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1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle (sent one)? Have I not seen Jesus (YHWH saves) our Lord {Kyrion}? Are you⁺ yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord {Kyriō}? 2 Even if I am not an apostle (sent one) to others, surely I am to you⁺. For you⁺ are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord {Kyriō}. 3 This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: 4 Have we no right to food and to drink? 5 Have we no right to take along a believing wife \take along a sister—a wife—/, as do the other apostles (sent ones) and the Lord’s {Kyriou} brothers and Cephas (Peter)? 6 Or are Barnabas (son of encouragement) and I the only apostles who must work for a living \Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have authority not to work/? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk? 8 Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses (drawn out): “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain 10 Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you⁺, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you⁺? 12 If others have this right to your⁺ support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel (good news) of Christ (the Anointed One). 1 Corinthians 9:1-12, Berean Annotated Bible. Public domain.
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