Passage

1 Corinthians 9.15

Book: 1 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"13. Know ye not that they that minister about sacred things eat of the things of the temple, and they that wait upon the altar have their portion with the altar? 14. Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel."

"15. But I have used none of these things: and I write not these things that it may be so done in my case; for it were good for me rather to die, than that any man should make my glorifying void."

"16. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel. 17. For if I do this of mine own will, I have a reward: but if not of mine own will, I have a stewardship intrusted to me." (1 Corinthians 9:13-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"13. Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? 14. Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News."

"15. But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void."

"16. For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don’t preach the Good News. 17. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me." (1 Corinthians 9:13-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"13. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? ^{live: or, feed} 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."

"15. But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void."

"16. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! 17. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." (1 Corinthians 9:13-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"13. Have ye not known that those working about the things of the temple, of the temple do eat, and those waiting at the altar, with the altar are partakers? 14. so also did the Lord direct to those proclaiming the good news: of the good news to live."

"15. And I have used none of these things; neither did I write these things that it may be so done in my case, for [it is] good for me rather to die, than that any one may make my glorying void;"

"16. for if I may proclaim good news, it is no glorying for me, for necessity is laid upon me, and woe is to me if I may not proclaim good news; 17. for if willing I do this, I have a reward; and if unwillingly, with a stewardship I have been entrusted!" (1 Corinthians 9:13-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.