¹⁴ So I counsel younger widows to marry,^(A) to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.^(B)

⁵ to be self-controlled^(A) and pure, to be busy at home,^(B) to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands,^(C) so that no one will malign the word of God.^(D)

6 All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect,^(A) so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.^(B)

⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.^(A)

⁸ Now to the unmarried^[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.^{(A) 9} But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,^(B) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

³ They forbid people to marry^(A) and order them to abstain from certain foods,^(B) which God created^(C) to be received with thanksgiving^(D) by those who believe and who know the truth.

⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges^(A) against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.