¹Am I not free? Am I not a sent one? Have I not seen Jesus the Anointed One our Lord? Are you yourselves not my work in the Lord?

²If to others I am not a sent one, yet at least to you I am; for you yourselves are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those examining me is this:

⁴Do we not have the right to eat and to drink?

⁵Do we not have authority to take about a sister, a wife, as also the other sent ones and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

⁶Or do only I myself and Barnabas not have the permission not to work?

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense at any time? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock?

⁸Do I speak these things according to man? Or does the law not also say these things?

⁹For in the law of Moses it has been written: You will not muzzle an ox treading out grain. Is it for the oxen there is care with God?

¹⁰Or because of us entirely is He speaking? For our sake it was written, because the one plowing ought to plow in hope, and the one threshing in hope that he is to partake of his hope.

¹¹If we ourselves sowed the spiritual things among you, is it a great thing if we ourselves will reap the material things from you?

¹²If others partake of the authority over you, are not we ourselves more? But we did not use this right; instead we bear all things, so that we may not place any hindrance to the good news of the Anointed One.

¹³Do you not know that those working in the sacred things eat the things of the temple? that those attending at the altar partake at the altar?

¹⁴So also the Lord has prescribed to those proclaiming the good news to live from the good news.

¹⁵However I myself have not used any of these; now neither have I written these things that it may thus become with me; for it is good for me rather to die than that anyone will make void my boasting.

¹⁶For if I shall bring good news, there is no boasting to me; for necessity is laid upon me; however woe be to me if I shall not bring good news.

¹⁷For if I do this willingly, I have a wage; however if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.

¹⁸Then what is my wage? That in bringing good news I may offer the good news of the Anointed One free of charge, so as not to use up my right in the good news.

¹⁹For being free from all, I myself became servant to all so that I may gain the more;

²⁰And to the Jews I became like a Jew so that I may win Jews; to those under the Law as under the law, not being myself under the law, so that I may win those under the law;

²¹But to those outside the Law like outside the Law — not being outside the law of God, under the law of the Anointed One — so that I may win those outside the Law.

²²I became to the weak as weak that I may win the weak; I have become all things to all so that by all means I may rescue some.

²³Now I do all things on account of the good news, that I may become a fellow partaker with it.

²⁴Do you not know that those running in a race course all indeed run, however one receives the prize? Thus run that you may grasp it.

²⁵Now everyone who is striving controls himself in all things; then they indeed that they may receive a perishable wreath, however we ourselves an imperishable.

²⁶Therefore I myself thus run as not uncertainly, so I fight as not beating the air;

²⁷But I batter my body and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps having preached to others, I myself may be disqualified.