1 Corinthians 9
1 Am I not an Apostle? am I not free? haue I not seene Iesus Christ our Lord? are ye not my worke in the Lord?
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 If I be not an Apostle vnto other, yet doutlesse I am vnto you: for ye are the seale of mine Apostleship in the Lord.
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 My defence to them that examine mee, is this,
That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
4 Haue we not power to eat and to drinke?
Have we not a right to claim food and drink?
5 Or haue we not power to lead about a wife being a sister, as well as the rest of the Apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
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 Or I only and Barnabas, haue not we power not to worke?
Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his owne coste? who planteth a vineyarde, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flocke, and eateth not of the milke of the flocke?
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 Say I these thinges according to man? saith not the Lawe the same also?
Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?
9 For it is written in the Lawe of Moses, Thou shalt not mussell the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne: doeth God take care for oxen?
For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."
10 Either saith hee it not altogether for our sakes? For our sakes no doubt it is written, that he which eareth, should eare in hope, and that he that thresheth in hope, should be partaker of his hope.
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 If wee haue sowen vnto you spirituall thinges, is it a great thing if we reape your carnall thinges?
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 If others with you bee partakers of this power, are not we rather? neuerthelesse, we haue not vsed this power: but suffer all things, that we should not hinder the Gospel of Christ.
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 Doe ye not knowe, that they which minister about the holy things, eate of the things of the Temple? and they which waite at the altar, are partakers with the altar?
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 So also hath the Lord ordeined, that they which preach ye Gospel, should liue of the Gospel.
In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.
15 But I haue vsed none of these things: neither wrote I these things, that it should be so done vnto me: for it were better for me to die, then that any man should make my reioycing vaine.
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 For though I preach the Gospel, I haue nothing to reioyce of: for necessitie is laid vpon me, and woe is vnto me, if I preach not the Gospel.
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 For if I do it willingly, I haue a reward, but if I do it against my will, notwithstanding the dispensation is committed vnto me.
And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.
18 What is my reward then? verely that when I preach the Gospel, I make the Gospel of Christ free, that I abuse not mine authoritie in ye Gospel.
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 For though I bee free from all men, yet haue I made my selfe seruant vnto all men, that I might winne the moe.
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 And vnto the Iewes, I become as a Iewe, that I may winne the Iewes: to them that are vnder the Lawe, as though I were vnder the Lawe, that I may winne them that are vnder the Lawe:
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 To them that are without Lawe, as though I were without Lawe, (when I am not without Lawe as pertaining to God, but am in the Lawe through Christ) that I may winne them that are without Lawe:
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 To the weake I become as weake, that I may winne the weake: I am made all thinges to all men, that I might by all meanes saue some.
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 And this I doe for the Gospels sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
24 Knowe ye not, that they which runne in a race, runne all, yet one receiueth the price? so runne that ye may obtaine.
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 And euery man that proueth masteries, abstaineth from all things: and they do it to obtaine a corruptible crowne: but we for an vncorruptible.
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 I therefore so runne, not as vncertainely: so fight I, not as one that beateth the ayre.
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 But I beate downe my body, and bring it into subiection, lest by any meanes after that I haue preached to other, I my selfe should be reproued.
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.
