Great(i)
1 Am I not an Apostle? am I not fre? haue I not sene Iesus Christ oure Lorde?
2 Are ye not my worke in the Lorde? If I be not an Apostle vnto other, yet am I vnto you. For the seale of myne Apostleshyppe are ye in the Lord.
3 Myne answer to them that aske me, is this.
4 Haue we not power to eate and to dryncke?
5 Haue we not power to leade about a woman a syster, as well as other Apostles, and as the brethren of the Lorde, and Cephas?
6 Ether onely I and Barnabas haue not power thys to do?
7 Who goeth a warfare eny tyme at hys awne cost? who planteth a vineyarde, and eateth not of the frute therof? Or who fedeth a flocke and eateth not of the mylcke of the flocke?
8 Saye I these thynges after the maner of men? Sayth not the lawe the same also?
9 For it is wrytten in the lawe of Moses. Thou shalt not mosell the mouth of the oxe that treadeth oute the corne. Doth God take thought for oxen?
10 Sayth he it not alltogether for oure sakes? For oure sakes no doute this is written: that he whych eareth shulde eare in hope & that he whych throssheth in hope, shulde be partaker of hys hope.
11 If we sowe vnto you spirituall thynges, is it a great thynge yf we reape youre bodely thynges?
12 If other be partakers of thys power ouer you, wherfore are not we rather? Neuerthelesse we haue not vsed this power: but suffre all thinges, lest we shulde hinder the Gospell of Chryst.
13 Do ye not knowe, howe that they which minister aboute holy thinges lyue of the sacrifyce? They which wayte of the temple, are partakers of the temple.
14 Euen so also dyd the Lord ordayne: that they whych preach the Gospell, shulde lyue of the Gospell.
15 But I haue vsed none of these thinges. Neuertheles I wrote not these thinges, that it shuld be so done vnto me. For it were better for me to dye, then that eny man shuld take this reioysinge from me.
16 For yf I preach the Gospell, I haue nothynge to reioyce of. For necessyte is put vnto me. But wo is it vnto me, yf I preach not the Gospell.
17 If I do it wt a good will, I haue a reward. But yf I do it against my will, an office is committed vnto me.
18 What is my reward then? Uerely that when I preach the Gospell, I make the Gospell of Christ fre, that I misuse not myne auctorite in the Gospell.
19 For though I be fre from all men, yet haue I made my selfe seruaunt vnto all men, that I myght wynne the moo.
20 Unto the Iewes, I became as a Iewe, to wynne the Iewes. To them that were vnder the lawe, was I made as though I had bene vnder the lawe, to wynne them that were vnder the lawe.
21 To them that were wythout lawe, became I as though I had bene wythout lawe (when I was not without lawe as perteyning to God, but vnder the lawe of Chryst) to wynne them that were wythout lawe.
22 To the weake became I as weake, to wynne the weake: In all thinges I fasshyoned my selfe to all men, to saue at the least waye some.
23 And this I do for the gospels sake, that I myght haue my parte therof.
24 Perceaue ye not, howe that they which runne in a course, runne all, but one receaueth the rewarde? So runne, that ye maye obtayne.
25 Euery man that proueth masteries, abstayneth from all thynges. And they do it to obtayne a crowne that shall perysshe: but we to obtayne an euerlasting crowne.
26 I therfore so runne, not as at an vncertayne thyng. So fyght I, not as one that beateth the ayer:
27 but I tame my body, & brynge it into subieccyon, lest by anye meanes it come to passe, that whan I haue preached to other, I my selfe shulde be a cast awaye.