1 Corinthians 9:4–14

^4aDo we not have authority to eat and drink?

^5aDo we not have authority to take along a ¹believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^bbrothers of the Lord and ^cCephas?

⁶Or do only ^1aBarnabas and I not have authority to refrain from working?

⁷Who at any time serves ^aas a soldier at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not ¹consume the fruit of it? Or who shepherds a flock and does not ²consume the milk of the flock?

⁸Am I speaking these things ^aaccording to ¹human judgment? Or does not the Law also say these things?

⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses, “^aYou shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” Is God merely concerned about ^boxen?

¹⁰Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, ^afor our sake it was written, because ^bthe plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

^11aIf we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

¹²If others share this authority over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^adid not use this authority, but we endure all things ^bso that we will cause no hindrance to the ^cgospel of Christ.

^13aDo 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?

¹⁴So also ^athe Lord directed those who proclaim the ^bgospel to ^cget their living from the gospel.