1Cor.9.1

And don't tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I'm perfectly free to do this--isn't that obvious? Haven't I been given a job to do? Wasn't I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, our Master? Aren't you yourselves proof of the good work that I've done for the Master?

1Cor.9.1

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

1Cor.9.1

Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

1Cor.9.1

Do I not have as much freedom as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn't it because of my hard work that you are in the Lord?

1Cor.9.2

Even if no one else admits the authority of my commission, you can't deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

1Cor.9.2

Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

1Cor.9.2

If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

1Cor.9.2

Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you, for you are living proof that I am the Lord's apostle.

1Cor.9.3

I'm not shy in standing up to my critics.

1Cor.9.3

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

1Cor.9.3

My defense to those who examine me is this:

1Cor.9.3

This is my answer to those who question my authority as an apostle.

1Cor.9.4

We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations,

1Cor.9.4

Don't we have the right to food and drink?

1Cor.9.4

Do we have no right to eat and drink?

1Cor.9.4

Don't we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?

1Cor.9.5

and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don't seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master's brothers and Peter in these matters.

1Cor.9.5

Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

1Cor.9.5

Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

1Cor.9.5

Don't we have the right to bring a Christian wife along with us as the other disciples and the Lord's brothers and Peter do?

1Cor.9.6

So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way?

1Cor.9.6

Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?

1Cor.9.6

Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?

1Cor.9.6

Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves?

1Cor.9.7

Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don't milkmaids get to drink their fill from the pail?

1Cor.9.7

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?

1Cor.9.7

Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?

1Cor.9.7

What soldier has to pay his own expenses? And have you ever heard of a farmer who harvests his crop and doesn't have the right to eat some of it? What shepherd takes care of a flock of sheep and isn't allowed to drink some of the milk?

1Cor.9.8

I'm not just sounding off because I'm irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law.

1Cor.9.8

Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing?

1Cor.9.8

Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also?

1Cor.9.8

And this isn't merely human opinion. Doesn't God's law say the same thing?

1Cor.9.9

Moses wrote, "Don't muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it's threshing." Do you think Moses' primary concern was the care of farm animals?

1Cor.9.9

For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

1Cor.9.9

For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about?

1Cor.9.9

For the law of Moses says, "Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out the grain." Do you suppose God was thinking only about oxen when he said this?

1Cor.9.10

Don't you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in.

1Cor.9.10

Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

1Cor.9.10

Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.

1Cor.9.10

Wasn't he also speaking to us? Of course he was. Just as farm workers who plow fields and thresh the grain expect a share of the harvest, Christian workers should be paid by those they serve.

1Cor.9.11

So if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you?

1Cor.9.11

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

1Cor.9.11

If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?

1Cor.9.11

We have planted good spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask, in return, for mere food and clothing?

1Cor.9.12

Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don't we who have never demanded deserve even more? But we're not going to start demanding now what we've always had a perfect right to. Our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in the way or detract from the Message of Christ.

1Cor.9.12

If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

1Cor.9.12

If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.

1Cor.9.12

If you support others who preach to you, shouldn't we have an even greater right to be supported? Yet we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ.

1Cor.9.13

All I'm concerned with right now is that you not use our decision to take advantage of others, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. You know, don't you, that it's always been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the proceeds of the Temple, and that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has been sacrificed?

1Cor.9.13

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?

1Cor.9.13

Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?

1Cor.9.13

Don't you know that those who work in the Temple get their meals from the food brought to the Temple as offerings? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings.

1Cor.9.14

Along the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be supported by those who believe the Message.

1Cor.9.14

In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

1Cor.9.14

Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

1Cor.9.14

In the same way, the Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.

1Cor.9.15

Still, I want it made clear that I've never gotten anything out of this for myself, and that I'm not writing now to get something. I'd rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or impugn my motives.

1Cor.9.15

But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.

1Cor.9.15

But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void.

1Cor.9.15

Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my distinction of preaching without charge.

1Cor.9.16

If I proclaim the Message, it's not to get something out of it for myself. I'm compelled to do it, and doomed if I don't!

1Cor.9.16

Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

1Cor.9.16

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

1Cor.9.16

For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't do it!

1Cor.9.17

If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I'd expect some pay. But since it's not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid?

1Cor.9.17

If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.

1Cor.9.17

For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.

1Cor.9.17

If I were doing this of my own free will, then I would deserve payment. But God has chosen me and given me this sacred trust, and I have no choice.

1Cor.9.18

So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don't even have to pay my expenses!

1Cor.9.18

What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.

1Cor.9.18

What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

1Cor.9.18

What then is my pay? It is the satisfaction I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights as a preacher.