^33 (A)I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ^34 (B)You yourselves know that ^(C)these hands ministered to my necessities and ^(D)to those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things ^(E)I have shown you that ^(F)by working hard in this way we must ^(G)help the weak and ^(H)remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^(I)to give than to receive.’”

¹¹ To the present hour ^(A)we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and ^(B)buffeted and ^(C)homeless, ¹² and we ^(D)labor, working with our own hands. ^(E)When reviled, we bless; ^(F)when persecuted, we endure;

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. ^4 (F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ^5 (G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(H)the brothers of the Lord and ^(I)Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ^7 (J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^(K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

⁸ Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written ^(M)for our sake, because ^(N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ^11 (O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, ^(P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything ^(Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. ¹³ Do you not know that ^(R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord commanded that ^(S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

¹⁵ But ^(T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For ^(V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with ^(W)a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in my preaching ^(X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For ^(Y)though I am free from all, ^(Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(AA)win more of them. ^20 (AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To ^(AC)those outside the law I became ^(AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ^22 (AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AG)I have become all things to all people, that ^(AH)by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ^(AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.

⁹ And when I was with you and was ^(A)in need, ^(B)I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia ^(C)supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain ^(D)from burdening you in any way.

²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^(A)let him labor, ^(B)doing honest work with his own hands, so ^(C)that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

^23 (A)Whatever you do, work heartily, ^(B)as for the Lord and not for men,

¹¹ But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^(A)their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry ¹² and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^(B)gossips and ^(C)busybodies, saying what they should not. ¹⁴ So I would have ^(D)younger widows marry, bear children, ^(E)manage their households, and ^(F)give the adversary no occasion for slander.

¹¹ But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^(A)their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry ¹² and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^(B)gossips and ^(C)busybodies, saying what they should not. ¹⁴ So I would have ^(D)younger widows marry, bear children, ^(E)manage their households, and ^(F)give the adversary no occasion for slander.