Book of Common Prayer

²⁵ Here is what I say about those who are not married. (I have no law from the Lord about this. But here is what I think. You can trust me because the Lord has helped me.)

²⁶ I think that, since there is now trouble in the world, it is good for each one to stay as he is.

²⁷ If you have married a wife, do not try to be free from her. If you have no wife, do not look for one.

²⁸ But, if you marry, it is not wrong. And if a woman marries, it is not wrong. People who marry will have trouble in this life. And I want to keep you out of it.

²⁹ Here, my brothers, is what I mean. The time is short. In the time that is left, men who have wives should live as though they did not.

³⁰ People who cry should live as though they were not sad. People who laugh should live as though they were not glad. People who buy things should live as though they did not own them.

³¹ And people who are busy with things in this world should not be too busy. The world as we see it is passing away.

²⁵ `So, I tell you this. Do not be troubled about what you will eat or drink to keep alive. Do not be troubled about what you will wear on your body. Life itself is worth more than food, and the body is worth more than clothes.

²⁶ `Look at the birds that fly in the air. They do not plant or cut or keep any food. Yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds?

²⁷ Can any one of you live any longer by troubling yourself about these things?

²⁸ And why are you troubled about clothes? See how the flowers grow in the fields. They do not work or make cloth.

²⁹ I tell you, King Solomon was a great man. But he was not dressed as fine as one of these flowers.

³⁰ God dresses the grass in the fields so it looks nice. It is in the field one day and the next day it is put on the fire. If God dresses the grass like that, he cares much more that you have clothes to wear. You do not believe in God very much!

³¹ `So then, do not keep asking, "What shall we eat?" "What shall we drink?" and "What shall we wear?"

³² It is the people who do not believe in God who work for all these things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need them all.

³³ `Work first for God's kingdom and what he calls good. Then you will have all these things also.

³⁴ `So do not be troubling yourself about tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own trouble. Today's trouble is enough for today.'