^4 [a](A)Do we not have a right to eat and drink? ^5 [b](B)Do we not have a right to take along a ^[c]believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^(C)brothers of the Lord and ^(D)Cephas? ⁶ Or do only ^[d](E)Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? ⁷ Who at any time serves ^(F)as a soldier at his own expense? Who ^(G)plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not ^[e]use the milk of the flock?

⁸ I am not speaking these things ^(H)according to ^[f]human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses, “^(I)You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.” God is not concerned about ^(J)oxen, is He? ¹⁰ Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, ^(K)for our sake it was written, because ^(L)the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. ^11 (M)If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^(N)did not use this right, but we endure all things ^(O)so that we will cause no hindrance to the ^(P)gospel of Christ. ^13 (Q)Do you not know that those who ^(R)perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ^[g]from the altar? ¹⁴ So also ^(S)the Lord directed those who proclaim the ^(T)gospel to ^(U)get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵ But I have ^(V)used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make ^(W)my boast an empty one. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for ^(X)I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach ^(Y)the gospel. ¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^(Z)reward; but if against my will, I have a ^(AA)stewardship entrusted to me. ¹⁸ What then is my ^(AB)reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^(AC)without charge, so as ^(AD)not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

⁷ Or ^(A)did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(B)gospel of God to you ^(C)without charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by ^(D)taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹ and when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^(E)not a burden to anyone; for when ^(F)the brethren came from ^(G)Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from ^(H)being a burden to you, ^[a]and will continue to do so. ^10 (I)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(J)this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^(K)Achaia. ¹¹ Why? ^(L)Because I do not love you? ^(M)God knows I do!

¹² But what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(N)so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be ^[b]regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

¹⁴ Here ^(A)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^(B)will not be a burden to you; for I ^(C)do not seek what is yours, but ^(D)you; for ^(E)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but ^(F)parents for their children. ¹⁵ I will ^(G)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If ^(H)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But be that as it may, I ^(I)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^(J)took you in by deceit. ^17 (K)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? ¹⁸ I ^(L)urged ^(M)Titus to go, and I sent ^(N)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not ^[a]conduct ourselves ^[b]in the same ^(O)spirit and walk ^(P)in the same steps?

⁵ For we never came ^[a]with flattering speech, as you know, nor with ^(A)a pretext for greed—^(B)God is witness— ⁶ nor did we ^(C)seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as ^(D)apostles of Christ ^[b]we might have ^[c]asserted our authority. ⁷ But we ^[d]proved to be ^[e](E)gentle ^[f]among you, ^(F)as a nursing mother ^[g]tenderly cares for her own children. ⁸ Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to ^(G)impart to you not only the ^(H)gospel of God but also our own ^[h]lives, because you had become ^[i]very dear to us.

⁹ For you recall, brethren, our ^(I)labor and hardship, how ^(J)working night and day so as not to be a ^(K)burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the ^(L)gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is ^(M)God, ^(N)how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we ^[j]behaved toward you ^[k]believers; ¹¹ just as you know how we were ^(O)exhorting and encouraging and ^[l](P)imploring each one of you as ^(Q)a father would his own children, ¹² so that you would ^(R)walk in a manner worthy of the God who ^(S)calls you into His own kingdom and ^(T)glory.

¹³ For this reason we also constantly ^(U)thank God that when you received the ^(V)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(W)not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, ^(X)which also performs its work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brethren, became ^(Y)imitators of ^(Z)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are ^(AA)in Judea, for ^(AB)you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, ^(AC)even as they did from the Jews, ^15 (AD)who both killed the Lord Jesus and ^(AE)the prophets, and ^[m]drove us out. ^[n]They are not pleasing to God, ^[o]but hostile to all men, ^16 (AF)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles ^(AG)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always ^(AH)fill up the measure of their sins. But ^(AI)wrath has come upon them ^[p]to the utmost.

¹⁷ But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a ^[q]short while—^(AJ)in ^[r]person, not in ^[s]spirit—were all the more eager with great desire ^(AK)to see your face. ^18 [t]For ^(AL)we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, ^[u](AM)more than once—and yet ^(AN)Satan ^(AO)hindered us. ¹⁹ For who is our hope or ^(AP)joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His ^[v](AQ)coming? ²⁰ For you are ^(AR)our glory and joy.