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?

Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

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.

If I am not an apostle to others, yet at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

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

My defense to those who are judging me is this:

4 Have we not a right to claim food and drink?

Do we have no right to eat and drink?

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?

Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, just as the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

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

Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to forego working?

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?

Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

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

I am not saying these things as a mere man, am I? Does not the Law also say the same?

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

For it stands written in the Law of Moses: “You shall not muzzle an ox that is threshing.” Is it really about the oxen that God is concerned,

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.

or does He surely say it for our sakes? Yes, it was written for us, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.

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?

Since we planted spiritual things in you, is it a big deal if we reap material things from you?

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.

If others have a share in this right from you, do not we even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but we put up with everything so as not to cause any hindrance to the Gospel of Christ.

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?

Do you not know that those who minister the sacred things eat from the temple, and those who serve at the altar have a share in the altar?

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

So also the Lord has instructed those who proclaim the Gospel to live from the Gospel.

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.

Now I have not used any of these rights, nor have I written these things that it should be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void

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!

—I cannot boast because I preach the Gospel, because I am compelled to do so; indeed, woe is me if I do not preach it!

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

(If I do this of my own volition, I have a reward; but if otherwise, I have been entrusted with a commission.)

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.

So what is my reward? That when I evangelize I may present the Gospel of Christ without charge, so as not to use my rights in the Gospel.

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.

Though being free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, in order that I might win the more:

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;

To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those under law as under law, that I might win those under law;

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.

to those without law as without law (not being without law toward God but under law toward Christ), that I might win those without law;

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.

to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

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

Now I do this for the sake of the Gospel, so as to become its partner.

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.

Do you not know that in a stadium race all the runners run, but one gets the prize? Run like that, so that you may win.

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.

All athletic competitors exercise general self-control—they do it in order to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

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,

So that is how I ‘run’, with a definite goal; that is how I fight, with well-aimed blows.

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.

Yes, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, having preached to others, I myself should be rejected.