1 Corinthians 9:1-14

Paul Surrenders His Rights

1 aAm I not free? bAm I not an apostle? cHave I not seen Jesus our Lord? dAre not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ethe seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 fDo we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 gDo we not have the right to take along a believing wife,
Greek  a sister as wife
as do the other apostles and ithe brothers of the Lord and jCephas?
6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 kWho serves as a soldier at his own expense? lWho plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

8Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses, m“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written nfor our sake, because othe plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 pIf we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, qwe have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rrather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13Do you not know that sthose who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that tthose who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

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