⁷ But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

¹¹ “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. ¹² Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry^[a] for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

⁵ Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife^[a] with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter^[b] does?

⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

⁸ So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.

¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

²⁹ Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”

¹⁵ Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge.