First Corinthians 4:9-15


9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on show right at the end, like men condemned to death: we have been exhibited as a spectacle to the whole universe, both angelic and human.

10 Here we are, fools for Christ's sake, while you are the clever ones in Christ; we are weak, while you are strong; you are honoured, while we are disgraced.

11 To this day, we go short of food and drink and clothes, we are beaten up and we have no homes;

12 we earn our living by labouring with our own hands; when we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we endure it passively;

13 when we are insulted, we give a courteous answer. We are treated even now as the dregs of the world, the very lowest scum.

14 I am writing all this not to make you ashamed but simply to remind you, as my dear children;

15 for even though you might have ten thousand slaves to look after you in Christ, you still have no more than one father, and it was I who fathered you in Christ Jesus, by the gospel.