1 Corinthians 9

All 27 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
2. 2Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you, for you are the proof of my apostleship in the Lord.
3. 3Here's my response to those who question me:
4. 4Don't we have the right to eat and drink?
5. 5Do we not have the right to take along a sister, a wife, as the other apostles do, along with the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
6. 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have the right to refrain from working?
7. 7Who goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink the milk of the flock?
8. 8Am I just making a human argument here? Doesn't the law itself say the same thing?
9. 9The law of Moses says, "You must not muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain." Is God really just concerned about oxen?
10. 10Or does he say this entirely for our benefit? Indeed, it was written for us, that the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should do so in hope of sharing in it.
11. 11If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much to ask if we reap your material things?
12. 12If others have the right to be supported by you, don't we have an even greater claim? But we've never used that right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than create an obstacle for the gospel of Christ.
13. 13Don't you know that those who serve in the temple eat from what the temple provides? And those who serve at the altar receive a share of the offerings?
14. 14In the same way, the Lord has directed that those who preach the gospel should earn their living from the gospel.
15. 15But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things so that this should be done for me. It would be better for me to die than for anyone to take away my reason for boasting.
16. 16Even though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for necessity is laid on me. Yes, woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17. 17If I do this willingly, I earn a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am still entrusted with a stewardship of the gospel.
18. 18So what is my reward? Simply this: that when I preach the gospel, I offer it free of charge, without making full use of the rights that come with preaching it.
19. 19Even though I'm free from all people, I've made myself a servant to everyone so that I might gain the more.
20. 20When I'm with Jews, I live like a Jew to reach Jews. When I'm with people who follow the law, I live as though I'm under the law — even though I'm not — so I can reach those under the law.
21. 21When I'm with people who don't have the law, I live as they do — though I'm never outside God's law, since I live under the law of Christ — so I can reach those without the law.
22. 22When I'm with those who are weak, I become weak to reach the weak. I've become everything to everyone so that by every possible means I might save some.
23. 23I do all of this for the sake of the gospel, so that I can share in its blessings along with you.
24. 24You know that in a race, all the runners compete, but only one wins the prize. So run to win!
25. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we aim for an imperishable one.
26. 26That's why I don't run without purpose. That's why I don't fight like someone swinging at the air.
27. 27But I discipline my body and bring it under control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be rejected.