The Rights of an Apostle (Deuteronomy 18:1–8)
1 CPDV Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? BSB BSB: Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?
2 CPDV And if I am not an Apostle to others, yet still I am to you. For you are the seal of my Apostleship in the Lord. BSB BSB: Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 CPDV My defense with those who question me is this: BSB BSB: This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:
4 CPDV Do we not have the authority to eat and to drink? BSB BSB: Have we no right to food and to drink?
6 CPDV Or is it only myself and Barnabas who do not have the authority to act in this way? BSB BSB: Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?
7 CPDV Who has ever served as a soldier and paid his own stipend? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from its produce? Who pastures a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? BSB BSB: 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 CPDV Am I saying these things according to man? Or does the law not also say these things? BSB BSB: Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
9 CPDV For it is written in the law of Moses: “You shall not bind the mouth of an ox, while it is treading out the grain.” Is God here concerned with the oxen? BSB BSB: For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
10 CPDV Or is he saying this, indeed, for our sake? These things were written specifically for us, because he who plows, ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes, too, in hope of receiving the produce. BSB BSB: 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 CPDV If we have sown spiritual things in you, is it important if we harvest from your worldly things? BSB BSB: If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you?
12 CPDV If others are sharers in this authority over you, why are we not more entitled? And yet we have not used this authority. Instead, we bear all things, lest we give any hindrance to the Gospel of Christ. BSB BSB: 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 of Christ.
13 CPDV Do you not know that those who work in the holy place eat the things that are for the holy place, and that those who serve at the altar also share with the altar? BSB BSB: Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?
14 CPDV So, too, has the Lord ordained that those who announce the Gospel should live by the Gospel. BSB BSB: In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15 CPDV Yet I have used none of these things. And I have not written so that these things may be done for me. For it is better for me to die, rather than to let anyone empty out my glory. BSB BSB: But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.
16 CPDV For if I preach the Gospel, it is not glory for me. For an obligation has been laid upon me. And woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel. BSB BSB: Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17 CPDV For if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if I do this reluctantly, a dispensation is granted to me. BSB BSB: If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.
18 CPDV And what, then, would be my reward? So, when preaching the Gospel, I should give the Gospel without taking, so that I may not misuse my authority in the Gospel. BSB BSB: What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.
Paul the Servant to All 19 CPDV For when I was a free man to all, I made myself the servant of all, so that I might gain all the more. BSB BSB: Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 CPDV And so, to the Jews, I became like a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews. BSB BSB: To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.
21 CPDV To those who are under the law, I became as if I were under the law, (though I was not under the law) so that I might gain those who were under the law. To those who were without the law, I became as if I were without the law, (though I was not without the law of God, being in the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who were without the law. BSB BSB: To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.
22 CPDV To the weak, I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. To all, I became all, so that I might save all. BSB BSB: To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 CPDV And I do everything for the sake of the Gospel, so that I may become its partner. BSB BSB: I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Run Your Race to Win 24 CPDV Do you not know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly, are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you must run, so that you may achieve. BSB BSB: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
25 CPDV And one who competes in a contest abstains from all things. And they do this, of course, so that they may achieve a corruptible crown. But we do this, so that we may achieve what is incorruptible. BSB BSB: Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
26 CPDV And so I run, but not with uncertainty. And so I fight, but not by flailing in the air. BSB BSB: Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.
27 CPDV Instead, I chastise my body, so as to redirect it into servitude. Otherwise, I might preach to others, but become myself an outcast. BSB BSB: No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.