New Living Translation
1 Corinthians 3:9
9For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
- New International Version (NIV)For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
Context of 1 Corinthians 3:9
7It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 31 Corinthians 3:9 word by word
θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί· θεοῦ γεώργιον, θεοῦ οἰκοδομή ἐστε.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 3:9
- 1 Corinthians 3:6I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
- Matthew 9:37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
- Mark 16:20And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.
- 3 John 1:8So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.
- Psalms 65:9You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.
- Psalms 72:16May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on the hilltops. May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a field.
- Psalms 80:8You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
- Isaiah 5:1Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.
- Isaiah 27:2“In that day, sing about the fruitful vineyard.
- Isaiah 28:24Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?
- Isaiah 32:20the Lord will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely.
- Isaiah 61:3To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
- Jeremiah 2:21But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?
- Matthew 13:3He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.
- Matthew 20:1“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9For we are laborers together with God - We do nothing of ourselves, nor in reference to ourselves; we labor together in that work which God has given us to do, expect all our success from him, and refer the whole to his glory. It would perhaps be more correct to translate , we are fellow laborers of God; for, as the preposition may express the joint labor of the teachers one with another, and not with God, I had rather, with Bishop Pearce, translate as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9For we are labourers together with God - ͂ ́ ̓ ́ Theou gar esmen sunergoiWe are God‘s co-workers. A similar expression occurs in 2 Corinthians 6:1, “We then as workers together with him,” etc. This passage is capable of two significations: first, as in our translation, that they were co-workers with God; engaged with him in his work, that he and they cooperated in the production of the effect; or that it was a joint-work; as we speak of a partnercy, or of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-9Verses 5-9 The ministers about whom the Corinthians contended, were only instruments used by God. We should not put ministers into the place of God. He that planteth and he that watereth are one, employed by one Master, trusted with the same revelation, busied in one work, and engaged in one design. They have their different gifts from one and the same Spirit, for the very same purposes; and should carry on the same design heartily. Those who work hardest…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-9It is wrong to proudly identify as a follower of a human teacher because God does the real work of redemption. He deserves the honor. They are servants: See 2 Corinthians 4:5.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Translate, as the Greek collocation of words, and the emphasis on "God" thrice repeated, requires, "For (in proof that "each shall receive reward according to his own labor," namely, from God) it is of God that we are the fellow workers (laboring with, but under, and belonging to Him as His servants, 2Co 5:20; 6:1; compare Ac 15:4; see on 1Th 3:2) of God that ye are the field (or tillage), of God that ye are the building" [Alford]. "Building" is a new…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 3:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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