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1 Corinthians 9 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:1 - Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:2 - Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:3 - This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:4 - Don’t we have the right to food and drink?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:5 - Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas[fn]?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:6 - Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:7 - Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:8 - Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:9 - For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”[fn] Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:10 - Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:11 - If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:12 - If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:13 - Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:14 - In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:15 - But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:16 - For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:17 - If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:18 - What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:19 - Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:20 - 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), so as to win those under the law.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:21 - To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:22 - 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.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:23 - I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

The Need for Self-Discipline

Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:24 - Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:25 - Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:26 - Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
Unchecked Copy Box1Co 9:27 - No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
NIV Footnotes
That is, Peter
Deut. 25:4
NIV

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.


See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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