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
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poem by John Celes
Added by Poetry Lover
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