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 free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen our Lord Jesus? Aren’t you yourselves my work achieved in union with 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; for you are the seal that stamps me as an apostle in union with the Lord.

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

The defense that I make to my critics is this:

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

Haven’t we a right to food 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?

Haven’t we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other apostles and the Master’s brothers and Cephas all do?

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 give up working for our bread?

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?

Does anyone ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does anyone plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does anyone look after a herd and not drink the milk?

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

Am I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? 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 in the Law of Moses it is said – ‘You should not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it the bullocks that God is thinking of?

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 is not is said entirely for our sakes? Surely it was written for our sakes, for the plowman ought not to plow, nor the thrasher to thrash, without expecting a share of the grain.

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, then, sowed spiritual seed for you, is it too much that we should reap from you an earthly harvest?

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 share in this right over you, don’t we even more? Still we did not avail ourselves of this right. No, we endure anything rather than impede the progress of the good news of the 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?

Don’t you know that those who do the work of the Temple live on what comes from the Temple, and that those who serve at the altar share the offerings 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, too, the Master has appointed that those who tell the good news should get their living from the good news.

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.

I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die – Nobody will make my boast a vain one!

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!

If I proclaim the good news, I have nothing to boast of, for I am compelled to do so. Woe is me if I do not share 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 work willingly, I have a reward; but, if unwillingly, I have been charged to perform a duty.

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 is my reward, then? To present the good news free of all cost, and so make but a sparing use of the rights which it gives me.

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.

Although I was entirely free, yet, to win as many converts as possible, I made myself everyone’s slave.

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 like a Jew, to win Jews. To those who are subject to Law I became like a man subject to Law – though I was not myself subject to Law – to win those who are subject to 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 who have no Law I became like a man who has no Law – not that I am free from God’s Law; no, for I am under Christ’s Law – to win those who have no 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 weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so as at all costs to save some.

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

And I do everything for the sake of the good news, so that with them I may share in its blessings.

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.

Don’t you know that on a racecourse, though all run, yet only one wins the prize? Run in such a way 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.

Every athlete exercises self-restraint in everything; they, indeed, for a crown that fades, we for one that is unfading.

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, do not run aimlessly. I do not box like a man hitting 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.

No, I bruise my body and make it my slave, so that I, who have called others to the contest, will not myself be rejected.