For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.

To the Unmarried and Widows

Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.

But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.

There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.

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.

A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

A Pattern of Self-Denial

Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

Worship and the Lord’s Supper

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.

Conduct at the Lord’s Supper

Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Examine Yourself

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.