World English Bible · Under Rome
1 Corinthians 9
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Am I not free? Am I not ? Haven't I seen , our ? Aren't you my work in ? If to others I am not , yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in . My defense to those who examine me is this: Have we no right to eat and to drink? Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of , and the brothers of , and ? Or have only and I no right to not work? What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a , and doesn't eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn't drink from the flock's milk? Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn't also say the same thing? For in of , "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it for the oxen that cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in , and he who threshes in should partake of his . If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your things? If others partake of this right over you, don't we yet more? Nevertheless we didn't use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the of Christ. Don't you know that those who around sacred things eat from the things of , and those who wait on the have their with the ? Even so ordained that those who proclaim the should live from the . But I have used none of these things, and I don't write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather , than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the , I have nothing to boast about, for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don't preach the . For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the , I may present the of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my in the . For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the I became as a , that I might gain ; to those who are , as , that I might gain those who are ; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward , but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means some. Now I do this for the sake of the , that I may be a joint partaker of it. Don't you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, so that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible , but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.