This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to the Messiah."

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at.

It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the gentiles. A man is actually living with his father's wife!

And you are being arrogant instead of being filled with grief and seeing to it that the man who did this is removed from among you.

Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you.

turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

God will judge outsiders. "Expel that wicked man."

Now about what you asked: "Is it advisable for a man not to marry?"

Because sexual immorality is so rampant, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.

In view of the present crisis, I think it is prudent for a man to stay as he is.

This is what I mean, brothers: The time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none,

I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about things of this world, that is, about how he can please his wife,

If a man thinks he is not behaving properly toward his virgin, and if his passion is so strong that he feels he ought to marry her, let him do what he wants; he isn't sinning. Let them get married.

However, if a man stands firm in his resolve, feels no necessity, and has made up his mind to keep her a virgin, he will be acting appropriately.

So then the man who marries the virgin acts appropriately, but the man who refrains from marriage does even better.

To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law).

To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God's Law, but I'm subject to the Messiah's law.

I mean, of course, his conscience, not yours. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else's conscience?

Now I want you to realize that the Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of the Messiah.

Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head,

A man should not cover his head, because he exists as God's image and glory. But the woman is man's glory.

For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;

and man was not created for woman, but woman for man.

In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man of woman.

For as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But everything comes from God.

Nature itself teaches you neither that it is disgraceful for a man to have long hair

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.

What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind.

What, then, does this mean, brothers? When you gather, everyone has a psalm, teaching, revelation, foreign language, or interpretation. Everything must be done for upbuilding.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.

One kind of splendor belongs to the sun, another to the moon, and still another to the stars. In fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

This, indeed, is what is written: "The first man, Adam, became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The first man came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven.

Those who are made of the dust are like the man from the dust; those who are heavenly are like the man who is from heaven.

Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

Brothers, this is what I mean: Mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.

When I arrive, I will send letters along with the men you approve to take your gift to Jerusalem.

They refreshed my spirit and yours, too. Therefore, appreciate men like that.