1 Corinthians 9
English Standard Version
Paul Surrenders His Rights
9 (A)Am I not free? (B)Am I not an apostle? (C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? (D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are (E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 (F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 (G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,[a] as do the other apostles and (H)the brothers of the Lord and (I)Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 (J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? (K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, (L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written (M)for our sake, because (N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 (O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, (P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything (Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that (R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that (S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 But (T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone (U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For (V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with (W)a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching (X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For (Y)though I am free from all, (Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might (AA)win more of them. 20 (AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To (AC)those outside the law I became (AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but (AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 (AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. (AG)I have become all things to all people, that (AH)by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, (AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives (AJ)the prize? So (AK)run that you may obtain it. 25 Every (AL)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we (AM)an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I (AN)do not box as one (AO)beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and (AP)keep it under control,[b] lest after preaching to others (AQ)I myself should be (AR)disqualified.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Greek a sister as wife
- 1 Corinthians 9:27 Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave
1 Corinthians 9
New American Standard Bible
Paul’s Use of Freedom
9 Am I not (A)free? Am I not an (B)apostle? Have I not (C)seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not (D)my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the (E)seal of my (F)apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 [a](G)Do we not have a right to eat and drink? 5 [b](H)Do we not have a right to take along a [c]believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the (I)brothers of the Lord, and [d](J)Cephas? 6 Or do only [e](K)Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from [f]working? 7 Who at any time serves (L)as a soldier at his own expense? Who (M)plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not [g]consume some of the milk of the flock?
8 I am not just asserting these things (N)according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “(O)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” God is not concerned about (P)oxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written (Q)for our sake, because (R)the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops. 11 (S)If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we (T)did not use this right, but we endure all things (U)so that we will cause no hindrance to the (V)gospel of Christ. 13 (W)Do you not know that those who (X)perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share [h]from the altar? 14 So also (Y)the Lord directed those who proclaim the (Z)gospel to (AA)get their living from the gospel.
15 But I have (AB)used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make (AC)my boast an empty one! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for (AD)I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach (AE)the gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a (AF)reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a (AG)commission nonetheless. 18 What, then, is my (AH)reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel (AI)without charge, so as (AJ)not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For though I am (AK)free from all people, I have made myself (AL)a slave to all, so that I may (AM)gain more. 20 (AN)To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though (AO)not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are (AP)without the Law, I became (AQ)as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but (AR)under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law. 22 To the (AS)weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become (AT)all things to all people, (AU)so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
24 (AV)Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives (AW)the prize? (AX)Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who (AY)competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable (AZ)wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I (BA)run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as [i]to avoid (BB)hitting air; 27 but I strictly discipline (BC)my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 9:4 Lit It is not that we have no right to eat and drink, is it?
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Lit It is not that we have no right to take along...Cephas, is it?
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Lit sister, as a wife
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Peter’s Aramaic name
- 1 Corinthians 9:6 Lit I and Barnabas
- 1 Corinthians 9:6 I.e., to support themselves
- 1 Corinthians 9:7 Lit eat from
- 1 Corinthians 9:13 Lit with
- 1 Corinthians 9:26 Lit not hitting
1 Corinthians 9
Common English Bible
Waiving rights for the gospel
9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? 2 If I’m not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I’m an apostle. 3 This is my defense against those who criticize me. 4 Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who don’t have the right to not work for our living? 7 Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn’t eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn’t drink its milk? 8 I’m not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn’t the Law itself say these things? 9 In Moses’ Law it’s written: You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing.[a] Is God worried about oxen, 10 or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you?
12 If others have these rights over you, don’t we deserve them all the more? However, we haven’t made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don’t put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. 15 But I haven’t taken advantage of this. And I’m not writing this so that it will be done for me. It’s better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this! 16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel. 17 If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I’m forced to do it, then I’ve been charged with a responsibility. 18 What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That’s why I don’t use the rights to which I’m entitled through the gospel.
19 Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. 20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). 21 I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ). 22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. 23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.
24 Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. 25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. 26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. 27 Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.
Footnotes
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible