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1 Corinthians 9

1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3This is my defense to those who examine me. 4Do we not have a right to eat and drink? 5Do we not have a right to take along a wife who is a sister, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not partake of the flock's milk?

8Am I saying these things merely in a human way, or does not the law say them too? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it threshes.” Is God concerned about oxen, 10or is he speaking entirely for our sake? For it was written for our sake, because the one who plows ought to plow in hope, and the one who threshes in hope of sharing the crop. 11If we sowed spiritual things for you, is it a great matter if we reap material things from you? 12If others share in this right over you, do we not even more? But we have not made use of this right. Instead, we bear everything so that we may place no obstacle in the way of the good news of Christ. 13Do you not know that those who perform the sacred services eat what comes from the temple, and those who attend the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord directed those who announce the good news to live from the good news.

15But I have made use of none of these things. Nor have I written this so that it should be done for me, for I would rather die than—no one will empty my boast! 16For if I proclaim the good news, I have nothing to boast about, because necessity is laid upon me. For woe to me if I do not proclaim the good news! 17For if I do this willingly, I have a wage; but if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a responsibility. 18What, then, is my wage? That when I proclaim the good news I make the good news free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the good news.

19For although I am free from everyone, I made myself a slave to everyone, so that I might gain more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those under law, as under law, though I myself am not under law, so that I might gain those under law; 21to those without law, as without law, though I am not without God's law but within Christ's law, so that I might gain those without law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. 23I do everything for the sake of the good news, so that I may become a fellow participant in it.

24Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25Every competitor exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I run, not aimlessly; I box, not as though beating the air. 27Instead, I batter my body and make it a slave, lest after proclaiming to others I myself should be disqualified.

Translation notes 5

9:1–7 — Apostleship and support. The seal pictures confirmation of Paul's apostleship. “Examine” repeats the language of chapters 2 and 4. “A wife who is a sister” means a believing wife, not a biological sister. Cephas is Peter's Aramaic name. The argument concerns a right to material support, including relief from earning a living through other work.

9:8–14 — Oxen, workers, and the law. The quotation is Deuteronomy 25:4. “Entirely” can also be understood as “certainly”; Paul applies the ox command to workers' provision, without pausing to explain its continuing application to animals. “Material things” translates the flesh-related adjective in contrast with spiritual things; here it means bodily necessities, not sinful possessions. Crop and what is offered on the altar are supplied from the agricultural and sacrificial settings.

9:15–18 — The interrupted sentence and the wage. The sentence in verse 15 breaks off after “than” in the base; a different Greek construction gives a smoother continuation. “Empty my boast” preserves the image of depriving the boast of its substance. “Wage,” also commonly translated reward, repeats the term used for the workers in chapter 3. His entrusted responsibility is the work of a manager; the paradox is that his wage is to offer the proclamation without charge.

9:19–23 — Freedom, slavery, and gaining people. Free, slave, law, and gain are repeated deliberately. “Within Christ's law” renders the contrasting adjective to without law; it does not insert a list of regulations. Paul's adaptation is explicitly bounded by this qualification. “Fellow participant” concerns sharing in the good news, not merely sharing the task of announcing it.

9:24–27 — Athletic discipline. The wreath is the victor's crown, here contrasted as perishable and imperishable. “Batter my body” retains the force of the boxing image; making it a slave continues the ownership language. “Disqualified” concerns failing the test or not being approved. The warning is not reduced to losing a small prize or expanded into a technical account of salvation beyond what Paul says.