24:18
The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape Danger ahead! God 's about to ravish the earth and leave it in ruins, Rip everything out by the roots and send everyone scurrying: priests and laypeople alike, owners and workers alike, celebrities and nobodies alike, buyers and sellers alike, bankers and beggars alike, the haves and have-nots alike. The landscape will be a moonscape, totally wasted. And why? Because God says so. He's issued the orders. The earth turns gaunt and gray, the world silent and sad, sky and land lifeless, colorless. Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, Disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one. No more wine, no more vineyards, no more songs or singers. The laughter of castanets is gone, the shouts of celebrants, gone, the laughter of fiddles, gone. No more parties with toasts of champagne. Serious drinkers gag on their drinks. The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns. Every house is boarded up, condemned. People riot in the streets for wine, but the good times are gone forever— no more joy for this old world. The city is dead and deserted, bulldozed into piles of rubble. That's the way it will be on this earth. This is the fate of all nations: An olive tree shaken clean of its olives, a grapevine picked clean of its grapes. But there are some who will break into glad song. Out of the west they'll shout of God 's majesty. Yes, from the east God 's glory will ascend. Every island of the sea Will broadcast God 's fame, the fame of the God of Israel. From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing: "All praise to the Righteous One!" But I said, "That's all well and good for somebody, but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom." All of them at one another's throats, yes, all of them at one another's throats. Terror and pits and booby traps are everywhere, whoever you are. If you run from the terror, you'll fall into the pit. If you climb out of the pit, you'll get caught in the trap. Chaos pours out of the skies. The foundations of earth are crumbling. Earth is smashed to pieces, earth is ripped to shreds, earth is wobbling out of control, Earth staggers like a drunk, sways like a shack in a high wind. Its piled-up sins are too much for it. It collapses and won't get up again. That's when God will call on the carpet rebel powers in the skies and Rebel kings on earth. They'll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail, Corralled and locked up in a jail, and then sentenced and put to hard labor. Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated, red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced, Because God -of-the-Angel-Armies will take over, ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem, Splendid and glorious before all his leaders.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But why dost thou judge thy brother?.... These words are spoken to the man weak in faith, that scrupled eating of certain meats, and chose rather eat none, and live on herbs, and who esteemed one day above another; and was very apt to censure and condemn such as made use of their Christian liberty in these things, though they were brethren, not in a natural or civil, but in a spiritual relation:

or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? these words, on the other hand, are directed to the stronger believer, who believed he might eat all things, and esteemed every day alike; being fully persuaded, that the distinction of meats and of days was now ceased; and such were apt to be puffed up with their superior knowledge and faith, and were ready to treat with an air of contempt those that were weak; showing little or no regard to their peace and edification, though they stood in the same relation to each other. The emphasis lies upon the word "brother", in both branches of the expostulation; and the force of the apostle's reasoning is that they should not judge or despise one another, because they were brethren, stood in the same relation to God and Christ, belonged to the same family, were partakers of the same grace, and had no pre-eminence one over another; they had but one master, and all they were brethren: and which he further enforces with the following reason or argument,

for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; at the last day, when he shall sit on his throne of glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall pronounce and execute the decisive sentence on each of them: there is a particular, and a general judgment; a particular judgment at death, when the soul is immediately consigned to bliss or woe; and a general one in the end of time; which may be proved both from reason, as from the relation creatures stand in to God, from the inequality of things in this life, and the conscious fears of men with respect to a future one; and from divine revelation, Christ will be the Judge, he is so appointed by his Father, and is every way fit for it, being God omniscient and omnipotent; and when he shall appear in his glory, he shall sit on his judgment seat, the dead will be raised, the books will be opened, and all shall be summoned to appear before him, of every age and sex, of every rank and degree, and of every character, good or bad: here the saints are particularly designed, "we shall all stand"; whether ministers or private Christians, weak or strong believers; they that are apt to judge, and others that are too ready to despise; they shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ, who is sole Judge, and shall render to every man according to his works, and from whom they shall all receive their sentence. The allusion is to human courts of judicature, in which the judge sits upon a bench, and they that are tried stand before him; see 2 Corinthians 5:10. The Alexandrian copy reads, "the judgment seat of God".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But why ... - Since we are all subjects and servants alike, and must all stand at the same tribunal, what right have we to sit in judgment on others?

Thou judge - Thou who art a “Jewish” convert, why dost thou attempt to arraign the “Gentile” disciple, as if he had violated a law of God? compare Romans 14:3.

Thy brother - God has recognised him as his friend Romans 14:3, and he should be regarded by thee as “a brother” in the same family.

Or why dost thou set at nought - Despise Romans 14:3; why dost thou, who art a “Gentile” convert, despise the “Jewish” disciple as being unnecessarily scrupulous and superstitious?

Thy brother - The Jewish convert is now a brother; and all the contempt which you Gentiles once cherished for the Jew should cease, from the fact that “he” is now “a Christian.” Nothing will do so much, on the one hand, to prevent a censorious disposition, and on the other, to prevent contempt for those who are in a different rank in life, as to remember that they are “Christians,” bought with the same blood, and going to the same heaven as ourselves.

We must all stand ... - That is, we must all be tried alike at the same tribunal; we must answer for our conduct, not to our-fellow man, but to Christ; and it does not become us to sit in judgment on each other.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 14:10. But why dost thou — Christian Jew, observing the rites of the Mosaic law, judge-condemn thy brother-the Christian Gentile, who does not think himself bound by this law?

Or why dost thou — Christian Gentile, set at nought thy Christian Jewish brother, as if he were unworthy of thy regard, because he does not yet believe that the Gospel has set him free from the rites and ceremonies of the law?

It is a true saying of Mr. Heylin, on this verse: The superstitious are prone to judge, and those who are not superstitious are prone to despise.

We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. — Why should we then judge and condemn each other? We are accountable to God for our conduct, and shall be judged at his bar; and let us consider that whatever measure we mete, the same shall be measured unto us again.