1 Corinthians 9

9 ¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me: ⁴ Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ⁵ Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ⁷ Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk of the flock?

⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Does not the law say the same? ⁹ For in the law of Moses it is written, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it for oxen that our Father is concerned? ¹⁰ Or does he say it entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of a share in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this right over you, do not we even more? But we have not made use of this right; instead we endure all things, so as to put no obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Do you not know that those who perform the temple services eat from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living from the gospel. ¹⁵ But I have made no use of any of these rights, and I am not writing this so that it might be done for me. For I would rather die than have anyone take away my reason to boast. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no reason to boast, since I am compelled to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if unwillingly, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in preaching I may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, so that I might win more of them. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I am not myself under the law), to win those under the law. ²¹ To those without the law I became as one without the law (though I am not without the law of our Father, but under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may win it. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly, and I do not shadowbox. ²⁷ Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under control, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.