1 Corinthians 9 - Easy To Read Version

¹ I am a free man! I am an apostle {\cf2\super [52]} ! I have seen Jesus our Lord! You people are \{an example of\} my work in the Lord.

² Other people may not accept me as an apostle. But surely you accept me as an apostle. You people are proof that I am an apostle in the Lord.

³ Some people want to judge me. So this is the answer I give them:

⁴ We have the right to eat and drink, don’t we?

⁵ We have the right to bring a believing wife with us when we travel, don’t we? The other apostles {\cf2\super [53]} and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas all do this.

⁶ And are Barnabas and I the only ones that must work to earn our living?

⁷ No soldier ever serves in the army and pays his own salary. No person ever plants a garden of grapes without eating some of the grapes himself. No person takes care of a flock of sheep without drinking some of the milk himself.

⁸ These things are not only what men think. God’s law says the same things.

⁹ Yes, it is written in the law of Moses: “When a work animal is being used to separate grain, don’t cover its mouth \{and stop it from eating the grain\}.” {\cf2\super [54]} When God said this, was he thinking only about work animals? No.

¹⁰ He was really talking about us. Yes, that Scripture {\cf2\super [55]} was written for us. The person that plows and the person that separates the grain should hope (expect) to get some of the grain for their work.

¹¹ So this weak brother or sister is ruined because of your better understanding. And Christ died for this person.

¹² When you sin against your brothers and sisters in Christ like this and you hurt them by causing them to do things they feel are wrong, then you are also sinning against Christ.

¹³ So if the food I eat makes another believer fall into sin, then I will never eat meat again. I will stop eating meat, so that I will not make my brother or sister sin.

¹⁴ It is the same with people that have the work of telling the Good News. The Lord has commanded that those people that tell the Good News should get their living from this work.

¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not trying to get anything from you. That is not my purpose for writing this. I would rather die than to have my reason for boasting taken away.

¹⁶ My work of telling the Good News {\cf2\super [59]} is not my reason for boasting. Telling the Good News is my duty—something I must do. It will be bad for me if I don’t tell people the Good News.

¹⁷ If I do this work of telling the Good News because it is my own choice, then I deserve a reward. But I have no choice. I must tell the Good News. I am only doing the duty that was given to me.

¹⁸ So what do I get for doing this work? This is my reward: that when I tell people the Good News I can offer it to them for free. This way, I don’t use the right \{to be paid\} that I have in \{this work of telling\} the Good News.

¹⁹ I am free. I belong to no other person. But I make myself a slave to all people. I do this to help save as many people as I can.

²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew. I did this to help save the Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law. {\cf2\super [60]} But to people that are ruled by the law I became like a person who is ruled by the law. I did this to help save those people that are ruled by the law.

²¹ To those that are without the law I became like a person that is without the law. I did this to help save those people that are without the law. (But really, I am not without God’s law—I am ruled by the law of Christ.)

²² To the people that are weak, I became weak so that I could help save them. I have become all things to all people. I did this so that I could save people in any way possible.

²³ I do all these things because of the Good News. {\cf2\super [61]} I do these things so that I can share in \{the blessings of\} the Good News.

²⁴ You know that in a race all the runners run. But only one runner gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win!

²⁵ All people that compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a crown (reward). That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time. But our crown (reward) will continue forever.

²⁶ So I run like a person that has a goal. I fight like a boxer that is hitting something—not just the air.

²⁷ It is my own body that I hit. I make it my slave. I do this so that I myself will not be thrown out \{by God\} after I have told other people \{about his blessings\}.