1 CorinthiansChapter 9

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¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren't you the result of my work in the Lord? ²I may not be an apostle to others, but surely I am one to you. You are the proof that I am an apostle in the Lord. ³Here is my answer to those who judge me. ⁴Don't we have the right to food and drink? ⁵Don't we have the right to take a believing wife with us? The other apostles do this. So do the Lord's brothers and Cephas. ⁶Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who have to work for a living? ⁷Who serves as a soldier and pays his own way? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who takes care of a flock and does not drink its milk? ⁸Am I saying this only from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? ⁹It is written in the Law of Moses, "Do not tie up an ox's mouth while it is treading out the grain." Is God only thinking about oxen? ¹⁰Isn't he really speaking about us? Yes, this was written for us. The one who plows and the one who threshes should both hope to share in the harvest. ¹¹If we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to gather an earthly harvest from you? ¹²If others have this right to your support, shouldn't we have it even more? But we did not use this right. Instead, we put up with anything so we would not get in the way of the good news of Christ. ¹³Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple? Don't you know that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered there? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has commanded something for those who preach the good news. They should get their living from the good news. ¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to ask you to do something for me. I would rather die than let anyone take away my reason to boast. ¹⁶Yet when I preach the good news, I have no reason to boast. I have to preach. How terrible it will be for me if I do not preach the good news! ¹⁷If I preach because I choose to, I get a reward. But if I don't choose it, I have still been trusted with a job to do. ¹⁸So what is my reward? It is this: when I preach the good news, I can offer it for free. Then I don't use up my rights as a preacher. ¹⁹I am free and don't belong to anyone. But I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many people as I can. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, to win them. I did this even though I am not under the law myself. ²¹To those without the law I became like one without the law, to win them. I am not free from God's law. I am under the law of Christ. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people. I did this so that in every way I can, I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the good news. Then I can share in its blessings. ²⁴Don't you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? So run in a way that will win the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict control. They do it to win a crown that will not last. But we do it to win a crown that will last forever. ²⁶So I don't run without a goal. I don't fight like a boxer punching the air. ²⁷No, I train my body hard and make it my slave. I do this so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be turned away.