The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵ Now concerning^[a] the betrothed,^{[b] (A)}I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as ^(B)one who by the Lord's mercy is ^(C)trustworthy.

⁶ Now as a concession, ^(A)not a command, I say this.^[a]

² Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

⁴⁰ Yet ^(A)in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think ^(B)that I too have the Spirit of God.

^8 (A)I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^(B)though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this matter ^(C)I give my judgment: ^(D)this benefits you, who ^(E)a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.

¹² To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

¹⁷ What I am saying ^(A)with this boastful confidence, ^(B)I say not as the Lord would^[a] but as a fool.

The Light of the Gospel

4 Therefore, having ^(A)this ministry ^(B)by the mercy of God,^[a] we do not lose heart. ² But we have renounced ^(C)disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice^[b] cunning or ^(D)to tamper with God's word, but ^(E)by the open statement of the truth ^(F)we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.