⁴Don’t we have the right to eat and drink?^s ⁵Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife^B like the other apostles,^t the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas?^u ⁶Or do only Barnabas^v and I have no right to refrain from working? ⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?^w Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?

⁸Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? ⁹For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox^x while it treads out grain.^C^y Is God really concerned about oxen? ¹⁰Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake,^z because he who plows ought to plow in hope,^aa and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.^ab ¹¹If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? ¹²If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything^ac so that we will not 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^ad share in the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.^ae

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Footnotes

B a sister as a wife

Cross references

s 2Th 3:8–9
t Jd 17
u Jn 1:42
v Ac 4:36
w Lk 3:14
x Lk 13:15
C Dt 25:4
y Dt 25:4
z Rm 4:24
aa Ac 23:6; 1Th 1:3
ab 2Tm 2:6
ac Ac 20:33–35; 2Co 6:3–10; 11:7–12
ad Lv 6:16,26; 7:6,31–32; Nm 5:9–10; 18:8–20,31; Dt 18:1
ae Mt 10:8–10; Lk 10:7