12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
7 xAnd some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
3 Let not ythe foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am za dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs xwho keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
Salvation for Foreigners
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
wfor soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
32 I want you to be efree from anxieties. fThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, gnot to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,1 if his2 passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed hdoes well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.
Principles for Marriage
1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
5 pDo we not have the right to take along a believing wife,1 as do the other apostles and qthe brothers of the Lord and rCephas?
Paul Surrenders His Rights
1 jAm I not free? kAm I not an apostle? lHave I not seen Jesus our Lord? mAre not you my workmanship in the Lord?
15 But cI have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ddeprive me of my ground for boasting.
