Get rid of the old yeast [i.e., of sin, and especially the unrepentant sinner], so that you can be a new batch of dough, without yeast in it [i.e., a godly church without unrepentant sinners in it] as [I know] you really are. For our Passover [Lamb], Christ, has already been sacrificed.

I now want to reply to the matters you people wrote me about. It is [a] good [idea] for a man not to get married. [Note: The words "to get married" here are "to touch" in the Greek and probably refer to sexual relations within marriage. This advice, not a prohibition, is further explained in verses 26-35].

But if they cannot control their [sexual] desires, they should get married, for it is better [for them] to marry than to burn [i.e., with sexual lust which cannot be legitimately gratified].

But if any man thinks he is [being tempted to] behave improperly toward his virgin [fiancee], and she is past prime [marriageable] age, and feels the need [to get married] [Note: The Greek says "and so it has to be"], he should do what he wants; they should get married --- that man has not sinned.

But [another] man, who has a conviction in his heart [about the matter], and does not feel it is necessary [to get married], but has control over his will [i.e., his sexual passion], and has made up his mind to keep [from marrying] his own virgin [fiancee] --- that man is doing the right thing [also].

What soldier ever served [in the army] and paid his own expenses? Who [ever] planted a grape orchard and did not get to eat some of the grapes it produced? Or, who [ever] tended a flock of goats and did not get to drink some of the milk?

Even so the Lord directed that those who proclaim the good news [about Christ] should get their living from [preaching] that good news.

But I work out and get my body in shape [i.e., spiritually], so that after preaching to other people, I myself do not become disqualified [i.e., for winning the prize from God. See verse 24].

For as you are eating, each one of you partakes of his own supper [ahead of the others], so that one person is [still] hungry while the other gets drunk.

For if the trumpet gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for a battle?

But God gives it the [kind of] body He wants [it to have], so each seed gets its own plant.