| Berean Study Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? | 1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? |
| 2Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. | 2If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. |
| 3This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: | 3This is my defense to those who would examine me. |
| 4Have we no right to food and to drink? | 4Do we not have the right to eat and drink? |
| 5Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? | 5Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? |
| 6Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living? | 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? |
| 7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk? | 7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? |
| 8Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? | 8Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? |
| 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? | 9For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? |
| 10Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest. | 10Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. |
| 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? | 11If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? |
| 12If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. | 12If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even 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. |
| 13Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? | 13Do 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? |
| 14In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. | 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. |
| 15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast. | 15But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. |
| 16Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! | 16For 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! |
| 17If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. | 17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. |
| 18What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it. | 18What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. |
| 19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. | 19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. |
| 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. | 20To 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. |
| 21To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. | 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. |
| 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. | 22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. |
| 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. | 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. |
| 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. | 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. |
| 25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. | 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. |
| 26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. | 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. |
| 27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. | 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. |
| The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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