⁵ She ^(A)who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and ^(B)continues in supplications and prayers night and day,

³ Honor widows ^(A)who are truly widows.

³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[a] She did not depart from the temple, ^(A)worshiping with ^(B)fasting and prayer night and day.

⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,

³² I want you to be ^(A)free from anxieties. ^(B)The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.

¹⁶ If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those ^(A)who are truly widows.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^(A)always to pray and not ^(B)lose heart.

¹⁸ praying ^(A)at all times ^(B)in the Spirit, ^(C)with all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^(D)keep alert with all perseverance, making ^(E)supplication for all the saints,

³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(A)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(B)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.