HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1406
1 C O RIN T H I A N S 1 0
in your homes and share your meals? 5 Don’t we
have the right to bring a believing wife* with us
as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do,
and as Peter* does? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I
who have to work to support ourselves?
7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses?
What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have
the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd
cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to
drink some of the milk? 8 Am I expressing merely
a human opinion, or does the law say the same
thing? 9 For the law of Moses says, “You must
not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it
treads out the grain.”* Was God thinking only
about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us,
so that the one who plows and the one who
threshes the grain might both expect a share of
the harvest.
— promises —
from God
God is faithful. He will not
allow the temptation to be
more than you can stand.
When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out
so that you can endure.
1 C O R I N T H I A N S 1 0:1 3
11 Since we have planted spiritual seed among
you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical
food and drink? 12 If you support others who
preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even
greater right to be supported? But we have
never used this right. We would rather put up
with anything than be an obstacle to the Good
News about Christ.
13 Don’t you realize that those who work in
the temple get their meals from the offerings
brought to the temple? And those who serve at
the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings.
14 In the same way, the Lord ordered that those
who preach the Good News should be supported
by those who benefit from it. 15 Yet I have never
used any of these rights. And I am not writing
this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact,
I would rather die than lose my right to boast
about preaching without charge. 16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast
about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
17 If I were doing this on my own initiative,
I would deserve payment. But I have no choice,
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for God has given me this sacred trust. 18 What
then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach
the Good News without charging anyone. That’s
why I never demand my rights when I preach
the Good News.
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring
many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews,
I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ.
When I was with those who follow the Jewish
law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am
not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring
to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I
am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law,* I too live apart from that law so I can
bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law
of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are weak, I share
their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to
Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with
everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
23 I do everything to spread the Good News and
share in its blessings.
24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone
runs, but only one person gets the prize? So
run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their
training. They do it to win a prize that will fade
away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I
run with purpose in every step. I am not just
shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an
athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers
and sisters,* about our ancestors in the
wilderness long ago. All of them were guided
by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all
of them walked through the sea on dry ground.
2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were
baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them
ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them
drank the same spiritual water. For they drank
from the spiritual rock that traveled with them,
and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not
pleased with most of them, and their bodies
were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us,
so that we would not crave evil things as they
did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As
the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with
feasting and drinking, and they indulged in
pagan revelry.”* 8 And we must not engage in
sexual immorality as some of them did, causing
23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ* to the test, as
some of them did and then died from snakebites.
10
9:5a Greek a sister a wife. 9:5b Greek Cephas. 9:9 Deut 25:4.
9:21 Greek those without the law. 10:1 Greek brothers.
10:7 Exod 32:6. 10:9 Some manuscripts read the Lord.