1 Corinthians 9:1--12:31
The Rights of an Apostle
9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
9:2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the confirming sign of my apostleship in the Lord.
9:3 This is my defense to those who examine me.
9:4 Do we not have the right to financial support?
9:5 Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
9:6 Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work?
9:7 Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?
9:8 Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well?
9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not concerned here about oxen, is he?
9:10 Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest.
9:11 If we sowed spiritual blessings among you, is it too much to reap material things from you?
9:12 If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving?
But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
9:13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar receive a part of the offerings?
9:14 In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel.
9:15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing these things so that something will be done for me. In fact, it would be better for me to die than – no one will deprive me of my reason for boasting!
9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason for boasting, because I am compelled to do this. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
9:17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if I do it unwillingly, I am entrusted with a responsibility.
9:18 What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights in the gospel.
9:19 For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.
9:20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law.
9:21 To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law.
9:22 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.
9:23 I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.
9:24 Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win.
9:25 Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
9:26 So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air.
9:27 Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
Learning from Israel’s Failures
10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
10:5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness.
10:6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did.
10:7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
10:8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day.
10:9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.
10:10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
10:12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall.
10:13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
Avoid Idol Feasts
10:14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
10:15 I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say.
10:16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread.
10:18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?
10:19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything?
10:20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
10:22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is?
Live to Glorify God
10:23 “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up.
10:24 Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.
10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience,
10:26 for the earth and its abundance are the Lord’s.
10:27 If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is served without asking questions of conscience.
10:28 But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience –
10:29 I do not mean yours but the other person’s. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?
10:30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for the food that I give thanks for?
10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
10:32 Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God,
10:33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.
11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
Women’s Head Coverings
11:2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you.
11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
11:4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head.
11:5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head.
11:6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.
11:7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.
11:8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
11:9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.
11:10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11:11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
11:12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God.
11:13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
11:14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him,
11:15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
11:16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.
The Lord’s Supper
11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.
11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.
11:20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper.
11:21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.
11:22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!
11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
11:24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
11:25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
11:27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.
11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.
11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.
11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.
11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.
11:33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
11:34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.
Spiritual Gifts
12:1 With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
12:2 You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led.
12:3 So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
12:4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
12:5 And there are different ministries, but the same Lord.
12:6 And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.
12:7 To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.
12:8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
12:10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
12:11 It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.
Different Members in One Body
12:12 For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body – though many – are one body, so too is Christ.
12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.
12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.
12:15 If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.
12:16 And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.
12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell?
12:18 But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.
12:19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be?
12:20 So now there are many members, but one body.
12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.”
12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,
12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,
12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,
12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.
12:26 If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.
12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.
12:28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues.
12:29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they?
12:30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?
12:31 But you should be eager for the greater gifts.
And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison.