1 Corinthians 9-11

GOD’S WORD Translation

Paul’s Right to Be Paid for His Work as an Apostle

9 Don’t you agree that I’m a free man? Don’t you agree that I’m an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you the result of my work for the Lord? ² If I’m not an apostle to other people, at least I’m an apostle to you. You are the seal which proves that I am the Lord’s apostle. ³ This is how I defend myself to those who cross-examine me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take our wives along with us like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas ^[a] do? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who don’t have any rights, except to find work to support ourselves?

⁷ Does a soldier ever serve in the army at his own expense? Does anyone plant a vineyard and not eat the grapes? Does anyone take care of a flock and not drink milk from the sheep? ⁸ Am I merely stating some human rule? Don’t Moses’ Teachings say the same thing? ⁹ Moses’ Teachings say, “Never muzzle an ox when it is threshing ^[b] grain.” God’s concern isn’t for oxen. ¹⁰ Isn’t he speaking entirely for our benefit? This was written for our benefit so that the person who plows or threshes should expect to receive a share of the crop. ¹¹ If we have planted the spiritual seed that has been of benefit to you, is it too much if we receive part of the harvest from your earthly goods? ¹² If others have the right to expect this from you, don’t we deserve even more? But we haven’t used our rights. Instead, we would put up with anything in order not to hinder the Good News of Christ in any way.

¹³ Don’t you realize that those who work at the temple get their food from the temple? Don’t those who help at the altar get a share of what is on the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who spread the Good News should earn their living from the Good News.

¹⁵ I haven’t used any of these rights, and I haven’t written this in order to use them now. I would rather die than have anyone turn my bragging into meaningless words. ¹⁶ If I spread the Good News, I have nothing to brag about because I have an obligation to do this. How horrible it will be for me if I don’t spread the Good News! ¹⁷ If I spread the Good News willingly, I’ll have a reward. But if I spread the Good News unwillingly, I’m ⌞only⌟ doing what I’ve been entrusted to do.

¹⁸ So what is my reward? It is to spread the Good News free of charge. In that way I won’t use the rights that belong to those who spread the Good News.

Paul’s Work as an Apostle

¹⁹ Although I’m free from all people, I have made myself a slave for all people to win more of them. ²⁰ I became Jewish for Jewish people. I became subject to the laws in Moses’ Teachings for those who are subject to those laws. I did this to win them even though I’m not subject to Moses’ Teachings. ²¹ I became like a person who does not have Moses’ Teachings for those who don’t have those teachings. I did this to win them even though I have God’s teachings. I’m really subject to Christ’s teachings. ²² I became like a person weak in faith to win those who are weak in faith. I have become everything to everyone in order to save at least some of them. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the Good News in order to share what it offers.

²⁴ Don’t you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win. ²⁵ Everyone who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training. They do it to win a temporary crown, but we do it to win one that will be permanent. ²⁶ So I run—but not without a clear goal ahead of me. So I box—but not as if I were just shadow boxing. ²⁷ Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.

Learn from What Happened in the Time of Moses

10 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that all our ancestors ⌞who left Egypt⌟ were under the cloud, and they all went through the sea. ² They were all united with Moses by baptism in the cloud and in the sea. ³ All of them ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Yet, God was not pleased with most of them, so their dead bodies were scattered over the desert.

⁶ These things have become examples for us so that we won’t desire what is evil, as they did. ⁷ So don’t worship false gods as some of them did, as Scripture says, “The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy.” ⁸ We shouldn’t sin sexually as some of them did. Twenty-three thousand of them died on one day. ⁹ We shouldn’t put the Lord ^[c] to the test as some of them did. They were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ Don’t complain as some of them did. The angel of death destroyed them. ¹¹ These things happened to make them an example for others. These things were written down as a warning for us who are living in the closing days of history. ¹² So, people who think they are standing firmly should be careful that they don’t fall.

¹³ There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape.

Stay Away from Worshiping False Gods

¹⁴ Therefore, my dear friends, get as far away from the worship of false gods as you can.

¹⁵ I’m talking to intelligent people. Judge for yourselves what I’m saying. ¹⁶ When we bless the cup of blessing aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? When we break the bread aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one loaf, we are one body, although we are many individuals. All of us share one loaf.

