For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage.

Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

As it is written, "For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

who are Israelites. To them belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,

This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

As he also says in Hosea: "I will call those who were not my people, 'My people,' and I will call her who was unloved, 'My beloved.'"

And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, "Though the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved,

Just as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of armies had not left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have resembled Gomorrah."

Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

just as it is written, "Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble and a rock that will make them fall, yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame."

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news."

But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have: Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

But again I ask, didn't Israel understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger."

And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me."

So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day."

I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience,

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God -- which is your reasonable service.

For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith.

For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function,

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.

For the commandments, "Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet," (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy.

For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God."

Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil.

For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."

Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God's glory.

and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name."

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God

in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person's foundation,

but as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."

just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you --

so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom,

God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something,

so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God.

But just as it is written, "Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him."

For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.

So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work.

If someone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness."

One should think about us this way -- as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to die, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.

I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children.

For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Some have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present.

So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?

I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.

To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am.

Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches.

Were you called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity.

For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ's slave.

With regard to the question about people who have never married, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy.

Because of the impending crisis I think it best for you to remain as you are.

And I say this, brothers and sisters: The time is short. So then those who have wives should be as those who have none,

those who use the world as though they were not using it to the full. For the present shape of this world is passing away.

A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes (only someone in the Lord).

But in my opinion, she will be happier if she remains as she is -- and I think that I too have the Spirit of God!

If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled.

Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well?

These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did.

So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play."

And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day.

And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.

And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.

These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head.

For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God.

For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.

For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body -- though many -- are one body, so too is Christ.

But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.

For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.

for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says.

If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received -- that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God -- I say this to your shame!

But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Now if Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the Lord's work, as I am too.