Am I not ^afree? Am I not an ^bapostle? Have I not ^cseen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^dmy work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the ^aseal of my ^bapostleship in the Lord.

3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 ^1aDo we not have a right to eat and drink? 5 ^1aDo we not have a right to take along a ²believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^bbrothers of the Lord, and ^3cCephas? 6 Or do only ^1aBarnabas and I have no right to refrain from ²working? 7 Who at any time serves ^aas a soldier at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not ¹consume some of the milk of the flock?

8 I am not just asserting these things ^aaccording 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: “^aYOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about ^boxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written ^afor our sake, because ^bthe plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops. 11 ^aIf 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 ^adid not use this right, 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? 14 So also ^athe Lord directed those who proclaim the ^bgospel to ^cget their living from the gospel.

15 But I have ^aused 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 ^bmy boast an empty one! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for ^aI am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach ^bthe gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^areward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a ^bcommission nonetheless. 18 What, then, is my ^areward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^bwithout charge, so as ^cnot to make full use of my right in the gospel.

19 For though I am ^afree from all people, I have made myself ^ba slave to all, so that I may ^cgain more. 20 ^aTo 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 ^bnot being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are ^awithout the Law, I became ^bas one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but ^cunder the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law. 22 To the ^aweak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become ^ball things to all people, ^cso 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 ^aDo you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives ^bthe prize? ^cRun in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who ^acompetes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable ^bwreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I ^arun in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as ¹to avoid ^bhitting air; 27 but I strictly discipline ^amy body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.