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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Corinthians 9</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_corinthians/9.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//1_corinthians/9-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/1_corinthians/">1 Corinthians</a> > 1 Corinthians 9</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_corinthians/8.htm" title="1 Corinthians 8">◄</a> 1 Corinthians 9 <a href="../1_corinthians/10.htm" title="1 Corinthians 10">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/1_corinthians/9.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/1_corinthians/9.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/1_corinthians/9.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/1_corinthians/9.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/1_corinthians/9.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/1_corinthians/9.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/1_corinthians/9.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">The Rights of an Apostle<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../deuteronomy/18.htm">Deuteronomy 18:1–8</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. <A name="4"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Have we no right to food and to drink? <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Have we no right to take along a believing wife,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">c</a></span> <A name="8"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Who 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? <A name="9"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">d</a></span> Is it about oxen that God is concerned? <A name="11"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Isn’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. <A name="12"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? <A name="13"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>If 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. <A name="14"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Do 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? <A name="15"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. <A name="16"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>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. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>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! <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>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. <A name="20"></a><p class="hdg">Paul the Servant to All<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. <A name="21"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>To 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. <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>To 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. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>To 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. <A name="24"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. <A name="25"></a><p class="hdg">Run Your Race to Win<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Do 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. <A name="26"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Everyone 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. <A name="27"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. <span class="reftext"><a href="/1_corinthians/9-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">5</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Literally <i>take along a sister—a wife—</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">5</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> That is, Peter<br><span class="fnverse">6</span> <span class="footnotesbot">c</span> Literally <i>Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have authority not to work?</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">9</span> <span class="footnotesbot">d</span> <a href="../deuteronomy/25.htm#4">Deuteronomy 25:4</a><br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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