Common English Bible CEB
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord?
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Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
2 If I'm not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I'm an apostle.
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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 against those who criticize me.
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This is my defense to those who would examine me.
4 Don't we have the right to eat and drink?
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Do we not have the right to our food and drink?
5 Don't we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?
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Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who don't have the right to not work for our living?
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Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
7 Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn't drink its milk?
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Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8 I'm not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn't the Law itself say these things?
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Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law say the same?
9 In Moses' Law it's written: You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing. Is God worried about oxen,
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For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
10 or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce.
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Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of a share in the crop.
11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you?
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If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits?
12 If others have these rights over you, don't we deserve them all the more? However, we haven't made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don't put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
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If others share this rightful claim upon you, do not we still more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13 Don't you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar?
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Do you not know that those 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?
14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel.
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In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 But I haven't taken advantage of this. And I'm not writing this so that it will be done for me. It's better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this!
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But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have any one deprive me of my ground for boasting.
16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I'm obligated to do it. I'm in trouble if I don't preach the gospel.
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For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17 If I do this voluntarily, I get rewarded for it. But if I'm forced to do it, then I've been charged with a responsibility.
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For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.
18 What reward do I get? That when I preach, I offer the good news free of charge. That's why I don't use the rights to which I'm entitled through the gospel.
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What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel.
19 Although I'm free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them.
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For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.
20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I'm under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law).
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To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law--though not being myself under the law--that I might win those under the law.
21 I act like I'm outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I'm not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ).
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To those outside the law I became as one outside the law--not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ--that I might win those outside the law.
22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means.
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To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.
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I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24 Don't you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win.
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Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies.
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Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing.
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Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air;
27 Rather, I'm landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won't be disqualified after preaching to others.
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but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.