< 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 a freeman? 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 to others I am not an Apostle, yet, to you, at least, I am; for the seal of my apostleship, are you, in the Lord.
3 That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
My answer to them who condemn me, is this:
4 Have we not a right to claim food and drink?
Have we not liberty to eat, and to 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?
Have we not liberty to lead about a sister wife, as the other Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
6 Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
Or, have I, only, and Barnabas, not liberty to forbear 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, at any time, serves in the wars, on his own charges? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who feeds a flock, and does not eat of the milk of the flock?
8 Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?
Do I speak these things as a man? Or does not the law also say these things?
9 For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."
For, in the law of Moses it is written, "You shall not muzzle the ox treading out the corn." Does God take care of the oxen?
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 command this chiefly for our sakes? For our sakes, certainly, it is written: because, he who plows, ought to plough in hope; and he who threshes in hope, ought to partake of his own 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?
If we have sown for you spiritual things, is it a great matter, if we shall reap your carnal things?
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 partake of this authority over you, ought not we, rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power; but we bear all things, that we may not give 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 they who perform sacred offices, eat from the temple? Do not they who wait at the altar share with 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 appointed them who announce the gospel, to live by 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.
But I have used none of these privileges; neither have I written these things that it should be done to me: for it were good for me rather to die, than that any one 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!
For when I declared the gospel, I have nothing to boast of; because necessity is laud upon me: yes, woe awaits me if I declare not the gospel.
17 And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.
Now, if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but, if against my will, still I am intrusted with the stewardship.
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.
What, then, is my reward? that, when declaring the gospel, I shall exhibit the gospel of Christ without charge, in order that I may not abuse my power 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.
For, though I be a freeman, with respect to all; I have made myself a servant to all, that I might gain 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;
So, to the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews: to those under the law, (though not under the law) as under the law, that I might gain those under the 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 to God, but under law to Christ, ) that I might gain those that are 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 gain the weak. To all, I have become all things, that, by all means, I might same some.
23 And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
Now, this I do for the sake of the gospel, and that I may become a joint partaker of its rewards.
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 they who run a race, all run, but one only receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold of the prize?
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.
Now, every one who contends is temperate in all things: they, indeed, that they may receive a fading crown; but we, one that does not fade.
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,
I, therefore, so run, as not out of view. So I fight, not as beating the air:
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.
but, I mortify my body, and keep it in subjection; lest, perhaps, having proclaimed to others, I myself should not be accepted.

< 1 Corinthians 9 >