King James Version · Under Rome
1 Corinthians 9
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Am I not ? am I not free? have I not seen our ? are not ye my work in ? If I be not unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in . Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not to eat and to drink? Have we not to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other , and as the brethren of , and ? Or I only and , have not we to forbear working? Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a , and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the same also? For in of , Thou shalt not muzzle the of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in ; and that he that thresheth in should be partaker of his . If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your things? If others be partakers of this over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this ; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about things live of the things of ? and they which wait at the are partakers with the ? Even so hath ordained that they which preach should live of . But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to , than that any man should make my glorying void. For though I preach , I have nothing to of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not ! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach , I may make of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my in . For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the I became as a , that I might gain the ; to them that are , as , that I might gain them that are ; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to , but to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means some. And this I do for ’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible ; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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.