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.

¹⁵ And count ^(A)the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^(B)our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ^(C)according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^(D)There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^(E)as they do the other Scriptures.

⁸ Therefore ^(A)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(B)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (A)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(B)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(C)even though I am nothing.

⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of ^(A)our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^(B)his bodily presence is weak, and ^(C)his speech of no account.”

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ^37 (A)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me.

³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, ^(A)not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

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. ²⁶ I think that in view of the present^[c] distress ^(D)it is good for a person to remain as he is.