Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
- BSB Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
- NKJV Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
- NASB 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.
- NLT Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
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
In a race all the runners compete, but only one wins the prize—so run to win. The Christian life calls for wholehearted, disciplined effort.
Overview
Paul draws on the familiar Isthmian games near Corinth to urge earnestness in the Christian life. As athletes strive to win, so believers must pursue their calling with focused determination. The point is not that only one Christian is saved, but that each should run with the wholehearted intensity of one seeking the prize. This exhortation flows from his own self-discipline for the gospel's sake.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Phil 3:14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
- Heb 12:1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- 2 Tim 4:7–8I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
- Rev 3:11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
- Phil 2:16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
- Gal 5:7Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
- 1 Cor 9:26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
- Jer 12:5If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
- Jas 1:12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
- Gal 2:2And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
- Eccl 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
- Ps 19:5Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
- Col 2:18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
- Hos 12:10I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
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 9:24 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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