1 Corinthians · Chapter 9
1 Corinthians 9
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain · Source credits
The Rights of an Apostle
(Deuteronomy 18:1–8)
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?
2Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:
4Have we no right to food and to drink?
5Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?*
6Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?*
7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?
8Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
9For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?*
10Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.
11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you?
12If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
13Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?
14In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15But 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.
16Yet 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!
17If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.
18What 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.
Paul the Servant to All
19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.
21To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.
22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Run Your Race to Win
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.
27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Source notes
- 9:5 Literally take along a sister—a wife— That is, Peter
- 9:6 Literally Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have authority not to work?
- 9:9 Deuteronomy 25:4 Read Deuteronomy 25:4
Old Testament references
References from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Text from the Berean Standard Bible.
Deuteronomy 25:4Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
Song of Solomon 4:9You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.
Song of Solomon 4:10How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.
Song of Solomon 4:12My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.
Song of Solomon 5:1I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Song of Solomon 5:2I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”
Deuteronomy 20:6Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.
Proverbs 27:18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
Song of Solomon 8:12But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
Jeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.
Proverbs 27:27You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you— food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.
Isaiah 7:22and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.