1 Corinthians 9
1 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?
Ani nsilimwangunuke? Ani nsili mutumwa? Te ndakamubona na Jesu Mwami wesu?
2 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.
Kuti nketali mutumwa kulibwami, pele ndilinguwe kulindinwe. Nkambo inywe mulichitondezyo chabutumwa bwangu muMwami.
3 That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
Echi nchili kwabilizyo changu kulabo bandi lungulula:
4 Have we not a right to claim food and drink?
Tatukwe chelelo na chakulya alubo aunywa?
5 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?
Tatukwe chelelo na chakwenda antomwe amukazi nyina, mbuli mbuba chita boonse batumwa, alubo bananyina baMwami, alubo aKefasi?
6 Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
Na takuli Bbanabbasi andime abo batakwe chelelo chakubeleka?
7 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?
Ngwani ubeleka mbuli silumamba ulifozya? Ngwani ubyala munda wamasansa aboobo atalyi muchelo yawo? Kana ngwani wembela butanga aboobo katanywi malili kuzwa kubutanga?
8 Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?
Tandambi ezi zintu kazizwa kunguzu zyamuntu? Awalo mulawu tawambi obo na?
9 For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."
Nkambo kuli lembedwe mulawo waMozesi,” mutamwangi mulomo musune ulyatuka miila.” Alimwi musune na Leza ngwayanda.
10 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.
Talikwambula atala andiswe na? Zyakalembelwa ndiswe, kaambo oyo ulima welede kulima abulangilizi, pele upola welede abulangizi bwa kwabana mubutebuzi.
11 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?
Ikuti twakabyala zintu zyamuya akati kanu, zilindide na kuti tutyole zintu zijatika kuzwa kulindinywe?
12 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.
Kuti bamwi bakali kuchita zyelelo kuzwa kulindinwe, swebo tatwelede zyindilide na? Asi tetwakayanda echi chelelo. Asikuti twaka kkakatila zintu zyoonse kuti kutabi chikachizya makani aKkilisito. Sa tamuzi na kuti abo bachita milimo yamunganda yaLeza bajana kulya kwabo munganda yaLeza?
13 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?
Sa tamuzi na kuti abo babeleka kuchipayilo babilana ezyo nzibatula echipayililo?
14 In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.
Munzila njiyeyo, Mwami wakalayilila kuti abo bakkambawuka makani mabotu belede kujana zyakuli gwasya kumakani mabotu.
15 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.
Asi tendakayanda chimwi chezyelelo ezi. Alimwi nsilembeli kuti ndichitilwe chimwi chintu. Nizyakalikabotu mendifwe. Takwe muntu uyondisampawula kukulikankayizya oku!
16 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!
Na kuti ndakambawuka makani mabotu, nsyelede kulisumpula, nkambo ndelede kuchita obo, alimwi maawe kuli ndime kuti tenda kambawuka makani mabotu!
17 And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.
Na kuti ndachita chakuyanda, ndila mpindu. Asi kuti chakutayanda ndichila bubanzi mbundakapegwa. Nimpindunzi yangu?
18 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.
Na kuti nekambawuka, ndipe vangeli katakwe mbadalo alimwi nsibwezi chelelo chizwide mumakani mabotu.
19 Though free from all human control, I have made myself the slave of all in the hope of winning as many converts as possible.
Nikuba ndangunwidwe kulizyoonse, ndakaba muzike kuliboonse kuchitila kuti ndijane zyiingi.
20 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;
Kuba Juda ndakaba mbuli muJuda, kuchitila kuti ndijane abo balimunsi amulawu. Ndakachita echi nikuba kuti nsilimunsi amulawu. (ULB ula: Ndakachita ezi ime lwangu nketali munsi lyamuwa. Magwalo achi Giliki echindi kalimache alubo kayandika abumwi bupanduluzi bwachindi asiya kunze munchali oyu.)
21 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.
Kulabo balanze amulawu, ndakaba mbuli umwi ulanze amulawo, nekuba tendakali kunze amulawo waLeza lwangu asi kunsi amulawu waKkilisito. Ndakachita ezi kuchitila kuti ndijane abo balanze amulawu.
22 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.
Kuba teteete ndakaba muteteete, kuchitila kuti ndeete bateteete. Ndakaba zintu zyoonse kubantu boonse kuchitila kuti amwi anzila zimwi ndalikufutula bamwi.
23 And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
Ndichita zintu zyoonse nkambo kamakani mabotu kuchitila kuti ndikabe achabilo muzyolwe zyamakani mabotu.
24 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.
Tamuzi na kuti mumuzundano boonse bala chijana basikuchijana muzundano, asi omwe ngujana bulumbu.
25 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.
Umwi awumwi uchijana welede kulijata muzintu zyoonse. Balazichita kuti batambule musini umana, asi tulazichita kuti tutambule oyo utamani.
26 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,
Aboobo mbubobu mbundichijana, mbuli utakwe utakwe makanze; mbubobu mbewuma, katalimbuli uwuuma luwo.
27 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.
Asi ndazunda mubili wangu alimwi nduuchita muzike, kuchitila kuti ndamana kukambawuka kuli bamwi, ime lwangu ntakajaniki abubi.
