1 Akorinto 9
1 Kodi sindine mfulu? Kodi sindine mtumwi? Kodi sindinamuone Ambuye athu Yesu? Kodi inu sindiye zotsatira za ntchito yanga mwa Ambuye?
Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Can it be denied that I have seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you yourselves my work in the Lord?
2 Ngakhale kwa ena sindingakhale mtumwi, mosakayika ndine mtumwi kwa inu! Poti inu ndi chizindikiro cha utumwi wanga mwa Ambuye.
If to other men I am not an Apostle, yet at any rate I am one to you; for your very existence as a Christian Church is the seal of my Apostleship.
3 Kwa iwo wofuna kundizenga milandu ndimawayankha kuti:
That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
4 Kodi ife tilibe ulamuliro wakudya ndi kumwa?
Have we not a right to claim food and drink?
5 Kodi ife tilibe ulamuliro wotenga mkazi wokhulupirira nʼkumayenda naye monga amachitira atumwi ena ndi abale awo a Ambuye ndiponso Kefa?
Have we not a right to take with us on our journeys a Christian sister as our wife, as the rest of the Apostles do--and the Lord's brothers and Peter?
6 Kodi kapena ine ndekha ndi Barnaba ndiye tikuyenera kugwira ntchito kuti tipeze zotisowa?
Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
7 Ndani angagwire ntchito ya usilikali namadzipezera yekha zofunika zonse? Kodi ndani amadzala mpesa koma wosadyako zipatso zake? Ndani amaweta nkhosa koma wosamwako mkaka wake?
What soldier ever serves at his own cost? Who plants a vineyard and yet does not eat any of the grapes? Or who tends a herd of cattle and yet does not taste their milk?
8 Kodi moti zimene ndikunenazi ndimaganizo a umunthu chabe? Kodi Malamulo sakunena chimodzimodzinso?
Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?
9 Popeza analemba mʼMalamulo a Mose kuti, “Musamange ngʼombe pakamwa pamene ikupuntha tirigu.” Kodi pamene Mulungu ananena zimenezi ankalabadira za ngʼombe zokha?
For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."
10 Ndithu Iyeyo amanena za ifenso, kodi si choncho? Inde, izi anazilemba chifukwa cha ife, pakuti wolima ndiponso wopuntha, onsewo amagwira ntchito mwachiyembekezo chodzagawana zokololazo.
Is God simply thinking about the oxen? Or is it really in our interest that He speaks? Of course, it was written in our interest, because it is His will that when a plough-man ploughs, and a thresher threshes, it should be in the hope of sharing that which comes as the result.
11 Ngati tidzala mbewu yauzimu pakati panu, kodi ndi chovuta kwambiri kuti tikolole zosowa zathu kuchokera kwa inu?
If it is we who sowed the spiritual grain in you, is it a great thing that we should reap a temporal harvest from you?
12 Ngati ena ali ndi ufulu wothandizidwa ndi inu, kodi ife sitikuyenera kukhala nawo ufulu ochulukirapo? Koma ife sitinagwiritse ntchito ufulu umenewu. Mʼmalo mwake timangodzichitira chilichonse posafuna kutsekereza ena kumva Uthenga Wabwino wa Khristu.
If other teachers possess that right over you, do not we possess it much more? Yet we have not availed ourselves of the right, but we patiently endure all things rather than hinder in the least degree the progress of the Good News of the Christ.
13 Kodi simukudziwa kuti wogwira ntchito mʼNyumba ya Mulungu amapeza chakudya chawo mʼNyumbamo, ndipo kuti otumikira pa guwa lansembe amagawana zimene zaperekedwa pa guwa lansembelo.
Do you not know that those who perform the sacred rites have their food from the sacred place, and that those who serve at the altar all alike share with the altar?
14 Chomwechonso Ambuye akulamula kuti wolalikira Uthenga Wabwino azilandira thandizo lawo polalikira Uthenga Wabwinowo.
In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.
15 Koma ine sindinagwiritse ntchito ufulu woterewu. Sindikulemba izi ndi chiyembekezo choti mundichitire zoterezi. Kuli bwino ndife kusiyana nʼkuti wina alande zomwe ndimazinyadira.
But I, for my part, have not used, and do not use, my full rights in any of these things. Nor do I now write with that object so far as I myself am concerned, for I would rather die than have anybody make this boast of mine an empty one.
16 Komatu ndikamalalikira Uthenga Wabwino, sindingadzitamandire popeza ndimawumirizidwa kulalikira. Tsoka kwa ine ngati sindilalikira Uthenga Wabwino!
If I go on preaching the Good News, that is nothing for me to boast of; for the necessity is imposed upon me; and alas for me, if I fail to preach it!
17 Ngati ndikugwira ntchitoyi mwakufuna kwanga, ndili ndi mphotho; koma ngati si mwakufuna kwanga, ndiye kuti ntchitoyi ndi Ambuye anandipatsa.
And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.
18 Tsono mphotho yanga ndi chiyani? Ndi iyi: kuti polalikira Uthenga Wabwino ndiwupereke kwaulere komanso kuti ndisagwiritse ntchito ufulu wanga polalikira uthengawo.
What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.
19 Ngakhale ndine mfulu ndipo sindine kapolo wa munthu, ndimadzisandutsa kapolo wa aliyense kuti ndikope ambiri mmene ndingathere.
Though free from all human control, I have made myself the slave of all in the hope of winning as many converts as possible.
20 Kwa Ayuda ndimakhala ngati Myuda kuti ndikope Ayuda. Kwa olamulidwa ndi Malamulo ndimakhala ngati wolamulidwa nawo (ngakhale kuti sindine wolamulidwa ndi Malamulowo) kuti ndikope amene amalamulidwa ndi Malamulo.
To the Jews I have become like a Jew in order to win Jews; to men under the Law as if I were under the Law--although I am not--in order to win those who are under the Law;
21 Kwa amene alibe Malamulo ndimakhala wopanda Malamulo (ngakhale kuti sindine wopanda Malamulo a Mulungu koma ndili pansi pa ulamuliro wa Khristu) kuti ndikope wopanda Malamulo.
to men without Law as if I were without Law--although I am not without Law in relation to God but am abiding in Christ's Law--in order to win those who are without Law.
22 Kwa ofowoka ndimakhala wofowoka, kuti ndikope ofowoka. Ndimachita zinthu zilizonse kwa anthu onse kuti mwanjira ina iliyonse ndipulumutse ena.
To the weak I have become weak, so as to gain the weak. To all men I have become all things, in the hope that in every one of these ways I may save some.
23 Ndimachita zonsezi chifukwa cha Uthenga Wabwino, kuti ndigawane nawo madalitso ake.
And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
24 Kodi simukudziwa kuti pa mpikisano wa liwiro onse amathamanga ndithu, koma mmodzi yekha ndiye amalandira mphotho? Motero thamangani kuti mupate mphotho.
Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty.
25 Aliyense wochita mpikisano amakonzekera mwamphamvu. Amachita izi kuti alandire mphotho yankhata yamaluwa yomwe imafota. Koma ife timachita izi kuti tilandire mphotho yosafota.
But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish.
26 Choncho sindithamanga monga wothamanga wopanda cholinga; komanso sindichita mpikisano wankhonya monga munthu amene amangomenya mophonya.
That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air,
27 Ine ndimazunza thupi langa ndi kulisandutsa kapolo kuti nditatha kulalikira ena, ineyo ndingadzapezeke wosayenera kulandira nawo mphotho.
but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected.
