New Testament in a Year

11 So imitate me, watch my ways, follow my example, just as I, too, always seek to imitate the Anointed One.

² I must say how pleased I am to hear that you remember me in everything and continue to hold on to the traditions I have passed on to you. ³ But it is important that you understand this about headship: the Anointed One is the head of every man, the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of the Anointed. ⁴ Knowing this, any man wearing a covering over his head while praying or prophesying in your gathering disgraces his head, Jesus. ^5-6 On the other hand, any woman—I mean, of course, a married woman—not wearing a veil over her head while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, her husband. It wouldn’t be much different than if she walked into worship with her head shaved. For if a woman isn’t going to be veiled properly, she ought to go ahead and cut off her hair; but if it brings shame to the woman and her husband to have all her hair cut off or her head shaved clean, then by all means let her wear a veil.

⁷ Here’s the distinction: man is created in God’s image and for His glory, so he should not cover his head. But a wife is the glory of her husband. She ought to be covered. ⁸ Man, you remember, was not fashioned from the body of a woman. But woman, though she was sculpted by the hands of God, was fashioned from the bones and flesh of man.^{[a] 9} Furthermore, don’t forget that man was not created for woman; woman was created for man to be his helper in everything. ¹⁰ This means that a wife should wear a veil on her head as a sign she is under authority, especially when gathering in the company of heavenly messengers. ¹¹ Regardless of how it all began, husbands and wives should recognize they are not independent; ¹² for just as woman was pulled from the side of man, man is pulled from the womb of woman. In a similar way, all things and all people share the same ultimate source, God.

¹³ Judge for yourselves: when you gather to worship, is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God without covering her head? ¹⁴ Consider the ways of nature: doesn’t nature itself teach you that a man who wears his hair long invites shame and dishonor to cover him? ¹⁵ But doesn’t nature also teach that when a woman has long hair, it is her glory? It radiates her beauty and acts as a natural veil. ¹⁶ If you feel like debating more on this, just know that we, along with all other churches of God, have adopted the same custom.