Jesus Teaches on Celibacy

¹¹ But He said to them, ^(A)“All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷ But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And ^(A)so I ^[a]ordain in all the churches.

³⁵ And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.

⁷ For ^(A)I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ^(B)It is good for them if they remain even as I am; ⁹ but ^(C)if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

² Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because ^(A)it has been given to you to know the ^[a]mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.