Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit 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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 1:10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
- 1 Cor 10:24Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
- Rom 15:2–3Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
- 2 Cor 12:19Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
- Rom 11:14If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
- 2 Cor 11:28–29Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.