8. Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing?
9. For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned with oxen?
10. Or isn’t He really saying it for us? Yes, this is written for us, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should do so in hope of sharing the crop.
11. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?
12. If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more?However, we have not made use of this right; instead we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.
13. Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?
14. In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.
15. But I have used none of these rights, and I have not written this to make it happen that way for me. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast!
16. For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because an obligation is placed on me. And woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!