1 Corinthians 9

1 I am certainly free [to do all the things that God allows me to do.] [RHQ] I am an apostle. [RHQ] [You] certainly [know that] I have seen Jesus our Lord. [RHQ] It is a result of my work that you [have believed in] the Lord [Jesus]. [RHQ]

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 And even though other people may think that I am not an apostle, you certainly should know that I am an apostle. [Remember that] your having become Christians [MET] [as a result of my telling you about] the Lord (confirms/shows that it is true) that I am an apostle.

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 In order to defend myself, this [is what I say] to those who criticize me [by claiming that I do not act like an apostle].

That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.

4 As for Barnabas and me, we certainly have the right [as apostles] to receive [from you and other congregations] food and drink [for our work]. [RHQ]

Have we not a right to claim food and drink?

5 [We have the] same right [that] the other apostles and the Lord Jesus’ [younger] brothers and [especially] Peter have. They all take along a wife who is a believer [when they travel various places in order to tell people about Christ. And they have a right that the people whom they work among will support their wives, too]. So Barnabas and I certainly have those same rights. [RHQ]

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 It would be ridiculous to think that Barnabas and I are the only apostles who must work to earn money to pay our expenses [while we are doing God’s work! [RHQ]]

Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?

7 Soldiers certainly do not pay their own wages. [RHQ] Those who plant a vineyard would certainly eat some of the grapes [when they become ripe]. [RHQ] Those who care for sheep would certainly drink the milk from those sheep. [RHQ] [Similarly, those who tell others about Christ certainly have a right to receive] ([financial help/food]) [from the people to whom they preach].

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 I am saying that, not only because people think that it is right. [RHQ] [No], I am [RHQ] saying it because it is what [God said] in the laws [that he gave to Moses].

Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?

9 Moses wrote in one of those laws, “While an ox is threshing [grain], you must not tie its mouth shut [so that it cannot eat the grain].” (God was not only concerned about oxen [when he gave that law]./Was God [only] concerned about oxen [when he gave that law]?) [RHQ]

For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."

10 [No], he was [RHQ] concerned about us, also! Yes, [God caused Moses to] write those words [because he is concerned] about us! Those who plow the ground confidently expect [to eat some of] the crop [that grows]. Those who thresh grain confidently expect [to eat some of the grain that they thresh. Similarly, we who proclaim the message about Christ have the right to confidently expect to receive financial help for our work].

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 And because we have proclaimed God’s message to you, we certainly have the right to receive from you the things that we need for our bodies [MET]! [MET, RHQ]

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 Since other people [who preached to you] had that right, certainly Barnabas and I have the same right. [RHQ] However, neither of us insisted [that you give us the things that] we have a right [to receive from you]. Instead, we were willing to endure anything in order that we not hinder [anyone from believing] the message about 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 You should keep in mind that [the priests and servants] in the Temple eat [some of the food that people bring to] the Temple. [RHQ] Specifically, the priests who work at the altar eat some of [the food that the people bring to sacrifice on] 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 the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the good message [about him] should receive from [those who hear that] message what they need to live on.

In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.

15 However, I have not requested that you [give me] those things that I have a right [to receive from you]. Furthermore, I am writing this to you, not in order to request you to begin [giving me financial help now]. I would rather die than to [receive help from you]. I do not want anyone to prevent me from boasting [about my proclaiming God’s message to you without receiving financial help from you].

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 When I proclaim the message about Christ, I cannot boast [about doing it], because [Christ] has commanded me [to do it]. I would be very miserable (OR, [I am afraid that] God would punish me) if I did not proclaim that message.

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 If I had decided by myself to proclaim it, [God] would reward me. But I did not decide by myself to do that. I am simply doing the work that [God] entrusted to me.

And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.

18 So perhaps you wonder what my reward is. [RHQ] [I will tell you]. When I proclaim the good message [about Christ], I do not ask people for financial help. It [makes me very happy not to ask for help, and being happy is the] reward I get. I do not want to use the rights that I have [when I proclaim] the 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 I am not obligated to do what anyone else thinks that I should do. Nevertheless, when I have been with any group of people, I have made myself [do what they believed that I should do, just like a slave does what his master wants him to do]. I have done that in order that I might convince more people [to trust in Christ].

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 Specifically, when I was with fellow Jews, I did the things that Jews [think that people should do]. I did that in order that I might convince some of them [to trust in Christ]. Although I am now not obligated to obey the Jewish laws and rituals, when I was with those who believe that they are obligated to obey those laws, I did the things that they [think that people should do]. I did that in order to convince some of them [to trust in Christ].

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 When I was with (non-Jews/those who do not know those laws), I did the things that non-Jews [think that people should do], in order that I might convince some of them [to trust in Christ]. I do not mean that I disobey God’s laws. No, I obey the things that Christ commanded us to do.

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 When I was with those who doubt [whether God will permit them to do certain things that others] ([disapprove of/think it is not right to do]), I [avoided doing those things], in order that I might convince some of them [to trust in Christ]. In summary, I have done all the things [that the people I have been with think that others should do], in order that by every possible means I might convince some of them [to trust in Christ].

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 I do all these things in order that [more people will believe] the message about Christ, and in order that I, along with other believers, may receive the good things [that God promises to give us].

And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.

24 When people run in a race, they all run, but only one of them wins the race and as a result gets a prize. You certainly know that [RHQ]. So, [just like] runners [exert themselves fully to win a race] [MET], [you should exert yourselves fully to do the things that God wants you to do], in order that you may receive the reward [that God wants to give you].

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 All athletes exercise their bodies strenuously in many ways. They do that in order to receive a wreath [as a reward to wear on their heads]. Those wreaths fade, but we will receive a reward that will last forever [LIT].

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 For that reason, I [try hard to please God] [MET], [like a] runner who runs toward the goal [LIT]. I [try hard to accomplish what God wants me to accomplish, like] a boxer tries hard to hit his opponent, not to miss hitting him.

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 I beat my body [to make it do what I want it to do] [MET], [as] slaves [obey their masters], in order that, after I have proclaimed [God’s message] to others, he will not [say that I do] not deserve to receive a reward.

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.