The Rights of an Apostle (Deuteronomy 18:1–8)
1 UDB To people who criticize how I work, I reply like this: I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus our Lord. I am free. You are the result of the work I did—you are my workmanship. 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 UDB Even if some others do not think I am a true apostle, I am a true apostle to you. By the Lord's stamp of approval, you are the proof that I am a true apostle. 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 UDB This is how I answer those who say that I am not a true apostle: BSB BSB: This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:
4 UDB "Don't we have the right to receive financial support from those we serve? BSB BSB: Have we no right to food and to drink?
6 UDB No one made a rule that only Barnabas and I must take on work in order to support ourselves. BSB BSB: Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?
7 UDB No soldier serves in the army at his own expense. No one plants a vineyard without being able to eat the grapes or drink the wine. No one shepherds a flock without drinking some of the milk that comes from the animals. 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 UDB This is common sense, and this is also what the law of Moses says. BSB BSB: Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
9 UDB For the law of Moses says, "When an ox is treading out the grain, do not stop it from eating some of it." There is more that God is concerned about in this law. 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 UDB This law is about us. Moses is saying that those who work in any job should benefit from the fruit of that work, just like the ox eating the grain on which he is treading. 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 UDB If we have sown the seed of the good news to you, is it too much for us to receive money from you in our support? BSB BSB: If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you?
12 UDB Others received this kind of help from you, and we have certainly proven that we deserve it even more than they do. However, we have not accepted anything from you, even though we were entitled to it. Instead, we endure all kinds of hardships so that we do not make it more difficult for people to believe in the good news about 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 UDB Certainly you know that those who helped carry out the sacrifices offered to God in the temple received some of those offerings for their own needs. They received some of the food offered to God. 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 UDB In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the good news are to receive their living wages from the good news. They receive part of what is given to God for their needs. BSB BSB: In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15 UDB But I have not demanded any of these things for myself. And that is not why I am writing this to you now. I boast that I never demand these things from you, and I would have to stop boasting if you were to pay me, so I would rather die than have you pay me. 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 UDB If I proclaim the good news, I am not doing anything for which I should boast. I feel obliged to preach the good news. I would grieve with many tears if I could not do what God called me to do. 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 UDB When I preach the good news because I want to, I have a great reward. But even if I only preached because someone forced me to preach, I would still have to preach, because God trusted me to do this work for him. 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 UDB So what is the reward that God gives me? It is that when I preach the good news, I offer it without anyone paying me for it. Instead, I offer it for free so that I can do it without receiving the payment the Lord would allow me to take. 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 UDB I am not obligated to anyone, but I am a servant to everyone, so that I might persuade more and more people to trust in Christ. BSB BSB: Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 UDB When we worked with Jewish people, I became like a Jew, so that I might win them to Christ. To those who lived under the law I lived as they lived, so that those who lived under the law may trust in Christ as I trust in him. I lived as they lived, even though I did not live my life by the law's demands. 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 UDB When I was with those who were not ruled by the law of Moses, I became like them (though I myself was not outside God's law, and I was obedient to the law of Christ), so that I could persuade those who lived apart from the law to trust in Christ. 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 UDB To those who were weak about rules and laws, I lived as they did, so I persuaded them to trust in Christ. I have lived under rules and with many lifestyles and with all kinds of people so that in any way God chose to work, God will rescue some of them. 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 UDB I do all this so I may proclaim the good news about Christ, so that I will also experience the good things the good news brings to us. 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 UDB You know that when people run in a race, they all run, but only one of them wins the prize. So you also should run to win the prize. 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 UDB Every athlete uses self-control in the way they prepare for a race. They prepare for the race so that one of them may get a crown of victory. That crown is made of olive leaves, and it does not last. But we are running so we might receive a crown that will last forever. 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 UDB Therefore, in everything I do, I do it for a purpose. I do not waste my effort or exhaust myself by striking the air like a boxer who has no opponent. BSB BSB: Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.
27 UDB I discipline my body and I make it obey my commands. I do not want to preach the good news to others and then lose my reward because I failed to fulfill what he commanded me to do. 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.