1 Wakorintho 9
1 Mimi si huru? Mimi si mtume? Mimi sikumwona Yesu Bwana wetu? Ninyi si matunda ya kazi yangu katika Bwana?
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 Ikiwa mimi si mtume kwa wengine, angalau ni mtume kwenu ninyi. Kwa maana ninyi ni uthibitisho wa utume wangu katika Bwana.
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 Huu ndio utetezi wangu kwa wale wanaonichunguza mimi.
That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
4 Je hatuna haki ya kula na kunywa?
Have we not a right to claim food and drink?
5 Hatuna haki kuchukua mke aliye amini kama wafanyavyo mitume wengine, na ndugu wa Bwana, na Kefa?
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 Au ni mimi peke yangu na Barnaba ambao tunapaswa kufanya kazi?
Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?
7 Ni nani afanyaye kazi kama askari kwa gharama zake mwenyewe? Ni nani apandaye mzabibu na asile matunda yake? Au ni nani achungaye kundi asiyekunywa maziwa yake?
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 Je ninasema haya kwa mamlaka ya kibinadamu? Sheria nayo haisemi haya?
Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone?
9 Kwa kuwa imeandikwa katika sheria ya Musa, “usimfunge ng'ombe kinywa apulapo nafaka.” Ni kweli kwamba hapa Mungu anajali ng'ombe?
For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."
10 Au je hasemi hayo kwa ajili yetu? imeandikwa kwa ajili yetu, kwa sababu yeye alimaye nafaka inampasa kulima kwa matumaini, naye avunaye inampasa avune kwa matarajio ya kushiriki katika mavuno.
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 Ikiwa tulipanda vitu vya rohoni miongoni mwenu, Je! Ni neno kubwa kwetu tukivuna vitu vya mwilini kutoka kwenu?
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 Ikiwa wengine walipata haki hii kutoka kwenu, Je! Sisi si zaidi? Hata hivyo, hatukuidai haki hii. Badala yake, tulivumilia mambo yote badala ya kuwa kikwazo cha injili ya Kristo.
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 Hamjui ya kuwa wote wafanyao kazi hekaluni hupata chakula chao kutoka hekaluni? Hamjui ya kuwa wote watendao kazi madhabahuni hupata sehemu ya kile kilichotolewa madhabahuni?
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 Kwa jinsi iyo hiyo, Bwana aliagiza ya kuwa wote wanaoitangaza injili sharti wapate kuishi kutokana na hiyo injili.
In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.
15 Lakini sijawadai haki zote hizi. Na siandiki haya ili jambo lolote lifanyike kwa ajili yangu. Ni heri mimi nife kuliko mtu yeyote kubatilisha huku kujisifu kwangu.
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 Maana ikiwa naihubiri injili, sina sababu ya kujisifu, kwa sababu ni lazima nifanye hivi. Na ole wangu nisipoihubiri injili!
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 Kwa maana nikifanya hivi kwa hiari yangu, nina thawabu. Lakini ikiwa si kwa hiari, bado nina jukumu nililopewa kuwa wakili.
And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me.
18 Basi thawabu yangu ni nini? Ya kuwa nihubiripo, nitaitoa injili pasipo gharama na bila kutumia kwa utimilifu wa haki yangu niliyonayo katika Injili.
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 Maana japo nimekuwa huru kwa wote, nilifanyika mtumwa wa wote, ili kwamba niweze kuwapata wengi zaidi.
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 Kwa Wayahudi nilikuwa kama Myahudi, ili niwapate Wayahudi. Kwa wale walio chini ya sheria, nilikuwa kama mmoja wao aliye chini ya sheria ili niwapate wale walio chini ya sheria. Nilifanya hivyo ingawa mimi binafsi sikuwa chini ya sheria.
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 Kwa wale walio nje ya sheria, nilikuwa kama mmoja wao nje ya sheria, ingawa mimi binafsi sikuwa nje ya sheria ya Mungu, bali chini ya sheria ya Kristo. Nilifanya hivyo ili niwapate wale walio nje ya sheria.
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 Kwa walio wanyonge nilikuwa mnyonge, ili niwapate walio wanyonge. Nimekuwa hali zote kwa watu wote, ili kwa njia zote nipate kuwaokoa baadhi.
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 Nami nafanya mambo yote kwa ajili ya injili, ili nipate kushiriki katika baraka.
And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
24 Hamjui ya kuwa katika mbio wote washindanao hupiga mbio, lakini apokeaye tuzo ni mmoja? Hivyo pigeni mbio ili mpate tuzo.
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 Mwana michezo hujizuia katika yote awapo katika mafunzo. Hao hufanya hivyo ili wapokee taji iharibikayo, lakini sisi tunakimbia ili tupate taji isiyoharibika.
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 Kwa hiyo mimi sikimbii bila sababu au napigana ngumi kama kupiga hewa.
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 Lakini nautesa mwili wangu na kuufanya kama mtumwa, ili kwamba nijapokwisha kuwahubiri wengine, mimi mwenyewe nisiwe wa kukataliwa.
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.
