¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs ^(A)for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

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. ³³ But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 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. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, ^(C)not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,^[a] if his^[b] passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷ But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸ So then he who marries his betrothed ^(D)does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

^5 (A)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(B)the brothers of the Lord and ^(C)Cephas?

^7 (A)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁵ But ^(A)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(B)deprive me of my ground for boasting.