³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(A)these hands served my own needs and the ^(B)men who were with me.

¹² and we labor, ^(A)working with our own hands; when we are ^(B)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(C)persecuted, we endure it;

¹⁴ So also ^(A)the Lord directed those who proclaim the ^(B)gospel to ^(C)get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵ But I have ^(D)used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make ^(E)my boast an empty one! ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for ^(F)I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach ^(G)the gospel. ¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^(H)reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a ^(I)commission nonetheless. ¹⁸ What, then, is my ^(J)reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^(K)without charge, so as ^(L)not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am ^(M)free from all people, I have made myself ^(N)a slave to all, so that I may ^(O)gain more. ^20 (P)To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though ^(Q)not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law; ²¹ to those who are ^(R)without the Law, I became ^(S)as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but ^(T)under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law. ²² To the ^(U)weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become ^(V)all things to all people, ^(W)so that I may by all means save some. ²³ I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

^24 (X)Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives ^(Y)the prize? ^(Z)Run in such a way that you may win. ²⁵ Everyone who ^(AA)competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable ^(AB)wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ Therefore I ^(AC)run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as ^[a]to avoid ^(AD)hitting air; ²⁷ but I strictly discipline ^(AE)my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

⁷ Or ^(A)did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(B)gospel of God to you ^(C)without charge?

¹³ For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that ^(A)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me ^(B)this wrong!