¹⁸ Look at the people of Israel from a human point of view. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share what is on the altar? ¹⁹ Do I mean that an offering made to a false god is anything, or that a false god itself is anything? ²⁰ Hardly! What I am saying is that these sacrifices which people make are made to demons and not to God. I don’t want you to be partners with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot participate at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. ²² Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we stronger than he is?

²³ Someone may say, “I’m allowed to do anything,” but not everything is helpful. I’m allowed to do anything, but not everything encourages growth. ²⁴ People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves. ²⁵ Eat anything that is sold in the market without letting your conscience trouble you. ²⁶ Certainly, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything it contains is his.” ²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you ⌞to his house for dinner⌟, and you wish to go, eat anything he serves you without letting your conscience trouble you. ²⁸ However, if someone says to you, “This was sacrificed to a god,” don’t eat it because of the one who informed you and because of conscience. ²⁹ I’m not talking about your conscience but the other person’s conscience. Why should my freedom be judged by someone else’s conscience? ³⁰ If I give thanks to God for the food I eat, why am I condemned for that? ³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God. ³² Don’t cause others to stumble, whether they are Jewish, Greek, or members of God’s church. ³³ I try to please everyone in every way. I don’t think about what would be good for me but about what would be good for many people so that they might be saved.

11 Imitate me as I imitate Christ.

Advice about Worship

² I praise you for always thinking about me and for carefully following the traditions that I handed down to you.

³ However, I want you to realize that Christ has authority over every man, a husband has authority over his wife, and God has authority over Christ. ⁴ Every man who covers his head when he prays or speaks what God has revealed dishonors the one who has authority over him. ⁵ Every woman who prays or speaks what God has revealed and has her head uncovered while she speaks dishonors the one who has authority over her. She is like the woman who has her head shaved. ⁶ So if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should cut off her hair. If it’s a disgrace for a woman to cut off her hair or shave her head, she should cover her head. ⁷ A man should not cover his head. He is God’s image and glory. The woman, however, is man’s glory. ⁸ Clearly, man wasn’t made from woman but woman from man. ⁹ Man wasn’t created for woman but woman for man. ¹⁰ Therefore, a woman should wear something on her head to show she is under ⌞someone’s⌟ authority, out of respect for the angels.

¹¹ Yet, as believers in the Lord, women couldn’t exist without men and men couldn’t exist without women. ¹² As a woman came into existence from a man, so men come into existence by women, but everything comes from God.

¹³ Judge your own situation. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Doesn’t nature itself teach you that it is disgraceful for a man to have long hair? ¹⁵ Doesn’t it teach you that it is a woman’s pride to wear her hair long? Her hair is given to her in place of a covering. ¹⁶ If anyone wants to argue about this ⌞they can’t, because⌟ we don’t have any custom like this—nor do any of the churches of God.

¹⁷ I have no praise for you as I instruct you in the following matter: When you gather, it results in more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church you split up into opposing groups. I believe some of what I hear. ¹⁹ Factions have to exist in order to make it clear who the genuine believers among you are.

²⁰ When you gather in the same place, you can’t possibly be eating the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ Each of you eats his own supper ⌞without waiting for each other⌟. So one person goes hungry and another gets drunk. ²² Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Do you despise God’s church and embarrass people who don’t have anything to eat? What can I say to you? Should I praise you? I won’t praise you for this. ²³ After all, I passed on to you what I had received from the Lord.

On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread ²⁴ and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” ²⁵ When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, “This cup is the new promise ^[d] made with my blood. Every time you drink from it, do it to remember me.” ²⁶ Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷ Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the Lord’s cup in an improper way will be held responsible for the Lord’s body and blood. ²⁸ With this in mind, individuals must determine whether what they are doing is proper when they eat the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹ Anyone who eats and drinks is eating and drinking a judgment against himself when he doesn’t recognize the Lord’s body.

³⁰ This is the reason why many of you are weak and sick and quite a number ⌞of you⌟ have died. ³¹ If we were judging ourselves correctly, we would not be judged. ³² But when the Lord judges us, he disciplines us so that we won’t be condemned along with the rest of the world.

³³ Therefore, brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴ Whoever is hungry should eat at home so that you don’t have a gathering that brings judgment on you.

I will give directions concerning the other matters when I come.