1Corinthians:9
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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 ?
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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 .
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This is my defense to those who would examine me .
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Do we not have the right to our food and drink ?
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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 ?
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Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living ?
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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 ?
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Do I say this on human authority ?
Does not the law say the same ?
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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 ?
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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 .
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If we have sown spiritual good among you ,
is it too much if we reap your material benefits ?
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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 .
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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 ?
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In the same way ,
the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel .
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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 .
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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 !
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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I do it all for the sake of the gospel ,
that I may share in its blessings .
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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 .
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Every athlete exercises self-control in all things .
They do it to receive a perishable wreath ,
but we an imperishable .
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Well ,
I do not run aimlessly ,
I do not box as one beating the air ;
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but I pommel my body and subdue it ,
lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified .
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