Berean BlueOpen the app

Scripture · New Testament

1 Corinthians 9:17

1 Corinthians 9:17 is verse 17 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.

Berean Standard Bible

If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.

BSB source and public domain terms

King James Version

For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

World English Bible

For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

Read in context

1 Corinthians 9:15–19 · Berean Standard Bible

15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

17 If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.

18 What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 9

Greek words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Study 1 Corinthians 9:17

Read the commentary on 1 Corinthians 9

Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

1 Chronicles 28:9

As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

1 Chronicles 29:5

for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”

1 Chronicles 29:9

And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the LORD freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.

1 Chronicles 29:14

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

Nehemiah 11:2

And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

2 Corinthians 8:12

For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

Philemon 1:14

But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will.

1 Peter 5:2

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

1 Peter 5:3

not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

1 Peter 5:4

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 Corinthians 3:8

He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

1 Corinthians 3:14

If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

Matthew 10:41

Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

Exodus 4:13

But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Exodus 4:14

Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

Jeremiah 20:9

If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.

Ezekiel 3:14

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

Jonah 1:3

Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 4:1

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

Jonah 4:2

So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.

Jonah 4:3

And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Malachi 1:10

“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

1 Corinthians 9:16

Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

1 Corinthians 4:1

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Matthew 24:25

See, I have told you in advance.

Luke 12:42

And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?

Galatians 2:7

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

Ephesians 3:2

Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

Ephesians 3:3

that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

Ephesians 3:4

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

Ephesians 3:5

which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

Ephesians 3:6

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:7

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

Ephesians 3:8

Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

Philippians 1:17

The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

Colossians 1:25

I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

1 Thessalonians 2:4

Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.

1 Timothy 1:11

that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

1 Timothy 1:12

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.

1 Timothy 1:13

I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.

Open in Berean Blue