1 Corinthians 9

¹⁷So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

³As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

⁷For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything.

¹¹The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”

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

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

¹²The marks of a true apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance.

¹Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

²You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

²⁷Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

¹⁶I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.

¹⁶At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.

⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

¹⁷The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

⁷You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.

⁸For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.

⁶Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it.

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

⁹Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.

⁷Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁹Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

¹⁰Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

⁶Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

⁴²Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).

¹⁴When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever.

³⁹A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

⁷I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

¹⁴With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.

²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement),

⁹Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.

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.

³Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

¹⁸Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,

²⁷You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you—food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.

¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

²⁰To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

³⁴Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.

³¹Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.

⁴⁰In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

¹³And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.

⁴Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

¹⁸For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

²⁷All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.

¹⁶You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹¹So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

¹If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.

²If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home to remain with you until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to him.

⁴For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

⁶The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops.

²³Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,

²⁴but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow, to the glory of God.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

³⁵Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.

³⁶Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.

²⁷They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings.

⁶Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

¹⁰Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.

⁹You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

¹³Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”

¹²But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

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.

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.

⁷Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.

⁶Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it.

⁷On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.

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.

⁹Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

¹⁰Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

²⁶The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.

⁹A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

²⁸And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites.

¹⁸Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?

¹The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the Lord; that is their inheritance.

²Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them.

¹⁰Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

¹⁷Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

¹⁸For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

⁴Have we no right to food and to drink?

⁶Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

⁷Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁹Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of 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.

⁹And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.

¹⁰As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.

³and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

¹⁴I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.

⁹If 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.

¹⁷Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

⁶²Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

²⁰For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

¹⁶‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

⁷On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

⁸He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

²⁵I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

⁹As 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.

⁴¹Whoever 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.

¹So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

⁷Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

⁹Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.

³³as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

⁹Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

⁶Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it.

¹³In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁵If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

³³as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

¹⁹My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,

²⁰consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

²⁶It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—

¹⁶Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

²⁰When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

²¹But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.

²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.

¹⁸Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

¹²All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

²I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

¹⁴Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

¹⁷Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

¹⁸For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

²⁰Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

³³as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

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

¹⁴in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

¹³Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.

¹⁰For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

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.

³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

³We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

⁵We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹¹I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.

⁵Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

¹¹I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

⁵Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

²⁹To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

¹²For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

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.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

⁵Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test?

⁶And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.

¹²“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

¹³“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.