¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord?

¹Er jeg ikke fri? er jeg ikke Apostel? har jeg ikke set Jesus, vor Herre? er I ikke min Gerning i Herren?

²If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

²Er jeg ikke Apostel for andre, så er jeg det dog i det mindste for eder; thi Seglet på min Apostelgerning ere I i Herren.

³My defense to those who examine me is this.

³Dette er mit Forsvar imod dem, som bedømme mig.

⁴Have we no right to eat and to drink?

⁴Have vi ikke Ret til at spise og drikke?

⁵Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

⁵Have vi ikke Ret til at føre en Søster med om som Hustru, som også de andre Apostle og Herrens Brødre og Kefas?

⁶Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work?

⁶Eller have alene jeg og Barnabas ingen Ret til at lade være at arbejde?

⁷What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?

⁷Hvem tjener vel nogen Sinde i Krig på egen Sold? Hvem planter en Vingård og spiser ikke dens Frugt? Eller hvem vogter en Hjord og nyder ikke af Hjordens Mælk?

⁸Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing?

⁸Taler jeg vel dette blot efter menneskelig Vis, eller siger ikke også Loven dette?

⁹For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Deuteronomy 25:4 Is it for the oxen that God cares,

⁹Thi i Mose Lov er der skrevet: "Du må ikke binde Munden til på en Okse, som tærsker." Er det Okserne, Gud bekymrer sig om,

¹⁰or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.

¹⁰eller siger han det ikke i hvert Tilfælde for vor Skyld? For vor Skyld blev det jo skrevet, fordi den, som pløjer, bør pløje i Håb, og den, som tærsker, bør gøre det i Håb om at få sin Del.

¹¹If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things?

¹¹Når vi have sået eder de åndelige Ting, er det da noget stort, om vi høste eders timelige?

¹²If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ.

¹²Dersom andre nyde sådan Ret over eder, kunde da vi ikke snarere? Dog have vi ikke brugt denne Ret; men vi tåle alt, for at vi ikke skulle lægge noget i Vejen for Kristi Evangelium.

¹³Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?

¹³Vide I ikke, at de, som udføre de hellige Tjenester, få deres Føde fra Helligdommen, de, som tjene ved Alteret, dele med Alteret?

¹⁴Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News.

¹⁴Således har også Herren forordnet for dem, som forkynde Evangeliet, at de skulle leve af Evangeliet.

¹⁵But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void.

¹⁵Jeg derimod har ikke gjort Brug af noget af dette. Jeg skriver dog ikke dette, for at det skal ske således med mig; thi jeg vil hellere dø, end at nogen skulde gøre min Ros til intet.

¹⁶For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don’t preach the Good News.

¹⁶Thi om jeg forkynder Evangeliet, har jeg ikke noget at rose mig af; der påligger mig nemlig en Nødvendighed, thi ve mig, om jeg ikke forkynder det!

¹⁷For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

¹⁷Gør jeg nemlig dette af fri Villie, så får jeg Løn; men har jeg imod min Villie fået en Husholdning betroet,

¹⁸What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.

¹⁸hvad er da min Løn? For at jeg, når jeg forkynder Evangeliet, skal fremsætte det for intet, så at jeg ikke gør Brug af min Ret i Evangeliet.

¹⁹For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.

¹⁹Thi skønt jeg er fri over for alle, har jeg dog gjort mig selv til Tjener for alle, for at jeg kunde vinde des flere.

²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;

²⁰Og jeg er bleven Jøderne som en Jøde, for at jeg kunde vinde Jøder; dem under Loven som en under Loven, skønt jeg ikke selv er under Loven, for at jeg kunde vinde dem, som ere under Loven;

²¹to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law.

²¹dem uden for Loven som en uden for Loven, skønt jeg ikke er uden Lov for God, men under Kristi Lov, for at jeg kunde vinde dem, som ere uden for Loven.

²²To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

²²Jeg er bleven skrøbelig for de skrøbelige, for at jeg kunde vinde de skrøbelige; jeg er bleven alt for alle, for at jeg i ethvert Fald kunde frelse nogle.

²³Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.

²³Men alt gør jeg for Evangeliets Skyld, for at jeg kan blive meddelagtig deri.

²⁴Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.

²⁴Vide I ikke, at de, som løbe på Banen, løbe vel alle, men ikkun een får Prisen? Således skulle I løbe, for at I kunne vinde den.

²⁵Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.

²⁵Enhver, som deltager i Kamplegene, er afholdende i alt; hine nu vel for at få en forkrænkelig Krans, men vi en uforkrænkelig.

²⁶I therefore run like that, as not uncertainly. I fight like that, as not beating the air,

²⁶Jeg løber derfor ikke som på det uvisse jeg fægter som en, der ikke slår i Luften;

²⁷but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.

²⁷men jeg bekæmper mit Legeme og holder det i Trældom, for at ikke jeg, som har prædiket for andre, selv skal blive forkastet.