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Bible in Poetry: 1 Corinthians 9

The Rights of an Apostle:

1Am I not free, an apostle?
Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord?
Aren’t you the fruit of my labor,
For Jesus Christ, my savior, Lord?
2 Although to others not, may be
I am an apostle to you!
You’re seal of my apostleship.
3 This is my one defense to those
Who sit in judgment upon me.
4Don’t we have right to food and drink?
5Do not we have the right to take
A wife believing, that’s with us,
As do the other apostles,
The Lord's brothers and Cephas too?
6 Or only I and Barnabas
Must have to work for a living?
7Who serves as soldier without pay?
Who plants a vineyard on his own
And not ingest its luscious grapes?
Who tends a flock, drink not the milk?
8Do I say this merely from just
A human point of view, tell me?
Does not the Law say just the same?
9For, it is writ in Mosaic Law:
'Do not muzzle an ox while ’tis
Still treading out the grain for you.'
Is it of oxen only that
Then, God is so concerned about?
10 He says this for us, does not He?
Yes, this was written just for us,
Because when plough-man ploughs the field,
And thresher threshes, they do so
With hope, of share in harvest too.
11If we’ve sown seed in you spiritual,
Is it too much if we then reap
A material harvest from you?
12 If others have this right from you,
Shouldn’t we have it, then all the more?
But we didn’t use this right at all.
And on the contrary, we put
Up with all things rather than to
Hinder gospel of Jesus Christ.
13Do you not know that those who work
In temples get their food from them,
And those who serve at altars share
Whatev’r is offered upon them?
14 Similarly, the Lord commands
That those who preach the gospel should
Receive their living from the same.
15 But I haven’t used all of these rights.
And I don’t write this in the hope
That you will do such things for me.
I rather would die than have one
Deprive me of this boast some day.
16Yet, when I preach the gospel then,
I cannot boast: I have to preach.
Woe upon me if I do not!
17 If I do preach voluntarily,
I have reward awaiting me;
If not voluntarily then,
I’m discharging the trust on me.
18 What then is my reward? Just this:
In preaching gospel I offer
It free of charge, and therefore don’t
Make use of my rights doing so.
19 Though I am free, slave of no man,
I make myself a slave to all,
To win the many, possible.
20 To Jews, Jew-like, I too became,
To win over the hearts of Jews.
To those under the law, I turned
Like one under the law like them
(Although I’m not under the law) ,
So as to win those under law.
21To those who did not have the law,
I became like one without law
(Though I’m not free from laws of God
And I am under Christ's tenets) ,
So as to win those without law.
22 To weak persons, I became weak,
To win the weak. I have become
All things to men so that by all
Means possible, I might save some.
23 I do all this for gospel’s sake,
So that I may share its blessings.
24Do you not know that in a race,
Though all runners participate,
One only gets the prize at last?
Run in a way to get the prize.
25 All those who compete in the games
Are given training equally.
They train to get a crown on earth
That will not last for very long;
But we do it to get a crown
That lasts forever and ever.
26 Therefore I don’t run like a man
Who runs quite aimlessly in life;
I don’t fight like a man who beats
The air which he just cannot see.
27 I beat my body to enslave
It, and when I’ve preached to others,
I myself will qualified
To get the prize that’s meant for it.

Copyright by Dr John Celes 8-3-2007

poem by John Celes
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