as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.
Parallel translations
- WEB even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
- KJV Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
- NKJV just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
- NASB just as I also please everyone in all things, not seeking my own benefit but the benefit of the many, so that they may be saved.
- NLT I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul seeks the benefit of many over his own profit, aiming at their salvation. Self-denial for others' good is his pattern.
Overview
Paul presents himself as an example of accommodating others, not to win approval selfishly but to remove obstacles to their salvation. He gladly forgoes personal advantage for the good of the many. This sets up his call to imitate him as he imitates Christ, whose self-giving love for sinners is the supreme model.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gal 1:10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
- 1 Cor 10:24No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- Rom 15:2–3Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
- 2 Cor 12:19Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.
- Rom 11:14in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.
- 2 Cor 11:28–29Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 10:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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