So, as it is written [Jer. 9:23f], "The person who [wants to] boast, let him boast about the Lord."

[Now] you already have all you want! You have already become wealthy! You have begun to rule as kings without our help! How I wish that you had [really] begun to rule as kings, so that we also could rule with you!

But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wants me to. Then I will determine not [only] what these arrogant people are saying, but how much power they have.

Which do you [really] want? Shall I come to you with a rod [of discipline], or lovingly, and with a spirit of gentleness?

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 you should marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin girl marries, she has not sinned. Yet those individuals [who do marry] will have troubles in this life, and I want to spare you of that.

But I want you to be free from worry. The man who is not married is concerned about the affairs of the Lord [and] how to please the Lord.

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.

A wife is bound [i.e., to stay married] for as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants; [but it must be] only in the Lord [i.e., he must be a faithful Christian].

I now want to reply to the matter of idolatrous sacrifices [which you wrote to me about]. We know that we all possess knowledge. [Note: This may be a statement posed to Paul by the Corinthians, who seemed quite preoccupied with "knowledge"]. Knowledge [only] makes people arrogant, while love builds them up [spiritually].

But pay attention [to this], so that somehow this liberty of yours [i.e., to eat whatever you want to] does not become an occasion over which weak people could fall [away from God].

My defense to those people who [want to] examine my credentials is this:

For I want you to be [fully] aware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and all of them passed [safely] through the [Red] Sea. [Note: This refers to God guiding the Israelites through the desert during the daytime by a cloud moving along above them . See Ex. 13:21-22].

[Certainly not!] But I am saying that the Gentile sacrifices are [really] offered to evil spirits and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with evil spirits.

that is, for the sake of the other person's conscience, not your own. For why should my freedom [to eat what I want] be judged [as wrong] by another person's conscience? [Note: The questions in this and the following verse may mean, "it is not worth eating questionable things, if doing so would bring criticism from a weak brother"].

But I want you to know that Christ is the [spiritual] head [i.e., authority] over every man; and the man is the [spiritual] head over the woman [Note: The Greek words for "woman" and "wife" are the same. "Wife" is obviously meant by the context]; and God is the head over Christ.

Now concerning spiritual [i.e., supernatural] gifts, brothers, I want you to be [fully] knowledgeable.

And if they want to find out about something, they should ask their own husbands at home [i.e., instead of asking someone else in the assembly and thereby suggesting insubordination to their husbands]. For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the assembly. [See verse 34].

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the good news which I preached to you. You received it; you are standing firm in it;

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