To the Church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated by union with Christ Jesus and called to become his People, and also to all, wherever they may be, who invoke the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Master and ours,

In fulfillment of the charge which God had entrusted to me, I laid the foundation like a skillful master-builder; but another man is now building upon it. Let every one take care how he builds;

This is my reason for sending Timothy to you. He is my own dear faithful child in the Master's service, and he will remind you of my methods of teaching the Faith of Christ Jesus-methods which I follow everywhere in every Church.

To those who are married my direction is-yet it is not mine, but the Master's-that a woman is not to leave her husband

To all others I say-I, not the Master-If a Brother is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her;

For the man who was a slave when he was called to the master's service is the Master's freed-man; so, too, the man who was free when called is Christ's slave.

With regard to unmarried women, I have no command from the Master to give you, but I tell you my opinion, and it is that of a man whom the Master in his mercy has made worthy to be trusted.

I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master's Cause, desiring to please him;

And so his interests are divided. Again, the unmarried woman, whether she is old or young, is anxious about the Master's Cause, striving to be pure both in body and in spirit, while the married woman is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please her husband.

I say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter round your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.

Have not we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other Apostles and the Master's brothers and Kephas all do?

So, too, the Master has appointed that those who tell the Good News should get their living from the Good News.

Ways of serving differ, yet the Master is the same;

If Timothy comes, take care that he has no cause for feeling anxious while he is with you. He is doing the Master's work no less than I am.