Genesis to Revelation Bible
Reading Plan
November 25
1 Corinthians 9-12
Chapter 9
Paul’s Use of Liberty
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?
2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal
of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
4 Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
5 Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest
of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working?
7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard
and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the
milk of the flock?
8 I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does
not the Law also say these things?
9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle the ox
while he is threshing.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He?
10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written,
because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope
of sharing the crops.
11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material
things from you?
12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did
not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance
to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of
the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from
the altar?
14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their
living from the gospel.
15 But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things
so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than
have any man make my boast an empty one.
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion;
for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I
have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the
gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all,
so that I may win more.
20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are
under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law,
so that I might win those who are under the Law;
21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without
the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are
without law.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all
things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow
partaker of it.
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives
the prize?Run in such a way that you may win.
25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.
They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way,
as not beating the air;
27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached
to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Chapter 10
Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were
all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 and all ate the same spiritual food;
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual
rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were
laid low in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave
evil things as they also craved.
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The
people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand
fell in one day.
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the
serpents.
10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written
for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but
with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be
able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.
16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake
of the one bread.
18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers
in the altar?
19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that
an idol is anything?
20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice
to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot
partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He,
are we?
23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are
lawful, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions
for conscience’ sake;
26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains.
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything
that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.
28 But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do
not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake;
29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my
freedom judged by another’s conscience?
30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for
which I give thanks?
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God.
32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;
33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit
but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.
Chapter 11
Christian Order
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold
firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and
the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
4 Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces
his head.
5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying
disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is
shaved.
6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut
off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her
head shaved, let her cover her head.
7 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and
glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;
9 for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for
the man’s sake.
10 Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because
of the angels.
11 However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man
independent of woman.
12 For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth
through the woman; and all things originate from God.
13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her
head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is
a dishonor to him,
15 but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given
to her for a covering.
16 But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice,
nor have the churches of God.
17 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come
together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that
divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.
19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved
may become evident among you.
20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry
and another is drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise
the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to
you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
The Lord’s Supper
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that
the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body,
which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup
is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread
and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does
not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will
not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come
together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.
Chapter 12
The Use of Spiritual Gifts
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to
be unaware.
2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the
mute idols, however you were led.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God
says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is
Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in
all persons.
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good.
8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another
the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing
by the one Spirit,
10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy,
and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds
of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each
one individually just as He wills.
12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members
of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews
or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it
is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the
body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole
were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just
as He desired.
19 If they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now there are many members, but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or
again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem
to be weaker are necessary;
23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these
we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much
more
presentable,
24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so
composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may
have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member
is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations,
various kinds of tongues.
29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are
not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues,
do they? All do not interpret, do they?
31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way.
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)