1 Corinthians 9

The Rights of an Apostleⓘ

An apostle's right to support¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? ²Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: ⁴Have we no right to food and to drink? ⁵Have we no right to take along a believing wife,^a as do the other apostles and the Lordʼs brothers and Cephas?^{b 6}Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?^c

⁷✦Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

⁸✦Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesnʼt the Law say the same thing? ⁹✦For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^d Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰✦Isnʼt He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

¹¹✦If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? ¹²✦If others have this right to your support, shouldnʼt we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. Preaching free of charge¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. ¹⁸What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

Paul the Servant to Allⓘ

All things to all people¹⁹Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. ²¹To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Run Your Race to Winⓘ

Running to win the prize²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. ²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. ²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.