Paul’s Use of Freedom

9 Am I not ^(A)free? Am I not an ^(B)apostle? Have I not ^(C)seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^(D)my work in the Lord? ² If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the ^(E)seal of my ^(F)apostleship in the Lord.

³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ^4 [a](G)Do we not have a right to eat and drink? ^5 [b](H)Do we not have a right to take along a ^[c]believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^(I)brothers of the Lord, and ^[d](J)Cephas? ⁶ Or do only ^[e](K)Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from ^[f]working? ⁷ Who at any time serves ^(L)as a soldier at his own expense? Who ^(M)plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not ^[g]consume some of the milk of the flock?

⁸ I am not just asserting these things ^(N)according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “^(O)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” God is not concerned about ^(P)oxen, is He? ¹⁰ Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written ^(Q)for our sake, because ^(R)the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops. ^11 (S)If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^(T)did not use this right, but we endure all things ^(U)so that we will cause no hindrance to the ^(V)gospel of Christ. ^13 (W)Do you not know that those who ^(X)perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ^[h]from the altar? ¹⁴ So also ^(Y)the Lord directed those who proclaim the ^(Z)gospel to ^(AA)get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵ But I have ^(AB)used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make ^(AC)my boast an empty one! ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for ^(AD)I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach ^(AE)the gospel. ¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^(AF)reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a ^(AG)commission nonetheless. ¹⁸ What, then, is my ^(AH)reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^(AI)without charge, so as ^(AJ)not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am ^(AK)free from all people, I have made myself ^(AL)a slave to all, so that I may ^(AM)gain more. ^20 (AN)To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though ^(AO)not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law; ²¹ to those who are ^(AP)without the Law, I became ^(AQ)as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but ^(AR)under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law. ²² To the ^(AS)weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become ^(AT)all things to all people, ^(AU)so that I may by all means save some. ²³ I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

^24 (AV)Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives ^(AW)the prize? ^(AX)Run in such a way that you may win. ²⁵ Everyone who ^(AY)competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable ^(AZ)wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ Therefore I ^(BA)run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as ^[i]to avoid ^(BB)hitting air; ²⁷ but I strictly discipline ^(BC)my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.