¹ Ndax awma ndogal ci li may def? Ndax duma ndawul Kirist? Ndax gisuma Yeesu sunu Boroom? Xanaa du yéena soqikoo ci liggéey, bi ma Boroom bi sant?

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?

² Su ma ñenn ñi tegul ndaw, moom laa ci yéen, ndaxte yéenay firnde jiy wone ne, ndawul Boroom bi dëgg laa.

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.

³ Nii laay tontoo ñi may àtte:

³My defense to those who examine me is this.

⁴ Xanaa sañunoo lekk ak a naan?

⁴Have we no right to eat and to drink?

⁵ Xanaa sañunoo indaale jabar ju gëm Kirist, ni yeneen ndawul Kirist ak doomi ndeyu Boroom bi ak Sefas sax?

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?

⁶ Walla boog man ak Barnabas rekk noo war a daan sunu doole?

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

⁷ Kan moo mas a solu soldaar ci pexey boppam? Kan mooy bey tool te du ci jariñu? Walla kan mooy sàmm jur te du naan ca soow ma?

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?

⁸ Lii may wax, du ci yëfi doom Aadama rekk laa ko jukkee; xanaa du yoon wi it moo ko santaane?

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

⁹ Ndaxte bind nañu ci yoonu Musaa ne: «Bul sunjuñ gémmiñu nag wu ñu takk ci bojjukaay.» Ndax mooy tekki nag ne, Yàlla dafa bàyyi xel nag yi?

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,

¹⁰ Walla boog xanaa nun noo moom wax jooju? Waaw, noo tax ñu bind loolu. Noonu kuy bey war na am yaakaar, te kuy bojj di yaakaar a jot wàllam.

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.

¹¹ Nu ji ci yéen yëfi Xelum Yàlla, ba noppi góobe ci yéen yëfi àddina, ndax loolu dafa ëpp li nu war a séentu?

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

¹² Ndegam ñeneen a am sañ-sañ boobu ci yéen, nun kon waxi-noppi. Waaye nag jariñoowunu sañ-sañ boobu. Danuy far muñ lépp, ngir bañ a indi ndog ci yoonu xebaar bu baax bu Kirist bi.

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.

¹³ Xanaa xamuleen ne, ñiy liggéeyal yëf yu sell yi, dañuy lekk ñam, wi ci kër Yàlla gi, te ñiy liggéey ci saraxalukaay bi, dañuy jot seen wàll ci sarax yi?

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?

¹⁴ Naka noonu it Boroom bi digle na ne, ñiy yégle xebaar bu baax bi, nanu ci dund.

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

¹⁵ Waaye man jariñoowuma benn ci sañ-sañ yooyu, te binduma yëf yooyu, ngir ngeen di ma defal yu ni mel. Dee sax moo ma ko gënal — kenn du jële ci man mbir moomu may kañoo!

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.

¹⁶ Su may yégle xebaar bu baax bi, mënuma cee kañu. Sas la, wu ñu ma sas. Dinaa torox, su ma yéglewul xebaar bu baax bi!

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.

¹⁷ Su doon ci sama coobare laa yégle xebaar bu baax bi, man naa ci séentu yool. Waaye defuma ko ci sama coobare, ndaxte sas la, wu ñu ma sas.

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.

¹⁸ Kon nag lan mooy sama yool? Xanaa di yégle xebaar bu baax bi ci dara, te bañ a jariñoo sañ-sañ boobu ma ci yelloo.

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.

¹⁹ Gor laa te kenn moomu ma; teewul def naa sama bopp jaamu ñépp, ngir man a gindi nit ñu bare ci Kirist.

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

²⁰ Ci biir Yawut yi, sol naa melow Yawut yi, ngir gindi leen. Man ci sama bopp yoonu Musaa jiitalu ma, terewul bi ma nekkee ci biir ñiy sàmm yoonu Musaa, sàmm naa yoon wa, ngir gindi leen.

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;

²¹ Ci biir ñi nekkul ci yoonu Musaa, faalewuma woon yoon wi, ngir gindi leen; waxuma ne, ànduma ak yoonu Yàlla, waaye topp naa yoon ci sama bokk ak Kirist.

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.

²² Ci biir ñi néew ngëm, meloon naa ni ku néew ngëm, ngir gindi leen. Doon naa lépp ci ñépp, ngir def lépp lu ma man, ba ñenn mucc ci.

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.

²³ Damaa def loolu lépp ndax xebaar bu baax bi, ngir man it ma am wàll ci barkeem.

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

²⁴ Xanaa xamuleen ne, ñépp ñooy daw cib rawante, waaye kenn rekk ay jël ndam li? Dawleen nag ngir jël ko.

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.

²⁵ Ñiy joŋante ci po muy waral tàggat yaram, dañuy xañ seen bopp lu bare. Dañu koy def, ngir am kaalag ndam gu dul yàgg; waaye nun danu koy def, ngir am kaalag ndam gu sax ba fàww.

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.

²⁶ Man nag noonu laay dawe, te duma dawantu. Noonu laay bëree, waaye duma def ni nit kuy dóor ci jaww ji.

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

²⁷ Waaye damay noot sama yaram, ba moom ko, ngir ragal a yégal ñi ci des xebaar bu baax bi, ba noppi Yàlla xañ ma ndam li.

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.