1 Corinthians 9
9
Waiving rights for the gospel
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? 2If I’m not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I’m an apostle. 3This is my defense against those who criticize me. 4Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5Don’t we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? 6Or is it only I and Barnabas who don’t have the right to not work for our living? 7Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn’t eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn’t drink its milk? 8I’m not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn’t the Law itself say these things? 9In Moses’ Law it’s written: “You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing”.#9.9 Deut 25:4 Is God worried about oxen, 10or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce. 11If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you?
12If others have these rights over you, don’t we deserve them all the more? However, we haven’t made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don’t put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. 15But I haven’t taken advantage of this. And I’m not writing this so that it will be done for me. It’s better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this! 16If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel. 17If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I’m forced to do it, then I’ve been charged with a responsibility. 18What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That’s why I don’t use the rights to which I’m entitled through the gospel.
19Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. 20I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). 21I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ). 22I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. 23All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.
24Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. 25Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. 26So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. 27Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 9
9
Paul’s Example as an Apostle
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal # Rv 5:1 of my apostleship in the Lord. 3My defense to those who examine me is this: 4Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? # 2Th 3:8-9 5Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a Christian wife # Lit a sister as a wife like the other apostles, # Jd 17 the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? # Jn 1:42 6Or do Barnabas # Ac 4:36 and I alone have no right to refrain from working? 7Who ever goes to war at his own expense? # Lk 3:14 Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock? 8Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox # Lk 13:15 while it treads out grain. # Dt 25:4 # Dt 25:4 Is God really concerned with oxen? 10Or isn’t He really saying it for us? Yes, this is written for us, # Rm 4:24 because he who plows ought to plow in hope, # Ac 23:6; 1Th 1:3 and he who threshes should do so in hope of sharing the crop. # 2Tm 2:6 11If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more?
However, we have not made use of this right; instead we endure everything # Ac 20:33-35; 2Co 6:3-10; 11:7-12 so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar # Lv 6:16,26; 7:6,31-32; Nm 5:9-10; 18:8-20,31; Dt 18:1 share in the offerings of the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. # Mt 10:8-10; Lk 10:7
15But I have used none of these rights, and I have not written this to make it happen that way for me. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! 16For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because an obligation is placed on me. And woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted # Lk 16:11 with a stewardship. 18What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my authority in the gospel. # 2Co 11:7; 12:13
19Although I am a free man and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win # 1Pt 3:1 more people. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law — though I myself am not under the law # Other mss omit though I myself am not under law — to win those under the law. # Ac 16:3; 21:23-26 21To those who are without that law, # Rm 2:12,14; Gl 2:3; 3:2 like one without the law — not being without God’s law but within Christ’s law — to win those without the law. 22To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. # Rm 11:14; 1Co 7:16 23Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits. # Lit partner of it
24Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, # Jd 3 but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. # Col 2:18 25Now everyone who competes exercises self-control # Gl 5:23 in everything. However, they do it to receive a crown # 1Pt 5:4 that will fade away, # 1Pt 1:18 but we a crown that will never fade away. 26Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified. # Heb 6:8
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