I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working?
Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.
For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him,
but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.
But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.
Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?
There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning.
If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.
Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret;
But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent.
for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit http://www.lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.