11:1 You must be imitators of me, to the degree that I also imitate Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brothers,[1] that you have remembered me in all things and hold to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
3 Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of woman is the man,[2] and the head of Christ[3] is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying having something down over his head brings shame to his head. 5 But every woman praying or prophesying with the head uncovered brings shame to her own head;[4] for it is one and the same as having been shaved. 6 For if a woman is not covered, she should also cut off her hair. But if it is shameful for a woman to cut off or shave her hair, she should be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover the head, being the image and glory of God; but woman[5] is the glory of man. 8 For man is not out of woman but woman out of man. 9 For also man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. 10 Because of this the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the messengers.[6]
11 However, neither is man apart from[7] woman nor woman apart from man[8] in the Lord. 12 For just as the woman is out of the man, so also the man is through the woman. But all things are of God. 13 You judge among yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? 14 Or does not even custom[9] itself[10] teach you that if indeed a man should wear long hair, it is a shame to him? 15 But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her? For long hair has been given[11] as a covering. 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the assemblies of God.
[1] Verse 2 – Byz, M & TR read ἀδελφοί, brothers. Tis, WH & NU, following more than a dozen Grk MSS, omit ἀδελφοί.
[2] Verse 3 – Both here and throughout this passage, the Grk words for woman…man (γυναικὸς ὁ ἀνήρ) can also be translated as wife and husband, respectively.
[3] Verse 3 – Byz, M & TR read Χριστοῦ, Christ. Tis, WH & NU, following more than a dozen Grk MSS, read τοῦ Χριστοῦ, the Christ.
[4] Verse 5 – Byz, M & TR read τὴν κεφαλὴν ἑαυτῆς, her own head (literally, the head of herself). Tis, WH & NU, following several dozen Grk MSS, read τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῆς, her head (literally, the head of her).
[5] Verse 7 – Byz, M & TR read γυνὴ, woman. Tis, WH & NU, following a dozen or more Grk MSS, read ἡ γυνὴ, the woman.
[6] Traditionally rendered angels, which is a transliteration (rather than a translation) of the Grk ἀγγέλους.
[7] Or, independent of.
[8] Verse 11 – The translation is based on the reading in Byz, M & TR: Πλὴν οὔτε ἀνὴρ χωρὶς γυναικός, οὔτε γυνὴ χωρὶς ἀνδρός, ἐν Κυρίῳ. Tis, WH & NU, following a couple dozen Grk MSS, read Πλὴν οὔτε γυνὴ χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς οὔτε ἀνὴρ χωρὶς γυναικὸς ἐν κυρίῳ, However, neither is woman apart from man nor man apart from woman in the Lord.
[9] Traditionally translated nature.
[10] Verse 14 – Byz, M & TR read Ἢ οὐδὲ αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις, Or not even herself the custom. Tis, WH & NU, following more than a dozen Grk MSS, read οὐδὲ ἡ φύσις αὐτὴ, Not even the custom herself.
[11] Verse 15 – Byz reads δέδοται, has been given. M, TR, Tis & WH, following more than a dozen Grk MSS, read δέδοται αὐτῇ (has been given to her). More than a dozen other Grk MSS read αὐτῇ δέδοται (to her has been given). NU brackets the pronoun (i.e., [αὐτῇ]) to indicate doubtfulness.