1 Corinthians 9:4-18 — Legacy Standard Bible

⁴^aDo we not have authority to eat and drink? ⁵^aDo we not have authority to take along a ¹believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^bbrothers of the Lord and ^cCephas? ⁶Or do only ¹^,^aBarnabas and I not have authority to refrain from working? ⁷Who at any time serves ^aas a soldier at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not ¹consume the fruit of it? Or who shepherds a flock and does not ²consume the milk of the flock?

⁸Am I speaking these things ^aaccording to ¹human judgment? Or does not the Law also say these things? ⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses, “^aYou shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” Is God merely concerned about ^boxen? ¹⁰Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, ^afor our sake it was written, because ^bthe plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. ¹¹^aIf we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹²If others share this authority over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^adid not use this authority, but we endure all things ^bso that we will cause no hindrance to the ^cgospel of Christ. ¹³^aDo you not know that those who ^bperform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ¹from the altar? ¹⁴So also ^athe Lord directed those who proclaim the ^bgospel to ^cget their living from the gospel.

¹⁵But I have ^aused none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have anyone make ^bmy boast an empty one. ¹⁶For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for ^aI am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim ^bthe gospel. ¹⁷For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^areward; but if against my will, I have a ^bstewardship entrusted to me. ¹⁸What then is my ^areward? That, when I proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^bwithout charge, so as ^cnot to make full use of my authority in the gospel.