| Holman Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? | 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? |
| 2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship 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. |
| 3My defense to those who examine me is this: | 3This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: |
| 4Don't we have the right to eat and drink? | 4Have we no right to food and to drink? |
| 5Don't we have the right to be accompanied by a Christian wife like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas? | 5Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? |
| 6Or do Barnabas and I alone have no right to refrain from working? | 6Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living? |
| 7Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock? | 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? |
| 8Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn't the law also say the same thing? | 8Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? |
| 9For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned with oxen? | 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? |
| 10Or isn't He really saying it for us? Yes, this is written for us, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should do so in hope of sharing the crop. | 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. |
| 11If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? | 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? |
| 12If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don't we even more? However, we have not made use of this right; instead we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. | 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. |
| 13Don't you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? | 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? |
| 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. | 14In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. |
| 15But I have used none of these rights, and I have not written this to make it happen that way for me. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! | 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. |
| 16For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because an obligation is placed on me. And woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! | 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! |
| 17For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a stewardship. | 17If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. |
| 18What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my authority in the gospel. | 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. |
| 19Although I am a free man and not anyone's slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. | 19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. |
| 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law--though I myself am not under the law--to win those under the law. | 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. |
| 21To those who are without that law, like one without the law--not being without God's law but within Christ's law--to win those without 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. |
| 22To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. | 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. |
| 23Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits. | 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. |
| 24Don't you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. | 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. |
| 25Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away, but we a crown that will never fade away. | 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. |
| 26Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. | 26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. |
| 27Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified. | 27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. |
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